Southern California Fine Art Wedding Photographer - SherriJ » Engagement

I met Kristin and Jordan last month as they started planning their February wedding at The Victorian in Santa Monica. One interesting fact about their celebration, it will take place at the end of football season after the Superbowl (important factor for the men in attendance!) The winter sun will set early, and they are planning a romantic nigh setting. For their engagement shoot, they wanted somewhere fun and meaningful, so they chose a location about 5 minutes away from their place in Manhattan Beach. It was my first time shooting there and I loved exploring with them!

Monina + Matt: Engagement in Malibu

sjphoto — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:29:16 +0000

Last night, I had a great time hanging with Monina and Matt, my awesome August couple. They both met 6+ years ago during guitar classes and have been inseparable ever since. They’re getting married at Calamigos Equestrian in Burbank, and plan on including many personal touches to their wedding!

Angela + Eugene: Malibu Engagement

sjphoto — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:20:19 +0000

I’m happy to share an amazing session from this weekend, featuring Angela and Eugene. We met during the holidays and they shared some great plans for their June wedding at Rancho del Cielo, in Malibu. For their engagement, they wanted to incorporate some fun and style. The colors of their wedding will be honey and wheat with accents of coral and blue. Angela did an amazing job preparing with cute outfits and a basket full of goodies that included bubbles, a paint kit, letters, and origami cranes and hearts they both folded together. I love the personal touches!

Update: Angela and Eugene have been published on Fabulously Wed! You can check out their feature HERE.

Kaye + Scott: Malibu Engagement Photography

sjphoto — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:10:33 +0000

Kaye and Scott met a few years ago during the production of a music video and recently took their friendship to another level. Kaye loves fashion, Scott is a self proclaimed geek lover, and together they make quite a picture perfect pair! We spent some time Monday afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather and took some fun pictures.

Love the back lighting on this first ones. Kaye handmade this awesome purple feather headband for the photoshoot and did her own makeup. Definitely a woman of many talents.

Scott matched from head to toe. I love the purple socks!

I love how in love these two are… makes my job look easy. =P

Smile!

Amanda + Adam Engaged! Santa Monica Pier

sjphoto — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:05:08 +0000

Amanda and Adam both love the outdoors and met a couple years ago while working part time at REI. Now an Army-man, Adam is stationed in Texas and Amanda works as a nurse in the ICU. After spending a few months apart, Adam knew he could not be happy without Amanda by his side, so he recently popped the question! Tonight was the first chance I got to see these two together and start documenting the beginning of the rest of their lives together.

I recently met with Amanda about her plans of a July wedding. With the big day just a couple months away it seemed planning mode was in full effect! Adam got back in town right before the Holiday weekend and tonight all 3 of us went to hang out… I bet you can guess where. =)

Amanda loves cotton candy…

We started shooting right before sunset and got some beautiful shots of the warm sun. Even though I shoot at the pier ALOT, it’s never really the same. My experience with my couples is different every time and together we find new nooks and crannies.

I’m so happy for you both and cannot wait to shoot your wedding in less than 2 weeks!

Ben + Amber: Vintage Engagement Photography

sjphoto — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:43:33 +0000

I recently met Ben and Amber at a cafe. We spent most of the night talking about their love for pinatas, puppies, and Polaroids. Ben is also a photographer and like to collect vintage cameras; Amber loves Etsy and pampering their two Boston Terriers. They shared with me the creative details of their backyard-Fiesta themed wedding, and I instantly started day-dreaming of their photos. I was super excited (and flattered) when they booked me for their September wedding! We soon began collaborating on their engagement session. They chose to shoot outdoors during the best light and wanted to included some of their favorite things.

First up some family shots with their adorable pups: Burger and Bacon. Ben and Amber rescued these dogs when they were itty bitty. Now they’re 9 months old and almost full grown! I love their pointy ears.

Ben and I scouted some locations and found this awesome woodsy area on the trail with beautiful back lighting.

Amber and Ben found some icecream/ Popsicle bubble blowers to accent their wedding colors of red and aqua. We had lots of fun getting these shots in “Bubble Forest.”

I wish I could take credit for the bubble idea, but I’m very glad to say it was all Amber! I love when my couples make their session personal with props and toys.

I had to get a great closeup of the ring Ben found for Amber. It’s honestly, the most amazing ring in the world… I’ve never seen something so beautiful! It has intricate details all along the side, with a center stone surrounded with a ring of more bling. I’m inspired to get a new macro lens just to take more beautiful pictures of it! If you’re curious to know, Ben got the ring from his family’s jewelry store in Iowa. I just might have to take a visit back home and drive over there to see what else they have!

Ben loves to take pictures of candy, life, and Amber. During out photoshoot he was watching a few online bids he had going for some vintage cameras on Ebay.

Wendy and James: Santa Monica Engagement

sjphoto — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:51:17 +0000

I met Wendy and James at a coffee shop in February, what now seems like such a long time ago. Wendy has a great bubbly personality with a smile for miles and James (a little more reserved) loves 4wheeling out in the desert. Together, they are currently planning on buying their first home and honeymooning in Mexico after their wedding! For their engagement session, they wanted to incorporate their vintage Schwinn tandem bike! They love bringing it to the beach and riding along the boardwalk from Santa Monica to Venice.

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. =)

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.