Alex and Jeff both hail from Madison, WI but didn’t start dating until they both nestled into the west coast- Jeff in Los Angeles and Alex finishing up medical school in San Francisco. They spent all of their dating years long distance, both wracking up the Southwest frequent flier drink coupons, – Jeff and I once passed each other in the Burbank airport, him coming from and me going to the bay are- and are finally enjoying being in the same city after Alex left the bay area (and me and Tim) behind to join Jeff down in Southern California. I can’t wait for their wedding in October (just two weeks before ours!) and to celebrate our marriage with them in November.

A few months ago I was reading some comments people had left on a blog post that featured some of my work and one comment someone made was, “These are nice but shouldn’t the subjects be smiling more- they are supposed to be in love!” Of course, criticism effects me so for the next couple of shoots I did everything I could to make my clients extra “smiley” and then it hit me- sometimes that is just not only not the look I want but it’s not how my clients respond to me. I tend to be a quiet shooter- I talk to my subjects quietly and prefer to evoke those types of expressions out of them- so to you, critic – not all love is boisterous, laughing, smiley love- sometimes love is intense,  quiet, and emotional …… I spent a little extra time working on these images and the styling for this shoot so we could achieve a certain vibe… Wish I could say this was all me but Jeff and Alex seriously know how to work the camera- although I am sure Alex would argue otherwise.

LOVE YOU GUYS!

]]> http://megperotti.com/blog/jeff-and-alex-san-jose-engagement-session/feed/ 6 http://megperotti.com/blog/julia-and-jake-savannah-chanelle-vineyard-engagement-photos/ http://megperotti.com/blog/julia-and-jake-savannah-chanelle-vineyard-engagement-photos/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:55:47 +0000 admin http://megperotti.com/blog/?p=5667 My dear friend, Ewen Phelan, of The Last Forty Percent Photography recently asked me via his twitter account if I needed a hug. At first, I laughed- yes! … and then I stopped and thought- oh crap, I must sound awfully unhappy for Ewan to offer to fly out from Canada to give me a hug! I promise you, folks, I am not unhappy just pretty freaking busy – and while I absolutely thrive on this kind of pace I also am human, and get caught in that, “Things are spinning out on control! I have too many commitments! I can’t keep up!” downward spiral….If I was being 100% honest with myself, I would have to admit that ever since we moved I’ve been a bit of a stress case. (Sorry Timmy!) I’ve been here, there and everywhere since January and am really looking forward to finally getting a good solid month of home sweet home! 81 days I’ve been away from home for work  so far this year….

.. Anyways, I know some of my clients, past clients, future clients, friends, family, etc. follow my ups and downs and I want you all to know while I totally need, love, and appreciate those hugs I am loving life and am counting my blessings daily!

Thanks Ewan for kicking my attitude back into gear. – and check out his work bc it’ll blow you away… seriously.

Since Julia and Jake are getting married this Saturday I thought I should bust my butt and post their engagement images from early May! (Sorry, guys!) The three of us were troopers- battling reschedules due to the rain more than once- but we ended up with a perfectly lovely day up in the Santa Cruz mountains… love these two like crazy and can’t wait to document their love this weekend!

Jake’s last name and Julia’s last name are hidden within these images!

(The composition of this shot really BUGS me…. via here.)

The world works in wonderful ways! When Tim and I moved into our current house, our new landlord, James mentioned that his brother in law was going to be tying the knot this year. He passed along my name, I met with Angela and Geoff, and now my photography is a part of their love story. Angela and Geoff are in Europe until July 1st- hope you guys are having an amazing trip! .. Also, Angela makes custom jewelry and designed all the pieces she is wearing in these photos- if anyone is interested in them email me and I’ll pass along her info! She specializes in taking old pieces (heirlooms, brooches, etc) and constructing them into something modern for brides.

UPDATE: CHECK OUT ANGELA’S GORGEOUS WORK HERE!

Onward!

Well, Christine and Brian are tying the knot in Maui next month and, of course, being a wedding photographer I am booked on their date and will be able to attend- BUT I was more than thrilled to be able to do their engagement images. Brian and Christine met at Loyola Marymount so it was only fitting we started their session there! Onward!

I love you guys to pieces and wish you all the happiness in the world. And, Brian, I’m joining Christine’s mom’s fight to get you guys back to the bay area. Ice cream soon???

Zuli follows my blog and e-mailed me back in January about setting up a time to get some photos done of her and her hubby Rehan. They were married 6 years ago and haven’t had any professional photographs taken of them since. What a crime! We had such a magical time having our portraits taken that Tim and I, (well, okay mostly me) decided that we’d do a session of the two of us yearly from here on out and I hope that my clients leave our sessions feeling this way too. It’s so nice to see two people who are so connected, so about each other- the way Zuli and Rehan look at each other melts my heart and spending the afternoon with them in Palos Verdes was an absolute treat.

Zuli’s fabulous make up was done by some of my favorite girls in the business, Fiore Beauty

There were class parties at Booksin Elementary, birthdays, projects in middle school, soccer games, summers, calling boys, tping houses of our crushes, walks home from school,.. we’ve known each other since Mrs. Cherry’s kindergarten class and spent most of our school career up until 8th grade as friends. After 8th grade I left my lifelong friends and headed to Presentation and Kelsey attended Willow Glen High School. We definitely lost touch after 8th grade as young kids do- occasionally running into each other over the years at parties in high school,  in college, and at Peet’s coffee or Aqui dinners now that we’ve both moved back into the neighborhood.

I  love that my job continually allows past relationships to come full circle. When Kelsey told me she was engaged, I was all, “Um, hello! You are going to make such a gorgeous bride, I must shoot your wedding!” She gave me some bs about how she doesn’t photograph well or something but you be the judge! I am so happy she has found someone like Jason and I can’t WAIT to be a part of their wedding day in June!

Here’s a couple fun pictures I found of Kelsey and I… one from Kindergarten the other from 8th grade. Courtney- are you out there? … LOVE the clown costume. How did I not remember this??

Left: Cinderella is yours truly, Indian Princess is Kels | Right: Kels is front and center, I’m on the far right.

1. It takes 45 minutes to get there from our house. Not on a good day, not on a bad day, just 45 minutes. I don’t have to leave 3 hours early just in case the 5 is jammed, or a truck accidentally dropped orange cones all over the 10… it’s stress free driving up here compared to Los Angeles and boy is it grand! A little known fact about me- I get road rage. Seriously…. its not good for my blood pressure.

2. I get to be a tourist! My clients keep suggesting these spots that I know I am supposed to have seen. So I kind of do that thing you do when you’re trying to sound informed, “Oh yeah! I totally know where that is.. its that one street.. up by… totally you can see the Golden Gate? No? Oh well.. yeah I totally know where it is!” And then I revel at the fact that I get to cross off one more famous landmark on my “experience” list.

3. I get to catch up on my This American Life episodes. Ira Glass’s (swoon!) adorable voice lasts almost exactly 45 minutes .. if you are a TAL fan you know what I mean when I say that sometimes I’m laughing all the way up there, sometimes I’m crying.

4. …. I love my job!

Carolyn and Andrew live in the city so the city was the most natural spot for them to choose for their engagement images. We tossed around a bunch of locations but inevitably we ended up at Fort Mason. I could shoot there another 5 times and not use the same spot twice- seriously. Now, I was a little bit nervous because Andrew had sent me some pdfs of some truly amazing photographs (think Annie, Helmut, Demarchelier) and I really wanted to impress! He had me and Carolyn in stitches the entire shoot with his quick wit and the day turned out to be nothing to be nervous about. (Shocking!) Can’t wait for your wedding in July, guys!

Onward!

I know I’ve talked about this before, but my dad is right. Until the moment he let those words out of his mouth, I didn’t know where I got my ability to always look on the bright side of life. I’ve always found it very easy to keep a smile on my face through just about anything and will credit many of my successes to that fact. People want to be surrounded by positivity, laughter, brightness. Life isn’t about grand gestures or huge successes- it’s about little things. Simple pleasures… the wind in your hair, the sunbeams on your porch, the sound of rain on the roof.  I encourage you all to take a quick look at life today. Just a quick, simple look. Making someone feel beautiful for a day, photographing two people in love, documenting a newborns first week of life- my job is about these simple pleasures and I hope that when you have a chance to work with me- I remind you of this. Thanks for reminding me, Daddy.

As I drove over highway 17, headed towards Wilder Ranch, to photograph Alicia and Vlad I tried to take a imaginary picture of my clarity. The air was crisp and the sky clear, – it wasn’t raining, we weren’t going to have to reschedule, and I couldn’t wait to spend my afternoon documenting love! These two are just ridiculously cute and I can’t wait to photograph their wedding day later this year at Holly Farm!

Rain rain go away, come again another day … when I don’t have engagement sessions to shoot…

A few of my 2010 clients are still waiting on their engagement sessions due to multiple reschedules, but Alison and Zack didn’t really have that option. They live a ways away and were only in town for a few days so we had to make it work. After many e-mails back and forth luckily, for us, the clouds parted and we were gifted enough clear skies to get some fun images of them frolicking around SF. We ended up using I think what was our 4th option for locations due to weather but honestly, it was a blessing in disguise because we found some pretty magical spots with some pretty magical light.

Can’t wait to shoot their wedding at the Holly Farm in September!

Onward!

Wait… is that…. Bella..?

Eric and Fiona met when they were young teenagers in the theater so we wanted to bring aspects of this into their shoot with locations and props. I took a little inspiration from a shoot I have been loving lately in Vanity Fair and Fiona and Eric really, shall I say, “brought it.” Sharing these images feels like a long time coming- can’t wait to finally shoot their beautiful fairy-tale wedding day!

EXT. POOLSIDE AT VILLA IN TUSCANY - LATE AFTERNOON

ENT. ERIC, a budding screen writer working on his passion project- distracted by and then inspired by his leading lady, FIONA.

Thanks to Andrew at Studio MSV for that awesome camera! If you all are looking for a killer wedding day story teller- he is your MAN.

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