Jona & Holly Wedding post La Jolla Wedding Photography

 Jona and Holly are probably two of the sweetest people ive ever met. During my morning with Holly, as she is getting all dolled up, chaos around her *DUH- its the morning of the wedding so of course there are lots of comings and goings, etc!)- she keeps apologizing to ME, of all people! She was constantly thinking about others, and making sure that everyone else was ok. When asked her opinion on photography locations, her makeup and hari- she just smiled and said, "whatever you think will be pretty!" simple. as. that. They are both the easy going, happy types- that are my FAVE to work with!
    luckily- they are both pretty darn attractive- so i think i *nailed the 'just make it pretty' request!! We met at the San Diego LDS Temple for some bridal shots, did a quick change, as they headed in to get married (no cameras inside the temple, so I just get to catch the GRAND exit as husband and wife!). Then the formal family and bridal party shots- and a super laid back, low key reception at a restaraunt in La Jolla, just around the corner.
   We headed out right before sunset to get just a few more shots of the bride and groom at the beach- who were so LUCKY to get this AMAZING sunset. certainly made my job easy!!
    You two are so great- thank you for letting me be a part of your day!

   To my blog stalkers- enjoy the gorgeous pics- and PHENOMENAL sunset!!

 couldnt decide if i liked black and white or color! which do YOU like??

joie de vivre!
    Stefanie

Scott and Marissa Wedding - full blog post! Fallbrook Wedding photography

 FINALLY! a full blog post! a week or so ago, i was lucky enough to be able to photograph the wedding of Scott and Marissa. Scott is a co-worker of my husbands (who also got to second shoot for me- which was awesome! ill be sure to point out which pics are his-bc a few of his turned out AWESOME!!).
   They got married at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook- which is gorgeous. delicious food, awesome staff, and gorgeous spots for portraits! Her dress was amazing, fabulous hair- the bride even did her own makeup (complete with her 2 year old on her lap- which is quite a feat!

I have no idea why these photos are turning out sepia on my blog- they are true black and whites. i despise sepia! so it kind of ruins the effect- but try to imagine for me! (hopefully i can figure out why my blog hates me today)

 these two shots below were taken by my husband! i actually love them even more than the angle that i took them from!

 arent these stairs amazeballs??? most gorgeous light there in the afternoon streaming through!

 headed to the golf course for a few quick shots (the bride and groom chose not to do a first look, so we had ALL the formal family shots, bridal party, and bridal shots in about 40 minutes- so when i say quick- i meant QUICK! luckily, im really bossy (in a super fun/not annoying way, of course), and they were all great listeners!!

    dont you LOVE how hot all the guys are in their jeans and cowboy boots?! Scott asked for only two things regarding the wedding. 1) that he got to wear jeans, and 2) that he got to wear cowboy boots. what a fabulous *wife* he has to say yes to both!! :)

 once again- with the sepia! arg!!

 Chris took the one on the right also!

this shot was the one shot that Marissa really wanted- she found a similar one on pinterest and showed me- and i thought it was so so sweet! we took a min during reception downtime to do it! even when married, your maid of honor and your best man are still your BFF's!

 a lot of the black and whites have some film grain added to them. Their wedding was so classic and vintage classy, it just felt right. I am loving my new Film presets that i recently added to my collection! a majority of their shots were edited with them!

i couple more from the reception- there were so many great shots of people dancing, i couldnt choose!

(notice the cutie patootie little boy on the left- scott and marissas adorable son!

i hope you had a fabulous day scott and marissa! thank you for letting me be a part of it!!

joie de vivre!
   Stefanie

Heidi & nate engagement sneak peek! Orange County Engagement Photography

i had such a fun time with these two last weekend! we met at the historic district in San Juan Capistrano for some fun, and sweet engagement photos. They are wonderful- but a bit of an aesthetic challenge- seeing that she is barely five feet tall and he is 6'2!

 but i loved being able to capture some sweet lovin, and cant wait for their wedding in a couple of months!

joie de vivre!
    Stefanie

Swager family sneak peek Crystal Cove Photography

This photoshoot was such an adventure!! Thank goodness for families who are game for surprises! This gorgeous family is on a short vaca from northern Ca, staying at the AMAZING Pelican Hill Resort in Crystal Cove.  We ventured right outside their bungalow to this great path and took literally TWO shots. We started to wander and find our next spot when security came and TOLD us that we had to LEAVE! Even though they were guests paying the big bucks to stay there, we were not permitted to take and professional photography. Im a pretty calm person, but I wanted to throw something at him. ARGH!

So we went back into their room, and took a few photos on their porch, inside their room next to these great big doors. But pretty soon, we ran out of options, and decided to head to the beach!

  Luckily, Crystal cove was pretty close, so after some shoeless walking, and a couple of wrong turns, we finally made it down to the sand, and spent a few more minutes trying to squeeze some great shots out of some tired kiddos who were ready to PLAY!!
  
      Thanks for much for being such a great sport, Melanie and Kevin! Hopefully we got some shots that were worth all that effort!! This is just a sneak, ill have the rest of them done in a week or two!!

joie de vivre!
    Stefanie