This afternoon Larina and I spent some galavanting around her backyard, taking her Senior photos. She almost had to cancel because she’s had a nasty fever the past couple days, but she pulled through. And I’m so glad she did, because we had such a fun time. She even gave me a fortune cookie (how’d she know I love them!) that she made herself… My fortune? “You approach life philosophically and with warmth.” I thought I had a pretty good fortune until she told me the one she gave to her Bible teacher said, “Shake it all night long.” :)

Anyway, this is Larina’s room. The whole wall looks like this– how cool is that?

Isn’t her bug cute?

There might be a new location on the horizon for Britney Photography! I have not signed the lease yet but will be soon!

I should be updating this VERY soon!

USATODAY.com – New digital camera? Know how, where you can use it

To all of you out there who wonder about taking photos: here’s some help in the matter!

Yesterday was a marathon workday… I finished designing an album, I finished revisions on two other albums, finished uploading Harry & Cathy’s wedding for online proofing, and painted a bit. Amidst all that, I also took some photos of my father.

For those of you who don’t already know, my dad was riding his bicycle (yes, the kind you pedal) to work on the San Gabriel riverbed on December 1st, when a pedestrian pushed him over. We’re still not entirely clear how it happened– the pedestrian likely stepped right in front of my dad and was startled, and pushed him in defense; as he didn’t stick around, we’ll never know! In any case, my dad was injured very badly. Among many broken bones (hip/femur, several broken ribs, collarbone), he had two major injuries. A few of the ribs were not only broken, but smashed– one of those punctured his lung, and it collapsed. He had surgery that afternoon to put a chest tube in and his lung healed fairly quickly. After his lung was doing better, they were able to operate on his severely broken hip. He is now one of those people that will forever be hated by airport security– he’s got a couple rods, pins and even a titanium cable in him. :)

The first two days were a nightmare, as he was in so much pain. To compound the matter, he was originally taken to a really crappy hospital. I could go on forever about the problems at this place, but instead will simply say they were beyond imcompetent and should really not even be accredited. They didn’t help his condition, and he really didn’t make any progress until he we had him transferred on the 9th. From then on, he started getting better. Two days before Christmas he was released and able to come home– what a blessing to have him home for the holidays! He’s still recovering and might start walking in another week and a half. He’s starting to feel a bit hemmed in with the wheelchair! Mike keeps challenging him to wheelchair races, but so far my dad’s not taking him up on it!

I wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about my dad– he’s still not too serious!

I also want to thank all of you– I really appreciate your patience when I wasn’t answering phone messages for three days at a time in December. Some days I arrived at the hospital at 7am and didn’t leave until 8 or 9pm… and when I got home I ate some soup and went straight to bed again. Other days, I really tried to work and just didn’t get anything done. So I want to publicly say that I thank you for your patience last month!

I’m beginning a project that has nothing to do with business, and everything to do with freeing me. Over the next four months, I’m going to be photographing a variety of women, young and old, for this project. If you have an interest, let me know! I’d be happy to talk it over with you and arrange a shoot.

So what makes you feel free? What give the confidence and power to do what YOU want to do? What makes you feel like you could fly? Those are the questions I’ll be asking. No wrong answers, of course!

I started with Lindsey a few days ago. I was still formulating the ideas in my head and still working on how they fit together, so I’ll probably have to re-shoot her. But it’s a start!

Last week Jaime, Aracelli, and their two children Jasmine and Diego welcomed the newest addition to their family– Michelle Joleen. I had a great opportunity this after noon to photograph Michelle over the course of a couple hours. She’s such a sweet girl, and absolutely adorable!

So, now I’m really lagging on reporting my weddings! Harry & Cathy were married on January 7, a whole week ago! In my defense… well, I guess I don’t really even have a good reason!

Anyway, Harry & Cathy were married at the Mandarin Baptist Church of Alhambra. Apparently, the church used to be an Elks Lodge. When I got there, the coordinator led me through a virtual maze to find where Cathy was getting ready! The sanctuary was pretty cool, and the church building had beautiful stained glass windows, as evidenced by the following photos!

Here’s Harry just before the ceremony started…

Harry and his guys right before walking into the sanctuary. The guy in the middle is Jason Wu– a Bay Area photographer that referred this wedding to me!

A couple ceremony photos

Harry and Cathy photos!

We trekked all the way over to the Universal Hilton for their reception. They had a full 10 course Chinese banquet; everyone was still eating when Ines and I were leaving!

Harry & Cathy’s engagement photos

This week I had the opportunity to shoot two great people! Tuesday, I shot a session for Patty to show off the “new her.” Patty is cool, motivated woman who works for the teacher’s union.

David is an environmental lawyer. He seemed a bit embarrased to say he no longer works for the EPA, and now advises a large company on how to comply with EPA. I say– he’s doing great work either way.

Pandora

This is a really cool site that a friend recommended to me a while back. It’s a great way to discover new music in the styles you prefer!

Yesterday was such a fun day! My friends from high school and I went to the Huntington Library for a few hours while we spent some time catching up with each other. It was so much fun walking around and spending time with old friends– I need to do that more often!

Since I have a wedding later today, I didn’t want to take any of the “pro” cameras along yesterday and have to carry my heavy camera bags around the gardens the entire day. So I took my little camera, a Canon S410. Proof yet again, it’s not the camera that makes nice pictures.

Later I’ll have a group shot of the four of us–it’s on Melanie’s camera–but for now I’ve got a couple scenics.

That pink flowering tree up there is a magnolia tree. It won’t belong before I’m planting one of those in the backyard!

Kevin and Rachel were married a few days ago on December 31st. I know a lot of people think that’s a bit weird, but I think it’s really cool symbology. What a fresh way to begin their marriage! And, if you believe the superstitions, they will be blessed with a ton of good luck because it was pouring rain most of the day.

Kevin and Rachel were married in their church, the San Gabriel Valley Alliance Church. Their reception was (thankfully) just down the road at the Arcadia Golf Club. Due to the rain, I only got a few portraits of Rachel before the ceremony. Between hiding from the arriving guests and no porch area, they were all inside!

Their ceremony was beautiful and completely personalized to them. While it did add to the length of the service, I thought it was pretty cool that they chose to sing worship songs before marrying.

I just have to say this: any bride that is willing to walk in the rain in her wedding dress and doesn’t even think about complaining is awesome!

Rachel changed into the traditional Chinese wedding dress after lunch. She had it made in China while she was teaching English there this past summer.

And then, a wonderful ending to their reception… Kevin sang a song to Rachel when he proposed to her, and then sang the same song to her at the reception, in front of their guests. Isn’t Rachel lucky!

Oh, and the drive home sucked. It was pouring buckets while Ines and I were on the way home. On a five mile stretch of the 605, we passed four accidents, two of which looked pretty bad. To top it off, I was driving Mike’s new car and was terrified someone would hit me. I really do like the rain, but when I can barely see out the windshield and people are stupid enough to NOT have their lights on, I’d just rather be home!

Kevin & Rachel’s engagement shoot