Beautiful Day Photography’s Weblog

Along with the very talented (and recently Emmy nominated) cinematographer Ulli Bonnekamp, I have been spending my Tuesday afternoons teaching a creative photography and storytelling class. Our Photo-workshop consists of high-school students at the 100 year old Neighborhood Youth Association, and will be continuing on through the summer until I have to go to school in New York mid -August.

My biggest passion is to inspire others to tell their story through art, and this has been such a rewarding experience to really accomplish that. So far we have 8 students participating in our class, and have raised $500 dollars to buy each student a camera. To say the pictures these kids take are incredible would be an understatement. Each week I am blown away at the ease for creative flow. I feel they have taught me just as much as I have taught them. Yesterday we went on a “treasure hunt” fieldtrip searching for texture and color around Mar Vista. In the picture above, after two hours of intense picture taking, the shutterbugs rest on the wall they have deemed the most visually interesting.

This is how I lecture about photography. While hula hooping behind NYA.

-Jessica

Photo of Laura and Robs departure

Laura has left the country, flying far far away to shoot an exotic destination wedding, and left the exciting duty of updating the blog up to me, Jessica, the intern, and soon to be East coaster.

First off, I would like to say, Laura is by far the best, most talented, and creative photographer out there doing weddings. I know this because I am a teenager so I know everything of course, but also because I’m a research geek, I’ve spent the past week looking at every wedding photographer in LA’s website, and so far have not found one that inspires the same sort of awe that Laura does. I mean, I’m only 19, and already I’m planning on booking her for my wedding (in 15 or so years).

This past year working with Laura, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined prior to being her intern. She makes everything she does a fun adventure, and makes what I would consider a difficult situation an opportunity to get a shot no one has ever imagined before. I love editing her work, because honestly pretty much every picture she takes is already perfect in camera, so the hardest part of editing is narrowing down so many great photos. I’m trying to not make this too sappy of a blog post, since its my first one, but.. Laura is most definitely my biggest inspiration. She is doing what she loves and making a living off it. not many people can say that they absolutely love their work, but anyone that has worked with Laura has the great privilege of being one of the few who can.

I cant wait to see what will happen this coming year for Beautiful Day Photography. With the recent partnership with the absolutely fabulous Bridal Bar, and Lxposed breaking into the world of fashion and album photography, I have a feeling BDP is going to be the name on everyones mind when you want art, wedding, and fashion to combine.

I HAVE to give another shout out to Tana for this shot.  I don’t think Rob and I EVER have a great shot taken of us!  You guys should check out her blog to see some more photos from Emily and Brian’s wedding in Boise Idaho! Thank you again for the beautiful photos!  I can’t wait to see the rest!

So I was SUPER excited about this wedding. It was a bit nerve wracking to meet ALL of Robert’s family, but I knew they were going to all be amazing. It was held at the Old Boise Train Depot and it was SUCH a hit for brides that random brides were showing up at the grounds ALL weekend to shoot there… Some of my favorite highlights from the wedding were: 1) The bar opened up BEFORE the ceremony, so I was able to sip on a Mojito during the vows…AWESOME 2) MY wonderful boyfriend, Rob’s speech during the ceremony (he was asked to pick a poem to read…he chose Dr. Seuss!!) 3) Being alive and not too banged up to dance after the CRAZY river adventure the day before. 4) Having a reunion of all of the girls from the Vegas Bachelorette party!! 5) Finally being able to wear something at a wedding that was not Black slacks and a black button up blouse 6) the Trip up to the bell tower AND FINALLY, being a part of Rob’s family for the weekend….it was NON-stop activity with brunches and lunches and walks and trips for ice cream and pool parties and BBQ’s…It was SO much fun. I took a TON of photos of basically everything BUT the wedding. If you want to check out some of the activities from the whole weekend (ie the rehearsal, BBQ, getting ready photos the morning of the wedding and the day after brunch)…click here!

And by the way Marijke and Camille, we SO need to start a recorder girl band:)

I ALSO want to BLOG about the super talented Tana, with TANA Photography based out of Boise Idaho…not only because she did ALL of the work and actually allowed me to be a guest for once at a wedding:), but I’m sure she got some AMAZING stuff. She took the whole wedding party downtown on a trolley and walked them through the streets for some photos….. I cant wait to see them! She has a blog about the wedding so click on this link to check it out. I mean how could she go wrong with such a beautiful bride like Emily! I have to say I felt like midget at this wedding, with all of the Dutch folks there…:) I would have needed a step ladder to shoot it!

WOW, Rob and I ACTUALLY clean up!!!

Tracy and Dr. John Fagan exchanged their vows in a candlelit ceremony at Wayfarer’s Chapel..My FAVORITE time of day there. They are SUCH a sweet couple, sort of a modern-day Brady Bunch with combined children on both sides. I think it must be pretty cool to be able to be at your own Parent’s wedding! My best Associate photographers Ms. Meg Perotti and Ms. Jessica Lehrman were on duty to capture the events of the evening. They had their reception at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Redondo Beach…for a short evening of dancing, dancing, and more dancing…….. and of course what’s a wedding without a Harley Davidson ice sculpture/shot luge! LOL. To see more photos from this event, click here.

Mel!! Now you are not the ONLY bride to pop out a baby right away!!! Meet little Leilani…I hear she likes older men, so perhaps we can introduce her to Ryder:) Anyway, I have to share JUST how sweet this little girl is. She did not do too well in her first photo shoot today. She was QUITE the hard-to-deal with supermodel diva…and at SUCH a young age! But I particularly LOVED it when she flipped out when we put that god awful Redskins stuffed animal next to her, to the dismay of her die-hard-Redskins-fan-dad Mike…. Seriously, she may be young, but she’s not STUPID. Cheering for the Redskins is a lost cause (and this is coming from a loyal Virginian!)…The other wonderful thing about Little Lei Lei is that she has MONKEY TOES JUST LIKE ME! …Which we ALL know that its a sign of High Creativity and Intelligence:)

If you have been reading my blog, you will remember Christy Bryant’s baby shower I photographed. She is my dear friend, ex-bride, and now OFFICIALLY, a hot mama too! These are the VERY first photos of the little cutie, Leilani Chantalle Bryant. I literally RUSHED off the plane to make it over to see her at Cedars-Sinai (which is by the way the MECCA of all hospitals!). Tomorrow we have her FIRST proper photo shoot planned with multiple wardrobe changes:)

Robert, my boyfriend/photographer, and I JUST came back from Idaho for his sister Emily’s Wedding. We were there since Wednesday and every single day had an adventure planned. What I had been anticipating the most was the White Water Rafting trip/BBQ scheduled for the day before the wedding. I actually skipped the lingerie shower for the ladies in order to do this. I had NO idea what I was in store for or that I was about to have my closest brush with death yet….Here’s what happened…

Our raft had 7 people in it. Our guide, Steve (Camille, Rob’s sister’s husband), his father Mike and his nephew Zach, Patrick a family friend, and then Robert and I. We were in the very back of 5 rafts going down the river, because WE were the ones with the first aid kit and rescue gear for the other rafts. Thank god we had 3 rescue kayakers tagging along with us. So after about an hour and a half, we were approaching the hardest most technical part of the rapids called Staircase, which is a class 4 rapids and appropriately named for the amount of rocks and boulders the water is rushing over at 30mph, creating a staircase effect on the surface of the water. We were weaving in and out of HUGE boulders the size of SUV’s, when we hit one head on and our raft went completely vertical and flipped over.

Patrick and I were in the front and he fell out knocking me out of the water. The WHOLE boat flipped and all of a sudden I hit 50 degree water and it felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I was pulled under in what felt like a washing machine and just bouncing off rocks. I couldn’t find which was was up down …or just AIR! When I surfaced, the kayakers were frantically trying to recue all of us at once before we hit the worst part of the rapids. I heard the screams, but I was too far along to be saved. The rest were able to be pulled to the shore in time…but I was in for the ride of my life. I got shot along the Staircase and all I could do was get in a luge position and pray. My life preserver was up around my neck and choking me and I was getting dragged under and swallowing a lot of water…I couldn’t get air for what seemed like an eternity….In my mind I was thinking, “God THIS is what it feels like to drown…This is REALLY happening!”. I finally was able to grasp a small amount of air and I thought, as long as I can hold on to this and make it through the hard part I’ll be ok… Then I started praying that my legs wouldn’t get broken or caught in the rocks. Apparently, JUST the week before a world class kayaker in the EXACT SAME part of the river, died for the same reason. He got knocked out into the river and his leg got caught and broken and he wasn’t able to free himself and drown. This morbid tale was also going through my head while this nightmare was happening… After 2 long minutes, and a kayaker who looked like an angel rescuing me further down the river…I was safe on some rocks downstream. Everyone started cheering for me and got me back in the raft. It was a WONDERFUL reunion, because I didn’t know what had happened to the rest of my boatmates that got dumped out…OR Robert! We were both SO worried for each other. They said I was pale as a ghost and uncontrollably shaking…I don’t know if it was the adrenaline or hypothermia, but I truly have NEVER felt so close to death in my life. The strange thing is that after it was done and I knew I was safe, I was like…”I’m definitely going rafting again!”

Here is a group photo of our raft, Team Sparta. We soon realized after ALL of us survived and were eating the BEST tasting hamburgers, that ALL of the Spartans died and maybe it wasn’t the best team name afterall…Sort of like Team Titanic:) It’s definitely a questionable event to plan for the day before the wedding.  We were all bruised and limping for the reception…But with MUCH better stories and war wounds than the groomsmen and their golf adventure!!!  That’s for sure!

So I FINALLY got to work with Laurie Davies of Five Star Wedding and Events! She is SUCH a blast and was SO chill and easy to work with. (If you want to check out the FABULOUS details of this wedding and ALL of the rest of the photos, click this link.)

Jina and Jeremy had such a cool Wayfarer’s wedding. I LOVE the traditional Korean garb that her relatives were wearing AND that she changed into later in the evening….but her first dress was THE COOLEST dress I have ever seen. I could NOT stop taking photos of it. It’s by this cool designer, Suzanne Ermann. If you check out her website MOST of her dresses have this bizarre wire frame and surreal, Alice-In-Wonderland-Like feel to them…AWESOME. It ALSO helped that Jina has the most flawless complexion I have ever seen. She looks like a porcelain doll and made my job SO much easier:)

And I would like to also mention Danielle Klebanow again, my second shooter, shown here assisting me in my obsession of shooting this dress:)

Jeremy, of course, got a Lotus to cruise around in all day, and we were able to take a golf cart around Trump National Golf Course and get some fun photos of the two of them together. Although they had a smaller more intimate wedding…they definitely got their family and friends out on the dance floor!

So Meet Esteela and Stefan. They found me through the referral list at Wayfarer’s Chapel and they are having 2 weddings, one in Indonesia (where she is from) in the first week of December and then one at Wayfarer’s Chapel on December 27th. Based on the amount of fun we had at this shoot, they have decided to fly me out for their Indonesian wedding for a week to document all of the amazing traditional festivities they will be having over there. I AM SO SO EXCITED!! I actually spent the first 4 years of my life in Jakarta, Indonesia, so I plan on trying to find my old house and photograph it. Indonesian was technically my first language, believe it or not, but now all I remember is the word “susu”…Which means milk:) LOL