VALLENTYNE WEDDINGS

Engagement shoots are such a great way to get to know a client and for them to get to know how it is to be in front of a camera! Anne and Andy met me in Laguna Beach for their engagement shoot and it was awesome just walking around the downtown area. We found so many great backgrounds in a small area and the beach there is beautiful too. I think it is so cool that the couples I have met actually look like they fit together. I could definitely see it with these two, here are a few of the shots that really stood out to me!

There are so many great places to shoot around Encinitas, really any kind of background you could hope for. For April and Jason’s photo shoot we walked around the downtown area before heading down to Swami’s for the sunset. It was a beautiful day and April and Jason did a wonderful job having fun and looking completely head over heals in love with each other….this came completely natural for them! I am so excited to shoot their wedding! Here are a few of my favorites:

I started to have a little fun with this image….here is the new:

and the old school:

love the grainy quality here:)

I am always so impressed by the generosity and creativity of the brides and grooms I am lucky enough to work with. Recently I have been noticing that many couples are opting for less traditional registries and there are so many great ideas for gifts that go far beyond Tupperware! I would like to share one of these now, with more to come in the future. I hope it can be a source of inspiration for couples looking for a way to share the happiness of their big day with a new kind of gift registry.

“Tom and I have decided to have our guests donate to the School of St. Jude in lieu of more traditional wedding gifts. I discovered the School of St. Jude while working in Tanzania. The School of St. Jude is a primary and secondary school that is designed to educate the brightest but poorest students in the Arusha region of northwest Tanzania. Students must test into the school and once they are accepted, their school feeds, room and board are 100% paid for by private sponsors. Education, uniforms, transport to and from school, and room and board for a primary or secondary student at the School of St. Jude costs less than $1,000 per year. The model is both sustainable and personal in that students are financially supported by specific individuals and donors have full transparency into where their donation is going. Powerful relationships between student and donor often form and academic excellence is a cornerstone at the School of St. Jude.

I have supported the School of St. Jude through 3 Peaks 3 Weeks and we visited the school together for the 3 Peaks finally in January 2008. We now sponsor a young student named Salome. We get regular updates on Salome’s progress and she hand-writes us beautiful notes. We really feel connected both to the school and to Salmone.

Having lived near the School of St. Jude, worked with their teachers and students, and received Salome’s report cards, I’m confident that our donation is driving positive change. Tom and I are excited that our guest generosity will be used to help fund a student’s education at the School of St. Jude for one year or more! We think it will be fun for everyone involved in our wedding to collectively jump start a Tanzanian student’s education and then watch the student’s progress over time. To ensure the student’s wellbeing, Tom and I will pick up where our wedding group leaves off by supporting the student through the end of their education. We hope that by introducing our guests to St. Jude as supporting a student as a collective group, we inspire others to support St. Jude in other capacities.”

With so many shoots on the books these days, it gets difficult to stay on top of editing for my portfolio. I have so many new images that I love but not enough time to show them! Last year I made the mistake of putting it all off until the end of the year, Big mistake! I ended up editing through close to 30,000 images, seriously. This year I am staying ahead of the game by compiling favorites after each shoot…or after every few:) Already there are so many that I love and am proud of so I decided to design a quarterly portfolio. Life is in Color is a title I have used before and always loved. It just fits. If you are interested in viewing more just go here. Hint: if you click on ‘book preview’ there is a glimpse! If you are a coordinator or vendor who would like to have one of these for clients to view, just send me an email and I’ll see what I can do;)

One of my favorite types of shoots, is one where I can completely direct the timeline! I absolutely love the growing popularity of pre and post wedding shoots where the couple gets to dress up again! It is much more of a creative fashion shoot without the constraints of the timeline on the wedding day…..and without the fear of getting a little dirty! Depending on culture, some couples like to do a shoot before the big day, they are okay with seeing each other in what they will be wearing to the nuptials. One such culture is Traditional Vietnamese and in this shoot, Annie and Cuong had 2 different outfits, one Traditional and one Western. It was so much fun to go to different locations and have a completely new look for the second half. While it was very hard to pick favorites out of this shoot, here are a few that I love:)
PS. Gorgeous make-up done by James Overstreet!

Great job Annie and Cuong, I loved working with you!!