Rachel's Heart Birthday

Rachel celebrated her 30th birthday in style on Saturday night. Live harp music, strawberries, every kind of heart candy that exists, and 3 kinds of homemade juices with real fruit-- plus 40 of her closest friends. Plus-- it was in the Collegium, the classiest place on campus. Amazing!

One of her friends, Michelle, made these from scratch!
Impressive and delicious.
The party had a heart theme, since her birthday is the day after Valentine's Day

Each person wrote her a wish for the wishing tree.

If you know Rachel, you know that the wish below NEEDS to come true.Abigail, Rach, Jenny, and Amanda

Todd, her brother, came all the way from Arizona for the party!

Linda, one of Rachel's best friends. I really love her hair.

Jamie and I had the same outfit plan: tights + a skirt

Brian decided he wanted a picture with 7 girls

Rachel had every single detail covered.
About 25 of these little bud-vases covered the room:

Little Annie with her dad, Matthew. The story behind the tree: Rachel hangs hearts on it for Valentine's day, and brought them over for decoration. I love it!

Happy Birthday, sweet Rach :)
Your party was such a success!

Shannon Leith

My sister and her amazing wit

Would you like to insert some humor into your day? Read my sister's blog. She's 13, an actress, and a brilliant writer.

She spent the night at my dorm on Friday, and we watched Walk to Remember with the Director's commentary, but fell asleep at 7:30pm, only a half hour into it. Apparently we were both tired!

It was fun having her here--we have 3 brothers (she's the youngest, I'm the oldest), so it was nice to spend time with only her for once! A few people asked what year she was, assuming she was in COLLEGE. Ahhh! It's probably because she is about 5'7", slender, and absolutely beautiful. It was fun having you here, Heath!

Another lovely party by Blythe

So, Blythe had a Valentine's party, and we had a great time. It was nice to see friends that I've known for about seven years. Woah-- SEVEN YEARS. Time's a tickin. There was a gift-exchange involved, and I walked away with a gift certificate to Its A Grind. Coffee! Coffee is my love language.

I think Lindsey, Blythe and I have about 200 pictures with our Surprise! face from over the years. It's tradition.
(idea: I think I will make a blog entry that takes you on a tour from high school --> now...through the many many Surprise! poses. It's a plan.)Wow, this must have been a SPECIAL moment...
Can we sell this image to Hallmark perhaps?
I love the blurry flower the most in this shot.

The wonderful hostess that Blythe is, she even gave us goody-bags. First she has the idea to have us over for Valentines Day...then she gives us presents?? What a rock-star friend I have.

Our new thing. The Totem Pole...
I'm realizing I need a haircut, badly. Specifically those bangs-- I don't want to be seen as an angsty emo artist who never smiles and who is constantly doing the head-shake to get the bangs out of their eyes.
In other news, here's a wonderful card from Rosanna.
She makes me melt.
Ann Frances never ceases to bring redemption to holidays through her creative use of alternative materials. For this art project, all she needed was an old wedding card, some tape, and an orange marker. I don't think anyone should ever buy cards. Just find old ones, or make them. Like I said, coffee is my love-language. This is from my parents :)

And more! This one is from sweet Ellen.

Okay, love.
I love my friends so much, and enjoyed the extra burst of excitement that went into today. Why be bitter, people? You get candy and cards for crying out loud!

New Business Cards

Here they are! This design will be the roots of the look for my new website, which is launching soon. Simplicity and clarity are key for business cards. I just got a request to design a local comedian, Clint Rothell's cards, which I'm excited about. All my art worlds converging!

This made my day: One came blue on the front, and another came with red and yellow on the back! What a perfect mistake-- they unknowingly added zest to my day, and hey-- maybe one day they'll be on ebay as the limited edition Shannon Leith Photography business cards. Who knows.

Sandy and Josh's Wedding

What a fun day! Wow! My first wedding as the photographer (instead of the caterer!). So many exclamation marks because I am so excited!! :)

This shot from their first dance is one of my favorites from the whole day.
The flower girl and ring bearer also doubled as amazing models:

The reception was at an Italian restaurant in Newport Beach, Villa Nova. It was such a classy place, and people danced non-stop for 3 hours!

I couldn't have asked for better first-clients. Sandy and Josh are relaxed, fun, easygoing people-- and I am so thankful they invited me to share their day with them. Also, there are so many people who helped me out. An incredibly huge thank you to Kurt Hilmerson
who came to shoot with me. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I was to have him there for support. He got some amazing shots-- check them out!

Also, again-- thank you Brady for lighting tips, Ally for the great lens, thanks to my dad for lending me his car (mine's in the shop), Blythe lent me an extra memory card... and the list goes on!

And to Sandy and Josh, again-- you are incredible people. I loved having the opportunity to see and capture your wedding, and I think the whole day was so reflective of the fun, free-spirited people that you are. May God bless your new lives together. I am so happy for you!

Shannon Leith

An Extravaganza with Ro

Light. Dust. Ro.

Tonight Rosanna and I experimented with light. She's so Bohemian. From the words of Bohemian Manifesto: A field guide to living on the edge (her birthday gift to me), "lighting is more about mood, romance, and drama than utilitarianism". Furthermore, regarding the location:

The Bohemian understands the historic, poetic, and melancholy nature of dust. To the Bohemian, dust is powder from the wings of moths, ash of Vesuvius, cremains of Joan of Arc, and the atomic fallout. Dust is a cosmic confectioners' sugar, softly coating all objects and surfaces in myopic finery.



I love exploring the possibilities of light and location. This was shot in the back parking lot of Sigma Chi. What a lovely studio the world makes.

On another note, thank you Brady for the amazingly detailed and fun lighting advice and techniques tonight. All the way from New York! How wonderful. He's great-- check out his blog!

I made a fountain

It was seriously an accident that I matched it. Further proof that I am head over heels for grey and orange.

This project was really interesting because we had two hours to go dumpster diving to collect materials. In addition to trash, we could use anything we found in our cars, pockets, or purses. It was the first assignment from my 3D design class-- to make a robot that had an impractical function.

How is this a robot, you ask? Well, its a machine that "operates automatically on a routine skill"-- namely, watering the wires in the bottom of the box.

You can't see it, but the water really does flow through the tubing and ends at the colored wire (which matches my headband perfectly) and flows over the top.

You say make a robot out of trash, I make a fountain.

This was such a push for me to go beyond the obvious, to see potential in what others discard, and to let something without a doubt scream that I made it (we were twins, for crying out loud).

Shannon Leith

ahhhhhhhh

This week it seems I have been handed chaos.

Some words from Madeleine L'Engle

Peace is not placidity: peace is
The power to endure the megatron of pain
With joy, the silent thunder of release,
The ordering of Love. Peace is the atom's start,
The primal image: God within the heart.

She brings Light to my life.




The Hutchinson's

This is my second family, hands down. I'm invited to go on family vacations with them, I can eat anything I find in the kitchen and I fall asleep on their couch on a regular basis. When I spend the night at their house, they even make me GOOD coffee in the morning!

Adam and Megan. They have so much fun together!

Here's Parker. His eyes!Jack. Almost 4 years old, and SO full of energy. Thus, the chin injury :)

I've known Megan and Adam for about 4 years-- and have had the opportunity to watch her two kids, Jack and Parker, grow up. Tonight, Adam surprised Megan and took her to see the play Annie (I love that he thought of this), so I babysat the boys. Before they left, we got these fun family photos.

By the way, Jack is one of the most brilliant three year olds I have ever met. "Shannon, you know the storm drain outside? Well it has a sign beside it that says No Dumping. That means you can't dump wine, or milk, or ANYTHING down there, okay?" "Oh! Thanks for telling me Jack! (????)" He also asks me how I'm doing, how my day was, and what I think about certain things. I think he has better conversational skills than some adults these days.

Today was such a blast. When looking at the pictures last night Megan kept saying-- LET'S MAKE A 70x90 OF THAT ONE! She's hilarious.

Shannon Leith