SAN DIEGO WEDDING: EMILY & GRAHAM

San Diego. It's one of my favorite places in America. It has some pretty great surfing. The Mexican food is phenomenal. Some of the country's most active (and attractive!) people live there. I was excited about taking a trip to attend this wedding but even more excited when Graham and Emily asked me to photograph it.

I'm incredibly blessed to have a handful of friends that I've been pretty close with since the 6th grade. Graham is among them and all of us were pretty excited for him when we met Emily. Graham is super smart and funny. Emily is super smart and funny. Graham is committed to living out his Christian faith. Emily is faithfully committed to Jesus too. Graham is fun and adventurous. Emily is fun and adventurous. Graham likes giving bear hugs. Emily likes receiving bear hugs. Graham is a dancing machine. Emily is also a dancing machine (see below). It was pretty inevitable they would end up together.

So, at the Soledad Club on a hill overlooking Mission Bay, Graham and Emily were married in front of friends and family and then proceeded to dance the night away. In the middle of the first dance they quickly cut to the Macarena (a true crowd pleaser) and then proceeded to show us their Poker Face. Throughout the night we would continue to see great dance feats like The Worm, The Splits and pretty much everything that Kevin James did in the movie Hitch.

I also had the pleasure of working again with my friend Jamie Baldwin of For the Love Photography for this wedding. Jamie helped a ton and got some really great shots which I'm sure she'll post to her site too.

People often ask, "Would you ever travel to shoot a wedding?" The answer is yes. Especially if the clients are getting married in San Diego.

BABY ANIYA

WASHINGTON DC ENGAGEMENT: LAUREN & JONATHAN

Clients ask all the time when the best time to take photos on National Mall is. In the summertime, it's right around 6am. I hate saying it and they probably hate hearing it. I'm pretty sure that when I decided to start my own business one of the deciding factors was not having to get up with the sunrise. But then I get there, it's quiet, no tourists - just a few runners, and the light is interesting. Every time I'm there I start to think, "I should change my schedule and go to bed earlier," maybe I could experience some more sunrises. In California sunset is my favorite time of day. In DC, it's the sunrise.

Lauren and Jonathan met me down near Memorial Bridge, early. I liked working on these photos because they are a little different from my usual style of bright colors and strong contrast. Lauren likes vintage style and is planning her wedding to reflect that—which I'm really looking forward to. With these engagement photos I tried to go a little more dramatic with shooting straight into the sun, over-processing a bit, and slightly muting the colors. It's been fun to collaborate on the look of the photos, while being able to retain my own style and come up with something unique.