the Ahn family portrait session in San Diego

recently our golden state was made a little bit more beautiful when the Ahn family paid us a visit from the empire state. they flew out here in their private jet (false) just to see us (false). we headed out to some rolling hills in vista ca (true) to do a little family portrait session with them (true). it was a sweet spot for a super sweet family (true).
from left to right they are warren, zachary, johanna, nichole, felice, sunday, sang, sophia, and grandma!?! donna. wait, that can't be right. there's no such thing as a woman over 30. i thought these beautiful ladies were all sisters. maybe that's why i got fired as the guess-your-age guy at the carnival. :) can you believe donna is a grandma? i can't.
warren, you and donna started one beautiful family. nichole, felice, and sang just kept your labor of love going. :) you all look amazing.

doesn't johanna have the cutest face on the planet?

zachary busted out his gq look. ouch! his eyes just pierced me. :)

sophia, well... sophia was not havin it. :)
i know a lot of people would probably throw this kind of photo out, but we think they're keepers because it shows the child's personality, how they really were on that day, not just how they said cheese.
this photo is on our blog to show that we are not some kind of magical beings. we work with real kids, not mannequins. one of the things we love about doing family sessions is that we never know what we are going to get. sometimes the kids just aren't having a stellar day. we're ok with that. the kids definitely run the show. we have all the patience in the world. besides, we love the challenge of catching the little moments in between the sad faces, or in this case, capturing a sad face or two. they make for some good laughs down the road. :)

delicious ritz crackers make everything better.

baby Sunday was all smiles. isn't she precious?

april caught johanna sharing a quiet moment with grandpa warren.

here's one of those quick in-between moments of sophia. she's so beautiful.

some of our favorite photos are of moms with their children. for the next few we got Felice in to have a little mother - daughter fun in the field.

babies love to fly air mom :)

sophia of the ninja sisterhood.

her secret identity has been revealed :)

there's sophia's smile. yes! no child can beat me! :) or kim in this case.

baby Sunday wanted to hop on pop so we got Sang in the frame along with Felice and Sophia. now that is one beautiful ohana. felice and sang, thank you for sharing a day with us. we absolutely love your family! hopefully we can meet up again soon to do a family portrait session in new york city.

there's no better place than in the arms of someone who loves you. sleep tight Sunday.

David and Danielle's San Diego Wedding at the Rancho Guajome Adobe in Vista, CA

a dusty drive, a simple dirt lot, just look around at this incredible spot.
a clay tile roof atop white washed walls, a flower-filled courtyard filled with birds calls.
a 19th century wagon with rusty metal wheels, this place is a gold mine of textures and feels.
weathered adobe brick walls, old wooden floors that creak and crack, someone yells "david and danielle are getting married today!" behind my back.
i smile to myself, knowing that this day is going to be awesome.
the rancho guajome adobe is a snapshot. a living picture of old california. in the mid 1800's the rancho was given to a couple as a wedding gift. they held lots of extravagant fiestas and many of southern california's early residents came to visit.
with a history like that, it was the perfect place for david and danielle to have an amazing southern california wedding.
from our very first meeting, on through their engagement session and wedding in san diego, we have seen how much david and danielle love each other. it is very clear that they are IN love. they are so happy together that just being around them makes us happy. we love people in love!
david and danielle's wedding was pure awesomeness! it was like being at a wedding with our own relatives. in fact, they reserved seats for us at a regular table right alongside their own family members (who were awesome and totally funny btw! see taffy picture below). among the billion other things they did for us, that alone speaks volumes as to how much david and danielle care about people. they didn't have to bring us in their inner circle and treat us like family, but they did, and we love them for it. they're sweeter than twinkies wrapped in cotton candy and dipped in syrup with sprinkles on top. yummo :)

danielle enjoying a quiet moment with her dad just before walking down the aisle.

exhibit b: showing how much david and danielle care more than a care bear, it was pretty warm the day of their wedding, but david and danielle had already done their homework (something they do a lot). they knew all the guests would be sitting under the warm california sun during their ceremony, so they bought a barrel of parasols to keep everyone cool. yes, even the dudes.
rule# 183 of the dude handbook states: it is fully acceptable to hold a parasol during a wedding that is held in direct sunlight. it goes on to award chivalry bonus points if the parasol you are holding is deployed over a female or elder that is accompanying you at the wedding.

i couldn't quite see from my angle, but apparently something very sharp, possibly a dagger, blew into david's eye during the ceremony and caused some sort of salty liquid to discharge from it. i would have totally helped him out, but a dagger-like object had also blown into my eye and i didn't want to cause a scene removing it :)

david's question was...
where is the chase, and how do we cut to it? :)

pastor carlton harris of the college avenue baptist churchin san diego did an awesome job officiating david and danielle's wedding ceremony. before we could blink three times david and danielle were married and running back down the aisle on their way out.

if sexy and fierce had kids together this is what they would look like.

nobody rocks a parasol like david. nobody.

madonna's "like a prayer" video, meet david and danielle's wedding photo.
is it just me, or is it getting hot in here? guys? :)

david and danielle had some absolutely amazing details at their wedding. the flowers were beautiful, the poof balls were poofy, the food from romano's macaroni grill catering was insanely good, and the cake from howard's bakery in el cajon ca was suh-weet! speaking of the cake...

danielle was kind enough to offer the first piece to david.
hey, um, david. you got a little something right there on your face. :)

david, being the gentleman that he is, kindly shared the 2nd piece with danielle. how sweet.
revenge is a dish best served with cake.
nice extension david :)

the fun with cake was far from over. it was their friend freya's birthday, so david and danielle called her to come up front with them.
not wanting to take one on the chin from david or danielle, freya smashed the cake in her own face.
kidding. actually, david and danielle led everyone in singing happy birthday to freya. how cool is that for a couple to do on their own wedding day?
we thought it was pretty awesome.

this is what happens when you mix photographers with saltwater taffy and awesomely fun people.
gold. pure photographic gold. :)

i don't think there was a dry eye in the whole reception, except mine, when danielle and her dad danced. :)
as the wedding was winding down, danielle's dad stopped by our table and we got to talk shop with him for a bit. as it turns out, he loves cameras too. yep, he's pretty much awesome.

there's something i love about this photo. oh yeah, it's david and danielle.

danielle took david out behind the woodshed and...

made shadow puppets :)

when thinking up ideas for david and danielle's ring shot we wanted to do something that was as fun as they are. we came up with two ideas.
the first idea involved a couple of our friends from yo gabba gabba. looking good foofa and brobee!
the 2nd shot is for david. for this one we...

aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! it's a dinosaur!!!!!!!!! run!!!!!!
wait. false alarm everybody. it's only a toy dino. phew! :)
this is our ode to david's dinosaur shirt that he got from the san diego natural history museum when he was 13 and still wears on special occasions, like today.

david and danielle, we all want to thank you so much for making us laugh every time we speak with you, for making us cry when we see you cry, and for letting us show everyone what true love looks like. you two are amazing together. you have the most caring hearts of anyone we know. we're ecstatic that you are part of our extended ohana now, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you. one thing is for sure, everything is going to be good as long as you are together.
since we can't get enough of you, here's a little slideshow with a fun song that kim said reminds her of you. love you guys!

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jane and garie's engagement session in san diego

i am absolutely loving the fact that we are on an insane streak of working with hot couples that are super fun. jane and garie are the latest couple to help our streak stay hot. we have not proven it yet, but they may love san diego as much as we do. some things they have going for them are the following, they went to san diego state university, they love the san diego chargers, garie and his groomsmen are going to be wearing custom made chargers shoes at the wedding, and jane and garie are getting married in san diego. i think all that qualifies them as associate ambassadors of our fine city. you can see how in love they are in these pictures, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. that's the way we like it! uh huh, uh huh. yah, i know. :)
we had an awesome afternoon following them around some of the most beautiful scenery in san diego for their engagement photos. we can't wait for their wedding next year! now, on with the hotness.