On the day of my engagement (ee- these sparkles are still blinding me! my dad, my uncle, myself, and Timmy got up early and drove into SF to rent bikes and bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ll admit, I was not entirely prepared for the length of this, what I thought was leisurely, bike ride- but it was really so much fun! I think we determined it was about an 18 mile bike ride. We ended up going all the way into Tiburon (yes I wore those tight skinny JEANS, and flat flat flat flats all the way there) for lunch and then took the ferry back to Fishermans Wharf. Highly recommended adventure! Anyhow, I was smart and didn’t try to lug my 5D across the Golden Gate on a bike but my dad wasn’t so smart and didn’t charge his camera before we left so all we had was Tim’s iphone- just thought I’d share. My butt still hurts. Just kidding!

Hope you all enjoy your labor day weekend- most of us photographers spend this weekend working but this weekends Napa wedding is on Sunday, so I plan to enjoy a day full of no labor tomorrow!  And Morgan AND Heather are going to be here- woooo hoooo I miss them!!!!

Helmuts are so hot right now.

On a beach, by a bridge, under a beautiful sun streaked bright pink sky, my Timmy of 6 and a half years, assured me that I was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and I couldn’t have been happier to agree! Didn’t he just knock it out of the park with this ring?!??!

As I’ve said, my schedule got lucky and all my bay area weddings were booked back to back this August-September so I am currently sitting in my parents family room in San Jose at a wooden card table with a stack of papers to my right, a hard drive and a cup of coffee to my left, a mouse and a circa 1998 Hanson mouse-pad that I dug out of my parents old computer table (MOE anyone?), and my laptop. This is my desk until September 7th and I’m kind of loving it. I miss Timmy (who is visiting soon thank goodness!) and Stella and Stanley and Morgan and Gabe and Heather but I am so happy to be hanging out with my mom, dad, and sister on a daily basis! It’s no secret that about a year ago I started feeling the “move home” itch. I miss it up here- the rolling hills, trips to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, neighborhoods fit for running and riding bikes, best friends since I was one years old- all of it. I still have a few weekday session openings and so if you’re interested let me know and we’ll set something up!

Here is what I am working on today! Much more of these types of shoots to come in 2010!

QUICK NOTE: I am currently shacking it up at my parents house in Willow Glen (San Jose!) until early September working my butt off… any bay area photographers, prospective clients, old friends, etc interested in getting together shoot me an e-mail meg{at}megperotti{dot}com!

(I promise there is a point to the info that follows…skip through to the images if you could care less- I won’t mind!)

I was just telling a friend the other day how funny it is when clients and other photographers ask me, “So, how long have you been shooting weddings?” Because, my answer should be simple – “5 years” – but instead I insist on explaining that I worked a million jobs from the time I started shooting weddings to the time I finally decided to go full-time. You see, it’s very important to me that people know I paid my dues, I worked really hard (really… really…), and eventually wedding photography found me. I always encourage other photographers to stick with their day jobs until they hit a wall. It’s so worth it to leave with confidence. Trust me, you’ll know when you’re ready- your legs will stop  moving and there you will be!

Let’s see if I can list all the things I did that led me to today.

Full time fine art photography student at Cal State Long Beach where if you would have told me I’d be shooting weddings for a living after college I would have laughed at you and said, “Weddings! Please! I’m into FINE art… psha…..” Little did I know, weddings held a huge place in my heart. This is also where I met one my best friends and source of contact inspiration, Heather Kincaid.

Frogs Club One (gym front desk girl)- Heather has this title too.

Stocker at Bath and Body Works (worst job ever)

A & I Photographic Customer Service Rep- 3 years-this is where I spent most of my time cultivating my wedding portfolio, shootings loads of film (E-6 and medium format folks!)

A slew of photography internships while I was working at A & I- including but not limited to: Beyond Words Photography and studio intern at David LaChapelle’s Los Angeles studio- (that last one is the sole reason I walked away, no RAN away from the fashion photography world, sometimes you gotta go down the road to learn you took the wrong one…) assistant to Laura Grier pretty much every single weekend shooting weddings in between all those!

and finally, ended up in the art department of a Conde Nast magazine for 2 years. At this point I was ready to take myself all the way to photo editor at Vanity Fair…. until it was literally impossible for me to retain my sanity without cutting everything else out and devoting myself 100% to my photography business.

So, yes, I’ve been shooting weddings for about 5 years- among many many other things. I think every experience I had shaped, molded, and led me to where I am today and I am grateful for all of them. I met so many people throughout each and every stop on the road and truly believe these relationships have formed for reasons. People are constantly brought into my life at chance timing, whether they are here to inspire me or for me to inspire them or for us to inspire each other I truly believe there is a reason for it all! I’ve been reconnected with old friends, made new ones, and helped current ones…..Stacey is in there somewhere! Stacey and I met when I was interning at a photo studio in Hollywood and I had the utmost pleasure to be a part of her gorgeous wedding to Marty in their beautiful Hollywood home’s backyard. Stacey works for Marc Jacobs and is such a stylish woman- with the help of Ryan Larson (another Beyond Words vet) she transformed her backyard into a lush garden and transported herself back in time! Enough chatter (I think that might be the most I’ve ever written in a post….)

Onward!

Published!!!! … Okay, so it’s a little small- but everyone starts somewhere! I plan on framing it and hopefully laughing sometime next year when I have a complete published wedding to take it’s place. This was from Christa and Travis’s November 08 wedding at Hartley Botantica.