First Comes Love

Natallie and Amar

The day of Natallie and Amar’s engagement session was the perfect California winter day.  Sunny and 83 degrees.  Love it!  Nat and Amar loved it too because they are from Vancouver.  They don’t get too many 83 degree days during the winter up there :)  Thanks to these two I spoke with a Canadian accent all weekend!  I was waiting all day for one of them to say “eh?” and Natallie finally did right at the end of the shoot.  I was so excited because I am one of the dorks who actually bought a t-shirt that said, “eh?” when I visited Canada a few years ago!  By the way, did you know that they call Bachelorette parties Stagettes in Canada?  Yeah, I didn’t either!

Natallie and Amar are getting married at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach in April.  I’m SO excited because their wedding is one of the first wedding at the venue since it was remodeled.  I’m also excited to be working with one of my favorite coordinators, Jeannie Savage from Details Details.  So, I know it’s going to be an amazing wedding!  Woohoo!

Natallie and Amar, I had so much fun with you two!  Thanks for the special homemade goodies!  That salsa is awesome!  See you in April and here’s your slide show!

*** Special thanks to my BFF, Aylin, who also happens to be one of Natallie’s childhood friends and bridesmaids, for giving Nat my information.  Miss you, friend!

Natallie and Amar first fell in love in Arizona so I know they will love the cactus in this image

Natallie’s one requirement for the location of their shoot is that there were palm trees

Posted in First Comes Love | 14 Comments

Jamie & Erik

Jamie and Erik are the brother-in-law and soon to be sister-in-law of my good friend and go to branding/stationary/design/invitation guru, Jamie.  I met Jamie and Erik a couple of years ago when I was first starting out in photography.  They came to the Bengard family session to keep little Aiden smiling the whole time.  I instantly liked Jamie and Erik because they were so fun and funny.  They did whatever it took to keep Aiden smiling.

Fast forward a couple of years and I heard through Jamie that they got engaged.  I kept my fingers crossed that they would contact me and I was so excited when they did!  Their May wedding is going to be fabulous!  Lots of attention to detail, which you know I love!  

And I’m even more excited now because Jamie is going to be attending one of my mentoring sessions in March!  She’s super passionate about photography so I know her session is going to be tons of fun!

So, here it is. Mmy last engagement session of 2008!  Enjoy and don’t forget to check out the slide show!

Check out Jamie’s pink beach cruiser.  She got it as a Christmas present from Erik!

The always fabulous Carina with Flawless Faces did Jamie’s make-up.  Love her!

 

Posted in First Comes Love | 8 Comments

2008 – Year in Review

Wow!  2008 has definitely been a momentous year to say the least.  We welcomed our baby boy in February, I launched my new blog the same month (I was on the phone with my blog designer on the way to the hospital to make sure it gone done before Brayden was born!), I launched my new logo and branding, I shot 21 fabulous weddings, tons of awesome families, and I’ve seen my business grow in ways I could have never imagined!  I’m feeling a little nostalgic today so let’s take a walk down memory lane and looks at some of my favorite images from 2008!

January

Last January I was pregnant, huge, and very grumpy!  I was ready to get Brayden out of me!  But, I did have two fabulous weddings to shoot and I was not going to let anything stop me!

First was Lauren and Robert at 7 Degrees.  Jasmine snapped this shot of me.  At the time I didn’t think there was anything wrong with being 36 weeks pregnant and standing on a chair.  Now I just think I look silly!

But, the wedding was amazing and I’m so glad I got to be a part of it!

The following week was Ashley and Tyson’s wedding.  The night before my husband and I were driving to pick up a new lens and on the way home we got in an accident.  

The paramedics came and I was fine, but just super shook up.  I got sent to the hospital and they thought I was going to have the baby, but the contractions finally stopped and at 1am I was sent home.  As I was leaving the hospital I asked the nurse, “So, if I’m a wedding photographer and I have a wedding tomorrow can I go?”.  She told me I probably shouldn’t, but of course I still did.  Chuck came with me to make sure I was okay.  Although I had extremely swollen feet I was fine and the wedding was amazing!

 

February

Good thing I didn’t miss Ashley and Tyson’s wedding!  Brayden was 4 (very painful, excruciating, long) days late.  I rushed to launch my new blog and branding before Brayden was born.

Brayden was born on the 12th and he did a lot of this for the first few weeks.

A couple of days later Jessica came over to do our newborn pictures.

Hauggy and Brayden also did some quality bonding.

March

I was itching to shoot something other than my baby and dog so when two of my favorite people came in to town I made them do an engagement session!

Brayden turned one month old and I made the poor kid lay naked on a chair in the middle of a field.

But, it was a pretty picture :)

One of my favorite families also came in to town and I made them do a family shoot.  Are you seeing a trend here?  I was bored so I made everyone do a shoot whether they liked it or not!

UCLA lost the NCAA tournament … again.  But, Brayden sure did love basketball!

April

My first official month back on the job and it was a good one!

First up was Baby Griffin.  What a cutie!

Then onto Chelsea and Sean’s unforgettable engagement session!

And Nikki and Jeff’s fabulous wedding!

 

May

The month started off with Natalie and Scott’s wedding.  They just so happened to get married 10 years to the day that Chuck and I had our first date!

Then I got to shoot a cool baby with a cool name.  Baby Drew!

I shot a few awesome engagement sessions!

Krista and Erik

And Shelley and Dave

And I also got to shoot one of my all time favorite couples with their new little guy.  Gina, Joel, and Baby Julian!

And guess what?  Gina is pregnant with baby number 2 and she’s due on Julian’s 1st birthday!  Stay tuned for more pictures of this gorgeous family next year!

 

June

Lots of wedding this month!

Jackie and Stephen

 

Matt and Rachel in Boise

And Chelsea and Sean at The Montage

Brayden kept getting cuter!

And I shot another awesome engagement session

 

July

Brayden was feeling patriotic on the Fourth of July

Another one of my favorite families came into town for a shoot

And Alex and Corey got married!  I just adore these two!

 

And Baby Cameron came to visit me for a few pictures!

 

August

I went up to Berkeley to shoot Ki and Andrew’s engagement session.  Can’t wait for their May wedding!

Janelle and David were married!

Shelley and Dave were married

 

I got my very own fan club on Facebook thanks to my BFF and number one fan Christy!

Leslie and Husam were engaged

Another one of my favorite families came into town for a shoot

 

And Brayden Bittel learned how to sit!  Woohoo!


September

I went to Northern California for Romy and Ryan’s engagement shoot at Ryan’s family vineyard!

Sandy and Dave were married

Trista shot an awesome family session for us!

Tara and Tyrone were married

Brayden went to Disneyland for the first time

I shot Lorraine’s maternity session

And Krista and Erik were married!

 

October

Heather and Justin had their engagement session at the “Happiest Place on Earth”

Alison and Wayde were married

Another successful Bengard family shoot

As well as another successful Imus family shoot

And Tracy and her family won my Nie-Nie auction

And last, but not least, Brayden Bittel was the cutest sock monkey ever!

November

Heidi and Chris’ engagement session.  They are my first 2009 wedding!  Can’t wait!

Brayden Bittel was excited about our new President!

Another fun shoot with the Cox family

I had fun with Brayden’s future wife, Baby Caroline

And we braved fires to shoot the Ramirez wedding

 

December

My FAVORITE family shoot of the year!

I taught my first mentoring session and it was so much fun!  I can’t wait for the sessions I have scheduled next year!

We headed south of the border for Krista and Vince’s Puerto Vallarta wedding

My last family session of the year was so much fun!

And here’s a sneak peek of my last engagement session of the year!


 

Wow!  That made me tired and was much longer than I intended it to be!  Pat yourself on the back if you’re still reading :)  

Thanks again to everyone for making it such a successful year for DrewB Photography!  I can’t wait to share everything I have in store for next year!  I hope everyone has a very safe and happy New Year!

Posted in First Comes Love, My Life, Then Comes Baby, Then Comes Marriage | 12 Comments