Jina and Jon did such a great job with their wedding…or should I say Jina and her sister?  Not only did they plan the wedding, but they stayed up late the night before the wedding making ALL of the floral centerpieces for the reception and her sister had to run back and forth to make sure things were set up ok before the ceremony!  I told her she needed an award for being the best sister!  Everything turned out BEAUTIFUL though and the lighting they had at Wayfarers Chapel was my FAVORITE time to shoot.  The late afternoon sun made them look like they were glowing and I couldn’t STOP taking photos.  I also felt like one of the guests and really enjoyed myself at their reception….ESPECIALLY the chocolate fountain!!  I HIGHLY suggest a chocolate fountain at any wedding.  It was a huge hit!

To see more photos from this event, just click on this link.

Both Guy and Alyse, little Asher’s parents, are previous clients of mine.  I came by their house one day to photograph some artwork on their wall and met this little guy and fell in love…I HAD to come back and photograph him.  So although he is a few months old now and practically crawling, we felt like it was better late than never to do his first photoshoot.  He was SO calm and did so well.  He was constantly smiling and flirting with me…I can tell he is going to be a “ladies man” someday:)

Sorry I have not blogged in a while, but I had to share a few pics from this adorable shoot.  I was introduced to Lejla through her brother Dameer who is also a professional photographer.  Lejla and Steve are such a cute couple. They met at work and their office romance didn’t blossom right away, but once it did there was no stopping these two:)  We had such a blast running around downtown and to Griffith Park.  We took like 500 photos, so these are just a few, but I just had to share!

I am just SO SO sad this week.  The world has lost a wonderful person and I I just can’t believe she is really gone.  Her boyfriend Dion Rottman I have known for years and I met Jen almost a decade ago.  She was always laughing smiling and just BEAUTIFUL.  When I shot her headshots a couple of years ago, she donned short dark hair since she had just gone through chemo and a double masectomy…even then she was happy, stronger and still stunningly beautiful.  I remember talking alot about her struggle that day and how her life had changed in so many ways.  We all thought she had beaten it for good, but unfortunately the Cancer won out finally taking Jen from us this past Tuesday. Ironically, she died on the aniversary of Dion’s best friend and my ex boss, Jay Spence.  I am sure they are having a blast up in Heaven right now.  I know you weren’t ready to go yet Jen, but I am sure you are WAY ahead of the rest of us in what life is REALLY all about.

“Survivor” Contestant Jennifer Lyon Dies

Lyon, Who Placed Fourth on “Survivor: Palau” in 2005, Suffered from Breast Cancer

(CBS)

“Survivor: Palau” contestant Jennifer Lyon has died at the age of 37.

Lyon, who placed fourth on the 2005 edition of the CBS reality show, was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer shortly after appearing on the show.

“In the summer of 2004, I felt something in my right breast that didn’t feel normal,” Lyon told People magazine in October 2005. “I thought it was probably scar tissue related to my breast implants. So I let it go – for a long time.”

“This has really rocked the ‘Survivor’ community,” “Survivor: Panama” castaway Austin Carty told Us Weekly magazine. He and Lyon briefly dated. “It’s just so sad. She was engaged in the greatest fight of her life, but she had every intention to fight and spread her positive messages.”

Another “Survivor” alum, Johnny Fairplay, told the magazine, “Jen was such a beautiful person. I wish life was as simple as “Survivor” because I know for a fact there are 300 of us that would use every immunity idol and jury vote in the world to have her back.”

Lyon entered the competition as a graduate student from Encino, Calif. After being diagnosed with cancer, she underwent a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy treatments and became an advocate for breast cancer awareness. She hosted many fundraisers for breast cancer research and most recently opened a Christmas tree lot with proceeds going to the cause.

According to People, “Survivor” host Jeff Probst said that he and Lyon spoke “near the end” about “the idea that death is such a hard subject and so many of us don�t know what is appropriate to say, so we end up saying the wrong thing for all the right reasons.”

“If I learned anything from Jenn it is this: Don’t be afraid to ask someone how they are truly feeling about dying,” Probst continued. “Don’t shy away from the scary parts of death. They need someone to talk to about what is going on inside their head.”

After her diagnosis, Lyon told the magazine that her experiences on “Survivor” had given her strength that helped her battle her disease.

“‘Survivor’ taught me there’s an end in sight,” she said. “As hard as it is, it will be over, and you have to appreciate every day.”

Dancing with the Stars create quite a sizzle at wedding reception

January 19, 3:19 PMAnaheim Wedding Planning ExaminerKathleen Howard

 The only criticism I have ever heard about Orange County wedding planner, Laurie Davies of 5 Star Weddings & Events Inc.,  is that she should rename her company to 10 Star Weddings and Events.  I have had the pleasure to speak to many of Laurie’s brides and all they say is: “WOWIE, WOW, WOW WOW!!!”

Jhordice and Mauricio Munoz’s wedding is a perfect example of the “WOW factor weddings” Laurie creates every weekend. This lavish October wedding had show-stopping entertainment.  Laurie hired 10 of the finest ballroom dancers in America, including some from the hit TV Show, Dancing with the Stars, to perform throughout the wedding reception. The jaw-dropping dancing inspired all the guests to try their own special dance moves, which might not have looked as perfect as the professionals, but definitely a sight to see!

And if this wasn’t enough fun for Jhordice and Mauricio’s  lucky, lucky, guests, a personalized version of the Newlywed Game, starring the brand new newlyweds, left everyone hysterically laughing.  Check out the slide show below to see some of the amazing (amazing!) details from this Five Star Wedding.  And for more wedding eye candy, go to Laurie’s blog at Five Star Weddings & Events  and Beautiful Day Photography’s website, who shared these beautiful photos with us.

For “all things weddings,” go to BridesKnowBest. 

TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW JUST CLICK ON THIS LINK: http://www.examiner.com/x-26479-Anaheim-Wedding-Planning-Examiner~y2010m1d19-Dancers-of-the-Stars-create-quite-a-sizzle-at-a-Jourdice-and-Mauricios-Wedding-Reception?cid=exrss-Anaheim-Wedding-Planning-Examiner

Katya and John are getting married next month at the famous Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes.  Since we are only a month away, we couldn’t reschedule our engagement shoot due to the rare monsoon-like weather in LA today.  So we kept our plans to shoot at The Getty Center (where John proposed to Katya:) despite the rain.  We had so much fun with it, using the umbrellas as props and dodging the security guards since we didn’t have a permit to shoot:)  These two are a lot of fun and I am definitely looking forward to their wedding AND reception at La Venta Inn.  I couldn’t share ALL of the hundreds of pics we took, but I thought I would post a few fun ones….I hope you guys had as much fun as I did!

I just wanted to share some awesome pics from my boyfriend Rob’s belated birthday adventure yesterday.  I surprised him and took him to Hollywood Exotic Animals (its an animal reserve an hour outside of LA).  This is where they train lions, tigers and bears for movies and commercials.  We got to work with some famous actor animals (the Lion was Aslan in “Narnia” the tiger was recently in the movie “The Hangover” and is going to be in an upcoming Superbowl commercial) .  We were “animal trainers” for the day.  We had a private 3 hour tour and we were taught some of their commands and able to get inside of their enclosures and train them and feed them.  It was AMAZING.  These animals are just so beautiful and you realize their extreme power up close.  Check out Kizznet the Tiger, Felix the Lion and Pebbles the Bear, our animals for the day!

I HAD to share the projects so far for my 9th grade photojournalism class with the Step Up Women’s Network… I am SO proud of my girls and their hard work on their projects.  We blended their self portraits with their texture photos they shot to create these funky unique digital self-portraits.  I am so excited for our  final gallery show in March and I will keep you all posted on the details!

As promised, I told you I would blog about the artpieces I created for my girlfriend (and also a  future bride of mine)Dr. Cherlin Johnson’s  Medical Office, the Executive ER in Beverly Hills.  We had our official unveiling for their reality show in December, but their Grand Opening/My Gallery opening will be later this month.  I had to include a couple of photos to show the sheer size of these pieces 4 feet by 6 feet!  Nothing prepared me to see just how amazing they looked that huge and acrylic mounted.  It’s a completely different experience to see your work jump off the computer screen into an artpiece like that. 

These pieces ARE for sale and if you are interested in commissioning customized pieces for yourselves, just email me and I can create anything; even match it to your existing decor/ patterns:)

Inspired by my artpieces I just created for my girlfriend Cher’s medical office (to be blogged about soon), and the self portraits that I am creating in my 9th grade Step Up photojournalism class that I am teaching (also to be blogged about soon)..I am starting personalized artpieces for people’s walls.  I started with my 6 year old niece Havana who JUST got her own room for the first time and picked out hot pink and lime green as her colors and flowers as her theme.  She had a HUGE empty wall, or what I like to think of as a “blank canvas” and needed something to match her new big girl’s room.  So I photographed her new flower sheets as a background pattern and took a sassy portrait of Little Havana, then blended them in photoshop..and VOILA! came up with 2 final posters.  The entire creation from start to final print only took 2 hours!  Check it out!