Jessica Claire Wedding Photographer: 949-388-0719

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My Favorite Thing at WPPI
Wed. February 24, 2010

WPPI.

Yes, it's a photography convention, but aside from that, it's also where I have made SO many friends and connections over the years. I remember going when i was 19 or 20 and an associate for a studio back in North Carolina. I went for the classes and the tradeshow--I didn't know anyone to be able to get into any of the parties, so it was pretty much an all-learning, all the time trip for me.

BORING!

In 2004, I met Becker, and subsequently received an invite to the Annual [ b ] party, which quickly became my favorite part of any WPPI! At the time it was held in a small hotel room, and would get busted an hour or two after starting. Still, good times.

This is me with my NC girls, Julie and Stephanie. We met Joe photo and we're each rocking a pair of his sunglasses (he has a HUGE collection):

As time went on, the parties got bigger and bigger, graduating to an L Suite at The Hotel! I think this was 2006, and the people in this photo are David Jay, me, Jules Bianchi, Shyla, Kristin Renee, Liana Banana, and Sara France. You can't tell, but Liana and I are both wearing sweatpants in this photo--we were SO exhausted!

The same year, me with Jaclyn, Jen Bebb, and Jen Dery:

Now that Becker is running his own school, the party has sized out of hotel rooms and graduated to a HUGE space to make more fun for everyone! This is so awesome because now you can go even if you don't know another soul going!

Because of this, it has also taken on a ridiculous expense, thus the ticket charge. But trust me, if there is ONE SINGLE THING not to miss this year, it is this party!

Just click on the poster below to sign in to hang with us:

I hope that you all sign up to go, and that it becomes YOUR favorite thing at WPPI as it is mine!

CONTEST!!

I will be giving away TWO FREE TICKETS TO THE B PARTY to someone who joins the SHOOTSAC FAN PAGE between now and MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!! Make sure to leave a comment on the wall or here in this post to let me know that you joined!!

See ya'll at the party!

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A New Day (With No Mistakes In It)
Fri. February 5, 2010

I used to LOVE Anne of Green Gables. I would watch the movie over and over again, clinging to the idea that girls with red hair were a valuable part of the world. The movie somehow gave me hope. My favorite saying in the movie was, "Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it". I just loved that.

Nobody in my family has red hair, and through a giant practical joke of genetics, my brother ended up tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. Cruel? Yes.

I remember my mom taking me to get my hair done when I was 7 or 8 years old, and I told the stylist that I wanted bangs and a part in the middle of the rest of the hair, just like Ashley, the girl with the perfect hair in my class. I have no idea to this day why they actually cut my hair that way, knowing that my short, curly, un-partable hair would never be that long, straight glossy brown that would hang perfectly in that sort of cut. Instead, I just ended up looking like an unfortunate "Annie", with the worst hair in the whole school.

I grew up, learned to use a blow dryer and a flat iron--I could give Vidal Sassoon a run for his money!

A few months ago, I dyed my hair a dark brown. It was the first time I've ever dyed it, because in my adult years, I came to actually take pride in the fact that I had hair that was different. When you're a teenager, all you want is to blend in, but once I was out of high school, I valued anything that set me apart as an individual. I've always thought of myself as a redhead, even in the bad times. When I look in the mirror now, I like the dark brown hair, but I don't quite recognize myself.

I do somewhat feel like a more dramatic, hotter version of myself though, which is a nice phase to go through. I'll probably keep it dark brown for another few months and try to maximize that feeling!

Although my hair might be brown now, I am still, at heart, a redhead. Always have been, always will be. It's part of what makes me who I am--and what sets me apart.

Maybe it wasn't just a genetic mistake after all :)

Since I don't have any photos of me with dark brown hair on hand, here's a photo from my most recent wedding that at first I considered a mistake. But now, looking at it a little closer, maybe it's not a mistake after all.

**I was actually able to find my 4th grade photo of me with the worst hair ever. you will see that I was not exaggerating. enjoy!**

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February 4: Thursday Thoughts With Jessica Claire
Thu. February 4, 2010

Happy Thursday everyone! A place where I will recap the events of the past week. However considering I only blog a few times a week, I may relegate Thursday thoughts to the last Thursday of the month henceforth to avoid what happened last week where I didn't do any posts in between Thursdays. That was utterly shameful. SHAME!

Okay, enough shame. I'll start with what's happening today.

You might notice that I never post videos here--I do not like the way I look in videos! However, I will be chatting LIVE today with Becker on The B School Study hall--you can go over there, log in with your twitter name and ask us questions! Here's the skinny:

Time: 4pm PST TODAY (thursday)
Place: B School Study Hall

Don't let me show up there and have nobody to chat with --that would be awkward!

This has been a very interesting week on a few fronts. It's been an up and down week, with lots of highs and lows. It's easy to blog "Thursday Thoughts" on weeks when everything is great, but it's a little bit harder on weeks that take more of a downturn. I could write here all about how everything is pretty and sparkly, but everything isn't all the time, so this is what you get this week :)

I think everyone has those times where things just don't seem to be going our way--it can be big things or little, but it really just amounts to feeling like you're running up against a brick wall. Normally, I would chalk this up to other people being jerks, but sometimes you just have to face the truth--sometimes it is your own fault.

Once you realize this, you have two choices:

1. Pretend that it is somebody else's fault and keep on doing the things that aren't working, or
2. Take responsibility even though it feels like a punch in the face and change your actions to avoid future painful situations

I chose "2" this time. I've been slinking around with my tail between my legs ever since, knowing that my own actions have caused a disruption in my life. I know it was the right decision because I felt better almost immediately and also because I started to see a change almost immediately. Also because I didn't feel a desperate urge to run out and consume as many cupcakes as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.

And because this part of my week was such a bummer, here are a couple of photos from a shoot that make me happy:

As the week progressed, it did improve! My brother & sister-in-law, Michael and Cyndie have gotten really into cooking and made us the most delicious meal last week along with some of our closest friends. The only thing better than knowing how to cook that way yourself is knowing other people who love to cook that way and are willing to let us be guinea pigs. They could probably serve guinea pig and it would be delicious (I know ya'll are adventurous, but please don't!).

The Grammy's: Don't care. Except how did Taylor Swift win for album of the year?! I think she's so pretty, and a good singer, and a talented writer especially for her age, but album of the year? Really?

Favorite new website: WWW.WHERESTHEDOUCHE.COM. Absolutely hilarious, and I love that submissions are requested. One girl sent in a pic of her stepdad--I'm just waiting for someone to send in photos of someone that I actually know!

One of the things that Jeff and I love to do with friends is play games! A few times this past week we had dinner with friends and then played games until our eyes hurt. My new favorite game is Rummikub--it requires just enough brainpower to make it interesting but not enough to make me want to throw the tiles off the table. It's a fine line!

My favorite thing that I did this past week was a shoot up in the snow. This shoot will be featured on SMP next week so I can't post it just yet, but I will share one of my favorite photos. Special thanks to Jesi Haack for pulling a fab team together for this shoot, which I will tell you all about in a full post. For now, here is a shot I love:

Thought of the week--what is the best color combination for a spring/summer wedding?

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Wow--a week goes really fast!
Thu. January 28, 2010

Is it Thursday again already? Yikes! I need to stay up on keeping my blog updated--once a week isn't going to do the trick, now is it?!

Here is what is going on in my world this week:

1. I have the best husband ever. He is a wonderful person, and I wake up thankful for him every day. He is not, however, exactly like me--we are opposites in a few key ways. Case in point--he is warm-natured, and I am cold-natured. I am always cold. I would rather always be cold than always be hot because when you're cold you can always wear another sweater, but when you're hot there's a limit to what you can do. Anyway, his hot-naturedness causes conflict between us when it comes to keeping the thermostat set at a particular temperature, figuring out what kind and how many blankets to have on hand, and of course, to have the air blowing in the car or not.

It's been an unusually cold and rainy few weeks in So. Cal, which has caused me to be quite cold in the house. The other day, Jeff did something so amazing and selfless that I want to scream it from the rooftops...

HE BOUGHT ME AN ELECTRIC BLANKET!

It's this one:

(you can get it at Target)

Not only is it a heated blanket, it is a King Size blanket, and he actually told me to go ahead and put it on the bed. Ladies, I know that you can understand what a triumph this has been for me.

Ironically, it was way too hot and I took it off the bed last night and it will now be relegated for snuggling on the couch. Jeff still gets the points though!

2. I seem to have not blogged since last Thursday Thoughts. Yuck--I suck. Will do better next week, promise. It's lame to have Thursday Thoughts if I don't post any thoughts in between.

3. It rained last week so the big girls outing to get nails done turned into just Candice, Chenin and I. I decided to get a color on my nails even though I am so careless that it gets chipped off rather quickly. I got a pink color, which is pretty much par for the course for me. I think I might try something a bit more daring for Vegas for WPPI though--maybe this:

(most likely not the outfit though, although, you never know!)

4. I had two shoots this week, a wedding on Saturday, my first of the year as well as a shoot in the snow! I can't wait to share both of these shoots with you as well as tons of shots from my most recent workshop, but it's going to be a few more days, since I haven't gone through all the photos yet.

5. I can't wait for football season to be over. The games are so long and they suck up ALL DAY ON SUNDAYS. It's annoying. Too bad we're rolling right on into baseball season. Boo.

Happy Thursday!