Its Been A While & Sarah + Drew

Typically our goal is to post about 3-4 time a week, more often than not its about 3 times but this past week was an exception. I'm not going to lie, i did not mind having the photos from Stephanie and Dave up for an entire week because they looked awesome! but we were detained by center pieces, space heaters, chair rentals, a tent and even some unforeseen Santa Ana winds (weather.com FAIL!). You see we had the honor of throwing our friends Sarah and Drew an amazing engagement party. I can't let out all the details yet but they are soon to come... here are a few teasers for Ms. Sarah.

Stephanie + Dave | Engagement

They took each other by the hand.. they followed us to the middle of nowhere... they endured the first hot day of the year and they NaiLed IT! At first Stephanie and Dave did not think an engagement session was really them, but from the moment I mention the idea of a photo shoot in a fire ridden stream with a romantic dinner theme they were on board. As their excitement grew so did our ideas to make this a great experience along with a great shoot. Take a peek... they NaiLed IT for sure!

To view the rest of [ Stephanie & Dave | Engagement ] Session Check out our website under [ NaiLed IT ]

Emptiness is Not a Crime | ihavethoughts... v5

There is nothing like sitting out on the patio on a hot day. My lemonade complemented the warm rays of the sun so perfectly. The hours pass like minutes and my stress seemed to wash away with every second. I enjoyed every sip of this delicious lemonade but before I knew it the lemonade was nearly gone! Oh man was I starting to get bummed… “My glass is half empty already!!”. How did this happen so fast?!?!? With this half a glass of lemonade staring directly at me I started to realize an apparent real life philosophical idiom. I started to ponder the age old question of whether the glass was half full or half empty.

Was I the half empty person?!?... The one that only notices what they don't have??? Or am I the half full person… content and appreciative of the amount I was given? I’ll tell you one thing, at that moment with half a glass of lemonade I was definitely thinking in terms of half empty! But I did not look at it from the traditional half empty standpoint. I didn't think “Oh man, I have the short end of this stick!” it was more like “there is so much room for more… I could double what I have... how much better would that be??!?!?”. So I started to plot and ploy to find a way to fill the rest but I was really comfortable and the sun felt so nice. There was no way I was going to get up for a refill. So I decided that I will have to convince myself to be content with what I have. So I did. I determined that I had a delectable half full glass of lemonade and I was content sipping it ever so slowly to get the most enjoyment.

As time passed I started to become accustom to the taste of the lemonade. My desire for the next sip became less and less. Something was missing. Then the moment struck! I want… no… I need some strawberries…. Mmmmmm strawberry lemonade would be great! So there I was, appreciative of my half full glass of lemonade but yearning for something a bit more, something that would make it justttt a bit better.

Now out of a desire to continue to create the best lemonade I can, I started to realize that the half empty part of the glass is now the perfect place for the addition of strawberries. But these strawberries were not going to just magically emerge from the elements of the sun. I am going to have to leave my comfort zone and finish creating my plan to enhance my wonderful glass of lemonade. Despite the opposing opinion of my body to leave this comfort zone, I managed to get up and make my way to the kitchen to add the strawberries.

So good!… Totally worth the trek to the kitchen, especially once I made it back to my seat on the patio. Back in my comfort zone I had a mini epiphany. It was obvious that I don’t want to be the person that views the glass as half empty because I will always be feeling inadequate, but I cannot always view the glass as half full because I will become too content and will not create an atmosphere of growth. The way I want to approach life is by being content and appreciative of the fullness of the glass but also recognize the emptiness as room for growth. The fullness of the glass is the person I am today but the emptiness is the person I will soon be.

Someday I'll Get to Say "When in Rome"

One day I will make it to Rome then to Greece then to Sydney, and maybe Paris. I'd probably burn up my camera with shots but for now the cool buildings SoCal will have to do.... here is a little randomness from a random day.....

Daylight Saving & A Couple for The Couple | Stephanie + Dave

We dogwalked, we enhanced our brand, we gym'ed it up and made a delicious dinner. All thanks to the extra hour courtesy of daylight saving. It was very tough getting up this morning but the afternoon made it worth our while. We hope all you had great "Spring Forward" day... especially this wonderful couple..... just a few teasers for Stephanie + Dave... great shoot yesterday guys!

PhotogShootout | Together Forever

Doing shoots like these are always fun, especially when the couples makes it this easy to get great photos. This is the last little bit from our Photogshootout and these images speak for themselves. ENJOY!

Indie Kristen | Orange County Photography

It was Sunday afternoon, we almost cancelled due to rain, but we said screw it, let's DO THIS! So we did. We met up with Kristen, at the train station, on a "supposed to be raining" Sunday afternoon. We set everything up and began to shoot. Right next to the train tracks we started taking pictures, when Kristen happened to mention "oh, yeah, and let me know when a train is about to come by, because I am terrified of them.." -- wait WHAT!?!?! -- lol. woops. note to self : ask clients what their fears are. Lucky for us, Kristen rocked it. I mean ROCKED it!! We told her she was a natural, and she said "you have no idea how hard I am trying!" Well, either way Kristen, you were awesome! Annnnnd we even rid her of her train fears! The largest, most powerful train I have ever seen flew past us, almost knocking us over--seriously! It was scary at best, but wound up being SO FUN! Kristen stood there slightly terrified--but see below--she had a blast!.. no, rephrase. Kristen NAILED IT! (and oh yeah, this is our "catch phrase" for owning it. you will definitely be hearing it more often, because we say it--A LOT!)

Thank you Kristen for being a FABULOUS model! We love you and can't wait to do it again!!

Kristaina you are GORGEOUS@&$*#! )@

Kristen VS. The Giant Train: Just modeling

Kristen VS. The Giant Train: Getting into it

Kristen VS. The Giant Train: LOVING IT!

Ok so this is her "where the wild things are" book. HOW AWESOME is this! I love it!! sort of makes me want to read--and I don't really read. I tell myself I want to read. But never do. The furry cover may change my mind. i'll let you know ;)