CJ and Katy's Chino Hills Engagement Session

When I first booked CJ and Katy for their Mid-December wedding I couldn’t wait to get the couple in front of my camera! They expressed their awkwardness in front of the lens prior to our session but their love for one another radiated in every message they sent and their trust in me was beyond refreshing that I knew we were going to have the most beautiful session together!

I met up with the couple for the first time on a warm summer evening in June in the beautiful of hills of Chino State Park.

Once again, Katy expressed that after all these years together, her and CJ had never had a professional photo shoot done together and I could tell they were a little nervous but I could also tell that they were really excited too! And so I made it my mission to SLAY the hell out of this session.

I had so much fun putting this sweet couple in front of my camera; making them laugh, swapping stories and getting to know them one on one before their wedding!

Take a look at some of my favorite images from our session

This couple was just DYNAMIC! Their love was so clear in every whisper, touch and laugh. CJ honestly blew my socks right off my body during our session. SO SOOOO many fellas are just NOT into getting their photographs taken, but this stellar dude right here, let me tell ya…he would do anything to make his bride smile and he brought out ALL the charisma and nailed this session.

You can truly tell these two souls were meant to be together and I am immensely blessed that I was chosen to document their eternal love.

BTS with Lindsey Stirling at The Ragdoll Pink Palace

It was late when I got the message from my good friend and editor Jasmine over at Grumpy Magazine that she wanted to try and squeeze in one last talent shoot before the Winter edition released. Before I could even answer (which would have been a yes either way), she told me it was Lindsey Stirling and I seriously couldn’t reply back fast enough. My brain instantly started planning out our shoot.

I had about a week to get everything prepared for this shoot and the biggest challenge per usual was finding an amazing location to shoot at. The concept I wanted for Lindsey was a vintage circus wonderland inspired shoot hahahaha no problem right?!

The actual moodboard Jasmine created and sent to the team based off my visions for the shoot

I got to work right away looking for locations and upon my search meet Winie the ringleader of the LA Circus; one of the biggest prop houses for circus themed films in the country. She greeted me with baby pink curlers in hair as she filled dishes of candy and tea for our meeting. We sat and chatted about her space and the history of her prop house before she showed me around the 4 acres of circus history

I had chills walking through this glorious place while I envisioned all the places I would pose Lindsey. At the end of our nearly 3 hour long meeting, Winie gave me the unbelievable offer to use her space for the shoot and I could not wait to report back to the team about this amazing location I had secured.

Unfortunately, it was a tad too far for the team to travel and so we were back to square one, with only 72 hours to spare. We secured a small studio in downtown Los Angeles just as a backup and it was looking like that was going to be the final shooting location.

I messaged Jasmine 24 hrs prior to the shoot, panicked and told her how uninspired I was by the location. I went from securing us the whole circus just to end up at the “lightbulb wall” room and I just really couldn’t hide my disappointment and I was struggling to find the magic in this new location.

A few hours later, Jasmine messages me to let me know she was able to secure The Ragdoll Pink Palace for our shoot. The relief was instant and the creativity starting trickling back.

When I arrived at 9:30 the next morning, Lindsey’s glam team David Gardner (@davidgardnerla) and Michelle Miller (@missmeeeshie) were already transforming Lindsey from sweet to circus fabulous.

While Lindsey was in makeup, wardrobe stylist Brittny Moore (@brittnymoore) and I pow wowed which outfits we liked the most and I went room to room to see where I wanted to photograph them.

We were behind schedule when we finally got to shooting but luckily the owner of the location gave us an extra hour and a half to work and so all in all we were able to get 5 looks done in the time that we had together.

This is by far my favorite editorial to have worked on all year. Lindsey was an absolute pro to work with and was so fun and sweet to boot. Make sure to grab the 2018 Winter edition of Grumpy Magazine with our cover girl Lindsey Stirling when its released later this month!

Malibu Adventures with Emily Skinner

6 AM Monday morning; the California interstates are jam packed already and my glam team and I are in the thick of it. Why, you ask? Well, because we are on our way to spend the day with Disney star Emily Skinner and her beautiful momma Jennifer for an exclusive one on one photo shoot for Saturne Magazine.

We all started our day off early in anticipation of the long morning commute to beautiful Malibu California. My glam team got to the park right on time to greet Emily (thank god) because my gps hijacked the route and put me on the complete opposite side of the park--apparently my GPS thinks I'm adventurous...Im not. Luckily my glam team is amazing and got to work on transforming Emily for our day of creating.

When I finally arrived 45 minutes later (insert crying emoji here), my make up artist Hali McGowan and hairstylist Suzy Balderas were finishing up final touches on Emily and soon after, my stylist Nery Rodriguez arrived and started laying out all our clothing options!

Unfortunately there was a mix up with film permits and we were asked to leave the park and find a new location. CRINGE! It was beyond embarrassing and I almost didnt include this in the blog because of how embarrassing the moment was, but life is real and moments like this happen--not often thankfully, but they do and you have to overcome them. Luckily, I knew of a location about 20 minutes away so we all drove one by one to the new park. I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason and l honestly think we got better images at the new location than we ever would have got at the original location. Happy accidents yall, happy little miracles.

When we got to the new park and Emily did her fitting and choose five outfits to shoot in. Everyone grabbed various bags and props and we all started the mile and half trek though the Malibu canyon.

Emily's beautiful Mom Jennifer Skinner looking as graceful as ever

Everyone helped carry the load, and yup even little Emily back there did her part haha!!

We finished shooting right around 4:30 pm..(talk about a long day, am I right!?) but I honestly, I could have kept going because this park just had endless amounts of beauty and historical charm.

I am so excited to share this exclusive photo series with you all when it is released later this month in Saturne Magazine. In the meantime here are some outtakes and BTS to tide you over!

Outfit 1 - Designer: Mustard Velvet Dress: Dumebi @atelier_dumebi White Undershirt: Hottie + Lord @hottieandlord

Provided by @mannfolkpr

Outfit 2

Wardrobe Provided by: Latiste Clothing @latiseteclothing

Stylist Nery Rodriguez in action for Outfit 2

Outfit 3

Wardrobe Provided by: Latiste Clothing @latiseteclothing

Outfit 4

Wardrobe Provided by: Latiste Clothing @latiseteclothing

Outfit 5

Designer: Red Velvet Skirt: Dumebi @atelier_dumebi Provided by @mannfolkpr

Man, my hair hahaaa..it was a looong day. Dont judge

Huge shout out to all five of these fabulous women for spending a full day hiking, laughing, swapping life stories, and creating art together. Make sure to follow them all at

Talent- Emily Skinner @emilyskinner__

Hair- Suzy Balderas @slayedbysuzy

Make up- Hali McGowan @halimcgowan.mua www.halimcgowanbeauty.wixsite.com/mysite

Stylist- Nery Rodriguez @campyvamp www.stylriot.com

Wardrobe provided by @mannfolkpr

Lilia and I Play Dress-Up at The Rag Doll Pink Palace

I met the sweet Lilia and her amazing mama, Jane Buckingham, at the Rag Doll Pink Palace for an epic three hour photo shoot for Saturne Magazine's Sept/Oct publication. This was my first time collaborating with the French publication and being a whole continent away I had to be alot more involved in the planning than usual which was stressful, fun, and gave me a whole new respect for all the editors I work with!

I had only a handful of days to secure a full glam team for this shoot, as well as for the photoshoot that I had the very next day with The 100 actress Lindsey Morgan, so to say my week was hectic was a bit of an understatement. However, by the grace of the photography gods, I was able to secure a team for each shoot and was ready to create some art with some amazing artists.

My stylist, Shaina Feldman was detrimental to making this shoot successful and truly outdid herself. She showed up with so many beautiful options for Lilia and I play dress up in and what better place to shoot than in a real life dollhouse?

Shaina Feldman stylying Lilia while Jane is working hard in the back

We were able to shoot 8 different outfits during our time together and I just cant decided which look was my favorite. I love the first and second look, but I also loved the last one too! Which one is your favorite?

Outfit 1- In Her Palace

Outfit 2- Wall Flower

Lilia looking amazing, me in my Target mom tee - whomp whomp

Outfit 3- Roses

Outfit 4- RagDoll

Outfit 5- Vintage Lace

Outfit 6- Circa

*Funny story about the above photo. I told Lilia to channel Britney Spears vibes circa 2000 for this portion of the shoot because, well.. look at this set up! Lilia looked at me like I was crazy and had NO IDEA what I was talking about. Shaina busted out laughing at me, and had me check my age while she pulled up the Britney archives on you tube for Lilia to watch.

Outfit 7- Hatter

Outfit 8- Blossom

I am beyond blessed to have had the opportunity to work with these ladies and I cant wait to work with them again! Make sure to grab your copy of Saturne Magazine when it releases this fall.

Rogue Magazine Party at Madame Siams

Living in Hollywood and being a creative is truly a blessing. The opportunities here are endless and I am always striving to find new adventures to tackle. I agreed to photograph a really cool event for Rogue Magazine in honor of their summer issue release. I had been looking forward to it for days and then tragedy struck. My camera plunged to its death and having no back up I resorted to buying a used one from a local photographer for $1100 bucks. Darn thing turns out to have a heat sync issue which caused all the images to have a green tint to them. I had no choice but to use the camera for this event and boy was I faking it to make it.

As you can see, the images produced out of the camera were just terrible! Thank god for editing am I right?

The actress in the images Caylee Cowan and I ended up hitting it off so we maaaaay have a super special one-on-one photo shoot in the works....stay tuned!

TMZ was outside for most of the evening as well as a few select networks, however I was only one of two photographers allowed into the exclusive vip areas here are some of the inside exlusives.

The beautiful sight see-er and teller of futures, Madame Annah Rose

BTS of On The Move Mag: Samm Henshaw at Epic Records Sony Studios

Life has been so crazy and I have been slacking on keeping everyone updated on what Ive been up to and for that I apologize. Over the past few weeks my life consisted of planning editorial shoots, shooting rock concerts, an amazing nude art series, broken cameras (yes plural), a fancy Hollywood party, a new puppy, and multiple artist shoots. So as you can see I havent had time to breathe let alone blog but things have slowed down( for now) and I cannot wait to start updating you all on my summer adventures.

At the start of July I was contacted by the editor of On the Move Mag, Pam Charbit to see if I'd be interested in doing another shoot for their publication. It had been almost a year since our shoot with actor Keiynan Lonsdale, so I was excited to be able to work with their team again. This time we were invited to Sony Studios Productions to meet with Epic Records newest signed artist Samm Henshaw.

We were given the rooftop area to shoot which was pretty drab to be honest. Think studio lot, so square tan buildings, bright California sun, and faded outdoor furniture. We were able to get some nice images but there was only so much I could do in such a limited space.

We shot for maybe five minutes before I decided to switch directions. I ecieded to let Pam conduct her interview, while Samm's publicist and I went off in search of a location inside the building.

Luckily, once inside I was able to find all sorts of inspiration. There was one location where they conduct meetings. It was a large open room with wooden risers and under the risers were these great track lights, that with a prism and bam, magic!

Samm was just the sweetest person to work with and I know his music career is going to explode! The photos and interview will be released in the September issue of On the Move! Check back to see the exclusive images and full gallery soon

Metamorphosis: Meeting My Internet Bff and Our Feature on Vogue Italia~!

As all great modern friendships go, I met Alexis through a mom group on Facebook two years ago. Our friendship blossomed over our love for photography and we started chatting more frequently; text messages turned into phone calls, phone calls turned into video calls, and video calls turned into a roundtrip flight to Los Angeles. Alexis took the long 8 hour trek across the country to meet face to face!

We fell into sync as though it was a normal afternoon and this was something we did all the time. We made the best of our 24 hours and started off with a shoot in Vasquez Rocks, and then a trip to Huntington Beach complete with churros and Karaoke. With a harrowing ride back to LAX the next morning, we may or may not have pushed the gas tank to the limit, with 30 minutes to departure. alll because.....we kinda sorta, got distracted with puppies at the mall. And that right there defines our relationship haha!

On a whim I submitted two images from our shoot to Vogue Italia and one was accepted! This is my first accepted image by the publisher after months of submitting previous work. It is just so fitting that the image that finally spoke to them, is one that was created with my sista from another mista. What a great way to end our trip, and begin the next level of our friendship.

Check out her amazing skills at www.instagram.com/invoke_indigo

PART ONE: 'Formation'

PART TWO: Metamorphosis

Steve and Elisa: DIY Their Way to the Alter

When the dress has been worn, the cake has been eaten, and the guest have all gone what is left to remind you of your big day but photographs!? They are so important and document the beginning of your new families history, and as a photographer there is no greater honor than being chosen to capture those cherished images.

When Steve and Elisa asked me to cover their small, intimate wedding I jumped at the chance. They were such a dream couple for me: laid back, fun, and creative. This duo, along with family members and friends DIY'ed their entire wedding and the love that was put into every detail was seen through out.

On the day of their wedding, I arrived to a lovely little house in Eagle Rock, CA where I was greeted by the bridesmaids, bride and her parents who were all getting ready. This is one of my favorite parts of the wedding day; capturing the bride getting ready for the next chapter of her life. It is such an emotionally charged time and witnessing the various emotions one person can experience in such a short amount of time is just overwhelmingly beautiful.

When we arrived to the venue, the Women's 20th Century Club of Eagle Rock, friends and family were gathered around wearing smiles and their best dressed as they conversed before the ceremony. The ceremony started right around 530 and was short and sweet: complete with a beautiful speech from dad and a rose petal toss at the end!

After the ceremony, we did a quick group portrait session before I whisked the Bride and Groom off for their first portraits together as husband and wife!

The Bride and Groom expressed early on the importance of their portraits together and luckily they reserved plenty for us to go out and explore. We all climbed into my jeep and hit the town for some fun and unique images.

When we got back to the venue, Steve and Elisa made their grand entrance and greeted guest before sneaking away a second time for another little portrait session inside the historic building. I fell in love with the 1903 building during our walk through a few weeks prior and I was hell bent on getting portraits of them posted up against the vintage decor.

There were so many amazing moments through out the day but my favorite part is what happened next. I placed the couple at a piano and while I made my way out onto the balcony to shoot, Steve cracked the lid of the piano and quietly and softly began to play a little melody. Elisa put her head on her husbands shoulder as they sat their for a moment just soaking in their new roles as husband and wife; the sounds of their party drifting in from the next room. It was such a lovely moment and I was so honored to be witness to it.

We finished out the rest of the wedding with a very laid back reception with just one speech and dance with the brides father, a quick first dance with the newlyweds, the cake cutting and the rest of the night was spent hugging, laughing, drinking and dancing! This truly was a special wedding and I am so thankful to have been there capturing every moment from this amazing day.

Krewella

When the editor of Grumpy Magazine contacted me to shoot their next artist I was stoked to hear it was the EDM musical masterminds Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf of Krewella. The magazine set up a simi-vintage, slightly outdated hotel room in Studio City to do a grunge inspired rock shoot with the girls. I brought along some vintage luggage and a few other props to add to the scene.

The stylist showed up first with a whole rack of outfits and a rows and rows of accessories

Next on the scene was the hair and makeup artists, followed by the ladies who made up Krewella. The team got the duo ready as nightfall began to set in.

Being a natural light photographer this was all suuuuper out of my comfort zone and I silently prayed to the photography gods for good photos. While it was intimidating and a bit of a challenge working with flash and such, it was so much fun and certainly a highlight of my camera thus far. Not only were the girl extremely nice and funny but they slayed this shoot. mean...Just see for yourself

Sophie Simmons : Its in the Gene's

It was a rainy morning in January as I drove up to Venice for the 10am call time with singer Sophie Simmons. You may recognize the last name or recognize her from her on going appearance in Gene Simmons Family Jewels but the singer who just released her first album, 'Black Mirror', is making her own way in the industry.

I was contacted by Grumpy Magazine to do a shoot with her and the concept was just epic. It was going to be outdoors at Vasquez Rocks but the weather forced us to make a quick change of plans, those plans landed us at Podshare of Venice. Having no idea what to expect when I arrived, I swung open the doors to a completely dark room filled with rows of bunk beds; complete with sleeping travelers resting next to piles of laundry and luggage. It was 930 in the morning and the place smelled of freshly microwaved meatballs. I instantly thought, oh crap.

I quickly scoped out the place and tried to find inspiration in the corners of the room that held any sort of light. As I walked around the building I saw how cool it really was and I started to relax, I really had no time to panic since Sophie showed up minutes after I did. The MUA and Stylist were quickly behind her and we got things set up for shooting.

There was little conversation exchanged during the hour shoot but we were quick and efficient and got some killer content which was just released in the Spring Issue of Grumpy Magazine which you can pick up on issu.com.

Here are the images from the magazine as well as a few bonus images