Courtney & Woody's engagement session!

Courtney and Woody spent lots of time at It's A Grind while they were dating, so that's where we started thier session. Their engagement photos were really exciting for me to create because they told me they hardly have any photos of their journey as a couple.... so they're looking forward to having these images.

That being said, they also began our time declaring their nervousness about being photographed, which happens essentially every time.... so to new clients: DONT WORRY! look at how natural and free Courtney and Woody look in these, and be inspired. :)

I approach the delicate task of photographing people with a realization that having your photo taken is not normal. It's not NORMAL to have someone follow you around for an hour or two, telling you where to go and which light is the best to play in, and to "GET CLOSER!" (my trademark.) and to "LAUGH!" (also a favorite of mine!).

So, I'm aware that photographs can be awkward, but I love the challenge of making it as un-awkward as possible, as FUN as possible... and usually by the end of the session people say "that was it?" "that wasn't as hard as i thought!"

and this was literally our first image.
they're insta-pros.

after It's A Grind we went to a secret place in Fullerton----

i love these two!

be encouraged.
it doesnt have to be awkward.
:)
shan

Jen & Jon::::::::::::: the Farmer's Market in LA

Jen and Jon chose to do their engagement session at the Farmer's Market because they LOVE FOOD!!! which totally warmed my heart because I do too, and I love that they love to do things together like cook and eat and go wine tasting. :) thats the best.

we started things off on a good note with FUNNEL CAKE!

i'm breathless over the next three

and here's the polaroid!
haa! i'm laughing by myself right now as i type this. jon totally cracked me up when he pulled out the RV Trader and tried to convince Jen that they should live in an RV when they get married,
and here they are, just spinnin....
thank you anthro for the best window displays, ever:

we ate dinner across the street at Tart. Both Jen and I wanted to go there when we saw it------- because it's so fun looking! It looks like one of those fun organic LA places, right? wrong! southern food. fried southern food. with a fancy wine menu. who knew.

ahh! one of my favorites!
here we are in TART! :)
(hey, at least they have the best outside wall ever)

:)))))))))))))
i loved that engagement session.
shannon.

hi all!

today is my first day of my last semester of school.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes yes yes.
no school will mean more time! maybe! probably not!

in celebration, here are some photos i love.
#1) the lines in tropicana's cement:#2) this tree that looks like a piece of coral.

and by the way. some people had an issue with my spelling of brusselS sprouts in my last post.... and i would ask you to please check the worlds worst way of confirming information, Wikipedia, for proof that I'm right.

off to CLASS!
shan.

ps: if you're wondering if it bothers me that you can see the off-white around the polaroid, yes it does, thats why i usually photograph them instead of scanning them, but i wanted to try something new, and LOOK WHERE IT GETS ME. i'm practicing not being perfectionistic. the next step will be to refrain from writing the ps rant, huh.

i call these --scatters-------

that yellow light leak by the bag is what i like to call Creepy Cool.

& this was my dinner last night! well, part of it.

and what do these polaroids have in common?
answer!
>>>> i'm pretty obsessed with scatters.
anything that scatters.
brussels sprouts, leaves, etc.
little known fact: when i was 6 i asked for brussels sprouts for my birthday dinner. maybe i needed to broaden my horizons, huh? OR---- maybe that shows that my horizons WERE broadened.......




i really hope you have a great weekend :)
shannon

OCD? maybe....??

I CAN'T STAND EXTRAS!

i just did some errands,
which happens to be one of my top favorite things to do in life.
like, my ideal date would be... errands. the grocery store... target... nordstrom rack... and peets.


so, as i unpacked the things i got on my errands...
i realized that i could possibly have OCD.

the >>i'm home from my errands<< process
• tags on shirts... unnecessary. cut them off.
• granola bars need to be taken out of the box, throw away the box
• immediately throw away all the bags... i hate bags
• take the plastic off the post-it notes and the DVD (tonight i bought my third DVD...ever)
• take the top off of the soy milk and throw away that little tab
• avocados out of that mesh bag... 2 in the fridge, 2 in the fruit basket
• tomatoes out of that plastic thing... 3 in the fridge, 3 in the basket
• rip the advertisements off of the receipts (i cant stand those. wow. definitely don't need a foot of extra receipt in my wallet.)
• mix the old spices with the new spices so we dont have to have a spice jar with only a quarter inch of spices

things like this,
plague me.
oh my gosh.
shannon


ps------------ i just posted this post, and saw that practically every one of my bullet points went onto the 2nd line with only one word. so i went back and fixed it, of course. extras! no extras here. none. try and find a one-word line on this little blog..... i try my very best to not let that happen. the ultimate design faux-pas. whew. i'd lose sleep.


:::::::practicing self control and healthiness:::::
;)

cardboard-sparkle-love

last semester in my design class, we had to pick a verse out of the Bible and use it in an installation piece on campus. my friend jehoaddan and i worked together on this------ we chose II Peter 1:7 ------------------ a verse about love and faith and virtue

so, naturally, we used lots of neon and lots of sparkles.

how RAD are these letters?? they're about two feet tall, made of cardboard that we found in the trash and hot-glue, and jehoaddan was the mastermind behind these beauties. i honestly have no idea how she did it. genius. for typeface-lovers, this is called Auto 2- my current fave!

we xacto-knifed each of these skinny letters out of the tinfoil, and WOW is tinfoil ever delicate.

here's jehoaddan in the studio,

& me with lots of sparkles,

from making THIS!
it took literally hundreds of dollars of sparkles.
who knew glitter was so expensive? are you kidding me?

so here's the entire thing--- it took a few days to install, lots and lots and lots of fishing line and hammering and wondering how to hang cardboard words from a tree in mid-air.

fishing line--------!

i think this is my favorite photo of this project---- i love this view.

jehoaddan tied little pieces of neon string onto the millions of pieces of fishing line so that people wouldnt do unexpected faceplants.

oh my lanta.
i love type.
--------------- shannon

Marie & Nick's wedding at the St. Regis! ::: LA wedding photography

Marie and Nick's wedding was planned in literally five days. Take that, wedding timeline checklists! After dating for four years, they decided it was finally time to get married, they called me on a Monday, I met them for the first time at the St. Regis Hotel on Friday, they got ready, and then had a wedding! They surrounded themselves with their closest friends and a few family members--- most of their family lives in Jamaica though, so this post is extra long so that everyone can see what a lovely day Marie and Nick magically had last Friday.

these next two are some of my favorites!

here's the ceremony------ can you BELIEVE
that this was planned in 5 days? five days!

ahh!!!

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

can we say, stunning ring?

another favorite! so perfectly gorgeous. wow.

okay basically i'm in love with this entire wedding. it was great because we got to just explore for a few hours after the ceremony---- with no agenda, no reception to rush to, no one telling us to hurry.... it was so perfect.

i screamed when i took this one. a good scream... that signifies: you're going to LOVE THIS PICTURE!

nick...marie.... thanks for including me in your day. i truly felt honored to be there. you are a truly beautiful couple, and congratulations on your marriage! and a big hello to everyone looking at these in Jamaica!
----- shannon