::Deniz Wedding:: {San Bernardino/Redlands Wedding Photographer}

3.26.11 a chilly, overcast day in the Inland Empire, but there was NO rain and that is all that mattered. From the day that Becky and I met with Lisa for her consultation we were excited to watch this wonderful day un-fold. Lisa is so relaxed, “kick-back” as the youngens would say. She knew what pictures she wanted, but over all she wanted to have a good time and marry the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with, Robert.

On the day of the wedding I arrived where Lisa was getting ready. I expected to find a bride freaked out about the weather and that is might rain, boy was I wrong. Lisa was so calm. She was enjoying herself, getting ready, having her long time friend Alejandro Puilido do her hair and make-up, surrounded by her closest friends and family.

Lisa and Robert had the most beautiful wedding ceremony at St Bernadine's church,  in San Bernardino. It had been a while since I had been to a catholic ceremony, but from what I remembered I knew I would have plenty of time to get all those perfect shots I wanted.

After the ceremony we met in Redlands to take family pictures along with wedding party. Lots of jokes were told and laughs during this time. Robert and Lisa are hilarious, at times I didn’t know what to believe between jokes and “real-talk”, it doesn’t help I am the most gullible person you’ll ever meet. I had never met Robert until the day of the wedding,so it was great to see the way Lisa lights up when she is around him. These two must walk around smiling all the time. They are so happy  together and always laughing. It is refreshing to be around them, because it is hard not to smile with them.

There is not much I can say about this reception besides it was one big, beautiful, party! Their reception was held at the Mitten Building, in Redlands. Their DJ, Mike Medina, was great. He kept everyone dancing and constantly interacting with each other. He even played the Spanish version of achy-breaky-heart by Billy Rae Cyrus. C’mon, who doesn’t want to dance to that?!?!  I would have to say my favorite part about their wedding and the reception were the BEAUTY-ful flowers from Petals by Xavi. They were amazing. I badly wanted one of these flower arrangements. They made the night complete. The food was great from The Farm, in Redlands, I have been craving asparagus since this wedding and I normally don’t even like it! Their wedding cake from Baker’s Oven, in Riverside, was gorgeous, picture perfect, I didn’t get a taste but I heard it was yummy.

Becky and I really enjoyed ourselves at this beautiful wedding. Robert & Lisa you are an amazing couple with wonderful families. Thank you for having Becky and I be a part of your special day.

        

::Easter Family:: {Riverside, UCR Botanic Gardens Family Photographer}

Yes, another Easter post!! Tanya contacted months ago to take her family Easter pictures. Her brothers and their families do not live near so she wanted to make sure we would be able to take them Easter weekend. I was so happy I was able to meet her family. They are the nicest people, with the cutest girls ever. I say girls and not kids, because there are four girls in this family and no boys yet.

We decided to go to UCR Botanic Gardens, and in my opinion the weather was perfect. I like, LOVE shooting in overcast weather. It makes for the perfect reflection of light, everywhere and you don’t have to worry about “hot spots” from the harsh sun. ahh I could talk all day about shooting in the overcast elements. But that would only bore those of you who don’t care. ; )

I love seeing when big families get together. They only see each other a couple times a year but those little girls walked around holding hands like they were best friends and saw each other ever day and you wanna know why they did this….. they were cousins.. See I knew what I was talking about when I said cousins have a special bond in my last post.

You will be seeing some more of Tanya and her daughter Ava in the near future. Tanya just won a give-away put on by KGS make-up artist, and her daughter is turning FIVE in June and we are taking pictures for her very, special 5th birthday!

         

::Easter Cousins:: {Highland Family Photographer}

The title of this post show just how far behind I am in blogging.

I was super happy when Lindsey contacted me to take the kids pictures, I hadn’t seen her or Brock in a while and it just so happened to fall on her birthday. But, I was not so happy when I woke up that morning with a migraine and it was super-duper hot outside and only eight in the morning. Luckily we had decided to take the pictures around 10am so she could have the rest of the day to celebrate the day of her birth!  Lindsey’s sister, Stephanie, also came with her kids so we just made it a “cousins photo day". I remember being little and getting so excited to see my cousins and yes, even take pictures with them. There is a special bond between cousins. They are someone you might see often, or maybe only a couple times a year. Sometime it might take a few minutes to warm up to them, but one you do, it seems that you always have a blast with your cousins. They are like that best friend that you can tell everything to since you don’t have the same friends or live in the same house, and you know your secret will be safe.  It was great to see the kids run around together, help each other, and encourage one another to smile! I always love when I see families get together and share moments in life. Nothing is greater than family.

     

     

::The Three Amigos::

There is not much more I can say about these lovely ladies. I am sorry for the blog overload but this is way overdue since I am the worst blogger in history.

I am sad that I won't be seeing these girls anymore, or at least any time soon. I thoroughly enjoyed being around them. They made me feel young again. When I was around them it was easy to forget that I graduated ten years ago. Where has the time gone?

As I have told you girls before, just stay in touch. Put as much effort into this special friendship that you have. You will all  be starting new chapters in your life's and going in different directions. I am sure that the three of you will remain friends for a very long time and will always have each other to celebrate milestones with in life. I wish the three of you nothing but the best and I can honestly say I am so glad that I have met the three of you.

A.A.K.