Wow--a week goes really fast! Thu. January 28, 2010 my life
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.
Thursday Thoughts With Jessica Claire Thu. January 21, 2010 my life
Hello everyone! In an attempt to post more personal stuff on my blog, I am starting a new feature called Thursday Thoughts, where each Thursday I'll chat about recent happenings, things that I think are funny, personal stories and photos, and anything exciting that is going on in my world. I will also include some things that I approve of, and some things that have induced strong dislike on my part :)
Here we go!
This past weekend, a group of friends and I took our annual trip up to Big Bear. Basically we rent a big cabin and then spend the next three days skiing, snowboarding, being lazy, and just generally hanging around. This trip, the popular thing to do was to play Words With Friends on our iPhones. It is VERY similar to Scrabble but with a slightly different board and it also has a chat feature :) You might think that this is lame (and actually a certain contingent of our members did too), and I'll admit that there was more than one time when 9 of us sat in a room and played one another on this game. BUT, it is FUN! By the end of the trip, even the haters were on board. You should download this app--it's quite addictive!
At the end of the trip, it started snowing. I mean, REALLY snowing, to the point where there were near white-out conditions at some points. We decided after our cabin lost power and the forecast called for 2-4 feet of snow to make a run for it while we still could. I kind of wanted to be snowed in for a week, but with some of us having weddings this Saturday, we played it safe and headed back. Here's a quick little photo of the view as we left--you can see Candice running down the stairs like a pack mule--we left rather abruptly :):
Here's the view of the road as we made our way through town-Michael drove very carefully and we made it home safe and sound, in plenty of time for a little poker game:
I received some photos back from the lab that I shot for fun over Christmas vacation this week! I had forgotten that I shot these, so they were fun to see. Here's one of Jeff's dad reading the Christmas story to the kids on Christmas Eve, before opening gifts:
We gave Aly a princess tent, which made Jeff really happy too. I don't really like to play princesses as much as he does, so he and Aly are quite a good match in that respect:
Kids somehow know that Jeff is just one of them:
We also made a visit to my Dad and Ruth, and while we were there I convinced my step-sister Liana to drag her baby out in the snow so I could snap a few photos. Maya wasn't sure what to think of it at first:
Once she was with her mom though, she seemed to think it was fun!
In other news, I reached 10,000 twitter followers today!
My goal is to increase that to 25000 over the next 2 years, so if you don't follow my Twitter yet, you can find it here: http://www.twitter.com/jessicaclaire.
Here's what else is on my mind:
-I need to take down the remainder of my Christmas decorations. I was trying to pass them off as "winter", but it's time for them to go, seriously.
-I'm annoyed at all the drama over the PDN "Influential" list. I do not think I deserve to be on it, but I am sad about all the nastiness it seemed to bring forward
-I went to the Utterly Engaged party last night, even though I swore off networking parties over the past few years and it was so FUN!
-A new PINK POLKA DOT cover is being launched in the Shootsac™ Newsletter tomorrow! If you want to receive it and snag a new cover, **click here** -I love s'mores. So much.
-Cyndie Norwood always beats me at Words With Friends. She is scary good at it.
-Jeff is awesome
-Every Thursday at 4pm PST you should make it a point to chat live with Becker and the guest of the week. This week is Jasmine Star! Go here and chat with them: the b school live chat
That's it for now, Happy Thursday! I'd love to see people leave a comment with one random thing that's happened to them this week, or a suggestion of something I should try this coming week for review next week :)
JC/OC Workshop-Sneak Peek! Fri. January 15, 2010 photographers
It's been sunny every single day for the past several months in Orange County. So when Cortnie of I Love Lollipops, the spectacular event design and coordination team that conceptualized and styled my most recent workshop told me ten days in advance that it might rain that day, my reaction was, "Come on Cortnie, they can't predict the weather"!
Wrong.
For ONCE, they actually did predict the weather correctly, because the morning of my workshop, for the first time in weeks, possibly MONTHS, it rained. And rained. And rained. Our gorgeous location--CLOSED. Our backup location: A mudslide. So off we went to backup location #3 (bet you're impressed that there was one), with the Lolliladies handling every bump in the road like absolute angels sent from heaven.
And the workshop was a raging success.
Here's a little sneak peek--more to come next week both here and on Style Me Pretty!
The gorgeous Troy and Aimee Grover were the models, along with beautiful bridesmaid Lindye Galloway (not pictured here)
The Lolliladies are. so. completely. amazing. I love them. Seriously:
I met Jill when I was in Mexico for the Jose Villa Workshop--you can **click here** for the post. Every now and then I'll be talking to a newer photographer and I will just see it--that certain something in their work where I just KNOW that they're going to be amazing and make a HUGE splash!
Well at the time, Jill didn't have a ton to show me as she was in the process of getting her new blog and site designed and putting together her branding, but still, even though she had little to show, I could tell that she had a fully formed idea of what she wanted her brand to be. And I got it. And I LOVED it!
So I suggested that when we got back from Mexico, we put together a great shoot that would really capture the feel of her brand--retro, film, orange, offbeat, and cool!
Jill has finally launched her new blog, so I can finally share these! You can see her site here: Jill's blog. Congrats Jill, and I hope you love these!!
I can never resist shooting getting ready, even when it's not a wedding!
I LOVED the colors in this vintage VW Bus! I think Jill might have to pick one of these up sometime soon...
This color--yum!
Jill swears she doesn't photograph well, but I beg to differ:
A little collage of yumminess:
I love this portrait! It just seems so fresh and clean looking:
Jill brought in literally HUNDREDS of oranges for this shoot! We didn't harm them, and Jill was actually able to return them to their rightful owner!
More deliciousness--why am I loving film so much?! Oh yeah, because these are all straight out of camera, no photoshop whatsoever.
One last shot of Jill. This shot to me is perfect:
I also shot a bunch of photos on the Instax, just for fun, but I LOVE them! Check it out:
Happy Monday! I'll be getting ready for the first JC/OC Workshop of 2010 that will be happing on Wednesday and I can't WAIT to show you that one! I have a feeling it's going to be awesome.
Just so you know, I don't always blog or twitter when I am having a workshop--the mailing list gets the first crack at spots. By the time I blog or twitter, there may only be a slot or two left!
** PHOTOGRAPHER NOTES: for those who are curious, these are ALL shot on the contax 645 AF--i chose not to post any of my digital photos in this post, although the sneak peek ones in the link above were shot on my 5d i decided to experiment and try something new since i was only shooting for fun! i had a nervous week or two while i waited for these to come back because i couldn't see them immediately and had NO idea what i'd be getting. i'm super pleased with the results. **
I LOVE being a wedding photographer and shooting weddings. When I book a new wedding, I get so excited at the thought of what I'm going to be getting to shoot, and being at a wedding is like getting to discover tiny treasures all over the place! When I look through the photos after I come home, I like to take my time, sifting through them for the diamonds, the shining moments that a couple is going to treasure, and show their children. When I select images to blog, or for albums, I think of grandchildren 60 years from now looking at the photos and thinking "things were just so beautiful back then"
During the winter months, there are fewer weddings to shoot, especially in California. It's just SO nice here during the rest of the year, that more often than not, people pick spring, summer, or fall months to get married. I like to stay inspired and occupied, so I emailed Kate Holt of Flower Wild and asked her if I could shoot something for her. My only requirements were that it be original, beautiful, and something she would LOVE to see and have photographed! Kate brought her friend Rebecca of Duet Weddings on board, and this shoot was born!
The couple is a real couple, Anneka & Patrick, who were SO wonderful to work with. Also, this dress is so small that Anneka is probably the only person on the planet who could fit into it. It fit her like a glove!
Here are my faves from the day:
The dress. OH, THIS DRESS! I die every time I see this. The dress if from a great store called Unique Vintage where you can rent or buy dresses!
One of the two bouquets that Kate painstakingly put together. I love how the flowers mirror the little flowers on the dress, and I always adore a little sparkly brooch on a bouquet!
Lots of details :) Normally I don't really LOVE white bouquets because I like color that pops, but this one was oh-so-perfect:
At the bottom here you'll see a little yellow bouquet that Kate also made. Look at the beautiful vintage mug on the right--so cool!
This is Anneka. She is such a beautiful bride!!
A peek at the table setup from inside the amazing house where we shot. This courtyard was a ideal place for this little setup:
I would love a brunch, baby shower, or intimate wedding to look like this! Maybe I will do this the next time one of my girlfriends has a baby, or maybe even for my own birthday :)
The florals were jaw-dropping. Eclectic and whimsical, my favorite combination:
Putting arrangements in different kinds of vessels adds a nice twist to a table:
Sugared cherries--delish!
Some crystal balls and juicy pomegranates completed the look:
These paper heart cutouts were so darling!! Any cute paper would make these easy and inexpensive to add to a few chairs at your reception:
Anneka looking stunning in that glorious dress!
*sigh* I love this one:
Straight out of camera, zero retouching. I guess this is why people love film:
Patrick--our resident British rock star/groom:
This lapel flower was co-designed by Kate and I :)
At first I was a little bummed that we didn't have sun, but I think it adds to the shoot after all:
I couldn't love this more--I know because I've tried--I'm at capacity:
This house was SO glorious. The courtyards, the doorways, the lush flowers--I would love to live somewhere like this:
The backyard has some lemon trees--they are so fairy-tale looking!
Love:
This one makes me happy for no particular reason:
So does this one:
Kate thought that we should bring this sofa outside, and yes...I do think it worked :)
My two faves of Anneka:
DESSERTS!! Kate had Joy the Baker whip up some pies and tarts for us to use! They were DELICIOUS--especially the pie. Yummmmy--I could barely wait to eat it till the shoot was over!
This one feels like a cross between Eve and Alice in Wonderland:
Life is but a dream...
We decided to play with these little paper hearts--I could see these being used in other colors OFTEN!
The headpiece was also rented from Unique Vintage
Just some eye-candy:
Another one of my faves:
Playtime!
We actually borrowed a second dress as well. When I first saw it I declared it "bad 60's prom"--it was not nice on the hanger. But when I suggested that Anneka try it on at the end of the shoot, I just HAD to shoot her in it!
I do love the mood of these:
And this:
And this:
A few fun details of Anneka's pink dress:
I wanted to shoot inside a bit at the end--I'm so glad we did!
Some black and white, just for the fun of it!
There's something so classic about these:
I'll leave you with two photos of Anneka that I go back to over and over again. They have that certain something...
Kate, Rebecca, Anneka, Patrick...thank you SO much for doing this with me!
Be sure to check out the Green Wedding Shoes feature on this shoot with Kate's comments on how she styled the flowers, tables, and bride!
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my life
