A Chuck Kinda Wedding {Santa Clarita Valencia 91355 Wedding Photographer}

Meet M & C.  Talk about an awesome couple.  M is obviously beautiful but also super sweet and a talented hair and makeup artist!  That's what I call a triple-threat!  C is totally laid back and real.  And together they are all smiles!  I loved how they couldn't help but laugh with each other whenever they were together.

These were taken at a beach in Carlsbad, Ca...Thanksgiving weekend (can you guess what I was thankful for???).  Perfect weather?  Check.  Beautiful surroundings?  Check.  Adorable couple?  Check.  Easy peasy.   

Next, of course, came the BIG day.  I'm such a sucker for black & white weddings and once I finished processing these I couldn't help but LOVE every single one in b&w.

The Wedding & Reception was held at a beautiful Golf Resort in Carlsbad.  The girls got ready in the Bridal Suite and the guys did their own thing in, well, the guy's room.  The thing I loved about this wedding was that everyone in the Bridal Party had a pair of Chucks.  Each with their name embroidered on the back.  LOVE it!  

Did I mention that day turned out to be one of the coldest days of the year?  Yikes!  Everyone was freezing but put up with the cold so that I could get some shots of everyone together.

 

 They had a classic big white tent for their Reception.  Simple yet elegant.  I loved the giant lanterns, and the Bride & Groom Cake Pops were just darling.

They had one table dedicated to the kids at the reception.  It was decked out with candy and all kinds of fun treats and toys.  One of the things they got in their swag bags were temporary tattoo sleeves to match the Groom.  Once they got them on they couldn't wait to show C and get a picture taken.  Aren't they adorable???

Alas, it was finally time for the newlyweds to call it a night.  I just love weddings and was thrilled to be part of theirs!  

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Make it work! {Santa Clarita Valencia 91355 Portrait Photographer}

Being a natural light photographer, I do what I can to avoid artificial light if possible.  In MY perfect world the sun would stay just above the horizon and I'd have gorgeous light alllllll day long.  Lovely.  Clearly that's just not reality and sometimes when you are having so much fun photographing your beautiful sisters you don't want to stop....even if the sun decides to call it quits on your photo shoot!  

So where did we go?  The mater bathroom!  Granted, this bathroom was huge and beautiful and clean : )  Lights, camera, action!  We grabbed a couch cushion and away we went.  One lace-y top.  One setup.  Two beauties.  I think we made it work quite well, don't you think?  In cases like these it's best to open the aperture (f/stop) of the camera as wide as you can.  In other words, the lower the number, the better!  This will help blur your background and allow you to shoot in areas that you don't want to showcase.

I love these girls.  They let me do whatever I thought we needed to do, even when it came to laying on the bathroom floor!  Make it work!  You can do it!

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy New Year!  I have memories of celebrating this holiday pretty regularly growing up, being that I am half Chinese.  My mom always had friends that threw a party with lots of food and people.  Not crazy exciting for me as a kid at the time.  But my brothers and I always went willingly.  Why, you may ask?  Everyone gives each other red envelopes filled with LUCKY MONEY.  Yup.  Every time I saw one of those red puppies I knew it could only be good.  Even if it was a dollar.  But more often than not it was a lot more than a dollar.  How cool is that?  I think the U.S. needs to start a holiday like that one.  Or multiple holidays like that one.  You really can't go wrong.....

 And since we are somewhat on the subject of my mom, I really think I'm going to have posts exclusively geared towards her somehow each week.  She's hilarious, has more energy than my 3 year old, always has advice to give, and can talk to anyone anywhere.  She's awesome and needs to be heard out here in cyberspace!!!  Plus this lady can cook!  I'm pretty sure she's gonna take this blog to a whole new level : )  

Oh and here's my daughter.  She's turning into quite the model.  This was all my mom's idea, mind you.  However, when I was trying to coach her on how to pose she said, "Mom!  I will do it by myself!"  So, there you have it.



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Sick Baby??? You need a Snotsucker.

Sick babies.  Anyone who's had a kid has had a sick baby.  It's miserable.  You do everything you can for them but in the end you know they still feel terrible.  My little guy (7.5 months) caught a nasty cold and cough this last weekend.  So sad : (  

I've tried nasal aspirators with my daughter and son in the past.  It's probably worked well 1 out of the 10 times I tried.  Plus I feel like I am hurting them more than helping them.  Well, my good friend told me about this product she wanted and once I understood how it worked, I was convinced that this was one of the simplest yet best baby tools that I have come across:

You can look at the Fridababy website here and see their other products, which I think are great, but just haven't tried yet.  I got mine from Buy Buy Baby in town, but you can order it online from them here.  They have it for $15.99 but I used a 20% off coupon and got it for a bit cheaper.  Either way, it's totally worth the money!

It probaby looks weird and sounds weird to suck out your babies snot, but it is so much easier and works like a charm!  I don't feel like I'm invading or hurting my baby and it's amazing how much I actually got out of his little nose. 

It was kind of fun?  Ha.  Strange, yes, but so cool!  I am such a fan.
Hopefully your little person isn't sick, but if they are or if you know someone who is, GET THIS FOR THEM!  It's heaven sent.