Melissa Bridal Session Slideshow.

I'm going to share a slideshow of Melissa's bridal session to start off the week. I tested the slideshow out with a few songs, but 'Sway' by Pussycat dolls fit so perfectly. The runner up was 'Labels or Love', which is also a fun song, but maybe not as appropriate for the newlywed. hehe Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful start to your week! ;)



If the above image link does not work, click here.

Again, the venue was the Georgian Terrace Hotel, and the flowers were done by Anik Designs.

Inspired to live with gratitude.

My computer has been way to slow lately. Hopefully, the new Mac Snow Leopard (I <3 Macs) will make some difference, but meanwhile I've been trying to clean out some space on my hard-drive. As I was transferring photos onto my external, I found a batch I wanted to share. It was only a month ago, but why does it seem longer than that? Although, it doesn't happen every time, it's nice to get a chance to check out the venue to see what you're working with. This was at Huntington Beach, California. I don't even have to tell you the location, you can already tell by the looks of the place, it has a very socal feel to it with such gorgeous weather. I miss it.

A few gems I found while exploring the area. This photo makes me want to sunbathe.





When I saw this sign, I thought to myself, ' we are SO doing group shots here!' ;) Always tempted to break the rules, but we decided to play by them.



On a more personal note, I was being sneaky and eavesdropped on a phone conversation my mom had with one of her friends, and I was reminded of something very important. She mentioned how her commute is an hour and sometimes over an hour one way. She leaves at 5 in the morning to avoid traffic, and it's still an insane commute, but she continued on about how thankful she was even to have a job. That inspires me... To live life with more gratitude and not to lose sight of all that's amazing in my life already. :)

Gloria and Frank E-session Slideshow

Frank and Gloria met through teaching Sunday school. Soon after, they began dating and were engaged! After hearing about their clever proposal story, I could not help but share it with one of my guy friends. My friend responded, "Yeah, this guy makes the rest of us guys look really bad." haha I think the more I hear these stories, the more I realize how much thought and effort is needed to orchestrate such a perfect proposal. It's hard to be original. Since I'm not as great of a writer/story teller as Frank is, I'll just give a shortened version his story below the slideshow. (Hope you don't mind me sharing. It's really *that brilliant. But, of course, God is *that brilliant.)



If you can't view this image link, click here.

*******

Frank's proposal story:

I tried thinking for many months, even soliciting the help of my good bros and sisses, but just couldn't come up with something I was excited to do. Then a few weeks before the actual proposal (on 2/23/09), I was joking around with Gloria. I told her how wonderful she was and how I had no clue how we ever came to be (or in her words, how I tricked her into dating me). In that same breath, she made a comment to the effect of 'You're going to have to trick me into marrying you by luring me to the altar with chocolates and ice cream'. (Gloria eats cookies, chocolates, and ice cream as often as I drink OJ. Okay, maybe not THAT much but she enjoys her sweets.) We both laughed and I warned her that it just may happen. Of course, she didn't think anything of this conversation but I knew right then and there that's how God wanted me to do it. (Quite ironic as I felt God was teaching me a lesson about futility in depending on self even in this piece of my life.)

If I recall, the moment she stepped inside the front door she saw a dimly lit hallway with strange footprint cutouts (made of construction paper) on the ground, beckoning her to walk ahead. On each footprint was an M&M cookie, some Lindt dark chocolate truffles, Ferrero Rocher chocolates (regular), and Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares (both Milk Chocolate with Caramel Filling and Dark Chocolate with Mint Filling). Strings of white christmas lights lined the sides of the hallway off in the distance. As she walked forward, she would see a poster displayed on an easel on her left, saying:

Want to travel to every continent on earth?

------------>

(Free ice cream!!)

(I was trying to include things we had discussed that she wanted us to do together before we died. A couple's "bucket list" if you will.)

As she continued ahead, still following the footsteps and chocolates on the ground, another sign became visible:

Want to learn how to play 'old people' sports?

------------>

(Also, free ice cream!)

As she came near the entrance to the sanctuary, she could see the christmas lights turning to direct her view to the front of the sanctuary. As she turned, she could see the footsteps (and still more chocolates and M&M cookies) leading her to the front of the sanctuary to the altar.

At the front of the sanctuary on the table usually used for communion, I placed one last sign that read,

"Want to start a family? (Try the ice cream)."



(Photo courtesy of Joshua Fu.)

Beside the sign were the same chocolates and cookies, but also three ice cream cartons - one of which being her favorite, Haagen-Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle, which I introduced to her to early on in our dating relationship. By this point, she was out of sorts, both because she knew what was going to happen, but also because it all felt so surreal. She moved slowly towards the raspberry truffle carton, carefully opened it, and found inside it a ring box. She took it out, placed it in her hand, and studied it for what seemed like an eternity to me (I was standing in a nearby room in the dark, peering out at her throughout the process). Eventually, she opened it and upon finding no ring inside the box, I walked out in a suit - having changed from my casual clothes - with the ring in hand, told her how much she meant to me, knelt on one knee, and asked her to marry me.

*******

Reading the story over to write my blog just put a smile on my face. So very cool to see how God is always faithful. :) I'm excited to be shooting their wedding, which is in EIGHT days! Hope ya'll are excited!!

Jean and Mike Slideshow.

Below is Jean and Mike's slideshow to finish off the set. You can view all of Jean and Mike related blog posts here. I loved how they added a bit of their own twist into every aspect of their wedding, from all the smaller details in having a picnic-style wedding to their first dance. The first dance was mos def one of my favorite parts of the day. :)

I have a couple girlfriends of mine in the wedding planning process, and it's has been a hot topic of conversation over the past month. You can really take it anywhere.... granted that your man will be willing to take dance lessons. ;) I have to admit that I've done plenty of research of my own. hehe I can't help it. I love dancing!

After this surprise first dance video blew up on youtube, I can see that a lot of couples have chosen to go the unconventional route. There are literally tons floating around on youtube. You can get lost on there, and I wouldn't recommend it. lol I still must say that Jean and Mike did a very good job executing their first dance and keeping it very fresh. What was even more impressive was the fact that they involved their parents. Too cute! Here's a link to the youtube clip: Fresh Prince of Bellaire First dance - Jump on it. This one is definitely worth a watch. ;)

Enjoy!



If the above image link doesn't work, click here.

Flowers - Anik Designs

I had the great pleasure of meeting Anik of Anik Designs right before Melissa's bridal session. While we chatted, we discovered that we both came from very similar backgrounds. She has a background in biology and is now does wedding planning and flower arrangements, while I had a background in Chemistry and am now doing wedding photography. I suppose you have to really know the flowers to arrange them so beautifully! ;) As for me? Maybe Chemistry gives me good people chemistry. lol I sure am not mixing chemicals to develop my photos. That's for sure.

I just wanted to show off a few photos of how beautiful the bouquet and centerpieces turned out. Love all the bright, vibrant colors.











Check out her website for more of her work. :)

Vanessa and Mark E-session (Teasers).

I had too much fun over the weekend learning a thing or two about golf... riding around in golf carts doing some off roading... this all through shooting an e-session. The first photo is me practicing a pose. ;) Sometimes you gotta learn how to model to direct a good photoshoot.



Now for the real deal. Here are a few teasers from Vanessa and Mark's e-session this past Sunday. :) Even before the shoot, I was very excited that they had picked a vintage golf theme. It was going to be too cute!









This is what serenading a lady looks like. ;)







Hopefully, those will do for now. :)

Happy Hump Day!

Hair and Makeup - Spencer Malay

Like I said in the previous post, I want to highlight a couple of the vendors that also contributed to Melissa's wedding day. The ladies at Spencer Malay did a fabulous job on the hair and makeup and were so fun to work with! I must admit that lately I've gotten into a bit of a make-up craze, watching hours of tutorials on youtube and spending a good amount of money on all these brushes, etc. lol This is all thanks to one of my gfs who really should go into cosmetology.

It's definitely a skill to get the make-up to look just right. Heather of Spencer Malay did a flawless job.







The finishing touches. What a beautiful color.



A little time to relax with nice reading selection. I guess every salon has to have a variety of magazines for the variety of tastes. ;)



I've always wanted to do a photo like this. Here Melissa is with her maid of honor, Sophia. :) This is my personal fave of all the getting ready shots!

Melissa and Paul Wedding (Teasers).

Melissa and Paul were truly a joy to work with. Even from the get go, when we first met up over some yummy Suno dessert, we really hit it off. I enjoyed hearing about their very unique engagement story that all started off with running a 10k. It has definitely motivated me to run more often... and at least nail a 5k. haha They run the Peachtree road race every year, so maybe next year I can join them! :)

Melissa happens to be a designer. I will have to post photos of the guestbook she designed. It came out beautifully!! She will also be designing her own album, which I am very excited to see how it comes together. Once things slow down a little, I'm also hoping on getting some business cards designed from her as well. ;) You can check out her work here for any of your design needs.

Now for a few teasers from Melissa and Paul's wedding.

A little fun with the girls.





Paul and his groomsmen. His best man was his father and other groomsmen were his brothers. :) It's so sweet to see such a close-knit family.



Their only request. Paul's dad and brothers had taken a photo like at their weddings... looking at the time anxiously waiting, so of course we had to continue passing on the tradition.



This pretty little lady was feeling under the weather, but she was a good sport and still made it through the wedding. :) So adorable.



Beautiful church: Immaculate Heart of Mary



They had a big surprise for all the guests at the wedding... a bagpiper! :)



How cute! They even had a vintage car (Charisma Coach) pull up to take them away to the reception.





Found a quiet spot in the garden of Villa Christina right before the reception to get a few quick shots.



I had such a great time shooting the wedding. The family, bridal party, guests, AND vendors were all such a pleasure to work with! Congratulations Paul and Melissa. Enjoy Hawaii! :)

This week, I think I may do something a little different and highlight a few of the vendors with a set of photos.

Melissa Bridal Session - Georgian Terrace Hotel, Atlanta.

I was having a hard time waiting to post these up! :) I did a bridal shoot with Melissa at the Georgian Terrace Hotel a few weeks back, but I wanted to wait until after the wedding to actually post up the photos. They requested to use some of the photos from this session on their website, so you might be seeing it on there in the near future.

Beautiful bride + beautiful venue is a killer combo. Here are just a few teasers.



Check out the view from the rooftop! I never considered the Atlanta skyline to be that nice, but it looks gorgeous from here!



Love long veils. As you can see from this set I posted... we had a lot of fun with it! :)









More to come this week!

30 Before 30.. the (slow) progress.

Goals are always good to have.  What's up with the slow progress on my 30 before 30?!  With all this traveling, I've begun to lose my grasp on good time management.  In efforts to clean up and rid my life of the things that waste my time and sort out my life in ways that make it more productive for personal growth, I need to remind myself of my short-term and long-term goals.  Some are going to be modified once in a while.  Still working on my 50 before 50 and 100 before I die.

The only goal I made some solid progress on was probably bowling.  lol  Consistently going on Mondays has been pretty helpful.  This is my all-time high.  Not sure if I even care to bump it up higher.  I'm content with just getting over 100 once in a while.  haha

Oooh.  And finally today I'm supposed to sign up at a gym.  It's too hot to be running outdoors.  Maybe we can start taking spin classes?!  Also, I need to find a dance partner!!  Maybe even a good group of people who want to do all these dance classes.  ;)  Let me know!

30 before 30

1. Learn to do an oil change and change out a tire.
2. Second shoot a wedding for someone I admire.
3. Buy a guy flowers (edible creations).
4. Do a photog mission trip.
5. Go to Italy and eat real Italian food.
6. Break 100 in bowling!
7. Run a (half) marathon (after a 5k then 10k lol).
8. Finish the last piano piece I was playing before I quit six-seven years ago.
9. Take a cooking course: http://www.foodnetworkclasses.com
10. Cook a 5 course meal for someone (special).
11. Commit to financially supporting a good cause.
12. Learn to play 5 songs on guitar (at 2.5/5).
13. Learn to throw a football.
14. Be decent enough to hit some balls back and forth in tennis.
15. Take salsa classes (beginner, intermediate).
16. Take swing classes.
17. Take a beginner improv comedy class.
18. Perform at an open mic.
19. Go to Death Valley.
20. Go to Antelope Canyon.
21. Kill a spider (a very small one... maybe more like on a microscopic scale).
22. Get my wedding photography published somewhere awesome.
23. Plant a tree.
24. Take tango classes.
25. Be the best friend, girlfriend, (wife) ever! Better than going on a husband search. :P
26. Skydive.
27. Learn conversational Spanish.
28. Do a photoshoot for a rising actress/singer/group.
29. Go to New Zealand, Australia.
30. Go to Southern Africa (S Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe).