Today I am barely stopping for this quick five minutes to post this hello, because I am again off to another adventure, this time a Surprise party ;) ;) ;)

And because posts are so much better with photos, here’s a quick preview of last night’s amazing wedding:

Anyhow, when Katie sent me an IM sometime in the Fall last year about wanting me to shoot her wedding, I was incredibly stoked! I was humbled not only at the fact that I could meet another of my long time SO buds in person (I’ve met up with several other awesome friends already), but that I would get to travel to Alaska to meet her. And not only was she just as incredibly awesome in person, but so was Wayne, and all of their family and friends. Everyone was so sweet and accommodating, and Chris and I were just so blessed to be a part of it all.

So for those who don’t know where Girdwood is, it’s about a half hour drive from Anchorage. A well known landmark and main attraction in Girdwood is the gorgeous Alyeska Resort– a popular ski resort that many out of state and Alaskans alike enjoy venturing to all year round.

And now enough chatter and on to the photos… let’s start by showing the girls hanging out at the Harmony House B&B:

I love her Romantic Soles heels.. she had them redesigned with bows on the side and they’re so gorgeous:

The lovely bride!

And here’s her handsome groom:

The ceremony and reception were held at this sweet and rustic Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows”:

They make a pretty fabulous looking couple don’t they?!

Check out their amazing cake:

I love their exit from the reception… by the way, in this photo it’s almost 11pm. Seriously, 11 at night.

And if you didn’t believe before when I said their family and friends were FUN:

THANK YOU again Katie and Wayne! We had such a blast with you guys and I’m so happy we finally met in person!

And for tons more of their amazing day, just click play:

Humble and awed thanks again to Jeremy of Jeremy Chou Photoworks for second shooting with me!

Today I’d like very much to share with you two of my newest acquisitions, one that I actually received more than a month ago and the other just earlier this week.

You know it’s been my trouble for a while now, apart from taking my camera equipment well kept and protected for commissioned shoots and weddings, where I bring at least one camera body and one or two lenses, hazardously placed in my purse or a tote bag on our family trips to Disneyland or any one of our other usual jaunts around Southern California. I have always wrapped them around some sort of make-shift protective casing (whether it’s a big scarf or smallish sweater), but I knew it wasn’t enough to keep it properly secured and scratch free as it mingled around with my other purse or tote bag contents.

So last month I excitedly invested in this new beauty:

This is the Kelly Moore Photographer’s Bag (for women, they have men’s styles too).

Isnt’ it just grand?! I replaced this with the other lens bag I previously used for weddings and portrait shoots and it’s been a wonderful change! Not only are my lenses safer by eliminating my 70-200mm ever falling out again (yikes!!), but it just holds so much more and is just as, if not more, comfortable to wear on those 8-10 hour wedding days.

They also not that long ago started selling a Hobo-style purse and that may just be my next purchase camera bag purchase before the year is over!

.
.
.
.

And this most recent bag I acquired, as a birthday present from my sweet and incredibly generous SISTER, arrived on Tuesday:

This is the Epiphanie Camera Bag, aptly called “Lola” (they also have one in RED!)

This will be the bag I’ll use for every day trips where I plan on bringing more than just my point and shoot… which lately has been everywhere we go now, even to just the park or the pier. And it will be a big relief knowing my camera and lens are safe and I will still be able to carry my other normal purse items :)

After all, just because I prefer to lug my big ol’ professional camera bodies around everywhere I go, doesn’t mean I can’t do it with style!!!

Just a heads up to all! We will be traveling to the below listed cities on the specified dates for weddings/photo sessions. For mini-sessions or anytime sessions, hit us up if you’re interested in booking us while we’re in your neck of the woods! Spots for mini-sessions are limited!

7/30 through 8/2 – Anchorage, Alaska
8/23 through 8/26 – Laughlin, Nevada
9/16 through 9/20 – New York/Brooklyn, New York

Colleen met Eddie through her brother (also another of my friends) who happened to attend the same church as Colleen’s now betrothed. It was on a breezy group trip to the Getty Center where the strapping Eddie laid eyes on the fair Colleen and was very impressed by her beauty and grace. As she wrestled her brother…. down to the ground. (True story!)

Colleen’s love for the Lord, wit, humor, and immense beauty inside and out are what led Eddie to propose to her on her birthday in April. There they were, under the glorious blue skies and crystal waters of Catalina Island, and Eddie asked Colleen to close her eyes as he presented the best present he could have given her– a ring and his request for her to accept his proposal. Just the two of them, as perfect as Colleen could ever have prayed for, and staring back at her was as perfect a man that God could ever have provided.

And fast forward to my two hours spent with this amazing couple, which to me wasn’t enough time! They were pressed for another event that night but I could have clicked my shutter for much longer, although I have a feeling it would be pretty tough to properly capture the love they both exude for each other. I’m hoping I came even minutely close.

And now, on to the photos! We started our day at the grounds of the University of Redlands:

And the laughing began pretty much instantaneously:

I love this scripture Colleen chose to represent their feeling of JOY:

Her gorgeous ring:

Here’s a good sample of that LOVE I’m referring to:

The next three photos works in this sequence.. a) I asked them to look down at the paper with happy big smiles b) Eddie proceeds to say “Hello!” to the paper as if it were a cute little 2 year old baby c) Colleen and I laugh so hard and I wonder how I kept my camera as steady as I did!

We couldn’t really stop laughing so I just told them to drop it:

And focus on each other:

Yeah I went a little crazy with the signs but they humored my craziness anyway:

So I told them to ignore me again and focus on each other:

It wasn’t really that hard for them to comply:

After a quick wardrobe change:

What else but more laughter!

Colleen has an affinity for all things French, so we incorporated her super swanky Eiffel Tower into these shots:

And some quiet time:

I love this first photo of Eddie. It looks like he’s thinking “God, how did I get so blessed to have this woman?” And the second photo makes me think she’s thinking the same thing about him:

Okay so the story behind the first one is that I cleverly asked Eddie to stand over the Y in “your” to make “our”. Then Eddie saw the other part of the ground mural and positioned himself and Colleen to make it read… well, see for yourself:

Haha these next three are too fun!

Colleen loves theater and music as I do, but she performs both, ten times better than I could ever hope to do:

Had to get the comedy and tragedy masks in of course:

We traveled down the street to the Redlands Bowl / Redlands Amphitheater to get some more stage-d shots. Get it? :)
I’ll tell you how wonderful these two are to let me get away with my creativeness.. these seats were scorching hot but they let me get my shot anyway!

So to show my apologies we moved down to a cooler area… right on the stage:

They didn’t have a hard time “acting” out :)

Gotta love that laughter!

They also humored my crazy props (if you haven’t already noticed):

The next two say it all!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW!!<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Colleen, thank you for being an amazing example of what a Godly woman truly is, I am SO thrilled you found the man of your dreams. Eddie I'm so glad you ended up the one for my sweet friend. Thank you for the fun times, I can’t wait for your wedding!!

.
.