Dana and Scott : Brandeis-Bardin Wedding : Los Angeles, CA

How was everyone's weekend? I shot a lovely wedding in Saratoga and I have to tell you, leaving the venue at 10 and being home to Tim by 10:15 was pretty great! I am definitely getting used to being back in the bay.

So I must apologize to Dana and Scott for the lag-time on this one.  I've been shooting my little pointer finger off lately and haven't had much time to get to the down and dirty blog editing of a wedding recently! (Thank goodness for my new assistant Joreen for prepping these posts for me. LIFE-SAVER.) This was wedding #2 I photographed the weekend after I got back from Costa Rica and it was such an energizing inspiring way to end that whole trip. Regis came out with me for both weddings that weekend and if it wasn't for him and his mild-Starbucks addiction I might not have made it with my eyes open.

Thank goodness Dana and Scott were so chill to work with, Dana being a wedding coordinator herself had everything planned perfectly and these two knew the importance of great bridal portraits. ;) We had full reign of the property at their gorgeous venue ,the Brandeis-Bardin campus, and spent the afternoon running around with peacocks and cows! Their wedding was taped for a TLC show so there was a very large camera crew following us around for most of the day which was both fun and challenging- looking forward to seeing them on tv though!

Dana had her dress custom made.... she looked so amazing! One thing that is on my wedding list is to find and bring a nice hanger for my dress- its the little things.

Oh ya know... just an ordinary day.

Starry, starry night. Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, Swirling clouds in violet haze, Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.

Moving when you own a business isn't exactly the easiest thing to do- Not only are you going, "Oh no! All of my Los Angeles clients that I love so much are going to think I am abandoning them!" but you're also going, "Oh no! I'm going to miss all of the wonderful people I've gotten to know over the years in the industry!" When you work with planners, florists, make up artists, cake artists, caterers, etc. etc. on a consistence basis you form a little family. You know how to work together to create the best possible atmosphere for a bride and groom and you rely and lean on each other for everything from time-line help to referral bases. Moving essentially forces you to be the new kid in town again. You have to build relationships with people by proving your worth through your work ethic and your work quality. When I made the move back to the bay area in December I instantly connected with Janece Shelloe of Every Elegant Design and reached out to her to help photograph a fun project that she developed. She is planning Megan and Kevin's wedding later this summer and it was so great to get to know her better before their big day!

We had an amazing team of vendors out that day ... We took inspiration from Vincent Von Goghs Starry Starry Night painting and ran with it! I was aiming to create some seriously moody, creative images- images that conveyed a more serious mysterious kind of love. It was really fun to be able to approach the "bride" and "groom" from a more editorial relaxed mindset and I'm pretty excited with the outcome.

The tablescape ran today on my absolute favorite wedding inspiration site Junebug Weddings. Check out the post here!

Contributors: Photographer: Meg Perotti Film maker: Andrew Hsu of Studio MSV Wedding Planner and Designer: Janece Shelloe of Every Elegant Detail Location: Radonich Ranch via Marky Carr of Vingette Events Paper Designs: Rachel Hanson Designs Florals: Amy Burke Designs Cake: BethAnn Goldberg of Studio Cake Design Dress: Sarah Houston via Nouvelle Vogue Tuxedo: Selix Formal Wear Hair and Makeup: Armando of Get Your Do Up

Andrew Hsu is one of the most genuine people I have ever met and also one of the most talented film-makers. He  created a beautiful storyline for our models and captured the eerie love we both were aiming for so perfectly.

The first wedding I ever shot : Summer 2005 : Film

Clients, enjoy the photos- sorry if you don't understand/care about the text :) I officially started shooting weddings in the summer of 2005. I was interning at a studio in Hollywood and met the person who would teach me almost everything I know about weddings today, Laura Grier. I was still in school, California State Long Beach, studying away to get my degree in Fine Art Photography, and was looking for a fun, creative way to make some money on the side of my other almost full time job at A&I Photographic....

I've been getting a lot of questions from people recently about how/when I started.... I can't tell you that it hit me one day that I was supposed to do this, or that I've always wanted to shoot weddings, or even that weddings are what I'll be shooting 10 years down the road. I can tell you this though, it was years of trial and error, experience, and about 5 photo jobs down the line.....To give you an idea of my timeline, I started shooting for Laura in 2005 and didn't start my own photo business until 2007. I 2nd shot for 3 years while still going to college for photography, worked at a pro-photo lab called A&I for 3+ years, interned at a some pro photographers-studios, and worked for the art department of a CondeNast Magazine all before deciding to do this full time.

The industry needs to start being honest. Businesses don't grow over night and photography is a learned skill. The most important thing about your work is the happiness of your clients. Let's all start focusing on our own work, shall we? In order to dive back into how I felt about weddings when I first started shooting I recently dug out a bunch of prints from the first wedding I ever photographed. I don't have many of the images because they were on film and the negatives were not mine to keep since I was 2nd shooting but I was able to snag a few prints for my portfolio at the time and I'm so glad I kept 'em.

I've learned a lot since then- pretty sure most of these were shot at around F8 but I don't think I did so bad?

Bay Area Wedding Photographer : Calamigos Ranch, Malibu : Amber and Dave

What a week! That is all the personal story I have to tell right now. :) Amber and Dave are the best kind of clients-a low-maintenance, totally in love couple in search of really pretty pictures. They chose such the picturesque wedding venue, Calamigos Ranch, in Malibu, CA to gather their friends and family together and tie the knot. Beautiful light streamed through the trees, ducks waddled around, willow branches gusted in the wind... it really was a perfect day. Amber chronicled her wedding planning journey as a blogger for Wedding Bee under the aptly named, Ms. Spaniel and I've had such fun following her trials and tribulations and seeing her wedding day come to fruition was such a treat!

Amber and Dave, thank you so much for including me in your story- I wish you happiness and love for all time!

(This wedding was two days after I got back from Costa Rica and I could not have made it through this weekend without one of my very best friends, Regis. Thanks for the driving, bag carrying, the always beautiful work, and of course, the non-stop laughter!)

Credit to Regis for the socks shot :)