Today is my favorite day of the year Fri. February 29, 2008 my life
Perhaps I should say, today is my favorite day once every FOUR years. Leap Day. That elusive February 29th that mysteriously gets added to the calendar once every four years. Truth be told, I always wished that it was my birthday. I remember reading the Guiness Book of World Records when I was younger, marveling at a family that had three children, all born on February 29th. How unique and special! I woke up today and smiled, because I knew what I had planned for today.
I guess I just like things that are interesting or unusual. I've always been that way--attracted to things that would make me different from everyone else. Everyone gets a February 29th, but I still do consider it my day. :)
Today I'm going to celebrate my favorite day of the year by doing some of my favorite things. They are:
1. I will be cruising around the area this morning pulling sheets from houses for sale and hopefully making appointments to see them on Sunday.
2. Get a mani/pedi
3. Have lunch by myself with a good book (currently reading 19 Minutes by Jodi Piccoult)
4. Go shopping. I have a very special photo shoot tomorrow that you'll all get to see in about 3-4 weeks that I will need some items for.
5. Have dinner with friends
6. See a movie I've been waiting to see for about a year, The Other Boleyn Girl. I LOVED this book and can't wait to see the movie! If you have not read the book, buy it immediately.
I encourage all of you to celebrate the most unique day of the year by doing things today that are uniquely YOU! Leave a comment below and tell me how you are celebrating yourself today!
You might remember a little shoot I did for Drew Bittel and her husband, Chuck. Here was one of the shots from that shoot:
The weirdest thing happened--it turns out that Drew wasn't just eating lots of pies and ice cream, there was actually a BABY in there, and he came out the other day! February 12th to be exact, and weighing over 8 pounds. I know that this will sound stupid, but it is so weird that babies can actually live inside you and then they come out and there was this whole person growing in there. Weird.
Anyway, I got to meet Drew and Chuck's new little guy, Brayden, on Saturday and he is such a FANTASTIC baby! First of all, he is adorable, which I knew he would be. He was also an excellent model, which he also was at the maternity shoot. He let us move him around and do what we wanted for the most part, and only peed on Chuck one time, which wasn't too bad.
The best time to shoot newborns is at about two weeks, and as Brayden was 12 days old at this time, it was the absolute perfect day for a session. It rained, so we kept him in and played around the house a bit. Here's what we got:
Brayden is just a perfect little guy!
And Drew looks so at home being a new mommy:
First little family photo:
I love the feeling of this one. I can't wait for Brayden to look at it when he's all grown up.
His room is so peaceful:
Why do I love this photo? Because Chuck is changing the diaper!
He'll be serving about 1 year in prison:
He looks so tiny here!
Check out the little UCLA mobile. He started to get a bit fussy but as soon as they put him in the crib and turned the mobile on, he calmed right down:
I think he looks exactly like Chuck in this photo:
I love this one:
And this one:
Hauggy, the family dog, is adjusting to his new brother:
A new position that Brayden liked:
This was shot on the infamous white couch from the maternity session:
I became interested in their family from Hauggy's perspective:
Chuck and Drew giving some love to their first born while Brayden tries to figure out what's going on:
Great news for Brayden, not so much for Hauggy:
That's it! We tired the little guy out:
I do love this shot of me with Brayden that Drew shot--I'm like the baby whisperer:
Have you heard about The [b] school? Sun. February 24, 2008 gossip
If you haven't heard of the b school by now, you have no idea what you're missing! The b school, run by Becker, is a completely free blog that has a video every single day posted up with a photography tip, business policy, or other interesting piece of information. This past week when Becker went to go play poker, I decided to take my Shoot the Sh*t with Jessica Claire live!
Check out the episode on THE [ b ] SCHOOL BLOG and make sure to get on his mailing list--the blog is just the tip of the iceberg for what he's got in store!
Leave a comment over there if you like the Shoot the Sh*t episode--if enough people like it, I may do another one.
**if you are checking the b school blog sometime other than today, Sunday, you'll need to scroll down for my episode because he posts a new cool video EVERY DAY!**
Trista & Doug: An Anniversary Shoot Tue. February 19, 2008 we did
**the textures i used on these photos are from jesh de rox. you can find them RIGHT HERE. tell him i sent you!**
I've said this before and I'll say it again--having another photographer hire me to shoot is both flattering and unnerving. This time though, I wasn't nervous at all. Why, you may ask? Well, because I knew what Trista had planned and I was looking forward to it too much to get worried about doing the best job possible! I knew that no matter what, Trista and Doug were going to look awesome, which made my job amazingly easy!
First of all, an introduction. Trista Lerit is another Orange County photographer who I first met last year. She's upbeat and fun, gorgeous and stylish! When she approached me about doing this shoot, I thought it was awesome, and I did briefly question her husband Doug's willingness to comply. "He pretty much goes where I go", she said, smiling at the thought of her husband. Today I understood what she meant. Doug is a super nice, laid back guy who is just happy to be married to Trista. He wants to make her happy, and he's doing a great job--she was happy to finally get to do this shoot!
I'm sure you're saying enough with the blah blah blah by now, so I'm going to get to the photos. Here we go:
This is the first photo I shot today to test my settings as they were making their way towards me:
ISO: 100, Lens: 50mm 1.2, Fstop: 1.4 Shutter Speed: 1/8000 (by the way, in EVERY photo, I am shooting in manual mode, center focus, metering so it looks good in the back of the camera :) )
There was this INCREDIBLE field of flowers! It was the first thing I saw and I was kind of tempted to shoot the whole session in it:
ISO: 100, Lens: 70-200mm 2.8, Fstop: 2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/1000
Trista always looks gorgeous, but today she was really jaw-dropping. I shot a LOT of photos of her alone (Doug appreciated the break, I think)
ISO: 100, Lens: 50mm 1.2, Fstop: 1.4 Shutter Speed: 1/2500
On to the next spot. This location was so beautiful. Thanks to my friend Michael Norwood for disclosing his top secret location for us! See you there soon Michael :)
ISO: 100, Lens: 50mm 1.2, Fstop: 1.2 Shutter Speed: 1/2000
There were just so many spots to choose from. Luckily, they were willing to go wherever I wanted them to go:
ISO: 100, Lens: 70-200mm 2.8, Fstop: 2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/500
Back to Trista for a second. What's better than a creamy 1.2 backlit portrait like this? Only one thing...
ISO: 100, Lens: 50mm 1.2, Fstop: 1.2 Shutter Speed: 1/2500
...a creamy 1.2 portrait with a netted veil!
ISO: 100, Lens: 50mm 1.2, Fstop: 1.4 Shutter Speed: 1/2500
A nice clean portrait of the two of them looking cute (yes, I know how to shoot a "traditional" portrait, I just think it's not as much fun as other stuff!)
ISO: 200, Lens: 70-200mm 2.8, Fstop: 2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/400
I saved the best for last. My hands down favorite of the day:
ISO: 100, Lens: 50mm 1.2, Fstop: 1.2 Shutter Speed: 1/1250
In case you were wondering about Trista's bouquet, it was done by Kristin at The Treasured Petal. Awesome work Kristin!
Trista & Doug, thanks so much for being good sports and for trusting me with this shoot! Congratulations on your five year dating anniversary, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG!
Coming soon to a nursery near you: Carolina! Fri. February 15, 2008 people
Last week, I shot a great maternity session for Maajed and his wife, Tahaane, who are expecting baby Carolina pretty soon! I adored them immediately. They are so excited for the birth of their first baby, and boy, are they ever prepared! They are such kind, genuine people that this baby is so lucky to be getting them as parents. Carolina is going to have a wonderful childhood and life, and is wanted SO much.
Wouldn't you want to live in this room?! By the way, "Carolina" is pronounced Carol LEENA, not like the state, Carolina.
Maajed's grandmother did this needlepoint and wasn't able to complete it before she passed. However, look how cool it is that her actual needle is still in there in the lower left!
We shot a bit in other parts of the house:
But I kept wanting to come back to the baby's room:
I thought we should incorporate Carolina's already large collection of stuffed animals:
I love this shot of Tahaane:
After a quick session at the house, we went over to Mecca, which some people refer to as Fashion Island here in Newport Beach:
Can you find THREE kiddos in this photo? ;)
So sweet! You know, we had to be really careful of where we shot on this merry-go-round, because some of the animals on there were very creepy!
Probably not Carolina's first shopping trip, but it is the first documented one:
They have these spitting fountains at Fashion Island, so it was a good opportunity to splash!
Last one--a nice clean portrait. I think Tahaane looks absolutely beautiful here:
Good luck with the baby, and I can't wait to meet little Carolina!
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my life
