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.  

B is for Baker {Santa Clarita Valencia 91355 Glamour Photographer}

This is Miss B.  She's young, beautiful and has fantastic hair!  We knew we needed to capitalize on those curls as soon as she walked in the door.  

Miss B is a VERY talented baker, too.  She's self-taught and can create just about anything you want - I'm talking full blown ANYTHING.  You name it, she'll make an edible cake version.  

Funny how I start craving a yummy treat the more I think about cake, frosting, etc...back to my post...

I was convinced that she should switch her career to modeling, she was so spot on with everything I told her to do.  This girl is just multi-talented! 
Want more?  Visit the Lora Knight Photography Website or check out her Before & After shot here.

    


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  Miss Information

L & M {Santa Clarita Valencia Engagement Wedding Photographer 91355}

Congrats to this lucky guy!  Aren't they adorable?  This couple was so sweet and fun to photograph.  I love engagement and wedding shoots because it's a chance for me to see how much a couple truly loves each other.  You can just see it in the way they look at one another.  They are just OOZING love, right?

  Their engagement session was a fun little precursor to the BIG day at the Los Angeles Temple in Santa Monica.  Even though it was all at the end of the year, we lucked out on the weather (Southern California, what do you expect?) and not to mention the traffic.  Everything just came together perfectly!  The sunset at the end of the day topped it off and gave us the perfect light to shoot into for that romantic, dreamy look that we all like LOVE. 

 www.LoraKnightPhotography.com

LOVE pt. 2 {Santa Clarita Valencia Portrait Photographer 91355}

As a tribute to Martin Luther King Day, I wanted to highlight a quote of his (Jr.) that really stuck out to me... 

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

-Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

  

Well actually, pretty much everything that came out of Martin Luther King Jr.'s mouth is quite inspirational and motivating, to say the least.  However, I love how this reminds me to always have love in my heart!  I don't consider myself a hateful kind of person, but I know that everyone has their bad days, or weeks, or months!  I love how MLK Jr. contrasts hate and love and the power that they each have in our lives.   

It's easy to get caught up in all of our problems, or to see where our lives lack.  Don't focus on the negative, because that is all that will continue to come your way!  Why waste your energy on something you hate or don't like?  Think of what you have and how much more of a person you can become and what you can do with your life if you just love a little more?  

Illuminate your life with LOVE.  My challenge to you and is to find one way to add a little more love into your day, everyday until Valentine's Day!  I am going to do this and report back on what has changed in my life, but I hope you can too. 

If you have 5 minutes to spare, I recommend you read through some more of MLK Jr's quotes.  He truly was a great man.

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