Friday, March 28, 2008

I'm having a sale!

i'm keeping this post at the top. look below for more love

Click here to email me and reserve your spot! my email is shannon@shannonleith.com

My packages include prints and usually start at $300, but for the next 5 days they'll only be $150.

Rock on, and I can't wait to hear from you!
Shannon

bedazz////// clothespin and bottle /////////

here's a few more pieces from my 10 experiments in 2 hours project

this one's called terror-stricken
and in this one i cut up all the words from this list of feeling-words (all feelings revolving around fear), strung them together with thread, and put them in this bottle.
when you take the string out of the bottle
its like a clothesline of words
but the words are all things like
agitated, ill-at-ease, fearful, overwhelmed...

so yeah,
shannon

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Lindsey's senior photo love

Lindsey is officially the best dancer I know.
and Linds, I'm not just saying that to make you feel good.
You are so good.
and you have been good since the day I met you.
I don't know anyone else who can look beautiful, fun, and COOL dancing in the middle of the sidewalk of their school.
We did these at Chapman University last weekend, and had such a blast coming up with ways to do non-lame senior photos.
she just DOES THIS!
wow wow wow wow wow wow
even though linds is a pretty spunky girl (did i really just say spunky?), i love this one of her too.
ha, but here we are laughing again.
can't help it!
and, dancing again!
i think this photoshoot embedded into my soul the fact that I cant cant cant dance. i just, can't. i decided i'm going to let linds do all the dancing in life, because she just rules
!
just so people don't get too jealous, i'm going to put in a few in-the-middle moments that i really like. well, you still might get jealous since she looks stunning in the outtakes too.....
whaddya know, dance dance dance
she changed outfits into this fabulous dress.
she named it her Kelly Kapawski dress,
which made me so happy
hello, model
heee
outfit change #3!she jumped right in, like it was no prob
linds, YOU, my dear are the most.
...yes that sentence is done

i have no idea how she's going to choose which ONE to send out to the grandparents and cousins and everybody...

but hey!
we had such a blast.

love ya, girl!
shan

oh HELLO--- and to go with the theme of reporting on the food situation of the photoshoot, we had Rutabegorz beforehand, complete with berry pie a-la-mode.

yes.

yes.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

bedazz ////////polaroids//////////

this series kind of happened on a whim, which i love.
i didn't know what to do for this one assignment in my design class, so i decided to raid my bins of collections and treasures {for anyone who isn't me: my junk bins} and just make something. anything.

these are the parameters i created for myself >>
• make ten things
• each must be made in fifteen minutes
• only use found items from the bins
• bedazzle
• incorporate feeling words from those feeling charts "today i feel:"
• listen to the same song over and over
['it's you i like' by mr.rogers, but by donny]

here are three of the 15 minute bedazzlers.
what do you think?
and, do you want more explanation, or do you just like looking?

do you mind taking 15 seconds to answer?
rock it,
shan

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Sun from Shadow concert at the Vault

in other words:
my rockstar brothers did another concert.

wooo!
i'm their fan!

and i show my love to them via photographs.

listen to them here! they're incredible. and they're all magically only in high school.


this is one of my highlight photos from the night. i love it love it love it. thank you to the lighting crew for creating beautiful light for me to photograph inrockin, clearly.Logan, rocking
Hayden on the drumsit was landon's first show with the band, and he did great
oooo- one of the highlights for me was when Carson busted out his bow and played his guitar with it. talent!
i think my fave is this gem:
Jason melted my heart by wearing this amazing neon shirteh?
a fun little series right here


look at this rad one! it just came like this. it will probably never be able to happen again without using photoshop. but not tonight folks. tonight its yellow allll on its ownSun from Shadow SURE has a lot of screaming girl fans...
it was the venue's last night, and somehow that meant everyone got to parade the stage during the last songit was riot-like, and very very fun
\my brother! cars, you're the best.
simba
me and my million of brothers afterwardsMaryKate I'm their #1 Fan Reynolds

go listen to at least one of their songs. (here!)
your soul will be enhanced.
shannon

Friday, March 21, 2008

Jacquelyn and Matt's Engagement session

Jacquelyn and Matt.
first of all, they raised the bar by calling 15 minutes before our session and asking what kind of ice cream i wanted from baskin robbins. this is unprecedented! who does that!!

second of all, jacquelyn had the cutest (funkiest......) dress ever. i love brightness and color and pattern and dresses.

thirdly! they have the best story. matt was a west point cadet representative visiting Jacquelyn's high school EIGHT YEARS AGO! she got his number, they've been friends ever since, and now they're getting married.

fourth, they have described their wedding as the BEST WEDDING EVER! and i'm so happy to get to see it.

this first series shows the many many many sides of them i got to experience in the span of an hour,
and i think the laughing side was at the forefront. they (we) all laughed for the entire time. it was the best.
rad dress, eh?
more laughing..........
i forgot to say where we are! we did these at the Fullerton Arboretum. They wanted lots of green and nature, so I thought this place would be perfect.
so can you guys do any tricks?
matt! your vision!
i LOVE this one of them.
so real and fun and happy.
their photos seemed to work well in series'.
i literally couldn't choose! so here they all are:
DRAMA LIGHT
pretty light
!
see? another series. they just had so many unique looks in the span of 30 seconds. and thats why i'm posting 20 photos on this blog entry. i can't choose.
thanks for the icecream matt and jacquelyn :)
and thanks for being awesome.
shannon

Thursday, March 20, 2008

my spiritual space

this is one of those posts where i feel like i want to write a novel, but i'm going to have to take a deep breath and just have these few words and few images suffice for something that has a lot of layers for me.

in 3D design class, we had to make a maquette of an experimental prayer chapel: a chapel that pushes the traditional boundaries of how we think about spiritual space.

usually projects take me forever to start (I'm too analytical, too full of doubt, too scared).... but as my professor explained our assignment the first day, this image just came to me.
so i went with it.
I went with my impulse and made this dome; a space to just be.
...and now i'm in love with everything miniature.
these photos are kind of weirdly grey looking
but i'm too tired to fix it right now
and probably 99% of you didnt notice
maybe.
wood, plaster, lots of power tools, and a balloon covered with cheesecloth and glue. and fake grass. and fake people.
you lay inside of it
its like a live planetarium
A HILL
A TREE
a pink suited woman making the pilgrimage
its like a Science Bible AND Art project.


take some time today to just be
thats my own advice to my own busy self.
shannon

Sunday, March 16, 2008

the Hutchinsons!

i have always been a big big fan of the Hutchinson family.
BIG!
i love these four!
Parker, soon to be surfer, HutchinsonJack, who cracks me up SO much.
moves. he's got some moves.
these next hundred photos are the
epitome of what i love in the world.
people having fun together, not caring, rockin out, and loving life
please notice jack's awareness of the camera
and his comfortability with being hilariousyes.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Megan and Adam, most fun, most in love parents on the planet
and hippest
oh, so Megan needed some photos for her new book (woooooo!!) that's coming out, so here are a few ultra-hot ones of just her.
laughing: always allowed during my photo sessionsoutfit change! and, breathe.

i'm having trouble ending this post because i feel like i want to write you a novel on Why The Hutchinsons Are Awesome, but dinner is calling me and so is the woodshop.

i'm excited to show my latest art projects soon. they're coming! they're coming! and they're in a totally different realm than photos. think: wood, plaster, lots of paper, AND MORE.

love!
shannon

Annie and Drew's at Rancho Las Lomas::: Orange County wedding photography

Drew and Annie's wedding was absolutely beautiful.
The whole day.
Everything from their choice of going simple and wearing Rainbows to seeing 300 of their friends and family SO excited for thier marriage was just- beautiful.
It was a really fun opportunity for me to photograph a wedding at Rancho Las Lomas... because a few years ago I catered a wedding there! This time I got to do what I love!

note! to all the Saddleback friends I saw at this wedding:
HI! It was so fun to see you!

Here's Annie's gorgeous dress. If you read my blog regularily, you know. I love love love lace.
and you also know... i love love LOVE brides who are chilled out and totally themselves on their wedding day. Both Annie and Drew (and the whole wedding party!) wore Rainbow sandals! love it.
here is our totally gorgeous, totally shining bride.
Annie! you're officially amazing.
i love this one
and here's her man, the wonderful Drew Petersen:
turns out we were able to color coordinate with the wall
these girls were such a blast:Annie and Drew and I got to go off and take photos for a while before the wedding. It was so fun! A little adventure through the orange grove was first.
There's this little cafe at Rancho Las Lomas that was great for photos
!
one of my favorites.
Annie and her 4 flower girls!
aww, and here's little Aubrey, Drew's niece. How CUTE is she!
as I was editing these photos I literally had some tears while looking through this section. this is why i love weddings, times like this with the bride and her dad---
and times like this, SO happy right after the ceremony!
and! this is possibly my favorite from the day
later in the evening we went to the orange grove again, when the light was a bit better (ha!)
they had some rad lighting at the reception:
and a fun first dance:
and--- this is possibly the best mother/son moment ever.
i usually don't post bouquet and garter photos, but these are pretty incredible i think:

and there we have it!
congratulations Annie and Drew!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Jessica and John's wedding at Wayfarers Chapel

I felt so lucky to get the opportunity to shoot John and Jessica's wedding at the famous Wayfarers Chapel. It's glass! Talk about great natural light...!

Jessica saw the location a long time ago and told herself she'd get married there one day, and it was so fun to watch her dream happen, with her dream man.

I think brides who wear flats are genius.
getting ready. i love these
Jessica my dear, you are one beautiful woman.
and John! here he is, lookin sharp.
John and Jessica saw each other before their wedding, which made the day so fun and easy going. I love when couples do this!these first moments of them seeing
each other are some of my favorites, ever
!!
i like black and white today,
Heather was one of my assistants for the day, and she got this awesome awesome awesome shot of Jessica right before she walked down the aisle.
And here's Jessica and her dad
can we all stop and marvel at how beautiful this is?
Heather got this one of me...
yup, i wear a nerdy little vest to weddings.
i kind of couldn't get enough of the chapel, and of jess and john, so we came back after the ceremony for more photos,
and then it was off to the reception!
sweet first dance.
and some more rockin, rockin dancing happened
now, this is one of the BEST views of the bouquet toss I've ever seen, taken by the lovely Megan Svensson who also assisted me for the day
Megan got this one too, and it made me want to refer all future brides to her since she's so brilliant. I love love LOVE this shot. everything about it.
Rachel and Jenny!
a big big congratulations to the new Goulet's! you guys are the best.
love to all,
shannon leith

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

urgent news. Nova is closing.

some of the saddest news of my semester:
Nova Express is closing.

My favorite, favorite, favorite restaurant of all time.
It's space themed. It's incredible.
I've blogged about it before. click here for the post.

Tonight is the last night it's open!
so me and some friends are going to go say farewell and cry and wish them the best. come if you want. i'm inviting you. (is this creepy?)

i tell everyone in my life about this place, so I just wanted to warn you all so that you don't go there in the future and get mad that I never told you.


sigh.
Shannon