Concert for Cancer

We were delighted to be one of the sponsors for the wonderful fundraising event, “Concert for Cancer.” The organizer, Lex Hidalgo, puts together this concert in his “spare” time, and this year we were honored to participate as the event photographers. This year’s concert featured five local bands: Everything Said, Inglourious, Lexington, Made in America, and Apollo Sol. All awesome!

The beneficiary for this particular concert was Linda’s seven-year-old grandson, James, who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) just two days before Christmas last year, and received his first of many chemotherapy treatments on Christmas Eve. After going through seven months of chemotherapy along with several life-threatening infections, James is finally cancer and infection-free, however, the financial stress took its toll on the family. After a very scary and exhausting year (physically, mentally, and emotionally,) this Christmas will be an especially merry one, indeed!

We are so grateful for people like Lex, who devote their time and efforts to helping others! Here are some pictures from the event:

Holly & Brandon - November 28, 2010

This is why we like engagement sessions!  Getting to know Holly and Brandon was great fun and we loved the location too!  Ever been to Old Town San Juan Capistrano?  It’s very quaint and charming and there are great little niches for photographs, including a train station, as well as some great colors and textures.  Holly and Brandon's wedding is fast approaching, and we can't wait!

Road Trip!

…and during our “spare” time…we took an incredible road trip! On our four-day mini-vacay, we drove up to Southern Utah, to the National Parks of Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon (North Rim) and Zion. It was simply amazing to see such breathtaking natural beauty. In a relatively small area, it is surprising to find such differences in the landscape! And can I just mention the stars at night? They are extraordinary in that part of the country!

On our first full day there, we went to Bryce Canyon and were awed by the spire-like geological formations called “hoodoos” (from the verb “hoodoo” meaning “to cast a spell.”). Really, I swear. I looked it up. On the way back to the hotel, we took a little detour to Navajo Lake for some more gorgeous photo ops (you know, fall-colored leaves, cloudless sky, clear-blue water, that kind of thing.)

The next day we drove down to Northern Arizona to check out the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Since 90% of the Grand Canyon visitors go to the South Rim, it was very peaceful, more rugged and had quite incredible vistas. Like a colorful Dodge Viper Club, for instance, consisting of about 20 of them, parked at the Visitor’s Center. A few hours later, after stopping at many spectacular viewpoints, we saw them following us, so when we could, we pulled over. As they passed by, some of their hand gestures changed into pleasant goodbye waves. Just kidding – they were a very polite group of Vipers indeed.

Later that day, we had an adventure! Ever heard of Toroweap? Well, neither had we, until it was described to us as a “bucket list” kind of place, so, of course we were intrigued. Imagine turning off the paved road and driving about 2 hours on a dirt (read: bone-jarring, teeth-rattling) road with no cell service or any other kind of service, for that matter. But, wow, it was totally worth the drive! This is the narrowest point of the canyon, only about a mile across to the other side, but a 3000-foot sheer drop below to the Colorado River, with no guard rails in sight. We belly-crawled to the edge, and oh my, what a sight! Thrilling!

The last day of our trip took us through Zion National Park on the way home. I can’t tell you how immense the mountains look when they are kind of straight up and towering above you. Amazing! We took a short hike where we saw unbelievable rock formations, hanging gardens, and a babbling brook, complete with waterfalls and everything! You know, even OUR pictures can’t do it all justice. You just have to see it for yourself.

What a great road trip! Enough narration now, just take a look, for goodness sake! We have another exciting trip coming up, and will definitely post some more goodies soon, so ya’ll come on back, ya hear?

Album Design - Christine & Tyler

Sooooooo….after a busy summer, things are starting to wind down a little now, which is a good thing since we have a lot of albums in process and more coming! See how it all works out very nicely? We thought this would be an excellent opportunity for us to show you some of our recent album designs. Here are a few pages from Christine & Tyler’s album, from their wedding this April. Enjoy!

We will also be posting some other goodies in the next few weeks as well, some of them wedding-related, some not so much, but all very much eye candylicious. Come back often, you’ll see.

Danielle & Jonathan - September 18, 2010

You wanna talk about love?  Well, dear friends, love was definitely in the air at Danielle and Jonathan's incredibly beautiful country club wedding!  Danielle made a truly stunning bride in a magnificent Ines Di Santo gown, dazzling gold Manolo Blahnik pumps, and a fabulous bouquet of white lilies and roses, Swarovski crystals and feathers!  Jonathan, you are one lucky guy!  And, oh my, don't you just LOVE first look moments??  The guests were thoroughly enchanted by all the lovely details of the open air wedding and under-the-stars reception at the Glendora Country Club, including an awesome mariachi band, a fun photo booth, a fantastic cigar table, and lots of twinkling lights and feathers.  The newlyweds are now off to Fiji for a romantic, sun-filled, relaxing honeymoon.  Ahhhhhhhh…