Beautiful Day Photography’s Weblog

INTRODUCING……Malina Weiss!  You may recognize her in her previous performance as Marta’s big belly in the Pregnancy shoot that I blogged about last month, but here she is!  Marta actually went into labor on MY 30th birthday February 26th…and I was hoping that she would be born on my birthday, but being a fellow Pisces is good enough I guess.  She will be artistically gifted and BEAUTIFUL!  I can’t imagine any two people that are more suited and ready to be parents.  They are a beautiful little family and not only have I had the privilege of  photographing their wedding, their brother’s wedding,  AND Marta’s pregnancy photos but I look forward to documenting them as they grow and add to their family over the years:)

I SWEAR that Kate and Phil are NOT paid models!!…LOL.  Seriously, I don’t think you can take a bad photo of these two. I actually have the pleasure of shooting their wedding this October in Colorado.  I met them through one of my best friends, Courtney Kopf, and the rest is history. We had an adventurous day starting with my early soccer game, then straight to our first location at the London West Hollywood Hotel (where I have one of my Bridal albums).  It was too funny, they thought we were part of a Hugo Boss shoot that was going on at the same time and the bell man started to unload my laundry in the back of the car thinking it was “wardrobe”…Yeah, I felt so ghetto!  In any case, I LOVE the London and their rooftop garden…Then off to the Huntley Hotel, with an equally amazing penthouse suite (where I had my 29th birthday:)…and then finally to the bluffs in the Pacific Palisades to further show off Phil’s girl…..not Kate, but his classic Ford Mustang…LOL, but he let Kate be in the photos too:)  After our ambitious shoot, I went BACK to my soccer team because we were being filmed for a TV show, so it was a pretty fun-filled day!  Here is a glimpse of our shoot….

So I don’t normally THROW myself under the bus like this, but I am going to show you a before and after shot of myself…YIKES!  I  just HAVE to show you the make-up magic that Tara Dowburd-Luftman can do .  I normally just go to ABC events to network, but this time apparently they needed midget models to model some petite couture dresses by the FABULOUS Amal of Beverly Hills, so I was asked to model.  I was SO stressed about having to model, that I fulfilled my own destiny by wiping out down a flight of stairs and skinning both my knees MINUTES before I had to model her gowns in front of everyone…SO EMBARRASSING! But the event was a TOTAL success, thanks to Carol Rosen and Sarahjane Landun.  So many of my favorite vendors were there including BOTH of my make-up/hair artists that I refer my brides to Mariah Nicole and Tara Dowburd-Luftman.  Mariah did my hair and Tara did my make-up and it was funny, because I have worked with these two ladies for years and have had them do tons of my brides, but NEVER once had them do my own hair and make-up.  SO funny!..but it only solidified what I knew before…they are AMAZING! I also want to recognize a few other vendors that I LOVE. Carol Saunders with Grand Events, Amber Gustafson with Amber Events, Beth Helmstetter with Beth Helmstetter Events, Melissa Allen, with the Ebell of Los Angeles, Lina Wallace with a Stunning Affair, Mary Sushinski with Occasions, and a couple of cool new vendors that I enjoyed….Karl Johnson with CutArts, he does custom Silhoettes of guests and he is SO fast, he did mine in like 20 seconds…very cool.  And of course the funniest thing was that I FINALLY put a face to the name James Hickey, Co-Director of ABC and a Photographer as well. I felt like I knew him because of the amount of SPAM email he sends me about events…LOL, but now I really DO know him and what a wonderful person he is:)  I am proud to say that I am NOT a model by trade and I am MUCH more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it…So I am pleased to say I will be SHOOTING the next ISES event in April at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion..NOT modeling!

This is a photo of my kick ass girl’s Charity Soccer team BLUSH minutes before we played against an all men’s Italian semi-pro team.  Although I left the game with a massive contusion on my knee, we beat them 8-7!  Girls rock, need I say more?:)

Here is super model Kelley again, but this time with her “other half” Mitch.  We decided to do their engagement shoot (weeks before the wedding might I add:), at their house, because Mitch was having SO much anxiety about going down to Venice to shoot it.  We wanted to do it where they first met, but he decided to do a 10 mile run the morning of the shoot near where we would be shooting and since there were so many people there he freaked out…PS, WHO runs 10 miles before their engagement shoot and scopes out the location beforehand?? LOL…but I think their beautiful home with a white picket fence was actually a perfect alternate location. Their cat was SUCH a diva during the shoot as you can see and although Mitch was ADAMANT that I would not be able to get one good photo of him, I think I proved him wrong:)

On Sunday I had the pleasure of shooting the Clippers Basketball team while bowling for charity at the Lucky Strike Bowling Alley in Downtown Los Angeles. I owe this client to Suzanne Pitts, the mother of my best friend Dr. Cherlin Johnson and also a VERY talented photographer.  She is the owner of Pacific Image Photography and has had the Clippers Charity Golf Tournament and Bowling Tournament as her events for the last decade.  Due to her recent illness, I have had to take over shooting these clients of hers.  Although it was fun, it definitely was not the same without her….and if I ever WAS self-conscious about my height, I NOW have a HUGE complex about it!  Some of these guys pushed over 7 feet tall and had to duck through doorways!  I LITERALLY had to climb on top of the machine that spits out the bowling balls just to be eye-level to shoot these guys…LOL.  It was quite the reality check for me.  I had a blast though and I am looking forward to future shoots for the Clippers….I guess that means I actually have to start watching basketball to know who these guys are!

I met Kelley through a great friend of mine Jill and we just CLICKED since the first time we met.  I LOVE her fiance Mitch, but now that I have met some of the women in his family…I think I love them more:)  Seriously, I left Kelley’s bridal shower on Saturday KNOWING that she is marrying into an amazing family that adores her.  They threw her the BEST bridal shower and really took a lot of time planning the little details of the day.  I spoke with Kelley today and she said she really felt like a Princess for the day…I can only imagine how she is going to feel on her ACTUAL wedding day in April.  I honestly can’t wait to shoot her wedding.  It’s going to be SO much fun!

SO Heather Sharpe at LA Style Unveiled contacted me regarding showcasing one of my weddings on their BLOG.  It of course was Mimi Ditrani and Scott Wexler’s wedding  at the Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, one of my FAVORITE venues.  Heather interviewed me about the wedding and posted a bunch of pics, so please click on this link to check out their BLOG!

The SUPER amazing talented duo Jeremy Koff and Christopher Ng, co-founders of  Koffeehouse Events , pulled off yet ANOTHER fabulous musically inspiring event…this time bringing together LA’s most finest up-and-coming artists to perform benefitting Lymphoma and Leukemia.  It was a packed house at the Wokcano Cafe in Santa Monica and I was happy to donate and contribute my time and photography to such a worthwhile cause.  After hearing SO much amazing music, I just HAD to go sing karaoke at the nearby bar The Whaler in Venice…True story!  LOL

I met Michelle Ghent through one of my best friends, Dr. Cherlin Johnson.  She is one of the most beautiful talented women I have met and she recently put together this fashion event in Hollywood defined as:

Elle Ghent Collectives

A premier shopping soiree that will offer the public bargains on designer brands. Shoppers will enjoy a unique experience consisting of cocktails, personal shoppers, beauty treatments including mini facials, massages, snacks, and goodie bags. We will deliver a luxurious experience amid an exclusive environment of live entertainment, philanthropy, shopping, and a splash of celebrity! 

And it was EXACTLY that.

Shoppers were walking around with a pile of clothes under one arm and a cocktail in the other, while a DJ spinned, massages were given and bargains were to be had!  Dr. Will Kirby (Dr. 90210) ,  Bob Marley’s daughter, Karen Marley and other celebs were there, as well as Lauren Conrad and her designer collection, Marceau designers Laurent Planeaux and  AND Phil Viardo of course myself!!:) I got some hot dresses and bathing suits, drank champagne and took photos…A  typical workday in the life of Laura Grier!  You can’t beat it!  Congrats Michelle.  I felt the event went off without a hitch.  Not to mention 944 magazine will be publishing my photos from this event so be on the lookout in the next issue!