kerri and jeremy’s engagement session sneak peek! March 27, 2009

Tuesday March 24th

Today Skip and I had the pleasure of doing a session with Kerri and Jeremy at one of our very favorite beach spots in PB.

The weather was just perfect and we had a great time getting to know these two just that much better before their wedding!

Here are a few of our favorites from the session…..

Whoa… cold wave just hit!

To view all of the images from this session, please visit Kerri and Jeremy’s page on our site at…

http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com/kerriandjeremy.html

Thanks so much for a fun evening guys! We are really looking forward to the wedding and plotting how we can make your Gaslamp sign wish come true! ;o)

boring sales tax info psa….. March 24, 2009

On April 1st there will be a 1% sales tax increase in the state of CA.

I just checked with the State Board of Equalization to see how this will affect the contracts that we have with our 2009 brides and grooms.

I was told that even though we have a signed contract locking in prices, that unless the balance due is paid before April 1st, the new sales tax increase will need to be applied.

Unfortunately, this will increase the final payment anywhere from $20.00 to as much as $85. depending on the package.

If you would like more information on how this will affect your package,or if you would like to pay your balance in full to beat the increase,  please send us an email at shadowcatcherimagery@cox.net

Sorry…. we aren’t real jinkies about this either ;o(

Our Grand Opening march 19th… wow! March 23, 2009

Wow… wow.. and WOW! Are the three little words I can find to describe our Grand Opening Party!

Now I remember all over again what it felt like to be a bride on the BIG day! it was amazing, and a whirlwind. Before I knew it everything was over. We, and everyone there had the best time ever!

Skip and I both feel so very fortunate to have such wonderful friends, family, and clients. The love was felt all night long!

Before I add the images from the night to the Shadow Blog here I really want to thank all of the people who made this opening come together and happen, they are the ones who made this party happen!

THANK YOUUUUUUU!

Bethany from Splendid Sentiments, whose floral designs are always breathtaking and truly make you go WOW!

Judy from Classic Candy Buffet- Judy’s Candy Buffet’s always add something very special to an event, guests LOVE them… we do too ;o) And we soooo love Judy!

Radiostar-For rockin the party all night long. Their music is so much fun! Check them out on My Space, they are a terrific wedding and party band!

Marqui- Artistry by Marqui- For providing our guests with makeovers and some fun new looks!

Kelly Camp of Swank- Who did some super fun hairstyles for our guests. And Brittany too for being a super hair model!

Jennie Harlow- For giving our guests a super pop of red polish on their nails!

Chris and Ana from Huntington Images-For being our Photographers for the evening…. Ok.. funny ya, but who wants to shoot their own party???? Chris and Ana volunteered and we so took them up on their offer! (Pics from them to be added to the blog when we get them)

Stone Brewery- For a sweet discount!

X’s and O’s Lingerie and Gift Boutique- Thank you James and Christa for the beautiful display of lingerie!

And a BIG special Thanks ever so to our fabulous Shadowcatcher assistants Janelle, Erin and Lizz for donating their time and energy to tend bar and make sure everyone was having a good time!

Ok… now on to the pictures…..

First some of Bethany’s amazing flowers. This is the tree Bethany made for us. Since we didn’t have a lot of table space available for flowers I asked her if there was anything she could do to hide the Octopus of electrical covers we have on one of the walls, and she came up with the “Bling Tree” Skip and I love this soo much, we are going to have her do a permenante  version, so we can have it forever… I am so excited!

I could take pictures of Bethany’s flowers all day, these are a few I had time to get before everyone arrived…

Judy’s Beautiful Candy Buffet! Well stocked with Peppermint Patties too! Wooooooo!

And now our good friends… and entertainment for the night…. Radiostar, who rocked the house!

Norma and John form NR3 Video and photographer Heather Elise

Norma and John’s super sweet little son… Christian. Is he the cutest???

With all of the fun hair and makeup trials going on, we thought it would be fun if we set up the famous leopard high heel chair and do some mini sessions throughout the night…

Kelly’s hair model, and one of our soon to be brides… Brittany

Lisa Marie form Los Willows

Next up… the head coordinator from Los Willows.. Liza!

Then Heather Elise and I decided it was time for Norma to find her inner Diva and give the High Heel Chair a try…. Woooo Norma! You look HOT!

Bethany made this amazing floral arrangement that looked like a giant rose martini, it made a great prop, everyone loved it! Unfortunately as Heather E and I were directing Norma, she thought we told her to take a drink, with the band right behind us it was really loud and she missed the word pretend. We felt sooo bad as Norma got a mouth full of Styrofoam and flower water… yucky!

Soooo sorry Norma!

Heather E got a turn with the not so teeni Martini too….

None of us photographers and videoagraphers ever feel comfortable on “The other side”!

But there  are exceptions…. next it was Julianne Jones, owner of Studio 158’s turn with the chair, she was a natural!

So much so the band got really distracted right about here… Erin had to hold down the chair!

Then Heather E took the camera and had Skip and me take our turn… YIKIES!

I figured we embarrassed everyone else… why not us too?

I don’t know how our clients do this… you all deserve a BIG round of applause.. this is HARD! We are soo not supermodels….LOL!

Ok… Heather E … now I am really over it ;o)

Our assistant Lizz got one killer up-do from Julianne!

One more round of the giant Martini…  Last Call…… and we are out… Our assistant Erin and me….

And last but never least… our manicurist Jennie Harlow takin some martini time!

It was an amazing night… I wish we could do it again next week.. sooo much fun!

Thank you again… everyone! Skip and I are looking  forward to an amazing season in  our new space!

Los Willows Bridal Show! March 21, 2009

Sunday March 15th

Wow, I am really behind on blogging here!

Sunday Skip and I were out at one of our favorite wedding venues, Los Wilows in Fallbrook for their preferred vendor Bridal Show. We got so lucky, when other vendor that was supposed to be next to us couldn’t make it and we were able to spread out a bit. I LOVE the extra room we had, we made use of every extra inch. I think it really showed us that at the next bridal show we do, we need a double space… better start saving up ;o)

Packing for a bridal show can be stressful, you want to be sure you have everything and anything that you might need, cards, contracts, calculators, receipt pads, tape, scissors, etc. etc. But the one thing that really would be nice to have, especially if you are a photographer…. is your camera to take pics of your booth! Guess what we forgot????

Thank goodness for Val and Ben, one of our upcoming LW brides and grooms  and minister Lauren Seals ! They saved the day and got some really nice pictures for us! Thanks so much!

So for the first time in Shadowcatcher Blog history, we are showcasing images that are not ours!

Today’s  Shadowcatchersfeatured photographers are Val & Ben…..

and by minister Lauren Seals…..

The fabulous makeup artist Marqui adding some spice to our display.

Once the show died down a bit Skip and I took advantage of the calm and took a little break ;o)’

We also had the really great pleasure of being treated to a cruise around the lake with some champagne… THAT was such a treat, and a great experience! THANK YOU LIZZA! Being on “The other side” was soooo much fun, what a treat! Sorry.. no pics of that, just imagine us sitting in a boat with HUGE smiles on our faces!

It’s almost here March 17, 2009

Our Grand Opening! Please join us for a super fun evening!

Jenni & Bobby’s “flodded” E-session March 16, 2009

Saturday March 14th

Skip and I headed out today to San Juan Capistrano to meet up with Jenni and Bobby for their E-session on Saturday. We met Jenni and Bobby in front of the Mission and also got to meet Bobby’s Mom and their 2 dogs Snickers and Sandy.. they were soooo sweet… Bobby’s Mom was wonderful too ;o)   Since the Mission has a No Dog policy ;o(    we just did a few shots with the furry kids and them Bobby’s mom took them for a little spoiling while we did the session.

I had never been in the Mission before and was really amazed by what we found inside. So much really cool old brick and architecture, it had a world of possibilities! We explored the Mission as we went stopping along the way to get some shots in, it really was spectacular!

After we finished up at the Mission we headed to Marbella Golf and Country Club where Bobby scored us some VIP treatment and we hit a couple of great spots on the course.

We really had a terrific time working with Jeni and Bobby, our Brides and Grooms are SOOOO the best!

Thanks guys, and we are sooooo looking forward to the rehearsal dinner and wedding!

To view more images from this session, please visit their page on our site at- http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com-jenniandbobby.html

Val and Bens E-Session! March 11, 2009

March 7th, 2009

Today we hooked up with one of our all time favorite couples Val and Ben. Val and Ben booked with us eons ago for their May 09 wedding. They even joined us for our brochure shoot out at Los Willows last February. That was the first time we ever had a bride and groom dressed for a wedding over a year before their wedding! It was great practise for them. Today we had our first real session with them for their engagement images. How odd is that, work with them first as a  faux bride and groom THEN do the e-session, then do the real wedding ;o)

As expected we had an awesome time! The four of us get along waaaay to well and you can see from the images below, had a hard time getting serious about the shoot and not cracking jokes. Eventually we did get down to business and had a really fun time working the area. The location was a bit of a challenge for us, we just worked the same location 3 days before with Terra and Mitch, and we wanted to be sure we didn’t do just a repeat of Terra and Mitch’s session with Val and Ben. The similarities here are amazing, they both chose the same spot for their E session, the sessions were 3 days apart and their weddings are 20 days apart at the same venue! We are going to have to introduce these couples to eachother!

Soooooo, after much yada yada… here are our favorites from the day…. Val & Ben, you are todays BLOG stars! Woooo!

HAD to do this one again!

I’m very excited to have this one to add  to our Breakin the Rules file ;o)

Val & Ben… as always… it was amazing, and we really can’t wait till the wedding! We will be sure to bring the assistants to help keep us on track ;o)

Terra and Mitch’s E-Session March 5, 2009

March 4th, 2009

Wow… did we ever have the best time on this session! I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard!

Terra and Mitch are the most fun ever, from 5 minutes into the session on, we just had a blast! We absolutely LOVED the location, and found the best spots to shoot! It was Ahhhhh… mazing!

Terra and Mitch are getting married in May at Los Willows, and all we can say is that after this session, we really can’t wait for the wedding!

Here are a few of our favorites from the afternoon.

Terra and Mitch were great sports going along with all of the crazy off the wall ideas we had during the session, and as promised…… you have some engagement images and memories that not everyone else has, and ones we hope you will enjoy forever! ;o)

Thanks you two!

To view more images from Trra and Mitch’s engagement session, please visit their page on our site at http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com/terraandmitch.html  All of the images will be up after March 11th.

a new face on the media scene! March 3, 2009

(This is Skip writing this one!)

I recently had the chance to work with Lilli Garcia, recently signed on as a VJ on MTV’s new Latin oriented channel, MTV3 (MTV Tres.)  She is an absolute joy to work with, at turns serious and free-spirited.  We hit a couple of places downtown, the Sledgehammer Theatre and the Gaslamp.  As much as Heather and I love our weddings and our brides and grooms, it’s nice to be able to work one on one with someone, and devote my attention solely to getting that personality translated to images that tell who that person is.

 

Stay tuned, Lilli and I are working on some fun ideas for another shoot!