One thing I’m very thankful for is getting the opportunity to “work” over the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks to Trini of Nozza Studio (yes lots of thanks to go around here :P), I had the absolute joy of working with the Thaxton family this past Saturday. Chantha, Trini’s high school friend, wife of Greg, and mother of two gorgeous and sweet girls Malina and Madeline (hope I spelled your names right girls!) contacted me via Facebook a few weeks ago for a family portrait session. We ended setting something up right by Trini’s studio in Downtown Long Beach; within a few minutes after meeting each other for the first time, I was snapping away Chantha and her beautiful family.

We had an action-packed, hour long session, going for something more modern/fashion-ish/trendy with the black and white outfits and then something more casual/relaxed/fun with the white outfits on the grassy area. In addition to photos of the entire family, I got shots of Greg with the girls, Chantha with the girls, and even got a few of just Greg and Chantha alone together a la e-session style ;). Thanks to Chantha and her wonderful family, I’m thinking of venturing more into family portrait sessions :). Btw, how cute is Madeline! Omg, she’s soooo adorable; seeing her made my heart melt. How could I not want to photograph her? Thank you Chantha and your family for spending your Saturday afternoon with me. Here’s a few of my favorites from your portrait session!

I love these guys! Gamie and James are two of the nicest and kindest people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with in the past few months. I met them through Trini of Nozza Studio. Gamie is the owner of Peach Mailbox, who is an amazing graphic and print designer and is helping me make a few Christmas goodies for my couples :). It’s always an extra honor and pleasure photographing colleagues and good friends like Gamie, James, and their two little ones Rascal and oooh…I forgot the female dog’s name!

We went to a park in El Segundo and Manhattan Beach earlier this afternoon snapping away a few family portrait photos for their holiay greeting cards; special thanks to Gamie’s mom for lending a helpful hand. I don’t want to be all mushy but seriously, aren’t they a cute family? To Gamie and James: thank you both for being a part of my life, helping me immensely in my business, and for being such wonderful people in this world. I know I’ll be seeing you both again very soon :).

Looking back at my brief career as a wedding photographer, I realized there’s less than a handful of individuals that have not only inspired me to become a better photographer and business person, but have gone out of their way and helped me in more ways that I could’ve ever imagined. It’s with great anticipation, honor, and simply excitement that I introduce you to one of them: Trini Leon, wedding planner, coordinator, and decorator extraordinaire. Trini runs her own company called Nozza Studio, an event planning boutique studio located in beautiful Downtown Long Beach. Not only is she officialy licensed in planning special events, but Trini also puts together invitations, thank you cards, and other little goodies for her couples. I just love how everything with her is so “official and professional” yet fun and easy-going :).

Being someone that is all about the details, I was amazed at the variety and style of decoratives Trini has at her studio, all of which were carefully designed and assembled by her. I also bugged Trini on how she organizes everything and keeps track of what’s done and what’s not for each wedding, making sure everything is on schedule. Needless to say, I applaud Trini for her attention to evvverything. Plus, she’s all about customer service to her couples; with her trusty Blackberry, Trini is always on top of the latest phone calls, e-mails, and text messages. In the short period of time that I’ve gotten to know Trini, she has helped me and my business in so many ways. Not only does she provide that extra touch of TLC to her clients, but she also makes the time to really know her vendors before referring them to her couples.

I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to not only know Trini as a professional wedding planner, but also as a trustworthy friend. Not only has she given me full access to her studio as a meeting/consultation location with prospetive clients, but Trini has referred and helped me book a handful of weddings for next year. She also introduced me to two wonderful designers: Gamie of Peach Mailbox (whom I had the pleasure of working with earlier today and will post images of her products soon) and Kristin of KD Bookbinding and Design. All three wonderful ladies have designed and assembled some awesome new goodies for my past and future couples, some of which I’ll be sharing with you here on my blog in the next few days. But above all the “business” guidance and support Trini has provided, it’s her dedication and passion for what she does that I admire the most. I know her determination to provide the best possible wedding planning, coordinating, and decorative services to her couples has rubbed off on me! I’m really looking forward to working with Trini again, which continues at tomorrow’s wedding in La Jolla, referred by none other than Trini herself ;).

Here’s an inside look at Trini’s studio and her busy life. From looking through bridal magazines for the latest style and working on the laptop to putting together decoratives and playing with two of her best friends ;)…

Super fun day photographing Yvonne’s two little ones: Manto (looks like a white bun) and Bambi (looks like…well, Bambi!). I’ve never shot animals before so I was a bit nervous and was hoping the photos would come out okay. I got a good work out just chasing Manto and Bambi around Yvonne’s house, at a park, and eventually at her workplace.

At first, they were a bit scared and excited to see a tall stranger carrying around two huge cameras (that were bigger than them). Imagine if we were in their position and had a large object following us around, yikes! But both these little guys were a great sport. I had a ton of fun and would love to photograph dogs again, as long as they don’t chew on my camera equipment and aren’t as big as me :).