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  • Welcome!

    Hey folks! We are Lori and Keith, a husband-and-wife photography duo based in Orange County, CA. If you're looking for wedding or portrait photographers with a fun, friendly, and relaxed style, then you've come to the right spot!

    Curious about us? One of us is a master at Chinese checkers. The other is addicted to the History Channel. Silly, yes, but oh so fun. Learn more about us here.

    Ready to dig a little deeper? Check out our photo galleries:

    Family portraits // Engagements // Weddings

    And it's easy to connect with us. Use the contact link above for the fastest response. Or give us a call: (949) 451-1743. We'd love to chat with you.

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Orange Orchard Engagement Photos: Morgan + Ryan

January 21, 2012 Posted in Engagements

Some people might be a little concerned about traipsing through knee high flowers fields, crawling up rusty old tractors and heading down dirt roads just when the chance of rain seems right around the corner. But those people wouldn’t be Morgan and Ryan, a cute couple we took on a tour of a new San Juan Capistrano orange orchard as part of their recent engagement session.

Actually, first we met up with them in the historic district of San Juan Capistrano. We took some photos around the train station and movie theater before wandering Los Rios Street in search of some fun. Some of the ivy-covered walls still look like Autumn, as do the trees in the park. Just our style!

The sky threatened rain all day, but we had such good luck on Los Rios Street that we thought we might press our luck and try a new trail not far up the freeway to get a little different look: fields, flowers, oranges. There aren’t many orange orchards left in Orange County (at least not accessible to photographers) but this one beckons just over the railing, so in we went.  And we’re glad we did! Check out this adorable duo!

Apparently Morgan digs tractors, so to speak, and who can skip the chance to skipper this old jalopy?

Morgan and Ryan were great to work with, and they’re sweet with each other. We can’t wait to help them celebrate their wedding at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton this July.

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We’re Five!

January 16, 2012 Posted in Personal

Today marks an important milestone for me and Keith.  Exactly FIVE years ago, we launched our photography business! And what better way to celebrate than with a bouquet of five giant balloons!

OK, we have to confess…the balloons weren’t exactly for us.  Officially, the colorful helium-filled bubbles were on hand to help the cute little guy, Nate, in the photo below, celebrate his 5th birthday.

 

You see, our business officially started five years ago when we found ourselves in Nate’s nursery, photographing him at just four weeks old.  It was his first time in front of the lens, and our first time behind it.  We got a couple cute shots.  Nate was a great guinea pig model and his expressions made the afternoon fun for all of us.  But boy, did we have so much to learn!  Aperature?  What’s that?  Shutter speed?  How does that work?  ISO? How do you adjust that?

But over the past five years our expertise for photography has grown by leaps and bounds, just like Nate!  Thanks so much to our good friends, Greta and Chris, for letting us borrow their son for portrait practice numerous times since that very first session.

We’d also like to thank all our fabulous clients for supporting us as well.  Your trust in letting us record your memories and special events means the world to us.  Thanks so much for an awesome five years!  We can’t wait to see what the next five years has in store for us!

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LDS Wedding: Katie + Dustin’s 1st Anniversary

January 15, 2012 Posted in Weddings

Today is the first anniversary of our friends Katie and Dustin, who were married at the Newport Beach LDS Temple exactly one year ago!

On our own anniversary (which is October 1, 2005 in case anyone is tracking) we often pull out our wedding album and relive all the happiness which was (and continues to be) our wedding. To help Dustin and Katie celebrate, we thought we would put together a few images to remember all the fun details from their big day.

For us, the best part of photographing Katie and Dustin had to be how much time we had to work with them.  We spent a couple hours just on bridal portraits—about an hour on the grounds of the Newport Beach Temple for formal shots followed by an hour of portraits at The Lab in Costa Mesa for photos with a more casual look.  It was awesome not to have any time constraints for portraits before heading to their reception later that evening.

In fact, we had so much fun taking pictures at their wedding that we actually added a special package aimed at budget-conscious LDS couples who still appreciate great wedding photography (check out our Orange County LDS wedding photo package).

So without further ado, here are some highlights from Katie and Dustin’s wedding.

Congratulations love birds!

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Final Fantasy Engagement Session: Jennifer + Scott

January 12, 2012 Posted in Engagements

You know you’re in for a good time when your clients show up for engagement photos donning outfits from their favorite video game characters, in public, and are unfazed by onlookers’ curious stares. But once you get to know Jennifer and Scott you quickly realize that these are two cool cats whose shared interest in Final Fantasy is just a part of what makes them tick.

This cute couple met at the 2005 Anime Expo, one of the largest Japanese animation and video game conventions which happens to be held right here in southern California. It’s like a Star Trek convention for gamers, to which many attendees come dressed as a favorite character. Jennifer came dressed as Yuna and Scott assembled his best Seifer. For fun, why not take the engagement pictures with a similar idea in mind?

Gamers will appreciate all the detail that went into the outfits: her gold sash, his grey suit, the nearly-to-scale weapons, and even small accents like a “Believe” bracelet that harkens to Jennifer’s favorite game moment.

But even without the fun outfits you can see how comfortable they are together.

We enjoyed our afternoon with Jennifer and Scott—they have great personalities make such a sweet couple. We look forward to helping them celebrate their wedding later this June at the Sea Cliff Resort in Huntington Beach. Here’s two last shots, our favorites from the session:

And we’re not the only ones who are in love with Jennifer and Scott’s creativity.  This engagement session caught the eye of Rock N’ Roll Bride, one of the top UK wedding blogs, who just featured the photos on their site.  Be sure to head across the Pond to check it out!

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Goodbye, 2011!

December 31, 2011 Posted in Children & Family, Engagements, Personal, Weddings

The last day of 2011 is here!  How did this year manage to fly by so fast?!

Last night, Keith and I thought it would be fun to take a look at all the photos we’d taken the past 12 months.  Our hard drives are full of 40+ family sessions, engagements, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries that we had the awesome opportunity to photograph.

But it’s always better to show, not tell, right?  So to visually recap the year, we’ve put together this nifty collage featuring ALL of our fabulous 2011 clients.

So to all our our families and bridal couples, we’d liked to say THANK YOU.  Thank you for trekking through the tall grass, across the sand, or up the hill to find the perfect photo spot.  Thank you for dazzling us with your cute outfits, adorable hair ribbons, and stylish shoes. Thank you for your smiles, giggles, and the little dances in front of our lenses. But most of all, thanks SO MUCH for trusting us with capturing your celebrations, memories, and special moments.

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Newland Barn Huntington Beach Wedding: Cate + Ian

December 30, 2011 Posted in Weddings

Here at world headquarters it’s like Christmas in July. At least it seems that way; with the fantastic weather we’ve had this past week it hardly seems like winter at all. It reminds us of all the great outdoor goodness we have here in Southern California, and it’s probably why so many brides choose outdoor wedding venues in Orange County, places like the Newland Barn in Huntington Beach.

Meet Cate and Ian, a gorgeous twosome we photographed at the Newland Barn in July. Considering Orange County used to be dotted with tons of farms, it’s a shame that so few barn venues exist to give couples the rustic backdrop they’re looking for (although the big barn at Strawberry Farms in Irvine is another good choice).

I started the day by meeting up with the girls at The Hotel Hanford in Costa Mesa while Keith hung out with the guys at the Courtyard Marriott in Santa Ana.

Then we met up at the Newland Barn to take his-and-hers bridal party portraits.

There were lots of cool details, including an abundance of pinwheels which was a dominant icon of this southern-themed wedding.  And guess who made all those pinwheels? The father of the bride!

Finally it was time to get down to business. Cate and Ian chose the water tower as their backdrop rather than the gazebo, just like this prior Newland Barn wedding we shot, and we think it adds a nice touch.

After the ceremony we took some portraits of the bride and groom since they went the traditional route and didn’t see each other before the wedding.

And then…the party! After the first dance, guests dined on delicious burgers catered by In-N-Out.

The best man gave a great speech, but was then upstaged by the matron of honor (her sister Shelly) who sang a touching, funny song complete with her own guitar accompaniment in lieu of an actual speech. Classic!

It was a fantastic night! Cate and Ian capped off their evening with a grand exit surrounded by sparklers. We hope these two had as much fun as we did!

Congratulations to an awesome couple!

And a big thank you to all the great vendors we worked with as well:

Venue: The Newland Barn at Newland House Museum, Huntington Beach
Coordinator: Bre Nelson, Joyful Weddings and Events
Cake: Sweet and Saucy Shop
Flowers: Art with Nature
Lighting: Baker Party Rentals
Catering: In-N-Out Burger

But that’s not all! Our photos from Cate and Ian’s big day were featured on the Wedding Chicks blog.  Be sure to stop by and check them out!

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Cate Jones - You both were so friendly and professional! You took all the kinds of pictures we were hoping for and we can’t thank you enough. Have a happy new Year!

Orange County Photographer | Ben’s Senior Portraits

December 18, 2011 Posted in Senior Portraits

Let us start by telling you this is the first time we’ve encountered a yo-yo as part of a photo session, and now that we have, we’re not sure why it’s never been done before. Maybe because none of our models have been as relaxed and yo-yo proficient as Ben?

Ben is a high school senior; we met his mom during a shoot for the band Instigator. I guess when your mom is the bluesy lead singer of a rock band you have cool in your blood, and Ben is a cool guy in the best sense—intelligent, thoughtful and easygoing. We met up with him in Orange County to take some senior portraits at one of our favorite spots, Irvine Regional Park.

Among other things, Ben is known for his yo-yo skills. Frankly, we’re impressed by anyone who can send the toy down and get it to come back at will. Fun fact: yo-yos, or something like them, date back at least to 400BC in Greece.

Ben is a great guy and we wish him all the best as he closes out his final year of high school and moves on to college. Congrats, Ben!

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Happy First Anniversary!: Jenna and Matthew

October 23, 2011 Posted in Weddings

What’s black and white, and pink all over?  A wedding featuring this adorable couple: Jenna and Matthew!

Exactly one year ago today, these two tied the knot in a wedding that was filled with an abundance of friends, family, emotion, and of course, the color pink!  We were only able to post a few shots from their wedding at the end of last year.  So to celebrate their first anniversary as Mr. and Mrs. we’re recapping a few of our favorite details from their big day.

Keith and I knew we were in for a treat when we arrived at Green Hills Baptist Church in La Habra on the morning of the wedding.  Their families had spent the previous couple of days decorating the church to fit Jenna and Matthew’s pink and black-and-white damask theme.

We loved the bottles of cider ready to greet guests at the entrance of the reception area.

After taking in the details, we headed upstairs to find Jenna and the girls getting ready.

With hair and makeup complete, we followed Jenna to nearby Creek Park in La Mirada.  The purpose of this excursion: Jenna and Matthew’s first look.  We love that Jenna and Matthew opted to meet and take photographs together before the ceremony.

Yes, it does break with tradition, but the benefits are worth it.  During the fall and winter months, the sun sets much earlier.  By taking photos before the ceremony, Keith and I were able to take advantage of the early afternoon light and not have to worry about chasing down the sun and popping our flashes.  Plus, the mood was relaxed and calm.  Time was built into Jenna’s wedding schedule so that all photos for the first look, family portraits, and bridal party would be shot before the ceremony.  With that plan, there’s no need to worry about keeping guests waiting at the reception.

And here’s proof that a first look is just as emotional as when a bride sees her groom for the first time coming down the aisle.

Jenna and Matthew’s church ceremony has to be one of our favorites.  Jenna’s dad not only walked her down the aisle, be also officiated the ceremony.  It’s always nice to witness a ceremony where the officiant knows both the bride and groom so well.

And perhaps our favorite moment—Jenna and Matthew’s sparkler send-off.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Taylor! You’re a special couple and we hope you have a great time celebrating your first anniversary!

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