Southern California Fine Art Wedding Photographer - SherriJ » Portrait

Paul Kenny is a talented musician. He loves music, writing, Topanga Canyon, and the outdoors. A couple weeks ago, my fiance Mat started production for Paul’s new music video. Since then, they’ve captured videos of Paul all over the LA area including: Topanga Canyon, Downtown LA, Venice Beach, Malibu, Santa Monica, and today at MDM Rehearsal Studio in the Valley and Vasquez Rock. Check out some of Paul’s promotional pics below and check back for updates on the release of his new music video! For now, if you’re curious to what Paul’s original music sounds like, just CLICK HERE to check out!

Behind the scenes: making of the video. After we spent most of the morning getting video shots in the studio, daylight was fading fast. We had just enough time to make it to Vasquez Rock for a couple of finale shots at “the fork in the road.”

Last but not least, one of my fave pics of Mat in action filming “Car Broke Down on the Side of the Road.”

UPDATE: Paul Kenny’s Music Video has been released! Click HERE to watch.

Chris and Leah +1: Texas Portrait Photography

sjphoto — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:25:27 +0000

It was about a year ago, my family celebrated my brother’s Chris’ and Leah’s wedding. Since then they have welcomed their first child, Libby into the world! She was born in September, so she is still just a little peanut! They also recently purchased their first home together in Humble, TX where this past weekend, they hosted an early Thanksgiving celebration. I get to see my brother about 1-2 times a year, and it was interesting to see him in a new light as husband and father.

Chris and Kris: Santa Monica Pier Portraits

sjphoto — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:40:46 +0000

Chris contacted me about a week and a half ago telling me about his plans to surprise his girlfriend of 4 years, with a fun-filled weekend boating, dining, and shopping. This afternoon, the two came up from San Diego to hang out at Santa Monica pier, Venice beach, 3rd street Promenade.

Kristina wore a huge sparkly Hello Kitty Ring… She shared the extent of her collection includes a Hello Kitty Beach cruiser. I wish she brought it!

Ah yes, the popular photo spot of the month: the great blue wall! I’m not sure what she whispered in Chris’ ear, but it sure made him smile!

You two are gorgeous!

There’s many many hidden photo spots near the pier, like this grassy square area… the sky was overcast again, which gave beautiful lighting around 5pm. Nice and soft. Is it just me or does Kristina look like Kourtney Kardashian?

Thanks for sharing your special weekend with me!

Swanny + Joey: Santa Monica Retro Engagement

sjphoto — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:38:32 +0000

Swanny and Joey celebrate their recent engagement at Santa Monica pier. The met while Joey was on vacation visiting his family in Miami and did the long distance dating thing for a while, but their love grew strong and gravitated their hearts together. Swanny shared with me, that Joey was so nervous when he proposed to her. They went to dinner at a Tiki Bar and he shyly passed the ring towards her. No speach, no bended knee… Just a smile, a question, in hopes that she would say yes! Swanny recently moved to Los Angeles from Miami to be with Joey and they’re excited to plan their October wedding in Miami.

Swanny has lots of tattoos, I especially love the ones on her feet! I can’t believe she found these cute pumps at a thrift store. Way to accessorize.

Joey has a great smile, and Swanny has a great complexion! I bet they’ll have gorgeous babies. =)

Alex’s Bar Mitzvah: The House of Blues

sjphoto — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 05:15:41 +0000

What: Alex’s Bar Mitzvah
Where: The House of Blues, Sunset Blvd Hollywood.
Photography: Paul Esposito/Tasty Pie Photography + Sherri Johnson Photography
Entertainment: Groovy David Entertainment

It’s not everyday I get to photograph a Bar Mitzvah, and even fewer times a Bar Mitzvah at the House of Blues! Alex celebrated his special day with close friends and family.

The decoration was absolutely beautiful and fit for a teenage boy. The place cards had guitar picks, a very cute idea!

Welcome to “Club Alex”

Tracey (Alex’s mom) with some friends during cocktail hour at the upstairs bar.

The videographers interviewed the kids from a cat’s perspective.   It made the kids curious and giggle. There was also a photobooth set up for the kids to take home some pictures instantly!

After cocktail hour, the balcony opened up to reveal the dance floor and main party area.   You can kinda see the layout of the party in this picture, with the party photobooth area at the top left, main floor in the center, a bit of the stage on the bottom right corner, and surrounding all of that was seating for guests to enjoy the amazing dinner. Some cool things they had for the kids was a smoothie bar, and donut station!

Groovy David Entertainment kept the energy up and the party going on the dancefloor!   On the right, 2 dancers strike an athletic pose. Wow, they are fit!

During the hora, Alex does a quick pose for the camera.

The kids played lots of games. The one pictured below shows the kids in teams formed into 2 lines. Each team has to pass a ball over their heads to the person behind them, and the last person in the line runs the ball back to the front. Everyone does this until they return to the original line position. The first team to do that, wins!

And the last shot of the night, Alex with all his friends.   His party was so fun and I’m sure it will be a night to remember for the rest of his life. Mazel tov Alex!

Anna & Xav: Lifestyle Shoot Malibu

sjphoto — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:35:42 +0000

Anna & Xav are a gorgeous young couple who love the beach, surfing, and mostly hanging out with each other. We sent yesterday evening at Malibu beach getting some casual shots of them together capturing what they love!

Smile Anna!

Xavier shared some of his musical skills by playing slide-guitar. Anna looks into his eyes as he plays.

I often get a lot of questions about the following image and how it was created.

Well, it really was simple to take and a lot of the special effects were done in post-editing. Honestly, this was one of those happy mistakes. I just took one shot of this image and edited it 3 different ways, pulling out the details in the shadows for one step, bring back the details in the sky, and then details in the ground which I could then merge together in a HDR image. “High-Dymanic-Range (HDR) is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods.” -Wiki This method is used a lot in commercial photography with architecture getting shots through windows.

VDay Photoshoot with Mat

sjphoto — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:36:53 +0000

This past weekend, I decided to give up some creative control and hand the reigns over to another photographer for a romantic valentines day photoshoot. Honestly, I think I am a terrible model. It’s really hard for me to be on the other side of the camera without feeling akward. But after researching some photographers in the area, I trusted in Brienne Michelle’s to not capture me looking goofy. Here’s some of the awesome photos from Mat and my Valentines Day session.

Dabsys: Portrait Family Session

sjphoto — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:03:34 +0000

On Saturday, the Dabsys family celebrated a couple of birthdays at their home in La Crescenta, California. I had the great pleasure of spending the evening with them and taking some photographs of their closest loved ones who were visiting from all over. Some members of the family drove an hour to attend the gathering, while others just so happened to be visiting from the Ukraine! I learned a few new things about their culture, including some amazing food and spirits!

Dana wanted to supprise her husband with some family portraits. Below are a couple of beautiful shots of father/son and mother/daughter.

Typically I do not photograph large groups of people… but it’s not because I can’t. I have YEARS of portrait studio experience where large groups in formal settings was a normal thing. I made an exception for the Dabsys family… and it came out pretty amazing.

The youngest members of the Dabsys family were two young boys. They were full of energy and spent most of the time running around and playing the drums (yes real drums.) Instead of fighting with them to get them to sit for a photo, I decided to let them play and have a good time being themselves. I love this shot I got of them running in the background, it really captures a ton of personality! Talk about perfect timing. =) They were very coopertive a while later for a cute close up.

Some awesome dinner included crawdads, pork, duck, ribs, and home made blueberry cake that was to die for!

A family tradition it to make this alcoholic drink. I forgot what it was called, but it tasted like sweet honey whiskey. Yummmm!

Dana’s daughter made the birthday cake from scratch! I love the sprinkled letters.

Happy Birthday!

Hanging in MarVista with Cyntia: Lifestyle Portraits

sjphoto — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:43:17 +0000

For the past couple of months, I’ve gotten to know Cyntia as a very interesting gal… lover of life and fan of sushi. In the mornings we tune in to KCRW, listening to an eclectic mix of music and news broadcasted from nearby Santa Monica College. Last week, I finally purchased my dream lens: Canon 70-200mm 2.7L IS USM lens (as an early birthday present to self). Cyntia was my first lovely subject.

Riding her red Paul Frank bike.

How’s the water?

Cyntia is also a recreational fencer. Before yesterday, my knowledge of fencing was next to nothing… but after an in-studio portrait session with Cyntia, I learned a couple of things. First some vocabulary: “helmet thingy” = mask. The “poker thingy” = weapon, which you are not supposed to point at someone unless they have a weapon too. Fencing has been featured at every modern Olympic Game. Currently, three types of weapon are used in Olympic fencing: the Foil, Epee, and Sabre. Which weapon you choose to use can depend on how light or hard your thrust will be, which area of the body you are aiming for, and who has the right away.

Pictured here is Cyntia with her Epee.