Catching up on posting work from last year (and admittedly, from 2012!) More soon! Including the beautiful, colorful destination wedding of these two in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!
Category Archives: Engagements
I had so much fun getting to know Brinja and Eden during their engagement session! It was a lovely overcast late January day in the Santa Monica mountains, and capturing their playful loving energy was so delightful.
A few words from their testimonial:
“We absolutely love the photos! We are so excited to have such pretty engagement shots to show family and friends and to keep as a memory as we start the rest of our lives together! Memories can fade without pictures to keep them real, which is why we love having bunches of them! Linda was wonderful to take pictures with. Of course it can be a little awkward posing for the camera at first if you’re not a professional model, but Linda made us both comfortable and it got so much easier as we went along. She has a fantastic eye for beautiful pictures and we love her romantic style.”
So excited for their upcoming wedding!
Amanda & Michael found me after seeing the engagement session I shot with their close friends Tanida & John (whose session is to be posted soon!) I was excited to work with them because 1. ahem… beautiful & handsome, and 2. Tanida is the loveliest of lovelies, and I knew any friends of hers would be equally delightful to work with. My favorite part of the day was when we headed to Monarch Beach after getting some shots in San Juan Capistrano. Although the colors were great in the Old Town (to view some of those photos, click on the slideshow below), I gravitate towards more natural backgrounds, which allow for more freedom and movement; this is where the true beauty reveals itself.
Amanda & Joe
Red & Turquoise in San Juan Capistrano
From Amanda: “I love our photos… I love how the pictures look so soft and romantic. Linda captured such great moments! Linda is awesome to work with and makes you feel so comfortable. She is punctual and professional as well. Love her work, and I love how she makes the most simple moments so pretty and romantic.”
The first time I spoke with Jandilyn and Wilson, we ended up with a long list of ideas as to what we could do for their engagement session. More often than not, the hard part is narrowing possibilities down, instead of struggling to find them. I think what we came up with is a good balance between something playful involving a theme, and something more timeless; the best of two worlds!
It can be easy to get carried away with props, so for the travel theme I felt it was important to keep things subtle, since Union Station (also available for wedding receptions) has a lot to offer on its own. A couple of vintage suitcases –found at one of my favorite antique malls in LA – a vintage copy of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (bought at the Rose Bowl Flea Market), and some wardrobe details were enough to enhance the theme, while still allowing us to flow naturally through the space and get a fun series of shots.
After wrapping up at the station, we headed to a very secluded little haven in Griffith Park to avoid the more highly-trafficked areas of the park on a Sunday. Although there are some great more-well-known areas of the park that are beautiful, I tend to prioritize my clients’ comfort. That privacy allows them to be more natural, without having an audience peek in as they kiss and enjoy each other in the moment, which of course is reflected in the photos! I had scouted this nook a couple weeks prior, and knew that the trick was to get there when the light was perfect, making that the priority when planning the timeline of the day. Plus, I love finding the magic in an environment that does not seem blatantly full of beauty! As Aaron Rose put it in such few words: “In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.”
After a long year of working as a wedding photographer in Los Angeles and adventures in 2011, I told myself I should take it easy for a few weeks while spending Christmas with my family in Cincinnati, and not even think about bringing my camera gear with me. So I packed light, and headed home with merely a carry-on bag, feeling very smug about it.
Soon after arriving, I get news that an old friend and his new fiancé would be in town briefly. Adam and Ali are both amazing wedding photographers, so I was honored when they asked me to take a few engagement shots. Admittedly, I had a pinch of trepidation to aim a camera at two very talented creative individuals, especially without my own gear.
I only had about an hour’s time to zip over to Adam’s house – while my spiced pear bundt cake was in the oven for Christmas eve’s dinner festivities. We walked into the woods surrounding his neighborhood and, above is what came of it.
“Technically” speaking: Not gonna lie… The limited time frame combined with meeting one of my subjects for the first time, combined with navigating a camera that had different settings (with my cold, cold hands) trying to incorporate the oh-so-many trees in a way that wasn’t distracting from the couple… was definitely an exercise that had me on my toes!
I usually scout my locations well before a wedding photography shoot. I’m a planner. I like to plan. It makes me feel comfortable about having some control over enough variables that I can then have more liberty to play around during the shoot itself. All that aside, it’s healthy to be able to pick up a camera and make the best of it! Maybe I should make a game of it with my fellow wedding photographer friends; A photo challenge-of-the-month where we’re thrust into a scene and all have a limited time-frame to come up with something creative! Yeah? Anyone?
All my best wishes to two wonderful human beings, uniting in marriage! ♥