my birthday, and madeleine l'engle's------------

i am twenty two today!
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
22

madeleine l'engle was also born on november 29th, which is one of my favorite things about the day since she's my favorite author. she was my favorite even before i found out we shared our birthday.... so now i'm convinced that we're soulmates.

in celebration of today, here are some things that i think are rad.

my typewriter
which also represents vintage shops. love them.

the green-tape measuring wall in my apartment. which also represents my roommates. madison and i are the tall ones (5'10"), danika and ro are not-so-tall (5'3" maybe?) this is a completely accurate measuring. crazy, huh! i love these girls!!

me and all my tape in my art studio at school (last year). i like green tape, yellow drywall tape (go to home depot and buy some--- it has the coolest texture!), masking tape, skinny masking tape, all tape! it's my favorite! and!!!!!! this photo also represents my favorite item of clothing: my griffith observatory haley's comet shirt from 1986, the year i was born. i love planetariums. i love this shirt. and art.

so, i've been doing fun shannon-things today, like drinking a lot of coffee and going to yoga and going grocery shopping and hanging out with my family and friends. it's awesome to have my birthday on a holiday weekend! woooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a highlight from this morning: coming home from my yoga class to the BEST breakfast ever made by my family. i think they bought out the entire trader joes. >>>>>>>>> scones, berries, coffee, juice, eggs, muffins, more berries, more fruit, amazingness, love, joy, happiness............

ahh! it was the best. and then my mom, sister, grandma and i went shopping at Whole Foods: the disneyland of grocery stores. a perfect day! and it's not even done! and of course, the 30 messages on facebook have been fun, and the phone calls have totally made my day! thank you, so much, for making today lovely, everyone. :)


22! yes!!
shannon

my family, part 2

last semester in photography class i did a project about my family. i took pictures of each person, and here are some of the final choices. if you're interested in the first round, click here!

dad

mama

me, taken by heather

by jason

ry

jay

carson

heather

and here we are at disneyland a few days ago---

i hope your thanksgiving was great!
enjoy today :)
shannon

thankful for the world

i spent the day with my family today, loved every minute of it, and am thankful for life, just as it is right now.

here are some photos that have absolutely nothing to do with thanksgiving or my family, but they're some more from the rolls of film i finally developed from my holga.

this motel is the best phenomenon in la mirada. its so cute.

megan and jason's engagement session from forever ago! isn't that light-leak amazing? it's kind of heart-like. kind of speech-bubble like. kind of magical.

trip to arizona with den!

have a great great night everyone :)

happy happy thanksgiving.
{{{my favorite food items are the cranberry sauce, the pumpkin pie, and the post-dinner coffee. yours?}}}

Ange!!!

Ange is graduating in a month, and wanted some fun graduation photos. When i found out she was a coffee person I knew I'd love her, and when she told me she wanted to take her photos in a vintagey place, i knew i'd love her (Old Town Orange! of course!), and when she told me she had a vision of riding a bike in her cap and gown i knew this was going to be perfect.
FIREY! love it!!

okay, isn't she gorgeous?
Ange's friend Amy (get a blog! so i can link to it!) came along and was the world's best cheerleader/stylist/idea-giver EVER! what a rocker. her energy was awesome.
i think we just laughed for two hours straight on this photoshoot.
fun things happened, like coming across this dog and borrowing it
here's The Vision Photo--- inspired by the film Mona Lisa Smile! I think it's absolutely perfect. THE VISION! THE VISION!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay, can all graduates please be this cute and excited and tall and lovely?
this shoot was SO FUN!!

ange. you rule.
shannon

more holga photos, finally

some of these photos were taken a year ago.

the roll of film rolled around my car for a year, and i finally got it developed yesterday.

oh, film.
oh, neglect.
oh, the things you can do when you have less homework because of thanksgiving break.

so!
here are the results.
it was like Christmas.
i forgot i even took these!
it was so fun to get them back.
remember the days of going to Sav-On back when it was Sav-On and getting film developed? did you know one of my first jobs was working in the 1-hr. photo at Sav-On? Well it was, and here are my holga photos from forever ago-

woah mama is all i have to say about this one.

a magical triangle at a really cute yellow motel

the porch, and apparently a big light leak

during a carwash, one of my favorite detox pastimes

morning in tropicana, which i love

and, more tomorrow!
thank you world, for existing

-------------------------------------- shannon

ryan at the rainbow

my brother Ryan makes awesome music, and he played at the Rainbow in LA last weekend. the whole family, including grandma and grandpa, trekked up there to see him, and it was a blast.

rocker!

my sis and i, hearts instead of x's were fun

heather and her buds

my grandma and grandpa! i love them!!

guys, weren't we supposed to be tough in this one?

ry, you played fantastically, even though you felt like you were going to faint the entire time and even though the rainbow is the most awkward place, ever. i'm so proud of you.

ps, jason, jason's roommate, and i went to canters afterward, and saw the fruit stand guy from Flight of the Conchords! that episode is 1 of 3 that i've seen! rad!!


GREAT JOB RY!
shan

i need your restaurant advice!

guys.
i need your help! leave me a comment if you have ideas.

all my favorite restaurants seem to shut down right when i start loving them. ie: Nova Express, T on Fairfax, and the Whisper Lounge (didn't shut down... but changed COMPLETELY!).

I love restaurants that give you a great experience.
• Nova was space-themed
• T on Fairfax made you feel like you were in Europe
• the Whisper Lounge had live piano and great lighting


and all of them had absolutely delicious food!
Nova: gourmet pizza with honey wheat crust
T on Fairfax: organic, amazingly fresh salads and sandwiches
Whisper Lounge: this special raviolli with burnt sage and brown sugar. believe me. life changer!!


I've figured out that looking online for new restaurants doesn't work.
it just brings up boring places that pay to be on the A-lists.

and i dont want A-list places that i can find on citysearch.com
i need hole in the wall places that no one knows about
places that only you know about
places where the owner knows you
places where everything is magical.


the stakes are high.

but!
we can do this.


they need to be in LA/Orange County
specifically: Old Town Orange, Fullerton, Pasadena, West Hollywood.....

leave a comment with your brilliance!
- shannon

Kiekers.

And you thought I was excited photographing fake birds?

This photoshoot melted my heart.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I miraculously got this shot today while doing a family session, and I think I want to frame it.

The bird's name, is Kiekers.
She's a lovebird.


I'll show you her owner and the rest of the family tomorrow, because I'm slowly drifting right now.

love!!
shannon

Tree Clock!

i started typing:
I HATE TYPICAL, BORING SOUVENIRS THAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS
and then thought that might be a bit heavy-handed.

how about this:
to remember a trip, i prefer finding items that are unique

it was difficult to find something unique in Malawi because all they seemed to make was wooden animals. Wooden hippos, wooden elephants, wooden zebra, wooden giraffes, wooden everything.

My trip didn't include animals at all--- in fact, the one time we went to see baboons at a baboon park, we saw ZERO BABOONS. So, buying a wooden zebra for a few dollars to remember my experience in Malawi didn't seem right. Especially since all it would do is collect dust on my desk because I rarely dust. Even though I have asthma, and probably SHOULD dust, to shield myself from sneezing more than I already do.

Anyway.

For 3 weeks I searched for something unique, something that would speak to me. I wanted something that I totally loved. Not just a set of wooden elephant coasters.

One day, I saw a guy who made clocks. Unfortunately they all had animals dancing around them, or African women with jugs of water on their heads. I saw the stack of clocks and PRAYED THERE WOULD BE ONE WITH A TREE! A BONSAI TREE! PLEASE!

No tree clock.

I initially gave up and walked away, disappointed at the selection and the lack of creativity I was seeing. Especially since I hadn't even seen ONE REAL ANIMAL! AHHHH!!!

I saw one of the vendors hand-carving some...animals... and got the idea to see if he could hand-carve my tree clock.

THE ANSWER WAS YES!

We looked across the street together at a huge tree with red flowers, I drew a quick sketch on a piece of paper, and he said to come back in a week.

and i did, and i got this.
hand carved by this man's brother, Frank.

praise, the, Lord, for an absolutely un-boring, un-lame souvenir.

WHEW!

MaeMae Paperie: the best stationary ever

I need to tell you about my favorite stationary business: MaeMae Paperie. Megan Gonzalez custom designs stationary that is absolutely amazing. She is a true artist, an amazing graphic designer, and the sweetest girl you'll ever meet. I shot her wedding last summer, I was in lots of we were in design classes together, and she truly has a heart of gold. If you need beautiful stationary for anything in life: hire Megan!

Here's a few of her pieces:

If you need stationary or announcements or invitations for anything, Megan will do an increible job!

this is her information:
Megan Gonzalez
maemaepaperie.com
megan@maemaepaperie.com


cheers!
- shannon

photoboothMANIA

blythe and i at sarah and jason's amazing rainy wedding:

we were the testers for Michael---- with photoboothmania

Now let me tell you about Blythe.

Blythe, who I call Blx, is a dear, dear, amazingly lovely friend of mine, who I am so lucky to have as the second shooter at most of my weddings. She is an amazing assistant, an amazing friend, and she and I get to do things like test out the photobooth for the photobooth guy.... and eat cake together at the end of the night.

She deals with all my crazy ideas--- like taking the bride's dress on little adventures all over the place to get perfect shots of it, she does errands for me when I do things like FORGET BATTERIES, she gets us coffee and snacks, because I get hungry often and I am addicted to coffee, she adds such life and SPICE to the day, and everyone loves her, I've even had brides say, "are you bringing BLYTHE to my wedding?".

And in the midst of helping me stay sane, she ALSO manages to get amazing shots!! I'd also like to take this opportunity to talk about the time that I totalled my car on the way to an event I was photographing----- that's where I got the scar above my left eyebrow that you might be able to see in the photos above---- and of course, my BlytheSaver, saved me, and photographed the ENTIRE thing by herself while I was at the emergency room getting dermabond (ie: glue) on my wound, and recovering from getting completely rear-ended by crazy people who apparently 'didn't see me'.

SO!

Blythe, you rule.

i love you so much.

and thanks for these amazing PHOTOBOOTHMANIA pictures that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

a ceiling and a door-----

in Malawi they use what they have.

they do not waste,
they are creative,
they are inventive,
and i love it.

a few more from the amazing Samuel

here's a few more from the shoot yesterday--------

if you haven't already, check out Samuel's blog to look at photos from his life in Long Beach.

changing it up: photoshoot of----------me

I just had one of the most fun days of my life, I think.

I needed some new photos of myself.
The one at the top of this blog in that grey vest is more than a year old... and I needed some SPICE!

My friend Samuel Lippke did a photoshoot of me today, and I left the shoot absolutely glowing. It rocked my world in so many ways.

• first of all, know that i went into the shoot feeling completely nervous because i didn't like my bangs. i know. lame. but----

• the stylist Ann was incredible and did exactly, perfectly what i envisioned and made the bangs look normal, even though they have a random 1" piece underneath that was a mistake.

• Samuel had me climbing on top of buildings and standing on little skinny railings for some of the shots and i felt like i was a model. because that's what models do. right?

• i loved having someone else come up with ideas. so freeing!

• we did them in long beach and Samuel found the coolest locations---- loved it.

• Samuel climbed on top of a basketball hoop to get some of the photos. hello, rockstar! please go hire him instead of me: samuellippke.com

the rest of the photos will come later---
but for now here are a few of the polaroids he took:

I'd also like to thank Taylor, amazing Nordstrom girl,
and the Open Sesame owner, who gave me free pita and tabouleh at his restaurant after the shoot.


Today ruled. :)

Shan

polaroids of a field

i think i might have posted these before, but i love them, and wanted to show them to you.


enjoy today :)
shannon

2 random Africa photos that I really like-

Candice and her pet

this little chicken was a gift to Candice from the woman on the left.

unfortunately, Candice saw the gift as a PET, whereas they meant for it to be dinner. so Michelle and Kyle took it from her

wowey.
shannon

at a restaurant for lunch,

frank, our miracle-worker, hilarious, talented driver.luke, an avid artist who hates trendy glasses

me!the place.

the bathrooms in Malawi

if only we could do such glorious things with dried grass.




- shan

red and blue

Breakfast in Malawi

tea, honey, peanut butter, jam, bread and bananas if we were lucky.
every morning, it was one of my favorite times.

:)
Shan

guest blogger: my amazing grandma

Hello to you all. :)
hello hello.

today, i'd like to share some insight and beauty from my Grandma.

she's given me permission to share all of this with you.

I get these incredible emails from her every few weeks that say "4 pictures for you"... "11 pictures for you"... and they always have a little shimmer of beauty in them. Most of the time the photos have a funny little quirk, most of the time the average person wouldn't have noticed what my Grandma notices... and I have realized that I get a lot of my vision from her. I never really knew it until she started sending me these photo-email-gifts... but I really can see my seeing-DNA in the way that my Grandma Marilyn sees the world. She sees things uniquely, and I love that.

Her and my Grandpa Alf travel all over Canada in an a 5th wheel RV. I'm in awe of their ability to be constant-campers. I could never do it. (shhhhhhh: i like hotels better)

her caption for this was: "my new car..... I WISH"

here she is with the most amazing bushes ever,and this is my grandpa cleaning the 5th wheel!

Here's her explanation to me about the next series, entitled: My friends - the hay bales.

"I noticed them the first day we went to the farm.
We had been in a very noisy, busy camping situation.

If I looked out my window I saw chubby ladies taking chubby dogs (with hair bows) for potty walks. Kids on bikes flew through the camp, old guys with walkers or canes tottered by - up and back up and back - and cars or trucks went by and threw up the dust all day.

It was so relaxing to go to the farm and the only thing were the hay bales. I liked them immediately - they were quiet and stately. I began noticing that they changed personalities with the time of day or weather."

enjoy----------------------------

how incredible is this?

let's all move to Canada.
ha, the day before the election.


thanks Grandma, for these great photos.
i love them.
-----shannon
who, in case you didn't know.... is A DUAL CITIZEN!

Sarah and Jason!! ::: LA wedding photography

it's time for the largest post i've ever made. this wedding was epic, amazing, touching, and beautiful... and I can honestly say I will never forget it. Sarah and Jason are two incredible people, and their wedding celebrated of the beginning of their life together perfectly.
They were married at William Carey International University, and I loved all the details that they thought of, ie: this amazing sign that Sarah's dad MADE!

she, is stunningly gorgeous.

and Jason? hilarious,

and equally as handsome and sharp. he looked GOOD!

i've never had someone come up with this idea. girls, you revolutionized my idea of a bridesmaid's photo. seriously

i have ALSO never had this many people in a bridal party! ever!! this was such a fun group. you guys were awesome.

Sarah's family------------

and Jason's-----------------

Now. One minor setback: it started to completely rain ten minutes before the ceremony was supposed to begin. let me tell you--------- I was floored at the way everyone pitched in to help this wedding happen. 300 guests moved the entire wedding inside, and then moved it outside again when the skies cleared up.

the rain seemed to somehow add a richness to the day. the ceremony was so special and full of meaning.

i love this moment,

shining and beautiful

isn't this one fun?

ha, the adorable ring bearer.

and here they go :)i think sparkler getaways are the best. The Best.

wow.

wow wow and wow.
thank you, sarah and jason, for everything.

wow!
love to you,
shannon

the nest

ro and i like birds,
and sometimes we like to pretend we ARE birds,
by creating a nest in the living room with blankets.
and then we like to watch You've Got Mail.
myyyyyyyy my my i love meg ryan's hair.
and then we like to take polaroids of ourself
to remember the good times,
because its not every day you get to sleep in a nest.
you know?

standing on a church roof. eeps

One of the things that we did on our weekend breaks in Malawi was walk to this local church to climb on the roof and hang out. It blew my mind what was legal in Malawi that would never, ever be allowed here.

on our way up, Danika and I pretended to be giraffes.

Here's Luke and Danika, our LEADERS!

and then to continue with the Danika theme, here's Danika and I on top of the church, praying silently that we wouldn't fall off while taking this photo.

i was way too scared to go all the way to the other side (walking on that metal thing), so I stayed on the side of safety instead of death, pretending that 'I'm getting some photos of you guys! sorry, but i can't come over there right now.'

yes, i'm semi-afraid of heights,
Shannon