Hi all!

As the summer wedding season and the fall portrait season converge with the upcoming holidays, this perfect storm equals an increase of books for us and our bookbinders.

For those about to rock a custom book from us, here’s a rundown of holiday deadlines! Depending on the stage of your book, you may need to take note of multiple important dates.

Image Design Deadlines

Oct. 1, 2010 – Final date to submit image selections for standard design (Christmas delivery guaranteed only if design is approved by Nov.1)
Oct. 10, 2010 -  Final date to submit image selections for RUSH design (w/ rush charge; Christmas delivery guaranteed only if design is approved by Nov.1)

Design Approval Deadlines

Nov. 1, 2010 – Final date to approve design for standard Christmas delivery
Nov. 15, 2010 – Final date to approve design for RUSH Christmas delivery (w/ rush charge)

We sooo wish we could extend these dates! However, we aim to create the best archival craftsmanship possible, and that level of quality control requires extra time for us and our bookbinders. Feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions, and we look forward to presenting your finished book!

Tschuss!

I was able to bring along good friend and Sacramento photog Cassi, and we had so much fun with these two! They both have such a great sense of humor … I had to fight cracking up!

Their “first look” on the roof of the yacht …

Who needs to kiss when you can lo-five after you’re hitched?

Congrats, you two!

PS: There are more photos to show soon … I got to photograph a honeymoon session with them at the mouse house … Disneyland!

Yacht was provided by Electra Cruises.

All 12 of ‘em — which includes the Anderson and the Larsen families once you start counting all the kids — got a lucky comfortable So Cal summer experience because the heat wave hadn’t quite arrived yet.

Check out this video of their Day-in-the-Life session:

And here are some of their awesome portraits:

After jumping on all the beach rocks in La Jolla, we went for pizza. The kids then got dressed in Maltilda Jane clothing and we finished the day at Golden Spoon, a frozen yogurt shop in north San Diego county. It made a perfect backdrop!

The camera loves this family!

More to show soon!

- Russell

Right around 5:30pm on Fridays, a section of the park on the sunny side of the slope fills up very quickly. The west lawn becomes a tight speckling of blankets, friends, couples, and kids as the sun sets. It makes for a wonderfully unusual LA phenomenon … socialization with other friendly people! Ingrid and I went with friends, newly-married Heather + Brian (oh by the way, check out their wedding photos here), and had a great picnic on the lawn while listening to the nearby DJ’ed music.

Silverlake Wine does the generous pours, and always selects four boutique summery choices. This time, they offered a taste of their own blend, along with a story of  the bear art on the label that apparently also graces the walls of their bathroom (unconfirmed … I haven’t visited their bathroom yet).

Other attractions include an ice cream truck (Coolhaus) and a hot dog truck (Let’s Be Frank) that pull up to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House.

The tickets are available online, and seem to have increased by $5 this year to $20 + Eventbrite’s commission. Profits benefit the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation‘s projects and programs. We may not go as often because of the price increase, but it’s still such a very worthwhile summer activity when I’m not booked for an event or wedding!

Purchase tickets here: Barnsdall Friday Wine Tasting

Enjoy, and say hi at the next one!

Tamer’s got confidence and charm that’ll disarm anyone, and the camera seems to like him, too.

To coin Tamer’s words, his senior portraits are crazytown. We moseyed, and sometimes ran, through some very cool hallways and courtyards of old town Pasadena to make images that could easily come from a different part of the world altogether.

Thank you, Tamer! And thank you to Ingrid for all the assistance with lighting and parking meters! A little side note … Ingrid actually originally found the secret red-brick-and-vine location, then she showed me one day while we were walking and wandering downtown. I have a feeling we’ll be going back for more …

Here’s a few fun images from a playful engagement story session in Laguna Beach! Mixed a little sand, a little water, a little golden hour, a little yellow sun dress, and a little ooh-la-la, and this is what we got:

Angel+Lavinder will be gettin’ hitched at the Ritz Carlton in Newport Beach, and I am stoked to be there!

So where was I? Oh yes, Anitra+Justin, freshly hitched, and happily full from a delicious lunch reception at Palomino’s in downtown Minneapolis:

They then embarked with Kelli and me on a walking tour around the downtown area, and we found wayyy too many wonderful photo opportunities. It was quite the superstar photo session, traversing several blocks of downtown, some colorful alleyways, a skywalk …

… and finally ending at the Graves 601 hotel!

BUT that isn’t even the best part: Then we joined them for a roller derby! In one of the sweetest moves I’ve ever seen from a couple, they chose to watch the championship bout of the North Star Roller Girls at the Minneapolis Convention Center with several of their closest friends. It can’t get much better than this.

A roller derby must be experienced to be truly loved … and I, a roller derby virgin, have been hooked for life. For the uninitiated, you can read all about the sport of roller derby here. It’s a rough-and-tumble contact sport with helmets, elbow pads, knee pads, and mouth guards. Not to mention plenty of fishnets, colored hair, and punk vibe. Needless to say, it’s absolutely the best place to wind down your wedding.

I had called the North Star Roller Girls ahead of time to make sure we wouldn’t be causing trouble by bringing our cameras. A couple of the players replied (it’s 100% female skater owned and operated, they say), and I got to chat with and email some of the most awesome, friendly and fun people ever! Thank you to Tin Lizzy and Fanny Maim for being so gracious and inviting, no matter how kick-ass you are on the rink!

Tin Lizzy:

But most of all, thank you Anitra+Justin for such a wonderful, warm, and creative wedding! May your future be bright.

– Russell

But I should begin at the beginning: They both started their day at 5:30am …

One of my favorites with Anitra and her dad:

At Justin’s family’s home, Kelli caught their very curious dog, Junebug …

These high-school sweethearts got hitched bright and early in the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at the Como Zoo in St. Paul, before it opened to the public for the day. They wanted to see each other before the ceremony, so they had a private moment in the central Palm Dome:

What a beautiful location! They had a decidedly small ceremony, with about 20 guests and hundreds of eye-popping flowers in attendance.

Justin and the guys had a Reservoir Dogs moment outside the grounds …

Afterward, they had a cozy lunch reception at the Palomino restaurant in downtown Minneapolis (food = mmm, dessert = wow).

But I’m saving the best for last.  See Part 2 … tomorrow!

For those uninitiated to a Holga, it’s essentially a toy camera that has gathered a following among a certain set of photographers both amateur and professional — those that enjoy unexpected results! Holgas are actual film cameras — “Wassat? Film?” –  known for their plastic elements and light leaks. To focus the lens is to choose a point somewhere between three settings: “one person,” “three people,” and “five people.” It’s photography guesswork, and the results rock!

Lomography is an unorthodox and freestyle way of making photos with an inexpensive camera such as a Holga. It’s  very hipster idea, and the cameras fill a table at any Urban Outfitters. To switch gears after wrangling a massive camera takes some getting used to, but is ultimately very freeing.

I used “redscale” film for these Lomo photos from their engagement session:

Nothing like a creamy, apocalyptic engagement session!

I’ll be experimenting some more with the Holga at their wedding … stay tuned.