i'm apparently a pushover: there's 3 winners

I put myself in a bad situation by writing two totally different questions for the contest. #1) where do i do the most SESSIONS #2) where do i SHOOT the most. so---- because of my own haywire contest.......... we have a three way tie.

okay, when brady said that my favorite place was Old Town Orange---- he was right. I have shot there so many times. So many! I love it there. It's the place I've done the most actual official photo sessions. this was the answer that i was looking for.

but. then came Mary-Kate... mkrmouse.
She said La Mirada.
That pulled on my heartstrings because I realized that La Mirada is ACTUALLY more of my favorite than Old Town.... I love photographing life in the city that I live in: and that's right here in La Mirada. She beat me at my own game.

THEN.
Then came Amy!
who said Tropicana!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amy's totally right.
She zoomed in even more and got straight to the point: i love shooting right outside my front door. I love shooting at Tropicana.

You all win.
Go to bookjournals.com and pick your fave and email me which one you'd like!




Gosh---- the next person would have had to say "your soul" or something like that.


ha, this seriously rocked me.
you all win.
shannon

no one won.... so heres another contest

the answer to the dinner question was: bowtie pasta WITH BERRIES!
it could have been discovered deep in the depths of my blog, ie: here

but that was kind of a hard one.


so, new question and contest!!

>>>> what's my favorite place to do photo sessions? where do i shoot the most?



this one's SO EASY!
first person to get it right wins a bookjournal!

2 thoughts:

favorite eat-quick restaurant:
BAJA FRESH! marisa reminded me!

least-favorite typeface:
brush script! even though i used it for the Max's logo. it fits for the 80's, not for Italian Restaurants in strip malls.



and a prize will be awarded if you can guess what i'm about to eat for dinner.
a real prize.
in fact, a bookjournal prize from bookjournals.com, the most amazing place on the internet who does not use brushscript anywhere on their website.


love!
shan

polaroid treasure hunt

just a little burst of photos for you.
enjoy your day!
shannon
(who saw ROSIE THOMAS LAST NIGHT! SO GOOD!)

are you BUSY? >>>>>>art project!<<<<<<<<<<<<<

i was busy this week.

SO BUSY.

busy busy busy.
with papers, photography, emails, art projects, presentations, meetings, eating, sleeping, yoga, coffee.....

yesterday kind of marked the end of my semester at Biola... I finished a big project that I'm really excited about. I also finished a big 6 page paper. And yes, 6 pages equals BIG in my eyes!

Anyway. Feeling stressed and busy reminded me of an art project I did last year that i was TOO BUSY to post! :)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I'm obsessed with my vegan calendar (click! check it out!) by Jill Bliss. It has literally changed my life----- I'm attached to it---------It makes me happy! IT MAKES SCHEDULING FUN!


so, i'm attached, and i WILL admit that my obsessive attachment also indicates: I'm a busy girl. I'm probably overcommitted! I need to say the word no more often so that i have more time for yoga and baking and reading magazines and changing the world. My awesome calendar made by the beautiful Jill Bliss is connected to my heart because without it i wouldn't be able to remember the millions of homework assignments, the library books that are due, the lunch dates, the birthdays, the meetings, and oh yes: "stay sane" is also itemized on my calendar's pages.


noticing this obsession, i decided to rip out all of the pages of my calendars from the past 3 years and put them on display. One more thing that i am obsessed with is saving my to-do lists! I secretly get lots and lots of joy out of making to-do lists, and i really REALLY love making them funny. i love making myself laugh as i read my to-do's, and i love making them pretty, and i love making them on neon paper and writing on them with colorful pens.

this project is a collection of all the to-do lists, all the calendar pages, and all the busyness that's in my life. i hope you can connect with it in some way, unless you live in the middle of nowhere and bake your own bread and don't have email, in which case #1) i'm jealous and #2) you're fine--- and aren't plagued with the disease of being busy like the rest of us.

this is what the whole project looked like from far away

i was a stalker and photographed people looking at it

one of my favorite parts about making to-do lists is the titles. "do this so you don't go crazy"..... "this will be fun i promise"...... "YAY THURSDAY!"...... or "gives me anxiety"
i also enjoy including things like breathing and smiling and having fun on my lists. if i didn't i think i'd get depressed.

tape :)!

and to finish off, please enhance your soul and read this quote by Thomas Merton in his essay Rain and the Rhinoceros, an essay about our busy culture, and the importance of noticing the small glories in each day. Like the rain.

Of course the festival of rain cannot be stopped, even in the city. The woman from the delicatessen scampers along the sidewalk with a newspaper over her head. The streets, suddenly washed, became transparent and alive, and the noise of traffic becomes a plashing of fountains.

One would think that urban man in a rainstorm would have to take account of nature in its wetness and freshness, its baptism and its renewal. But the rain brings no renewal to the city... and the obsessed citizens plunge through the rain bearing the load of their obsessions, slightly more vulnerable than before, but still only barely aware of external realities. They do not see that the streets shine beautifully, that they themselves are walking on stars and water, that they are running in skies to catch a bus or taxi... Their complaints are mechanical and without spirit.

Merton goes on in the end of the essay to say:
Then the quails begin their sweet whistling in the wet bushes. Their noise is absolutely useless, and so is the delight I take in it. There is nothing I would rather hear, not because it is a better noise than the other noises, but because tit is the voice of the present moment, the present festival.

Doesn't that just give you goosebumps? One of my roommates literally got goosebumps and the other literally had tears at the sound of that quote. I love those words. the present festival. love it!

::::::::blog-stalkers unite:::::::::

i don't know why, but over the past 3 weeks I have had so many people come up to me and timidly declared themselves as a BLOG STALKER.

and you know what I told them all?
I'M GLAD SOMEONE READS IT!



Seriously.... there's no shame in reading my blog.

i love meeting people who have spent some time here... ha, since you know so much about me after looking through the entries... it's always nice to flip it around and get to know a bit about YOU. and there's no reason to be shy about it! come out of the woodwork! say hi!! :)


my main purpose in having this blog is not just to display my photography, or my life... it's to peel up the corner of the dailyness of LIFE---- to bring attention to things that can be easily overlooked--- to explore the seemingly ordinary things that happen each day.... and to say, hmmm. maybe there's more here.




the last thing i want is for this to be it's own little world... it's own little entity... where people come and explore and then leave and continue on their way. i'm interested in more of a dialogue... learning from you... having a give and take atmosphere where we learn from each other. and one of my favorite ways to do that is to meet you, and when i get to meet you in person it's the best.

so don't be shy.

seriously.

to prove that i'm human, that i'm not perfect, and that i'm approachable, please look at this post about my chin hairs. click!







marisa, melissa, emily, david, amy....
thanks for saying hi and for reassuring me that yes, i'm not writing this blog to myself.

to the rest of you, say hi in the comments!

you rule!
love!
shannon

Chris and Janine's Wedding at Saddleback Church ::: Orange County wedding photography

Janine and Chris had a beautiful morning wedding. My first morning wedding of all time, actually. It was fun!


Janine's dress was luscious. That's my only word for it.

her flowers were perfect,

& she looked absolutely shining.

The ceremony was down in a place that Saddleback calls the Grotto. it was so lovely. her entrance was INCREDIBLE---

Chris!! groom reactions are the best!

okay, how cute are they right here?? i love this one.

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

Blythe took this picture, and i think that it's officially epic. she's amazing. best ring moment ever.

my view of their first communion,

aww, yay!

their first dance was awesome. they only had a little tiny area to dance in at the front of the room, but they made it SO FUN!

here's the awesome bridal party----------------

Janine had lots of unique things about her wedding--- one of which was the bouquet toss. When we met a few months ago for her engagement session, she mentioned to me that I never post photos of the bouquet toss. She told me that hers was going to be unique enough to post---- and it was! throwing the bouquet off a balcony?? it was a first! definitely, definitely unique enough for my blog :)

we did their photos after the reception, since it was a morning wedding and i didn't want to make them take photos at dawn. it allowed us to just relax and hang out for a while, which i loved. see? yet another thing that made this wedding rad!

can we say, magazine cover??

congrats you guys!
Shannon

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