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!

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.

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!

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! 

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!

Sometimes moments happen in life that are just so amazingly beautiful, they feel like a gift.

 I’ve been recently asked to contribute to Surf City Family for Wordless Wednesdays.  I’m so excited for the opportunity and I decided to take some new pictures to contribute, instead of ones I have previously taken.  So I headed down the the beach today with a few ideas on what I wanted to photograph.

Little did I know that a surprise was waiting for me.

After about 30 minutes of photographing a bouquet I brought along with me, I started to head back to the car.  I noticed a huge gathering of seagulls on the sand so I decided to sit for a moment to watch them.

That’s when it happened.

All at once, the seagulls took to the sky, flying directly over me and circling all around.  It was incredible.  To see so many birds all flying together right over my head (and not getting pooped on) was breathtaking.  I tried my best to photograph them, but I was so in awe that I didn’t even have a chance to change my camera settings.  It was though the universe had stopped and the only thing in the world was this beautiful scene in front of me.  I felt peaceful sitting amongst the chaos and the only thing that came to my mind was, “This is a gift.”

Thank you.  It was beautiful.

Happy New Year!

To protect the privacy of our subjects, we’re not allowed to share the portraits we took.  However, thanks to Brian, of Photos By Tink, I can share some behind the scenes photos of me in action.

Setting up our lights with my new friends, Charlie, Dane and Mason.I don’t just ask my clients to smile, I lead by example.Enjoying the happiness of the day.

After a quick outfit change we headed out to Claremont for some sunset pictures.  The light was so beautiful that I actually did a little happy dance, which worked great for helping Rosemary smile at the camera.  My assistant, Alyssa, did an awesome job of helping me reflect the light to flatter Rosemary in the best way possible.One of the hardest parts of pin up is getting the posing down.  To make things easier, I had several pictures of classic pin up beauties saved to my iPhone to show Rosemary.  Then I would do the pose myself in the location I wanted her.  It looks much cuter when she does it in her heels and pretty make-up than when I do it in my tennis shoes.

So often, people think to be able to do pin up inspired photography you have to wear skimpy lingerie.  While there is definitely some beautiful boudoir photography out there, it’s all about what makes YOU feel confident and beautiful.  You don’t have to take your clothes off to be sexy.

Then there’s the tea.  

Laura Owens is a Certified Master Herbalist and makes the most incredible teas.  Every time I receive an order I’m excited to see what samples are inside.

From this Wednesday thru Monday, November 28h, you can get 15% off your order by entering the discount code, “goshopping” during checkout.  Also, subscribers to my newsletter will get an additional discount code to use thru December 31st.

Happy shopping!