Happy Anniversary!

Today is the third anniversary of our wedding, 1 day after our dating anniversary. That worked out pretty conveniently for us when we were wedding planning. Even though Matt and I were living in Los Angeles when we got engaged, we decided to have the wedding in Tallahassee so that more of our family and friends would be able to attend. We picked the Retreat at Bradley's Pond for both the ceremony and reception. And we chose  Laura Ciociola as our photojournalist wedding photographer, who surprised us on the day of the wedding by bringing her then-assistant Meredith Russell. So we ended up with two great photographers when we were only expecting one, and we ended up with Laura's film shots and Meredith's digital shots, which was cool to have both. 

I've looked through these photos a million times as I was making prints for guests, putting together albums, and just reliving the day over and over again. Not only did Laura and Meredith do an amazing job of capturing all the happiness and all the wonderful people there at our wedding, but the emotion and beauty of the photos is what inspired me to take up photography myself, and for that I will always be grateful.

Thanks to everyone who attended our wedding, and everyone who celebrated with us in LA after the fact, for making it such a memorable and special occasion.

Happy Anniversary, Matthew! I love you with all my heart.

Alexis' Quinceañera

A few weeks ago, I got to photograph Alexis as she celebrated her quinceañera. I met Alexis through her aunt Diane, a bridesmaid at the first wedding I ever photographed, so it was very cool to have the photography I've been doing over the past few years come back around in that way. Alexis is incredibly sweet, as was her whole family. I loved her mom's speech about how special Alexis is and how she'll achieve all her dreams, and I felt really lucky to be a part of the day for that.

There are about 200 photos from that day that I'm still going through, more of which I'll post soon, but in the meantime I wanted to post a little sneak peek of some of my favorites!

Griffith Park Observatory

In April, Matt's parents came to visit and we went to the Griffith Park Observatory. I'd lived in LA for 5 years before I finally checked out the observatory, but now it's one of my favorite places and always good to take visitors to. The architecture of the building and the telescope domes is really beautiful and photogenic, and there are amazing views of Griffith Park, the Hollywood sign, downtown, and even the west side if there's not too much smog. The afternoon we went was pretty and clear and I was able to get a lot of good shots, including some with the Lensbaby!

Me + Cameras = Happy

So now that I like to fancy myself a photographer, it seemed only fitting to have some pictures of me with cameras. That's what photographers do, right? But which camera should I have in the photo - the one I can do the most with, the one I carry around the most often, the one that looks the coolest? At this point, I currently own 6 cameras, so there are quite a few options to choose from. I decided to have fun and take pictures with all the different cameras to show off my collection! And also show off my new haircut.

The Canon EOS 50E - a 35mm (i.e. real film) SLR camera. I love the way true black and white film looks and this camera is great for shooting that.

The Canon PowerShot A540 - my first digital camera! This little guy is very compact and takes great daylight pictures. The screen on the back is a great size, bigger than my other digitals, and it's small enough that it's really easy to use for quick shots that don't need anything too fancy.

                                      

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS - this is an advanced Point and Shoot camera. It has more options than the A540 and so it gets a lot more use lately.  It's not considered a "professional" camera, which means I can take it into concerts, and it's lightweight enough to carry around in my purse every day. I bought this camera before our trip to Ireland last summer, and it's perfect for traveling.

Okay, technically this camera doesn't work. Well, the camera would work, but it's a vintage Kodak from the 1950s and they apparently don't make film for it anymore. Which is a shame because it's in great, working condition and I bet photos from it would look cool. I love the accordian-style box part of it and think that makes it worth keeping as a prop even if I never get to use it for anything else. 

The Holga 120 TLR - the newest addition to the camera family! I just got this Holga as a birthday present and I'm hoping to shoot with it this weekend. It's a plastic, "toy" camera that takes retro-looking 6 x 6 square film pictures. And the flash "flashes" in white, yellow, red or blue. Should make for some very interesting shots, so be on the lookout.

The Canon 20D - this one is kind of my baby. A digital SLR that I bought used in 2008, but was a splurge for me at the time. This was the camera I used for my photography class last summer and I really learned a lot with it. It's heavier and bulkier than the S3, so I don't carry it around every day, but I can use all my different lenses on it, so it's great for any kind of advanced shooting. It has the Lensbaby lens on it in this picture.

Los Angeles Derby Dolls

Anyone who knows me well could easily tell you that I am not into sports. I am completely uncoordinated when it comes to playing sports and just not interested when it comes to watching sports. The one exception to this is Roller Derby. I went to my first LA Derby Dolls game a few years ago and was instantly hooked. The games are fast and action-packed, the players are charismatic, and the fans are really into it. Matt and I and some of our other friends have been going ever since. Along the way, I became friends with lovely and talented Gori Spelling, one of the jammers for the 2008 and 2009 champions, the Tough Cookies. For awhile now I've wanted to take photos of a derby bout, but cameras aren't allowed in for the general audience. Gori was nice enough to let me be her family photographer for a recent game and I was really excited to take pictures for the first time.

Because of how fast the skaters are going and the low light of the arena, some of the pictures are a little dark and grainy, but I was pretty happy with how enough of them turned out. I'm hoping I'll be able to take more in the future and will keep getting better with practice.

Here are a few of my favorite shots, but there are a lot more to check out here.