We Jump for You! :D

We totally want to jump so high to say "Thank you sooo much!!" to all of our wonderful, awesome couples!! So although this is not technically a "Jumping Awkwardly in Front of Impressive Objects" addition, we are so grateful and humbled that we had the opportunity to work with all of you <3, so are totally sticking to tradition :) . 
(And I'm wearing my Porg shirt too bc it's a special occassion XD!)

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Thank you so much again guys, wishing you all the happiness :D!
xoxo,
~ e

Yay Natalie! We are "Miss November"! :D

So stoked for Natalie to have been chosen for one of the months of the Make-A-Wish America's 2017 Calendar!! She's the beautiful star ballerina in the middle :) , who totally rocked her wish btw - which was being able to perform live on a stage in front of all her family and friends!

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She is totally awesome and amazing, and it was an honor to be a small part and get to meet her and watch her dance. I have always admired ballet - for a little while our halau (or hula school) shared a studio with ballerinas, and the discipline shown and the beauty of the dance made it so cool to watch. I often sneaked a peak at their practice while I was running upstairs to mine XD. 

Plus it was really neat I thought to have toe-shoes & tutus and bare-feet & lei all under the same roof :) . 

Kara (my go-to person at Make-A-Wish), you so rock too omg. Thank you so much for allowing me to photograph this special day!!!
And as I say on all of my Make-A-Wish posts, it is so humbling, and always a true joy & honor. 

Blessings,
~ e

 

Aw! Meini & Kevin, Luv You Guys Too!!

Things like this really make my day :).

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Thank you so much Meini & Kevin for the Before-the-Wedding Thank you Card :D! You guys are too sweet omg.
I'm so grateful for all of my amazing couples, who continue to make me totally excited about shooting & honored to be a part of their happiness :).
<3
~ e

Thunderbolt & Lightning! Very, very frightening!!! (Actually mostly just awesome Lol)

So a couple days ago there was a lightning storm over the ocean :O!! 
Caught purely by chance, it was my first time ever trying to shoot lightning wahaha!! It's so unpredictable & crazy fast that I wasn't sure if I would even be able to catch anything in the frame LOL. Luckily, I have the most amazing boyfriend ever <3 so at 12am he drove me to the pier & waited with me in the dark while I propped up my camera on both of our jackets on the railing to shoot :) . 

Manhattan Beach Pier is a great tripod XD

Manhattan Beach Pier is a great tripod XD

Wahaha it went through 2 clouds!!

Wahaha it went through 2 clouds!!

Multi-bolts :)&nbsp;

Multi-bolts :) 

There were also people having bonfires down on the beach, & it was so funny to hear them cheering and yelling "Wow!!!" for the lightning too hehe - it was the best show in town that night, I really gotta say! Mother Nature, u r pretty badass.

\m/,
~ e

"Bals on the Side"

I've never had this option before at an eatery LOL - 

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But I guess if I had the choice that's what I would pick XD. 
Without question.

(PS - the salad was actually amazing: Chicken Curry Salad at The Devil's Teeth in San Francisco. My boyfriend & my bestie's husband had the Special Breakfast sandwich on a biscuit. They do it up right.)

\m/,
e
 

Make-a-Wish* Shoot: Walk for Wishes Fundraising Event :) !

Make-a-Wish* Shoot: Walk for Wishes Fundraising Event :) !

Even the other side of the Force was with us today LOL!! 'Tis the power of wishes :D!

I was so happy and honored to be asked to be one of the volunteer photographers at this year's Walk for Wishes at the Orange County Great Park!
I've been shooting the walks for several years now, and I swear I always receive so much more than I ever can imagine I could ever give when working with these amazing Wish Kids, their families, & Wish Granters :) .  

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Omg Jordan & Jon! Can you both be any cuter?? I really don't know how :D! Engagement Session

Omg Jordan & Jon! Can you both be any cuter?? I really don't know how :D! Engagement Session

I love running around in the hills. Like really love it LOL. So what could possibly make this even better? Running around the hills with an Awesome Couple + Super bloom :D!! Yes!

Jordan & Jon are having a Destination Wedding in Cabo san Lucas next year (I am so super excited to fly over and shoot their wedding btw, Omg), and for their engagement session, they wanted to feature a place very near and dear to their hearts ~ Palos Verdes, where they both have spent much time and also now live :) . 

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Meet "Hedgy"!

Meet "Hedgy", busy keeping the wedding ring safe.

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He is the fuzzy friend of the wonderful sister of the bride (he also loves a good macaron).
Cannot resist the cute XD!!
<3,
~ e

Travis the Super Cool Graffiti Artist Tags for Our Shoot!

This was Totally a first for me!

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I was out shooting with Elise & Kristopher (one of my awesome couples :) in Venice, CA for their engagement session when we met Travis, who was working away on one of the public walls by the skatepark.
I had no idea btw that there were legal public spaces available to anyone who wants to create graffiti art!

Here's a link to learn more!

http://venice311.org/venice-beach-park/venice-public-art-graffiti-walls/

I've always loved & supported street art so this is pretty darn cool if I do say so :D.

We struck up a conversation with him, and the next thing we know, he's tagging their last name on a wall so we can take some shots with it!
LOL Travis, you totally made our day - you seriously rock \m/ .

Travis, you are shirtless &amp; also awesome XD! Here he is tagging their name on the wall!

Travis, you are shirtless & also awesome XD! Here he is tagging their name on the wall!

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The situation was very serendipitous, as we had scheduled this mini shoot due to the fact that a couple weeks ago we had to end our session a little early due to really crazy, unexpected, high winds - LOL as you can see from the image below!

This day though, ended with a beautiful sunset :) . 

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Elise & Kris, I had a blast shooting with you both and cannot wait for your wedding next month :D!!
Stay cool,
~ e :) 

Shaka Selfies for All :D!

LOL!! We love it when our couples and their families ask us to take selfies with them XD !! 

From the mehndi, to the beautiful day of their Nikkah (gorgeous weather, shooting by the sea), and then on the day of the Walima (when we shot both in downtown Long Beach and by the super cool lighthouse by the shore! :) , we had a blast and such a warm welcome from them and from their loved ones.

Congratulations again guys!!! I can't wait to start editing!
Spread that Aloha! :) 
~ e
 

Natalie's Wish

Natalie's wish was to be a ballerina - so Make-A-Wish teamed up with Subaru USA to make it happen :) !  After a red carpet welcome and a few rehearsals, she danced on stage at the beautiful Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles in front of a crowd of family and friends, alongside three amazing professional dancers. She was absolutely perfect. Rock that tutu, girl :D !!

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It is always an honor and a joy to work with these wonderful people and all of the incredible wish kids! The experience is amazing and very humbling at the same time - and I always feel like I am gifted so much more from it than I give.

This is just one of my favorite shots of the day.

Much love, 
~ e

#7 - Jump the Record-Setting Snow In Mammoth! (aka We Got Snowed In!!)

"Jumping Awkwardly In Front of Impressive Objects Until I'm 80"

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"So. Although I don't take a lot of photos of people jumping, I started this collection a couple years back and am going to continue to do this until I'm 80 - so eventually there is going to be an 80-year-old woman jumping. 
Not sure why, but that never stopped me before anyways Lol!"

Wow! I have never seen so much snow in Mammoth, not even from way back in the day when I used to go skiing with my folks. It was sooo pretty, but not very good for driving in Lol - Hwy 395 was completely closed for 2 days! But we got really, really good at digging out cars from the snowbanks and putting on chains XD! And what about the bread at Erik Schat's on the way back in Bishop, eh? Yay! 

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We also made a Snow Chicken! He lives in a snow cave LOL.

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Powder for DAYS!!!

Stay warm :) , 
~ e

Best Pen Ever!! :D

Who wouldn't want to write with a little tuna roll?? All we had to do to win you was to eat 15 plates of sushi LOL! 

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My boyfriend took me to Kula Revolving Sushi Bar in Torrance, and I was very pleasantly impressed! Just the fact that I get to watch food revolve all around me pretty much makes it for me X) , but much of the sushi is quite tasty for the price (although our go-to in LA is still Sugarfish of course :), and there is also a really cool secondary conveyor belt: it's right alongside the regular one and delivers any made-to-order food right to your table! I want to go back and take a video of this, since right before your plate leaves the kitchen on the belt, you hear a "Ding-Dong!" doorbell sound lol! 

Cannot resist the cute!!
~ e