Orange County Photographer | Orange County Wedding Photographer » Irvine

Anniversary Mini-Session: Zenna and Cruz

Lori — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:50:36 +0000

School. Aside from the assignments and cramming for tests at 2 a.m., I have some pretty fond memories of my college days. But almost all of those memories revolve around the great friends I met. And who would have guessed that while working on the college newspaper I would meet my future husband! Yes, Keith and I first met as student editors at the Daily Titan at Cal State Fullerton. He was tall. I was not. I thought his pants were too short. He thought I was adorable.

A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to reflect a little more on our school days when we met this cute collegiate couple, Zenna and Cruz. Just like Keith and I, they met as students. And now, to celebrate their third anniversary, they booked a mini-session with us at one of our favorite Orange County locations.

The relaxed atmosphere of our Irvine secret spot—tall grasses, a dry rock bed, and a charming tunnel—worked as a great backdrop for this young duo. Here’s proof:

Thanks so much to Zenna and Cruz! Working with you both brought back great memories for me and Keith when we first started dating. Stay adorable!

And if any of you, our loyal readers, are looking for a unique anniversary gift to surprise your spouse with, a photo session is a great way to go. Just send us a note and we’ll help plan the details.

University Hills, Irvine Wedding – Kari + Chris

Lori — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:36:16 +0000

Wedding season is officially in full swing! And Kari and Chris helped kick things off right with their cool and colorful In-N-Out catered affair at the University Hills Community Center on the campus of UC Irvine. (For more pics of this photogenic couple, check out their Old Towne Orange engagement photos.)

Brides (and sometimes grooms, if they have an opinion on such matters) spend so much time getting every detail just so for their special day, and capturing those details is our favorite part of the day. Shoes, rings, dress, flowers… each piece tells a story about the couple’s personality and preferences.

We loved Kari’s wedding shoes! The personal touch on the bottom of her shoes is adorable!

Kari said she wanted bright punches of color for accents on her big day. She got exactly what she had in mind. Check out this awesome bouquet! It’s perfect for a Spring wedding.

The University Hills Community Center is a perfect wedding venue. A large lawn behind the main building looks out over the hilly landscape and nearby Mariners Church. The reception area itself is also worth checking out—three sides of the building are actually glass doors that can be opened to extend the venue and enjoy the green space.

A highlight for the day—a charming quick peck to end the ceremony. Their first kiss may have short, but it was definitely sweet.

For reception fun, Kari and Chris hired the guys at Red Carpet Photo Booth. The booth was available all night and guests climbed in several times for some quick pics. The best part—when you exited the booth, a printout of your images was waiting for you!

In-N-Out. We love any wedding where these burgers are served. As did Kari’s brother.

Plus their hats provide great inspiration for the ring shots.

Our favorite shot of the night—a quick portrait of Kari and Chris.

Congratulation Kari and Chris! Thanks so much for inviting us to be part of your wedding day. You make an awesome couple!

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

DJ: Atmosphere Entertainment
Cake & Cupcakes: Susie Cakes
Catering: In-N-Out, Fresh Fries Truck, Country Garden Caterers
Officiant: Greg Mohr
Photo Booth: Red Carpet Photo Booth
Flowers: Flowers Etc
Videographer: Ahwahnee Films
Wedding Coordinator: Veronica Kelley

The More the Merrier

Lori — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 03:59:45 +0000

Planning a photo session can be a daunting task. Couples might debate on the location. Small families of three or four might hit the mall to to shop for new outfits. But what about coordinating a session for eleven extended family members? That wasn’t a problem for the W. Family. Grandparents Beverley and Clay took charge to schedule the perfect afternoon shoot for their kids and grandkids. In fact, they were so well coordinated, that the entire family arrived at our secret Irvine location before us. Impressive! Thanks so much to the W. Family! They are proof that more is definitely merrier.

2010 Year in Review: Orange County Family Portraits

Lori — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:15:25 +0000

Happy Tuesday, folks! 2011 has definitely started off on the right foot. Keith and I have been busy planning a few tweaks to the website. We’ve also been studying the calendar planning dates for upcoming mini-sessions (e-mail us if you’re interested in one!). We’ve also had fun taking a look back at all the family, maternity, and newborn sessions we shot last year—32 in all! We thought it would be fun to post one photo from each session. So grab yourself a snack and prepare to scroll…it’s a long post, but one that’s full of the fun, friendly, and casual photography style we’re known for.

The Y. Family - Irvine

The B. Family – Irvine

The K. Family - Irvine

The Y. Family – Orange County

The S. Family – Aliso Creek Beach

The G. Family – Irvine Regional Park

The T. Family – Orange County

The Y. Family – Mission San Juan Capistrano

Megan + Stuart - Los Rios Street, San Juan Capistrano

Instigator – San Juan Capistrano

The L. Family - Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda

The K. Family – Aliso Creek Beach

The S. Family – Irvine

Stephani + Alex – Seal Beach

William – Orange County

The L. Family - Los Rios Street, San Juan Capistrano

The A. Family – Dana Point Ocean Institue

The Y. Family - Irvine

The C. Family – Los Rios Street, San Juan Capistrano

The L. Family – Los Rios Street, San Juan Capistrano

The F. Family – Orange County

Baby Elle – Brea

The V. Family – Irvine

The T. Family - Dana Point Ocean Institute

The C. Family – Dana Point Ocean Institute

The S. Family – Irvine

The P. Family – Irvine

The B. Family – Orange County

The T. Family – Los Rios Street, San Juan Capistrano

The A. Family - The Lab, Costa Mesa

The B. Family - The Lab, Costa Mesa

The K. Family - The Camp, Costa Mesa

2010 Year in Review: Orange County Engagement Photos

Lori — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 04:31:18 +0000

Happy New Year! Except for the rain storm that’s making it’s way through town, 2011 has indeed started off on a good note. Keith and I packed the weekend with a few “new” activities in celebration of the new year.

To start things off, we each upgraded our cell phones to the Droid 2. One of us loves it, the other not so much. Guess who’s still missing the simplicity of their old phone? We also tried a new recipe, Paris Pasta, from a cookbook we got for Christmas. I’m pretty sure the cream sauce loaded with Parmesan cheese wasn’t the healthiest dining option, but it was pretty tasty. And finally, we had lunch with friends at a new restaurant, Lomeli’s, in Brea. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend the chicken fettuccine lunch special.

Over the weekend, Keith and I also spent some time reflecting on all the great clients we worked with over the past year. During 2010, we shot about 40 family sessions, engagement sessions, and weddings. It was a record year for us! And we’re so lucky to have worked with so many great couples and families. We’d like to thank all our clients with this week’s series of posts. First up, a look back at all our awesome couples who got engaged and allowed us to follow them around for an afternoon. We trekked through parks, beaches, and orchards to capture their smiles, giggles, and hugs—and we loved every minute of it. Posts on our 2010 family sessions and weddings are coming up. Enjoy!

Heatherly + Chaz: UC Irvine

May + Son: Irvine

Diana + Phil: Dana Point Ocean Institue

Melanie + Keith: Irvine

Jenna + Matt: San Juan Capistrano and Aliso Creek Beach

Katie + Dustin: Oak Glen

Lacie + Scott: Huntington Beach

Irvine Engagement Photography: New Friends

Lori — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:45:43 +0000

You know how your grandpa always told you if you can find a job you really enjoy, it’s not really work at all? I think we have a job like that. One side benefit to our photography gig is it introduces us to people we might never have met in our day-to-day lives.

Meet Melanie and Keith, a wonderful couple planning their fall wedding in San Diego next year. They met up with us at our secret Irvine Location for engagement photos, but we all had so much fun we had to schedule a dinner date to chat some more!

Melanie and Keith are a photographer’s dream. They look good, they pose without even knowing they’re posing, and they exude a fun, playful energy. Just look at these two!

And we lucked out during their session. Keith is a bit of a musician. He brought his guitar and sang to Melanie.

A few weeks ago we met up with Melanie and Keith to get dinner at The Counter for some great gourmet burgers and delicious shakes (thanks for the tip, Melanie!) and ended up chatting until the staff headed home. It’s nice to know who the friendly people are in this town!

Congratulations, Melanie and Keith!

Sneak Peek: Orange County Engagement Photos

Lori — Sun, 09 May 2010 16:27:00 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! You deserve a little pampering for all that you do. Today, I’ll be helping my mom with some house projects and cooking dinner. It will be great to have the family together.

But first, we couldn’t wait to share a few shots from yesterday’s engagement session at our secret Irvine location. We’ve used this top spot for a number of our family sessions, but never for engagement photos. Thanks to this awesome Orange County couple, Melanie and Keith, we were able to change that. We met up with these two late yesterday afternoon. The soft, warm afternoon light an hour or two before sunset is our favorite time to shoot. And we feel so lucky to have spent the afternoon with Melanie and Keith. It was so much fun watching them interact. They were constantly making each other smile and laugh, which in turn, made us smile and laugh even more. Thank you Melanie and Keith!

Couples Wanted: Free Engagement Session

Lori — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:36:05 +0000

Yep, you read right! A FREE engagement session! Keith and I are on the hunt for a few couples who are willing to donate a couple hours of their time to model for us. You see, we’ve found some cool new places in central Orange County where we’d love to photograph, but we need a few fun-loving couples willing make those locations come to life. If you’re interested, just shoot us an e-mail with a picture of you and your fiancé to freephoto@loriandersonphoto.com. You can also use the contact link above. We’d love to hear from you!

And because every post looks better with a photo, what better than a shot of this awesome couple that was taken during a recent session at our secret Irvine location.

2009 Year in Review: Pumpkin Season

Lori — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:08:59 +0000

For those of you who follow our blog and tweets regularly, you know that my favorite season is fall. And I know that the season is in full swing when I start seeing pumpkins show up at the grocery store and local vegetable stands. Last October, Keith and I wanted to see more of these delightful orange gourds up close, so we headed to Tanaka Farms in Irvine to visit the farm’s u-pick pumpkin patch. Our good friends, the K. Family, joined us.

The farm was an awesome place to hang out. Between the petting zoo, hayride, and walk through the pumpkin patch we got our fill of that Autumn harvest feeling. It was especially fun watching Nate interact with the goats at the petting zoo and then try to roll a few pumpkins out in the field.

We can’t wait to go again this year. If you’re planning to visit Tanaka Farms this fall, give a us ring. We’d be happy to get a few shots of your kiddos in the pumpkin patch, too.

2009 Year in Review: A Model Session

Lori — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 02:13:05 +0000

Our clients often ask what to wear for a family portrait session. The S. Family helps answers this question for us. See how adorable they are in their casually matching (but not identical) outfits? Keith and I think they did a great job picking clothes that show their personalities, using a common color (blue) as a theme to knit the family into one fantastic photo.

Lots of our clients like to wear matching white shirts and khaki pants or something similar. While it’s a classic and clean look, we think the added color in these photos really make them pop while still creating a cohesive feel. And from our experience, all-white outfits tend to blow out and lose detail outside the studio where light control can be a challenge.

These pictures were taken at our Secret Irvine Location last September, which is a great time to book a family portrait session since the weather tends to be good, the days are still long, and you get your pictures well in advance of any holiday cards you might be thinking of sending. Oh, and if your family is super cute, that makes any session a memorable one!

Much thanks to the S. Family for another wonderful session. We can’t believe how much Jack has grown since 2008, and we hope to see you again this year.