38th Annual Winter Cookout

You read that right. A winter cookout. I never realized how crazy that was until I moved to California from Ohio. To me, it was normal as it's been happening since before I was born. It started with my dad and his brothers, cooking some meat outside in January and has amassed into an annual gathering of family, friends and Crock Pots.

Last year, I found myself frustrated with trying to get well-lit shots but without a harsh flash. This year, I decided to chill out and roll with it. When it came time for post-processing (because I'm addicted to Lightroom) I found a way to make it work. What I came up with is kind of an homage to Winter Cookouts past with these vintage-looking, over-exposed shots. Here are a few of my favorites.

Uncle George didn't want to stick around for a photo, so I had to paparazzi that guy.

My mom made two gallons of apple pie shots. They taste like apple pie, duh.

There's always a portopotty, with Christmas lights and a space heater.

Peach schnapps to toast my dad! This was the first Winter Cookout after he passed and we all miss him!

Who wants to come next year?

My Brudder's Gettin' Hitched! - Orange County Engagement Photographer

I am just so excited for my big brother's wedding. Of course, I am so happy for him and his spectacular fiancee as well, but... I love weddings. While they have found a wedding photographer, they didn't plan engagement pics. So since I was going to be in town, I offered to snap some.

Here we have a few. As you'll notice, they obviously weren't taken in Orange County. You might figure that out by the mass amounts of snow. Let me tell you about that! I was really hoping for snow on my trip back to Northeast Ohio, where I grew up. When I got in Thursday night, it was just barely trying to sleet. Friday morning, we woke up to a dusting of snow, still allowing the mud and grass to peek through. Soon enough, though, the wind kicked up and the clouds rolled in and we were getting dumped on! This wasn't ideal for our shoot that afternoon. As much as I wanted to take pretty pictures in the snow, I surely didn't want to take pictures in a blizzard.

We decided on going to the lobby of The Lodge at Geneva on the Lake (which happens to be where I was married back in October 2007!) I was feeling a little unprepared for indoor photos as I, for whatever reason, decided not to pack my flash. D'oh. Regrets! So just in case I couldn't get anything good inside, we all agreed to brave the elements for a few shots outside. It was so cold and so windy, but so worth it. I love the look of Catie's coat with the bright white background.

 

Did I mention it was cold?

After a few quick shots, we gladly made our way inside where I was feeling a little stumped with photos. Luckily, I was shooting family and my mom was also there so we just made it fun. There was a checker table in the lobby along with a huge gorgeous fireplace, so we did the best with what we had. There was also a jazz musician in the lounge down the hall providing nice music, and my mom bought us beers, so the shoot turned into something more like just hanging out with my family and taking some photos when we felt like it or came up with an idea. Here's a few of the indoor shots to leave with.

Ma, buying the beers.

My clever brother, whom I taught how to play with depth of field, set this one up. The chalkboard is being held up by a beer.

My family is funny.

Really funny.

Self timer family shot!

Oh hey, I was published!

Mostly by chance, though. Here's the story.

Husband takes Wife on surprise just-because weekend to San Diego. Wife brings camera. Husband takes Wife bowling at a super cool sports bar slash bowling alley, also known as East Village Tavern & Bowl. Wife takes sweet photo of the lane, which has a light casting a cool skull and cross-pins on the boards. Husband and Wife return to Orange County after a fun weekend. Wife edits and uploads photos to the interwebs. (Have you figured out that I'm the wife in this story? I sure hope so.) Lady from AAA's Westways magazine, I assume, Googled "East Village Tavern and Bowl" to find a photo for her article. Lady finds super sweet photo and contacts Wife about using said sweet photo in an up-coming issue to the tune of 10,000 pennies. Wife says "Hellzyeah!"

And so, I was published in Westways' June 2011 issue and had an extra hundy in my pocket. Cool!

Said sweet photo.

Published!

A Walk in the Park

The other day I was feeling the need to pick up my camera. After a few minutes of annoying my pets, I decided to walk over to the park near my house. Here are a few shots I nabbed that day.

Oh hi, Mr. Mantis!

15 Minute Quick Shoot - Ladera Ranch Portrait Photographer

When we moved into the current condo we live in a little over a year ago, we noticed that our neighbors behind us were young and kid-less. We were stoked about this as it is really difficult to find late 20-somethings without kids to hang out with in Ladera Ranch. Unfortunately, we were too shy to go over and introduce ourselves. Luckily for us, our sister in law is not too shy. On a night where we were in our kitchen having some drinks, we noticed that our neighbors, Tim and Clare, were in their kitchen having drinks. It was then that my not-shy sister in law, Sara (of Sara Ellison Photography!), ran over and knocked on their door. Thankfully, this went over well instead of creeping them out. (Their garage was featured in this post!)

Fast forward! Clare wanted to get their Christmas card photo out of the way and asked if I could take a couple shots before they headed off to a wedding, since they were all dressed up, and here are my two favorite shots.