Kimberly April Photography

Laguna & Huntington Beach Engagement – Bri & Jack

Kimberly — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:22:23 +0000

When I first started talking to Bri and Jack about the location for their Engagement Photo Shoot, we ran into a problem. Bri wanted to be photographed at the Huntington Beach Pier, where Jack had not only proposed, but also asked her to be his girlfriend several years prior. Jack wanted Laguna Beach, where the water is crystal clear and there’s not a lot of people walking around in the background. I agreed with both of them so we made a compromise. We did both! After a few days of non-cooperating weather, we finally made it down to Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach for some GORGEOUS Engagement Photographs.

This is one of my favorites because it really shows off Bri’s beautiful Mermaid Hair. Yes, I just said she looks like a mermaid.I love props so when Bri showed me her bag full of wooden signs, scrabble letters and other fun stuff, I was beyond excited!

When we headed over to the rocks I was a little nervous because the tide was coming in. Bri and Jack were totally fearless and climbed right onto the biggest rock they could find. I think I held my breath when he dipped her.

After we left the rocks Bri wanted to go in the water (she’s an awesome bride). I looked down for a minute and when I looked back up, Jack had her in his arms!

Bri and Jack have known each other since kindergarten and I could really feel the love pouring out of them. You can’t help but smile watching them together.

A few days later we met up at my hometown, Huntington Beach. It was a pretty chilly day, but Bri and Jack toughed it out and smiled like it was summer.Bri had told me during a conversation that she and Jack had their first date at Ruby’s on the end of the pier back in high school. As a surprise, I called ahead and spoke with the awesome manager at Ruby’s, Anastasia and asked if we could possibly take a few pictures inside. She said yes! Not only did Anastasia let us photograph inside Ruby’s, she gave us the entire 2nd floor to ourselves and even brought up a shake with two straws.

Bri brought some snacks of her own, which were adorable!

A big thank you to Anastasia for allowing us to photograph inside Ruby’s, Wendy for assisting me at Laguna Beach and Maria for assisting me at Huntington Beach. Bri and Jack, I am SO excited to be photographing your wedding in August! You’re already a beautiful couple to photograph, I can’t imagine how great you’re going to look on your Wedding Day!

Yucaipa High School Senior – Breanna

Kimberly — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:17:43 +0000

From the first moment I spoke with Breanna and her mom on the phone, I knew I was going to love working with them. They sounded so happy and fun I felt like I could see their smiles through the phone.

Breanna is a senior at Yucaipa High School and is in the Madrigals which is an amazingly talented group of young singers. She brought some of her sheet music with her to the photo shoot so I found a few ways to show her love of music.

While we were at the bridge I couldn’t resist having her spin to show off her gorgeous hair.

I love Breanna’s smile! She reminds me of Keira Knightley from one of my favorite movies, Love Actually.

Breanna also brought along her friend Reyna who did an awesome job as my assistant for the day. Reyna is into Cosplay, which I had never heard of until she explained it to me. She actually brought 3 different wigs with her! They were all so fun it made me want to go to play in a wig shop.

Breanna, you were so much fun to photograph! Congratulations on your graduation, I know you’re going to do great things.

Puppy Party!

Kimberly — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 05:59:40 +0000

What do you do when your friends and family are having birthday parties for their kids, but your children have four legs and bark?

You throw a Puppy Party!

Mya turned 7 this year so I decided to throw her a birthday party complete with doggy bags filled with homemade treats, little peanut butter cupcakes and 8 of her closest furry friends.

I found a really great recipe for puppy peanut butter cupcakes and baked them in a mini muffin pan since all of the furry guests were under 15 pounds. For Mya’s cake, I baked a larger one and frosted it with plain yogurt. The dogs all liked the cupcakes so much that I think I might make them again instead of buying treats at the store.

To make sure no one felt left out, we had some treats for the people too.

For entertainment, we had a “photo op” with some little hats for the dogs.

That’s where this happened…aunties dad-scooter derrick-stitch ester-mando me mom-biscuit mom-lola navarro rosemary-alyssa us

I don’t think the dogs appreciated it very much.

We had a lot of fun and it was great to hang out in the sunshine in my parents’ backyard.
Mya even had some presents! She wasn’t very good at unwrapping them so I had to help out.

Thanks to everyone who came out to Mya’s Puppy Party! I hope you all laughed as much as I did.

Meet Stuart Lawson

Kimberly — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:55:38 +0000

I love how when you think about something long enough, everything seems to fall into place. I’ve been looking for a local Graphic Designer for a while now, but was having problems finding one that fit with what I wanted and my budget. One night I was hanging out with one of my Meetup groups and I noticed a beautiful Mac Computer on the hostess’ boyfriend’s desk. I asked her what he did for a living and guess what? He’s a graphic designer! I chatted with him for a little bit later that evening and agreed to meet at Starbucks later that week.

Stuart was awesome to work with! He asked me about my values and my ideal client. When I mentioned nature and eco-consciousness, he asked me what flower I identified with. I was surprised by the question but immediately knew the answer, the Anemone Flower. A few hours later he had a beautiful logo designed (along with a few alternates) that represents me as an artist perfectly. I love it!

A couple of weeks later I had the opportunity to show Stuart how I work by scheduling a Headshot Photo Shoot with him. We headed down to Old Town Tustin on a quiet weekday morning.

I love the suit and tie he picked out! It really brought out the blue in his eyes.

Remember ladies, he’s taken by a fabulous woman.

If you need any graphic design or small business consultation, contact Stuart at Irvine Graphic Design and tell him Kimberly sent you!

Pinterest + Goodwill = Love

Kimberly — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:06:07 +0000

I’m in total Spring Cleaning mode. The other day I was cleaning through my jewelry box and found a bunch of necklaces and earrings I forgot I had. Determined to start accessorizing more, I searched on Pinterest for, “Jewelry Organizer.” Within 10 minutes I was completely inspired and headed off to Goodwill to find something I could re-purpose.

Two Goodwills and a Home Depot trip later, I was all set to make my own custom jewelry organizer!

Here’s the Before…

and here’s the After!

Instead of going to Michael’s and buying a couple tubes of acrylic paint, I bought a paint sample for $3 at Home Depot made to the exact color I wanted. I also bought a pack of gold hooks for $4 (the smalled quantity they had in the size I needed was 100). The two beach pictures I found in a box in my closet along with some old paint brushes.

I also made a coordinating earring holder with supplies I already had in my craft box.

As you can see, I have way too many necklaces and not enough earrings.

Most of my earrings scream, “I loved this when I was 12!” Here’s my grown-up earrings.

How do you organize your jewelry? Do you accessorize everyday or do you tend to wear the same things over and over? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Andrea & Danny ~ Long Beach Engagement

Kimberly — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:37:50 +0000

I have a confession to make.

All 4 years of high school I was a band geek. Yup, I played clarinet, went to Band Camp (not as cool as the movies make it look) and marched in field shows instead of going to the Homecoming Dance every year. It wasn’t all bad. I got to travel, learn about different kinds of music and made a lot friends that I wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise. When a fellow band geek, Danny, contacted me about wedding photography, I was so excited! I hadn’t talked to him since high school, but I remembered him being one of those guys who was super nice, kinda quiet yet hilarious. I knew if his fiancée was half as nice as he was, they were going to be an amazing couple to work with.Andrea & Danny chose Shoreline Village in Long Beach for their Engagement Photo Shoot and they couldn’t have picked a better place! When Andrea & Danny first started dating, Andrea lived in Long Beach so they would walk around Shoreline Village getting to know each other. There were so many great spots to photograph them and I love when a bride and groom pick a location that is meaningful to their relationship. I could have photographed there all day.

Of course it helped that Andrea & Danny are adorable together! Andrea has the most beautiful smile and the way Danny makes her eyes light up every time she looks at him makes everyone around them smile too.

We found one of those cut-out photo ops that I just couldn’t pass up.

After walking around for a little bit, we headed down to the dock. I didn’t realize it would move so much! As the wind picked up the dock swayed up and down more and more. You would never guess it from the pictures though. Andrea and Danny were in full model mode by then.

What Seaside Engagement Photo Shoot would be complete without a beautiful sunset?

Andrea & Danny, thank you for allowing me to be your photographer for such an important day of your life. I can’t wait for your wedding!

If Everybody Had an Ocean

Kimberly — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:01:22 +0000

Now that we live in Surf City, Derrick and I have decided to learn how to surf. Derrick has been much more enthusiastic about it than I have. I prefer to lay in the sun and then casually swim in the water when the sand gets too hot. Well, Derrick finally has a surfing buddy that is as excited as he is.

My dad.

My dad retired after 31 years as a firefighter for the San Bernardino County Fire Department last March. Now that he has all this extra time to do whatever he wants, he’s decided to turn my garage into a surf shack. Derrick of course, is beyond excited.
Yesterday was their first surf outing together and it was so much fun photographing the day. They started out waxing their surfboards.

Then after a quick change into their wetsuits, it was time to put the boards on the car.

I think my car looks cute with surfboards on it.

After a little stretching, it was time to get in the water!

I cheered from the sand while my two favorite men paddled into the ocean. With my camera ready, I patiently waited for them to catch their first wave.

It seemed like they were getting the hang of it and they ALMOST stood up a few times! Then this happened…

and this…

Which is about when I decided they might take a little longer than I expected. So I put my camera away and joined them. Lucky for me, no one was left on the sand to photograph me face planting into the water over and over again. On a positive note, my face feels really smooth!

Anyone feel like trading surf lessons for portraits?

Beautiful Mondays ~ My Vision

Kimberly — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:00:41 +0000

This year I’m participating in Project 52, an online group of photographers who are given a new assignment each week for an entire year in order to grow as artists. Our first project was to define our Vision. That thing we look for every time we take a photograph. My Vision is what I try to express when I’m photographing and once I find it, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

Once we figured out our Vision, we had to create a photograph to express it.

My Vision started out as, “I search for the beautiful soul in everything around me and bring it out to shine by being present in the moment and genuinely caring about my subject.” After our critique, my Vision has been simplified to, “I find beauty in everything around me.”

Do you have a Vision? Something you look for when you talk to people or go about your day? I’d love to hear about it!

Google Reader Saved My Life

Kimberly — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:00:49 +0000

Alright, I’m being a little dramatic. Google Reader didn’t actually save my life, but it has made following 5 million different blogs A LOT easier. Before, I used to discover a new blog and think, “Hey! This is really cool. I’ll have to follow them” and then I’d bookmark the site never to be seen again. Now, once a day I can log onto Google and see all the new posts from my favorite blogs in one happy location. Here’s some of my favorites:

Green Wedding Shoes - Serious wedding inspiration! Lots of beautiful pictures and unique wedding ideas.

U-Handbag - Lisa makes the cutest (and easiest to understand) bag sewing tutorials. I owe my understanding of batting to her.

Stylish White Female (SWF) - Terra takes daily photos of her outfits and posts them with confidence and humor. She even wore heals through her pregnancy!

Axioo - Beautiful photography from a group of artists in Indonesia. They inspire me to be a better artist.

Kristin and Kayla - Jason takes amazing and hilarious pictures of his two daughters and posts them as, “A photo journal of 2 sisters.” Amazing work and always puts a smile on my face.

The Great Big Mejia Family - Christine is my mom’s coworker who followed my old blog, Dress in Layers and is seriously one of the most amazing and creative women I’ve ever met. She works, has 6 kids and STILL manages to express her gift for creativity and blog about it.

Better off Wed - Kendi doesn’t update this blog often, but when she does, it’s HILARIOUS. I love her sense of humor.

What are some of your favorite blogs? Let me know in the comments below!

Floral Friday!

Kimberly — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I love flowers. I love to look at flowers, I love to smell flowers and I love to photograph flowers. If I could bathe under a waterfall in a lagoon filled with floating flowers every day I would. So I’ve decided today is Floral Friday! Here’s some fun floral inspiration to get your weekend off to a great start:

Pinterest (You can also follow me at http://pinterest.com/kimberly_april/)

Flickr

iPhone Backgrounds

Wildflower Hotline for Central & Southern California

Do you have a favorite florist? What’s your favorite flower? Leave a comment and let me know!