Katie & Frank {Love Us Session}

So yayyyy another power couple that is dear dear dear to my heart. One of my bestest friends in the whole wide world and the love of her life. Again, so honored to be apart of such magic unfold. This time, I was in the actual wedding so I couldnt be the photographer for that but of course I was chosen to take the intimate engagement photos. Katie and Frank are very special people to me so it was fun getting to experience their  love for each other. While they are both very strong people it was nice to get this experience this soft lovey dovey side of them.

After a few pictures near the general store we went out towards the main road and found this big wooden gate that made for a wonderful backdrop. The moment was so wonderful that Frank got on one need and proposed again. ;)

I love the way these pictures came out. They show pure love and I am excited to be involved as they continue on their road to a beautiful life. They were married on November, 12th 2011 in Pleasanton, Ca

Love you bestie xoxo

Sandra & David {Woodland Hills Country Club}

So I was there when this power couple first laid eyes on each other and it was such a pleasure to be able to work with them for their engagement pictures and their beautiful wedding!!!

I first met Sandra and David about 5 years ago when we all used to work together and I actually remember the first time they got together. Sandra had a house warming party with some co workers and her and David connected and now here they are married. And I am a witness that they are the best together.

I was so excited that I was a first thought for them to photograph their wedding. It excites me that although I had never done a wedding before (at the time they asked me) they still trusted me and liked my work enough to have me capture one of the most important days in their life.

We shot their engagement pictures at a beautiful beach in Malibu. {You can see more pictures on my website.} When you are around this couple the one thing you can count on is laughing a lot and having fun. Sandra is the more rambunctious out of the two while David is a little more on the quiet side and the compliment each other very well. They both love laughing and making other people laugh and have fun.

The wedding took place on October 9th, 2011 at the Woodland Hills Country Club. I arrived at the country club and Sandra was getting ready in the back room while the reception room was being set up. Her colors were this bright green and a dark purple which looked so well together. When I laid eyes on her bouquet, I was in love. It incorporated her colors very well. The black Dhalias and the black Calla Lillys were breath taking. I did not even know black Calla Lillys existed.

As I wandered around the country club taking pictures of the setting and arrangements, Sandra was getting ready so she could make a first appearance to her parents and David's parents. They were not able to see her until she was ready so it was fun getting to catch their expressions as they laid eyes on their beautiful daughter for the first time.

The ceremony took place right before the sun was going down so it made for great lighting during and after for the formal pictures. A fun quirk to the ending of the ceremony was everyone in the crowd were given bubbles, instead of the rice, to blow at them as they walked back down the aisle. It made for fun pictures. Again, this wedding did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen so I was able to focus entirely on the couple as they spent literally their first time as husband and wife. There was a little race against the sun towards the end of the formal pictures but we used this to our advantage. Everyone loves sunset pictures anyways, right?

The couples entrance was by far the most creative I had ever seen at a wedding. They came in to an upbeat song and immediately started dancing and getting the guests involved. This was different yet it worked out very well. The guests immediately got on the dance floor and started their evening out with a bang. Usually guests have to wait before the wedding, then they are watching the ceremony, then waiting during cocktail hour and in most cases it can be a few hours before guests actually get to start dancing and letting loose. With this wedding they were immediately involved so it created an outgoing atmosphere for the rest of the night.

There was lots of dancing, beautiful speeches, and lots of yummy food. The cake was cute and of course with this funny couple, the first cutting of the cake was an enjoyable moment and they smashed it all over each other. I had to leave before the wedding was over but I am glad I got to be apart of such a fun night. Thank you Sandra and David for having me shoot your wedding and including me in such a big part of your lives. I appreciate it and I am so happy that you two are finally married and just beginning your wonderful life together. Can't wait to get together again!! love you both xoxo

Whitney & JD {San Diego : Berkeley Ferry}

So my first wedding was a SUCCESS!!! It was a beautiful day in San Diego. Everything went perfect, except me thinking that I lost my purse and making the boys look for it all over the hotel and stressing out bc it had my money and ID in it then finding out later it was stuffed in the side of my camera bag the whole time. :))) I loved every moment of it and to have the pictures done with a happy bride and positive feedback makes me feel great!!!

So the morning started for me quite early considering I slept in the bride's hotel room bc i threw her a girls night in sleepover bridal shower the night before with her friends and family. We woke up early and started the BIG DAY!!! The pre-game was taking place at the beautiful Hilton Bayfront which was right on the water in downtown San Diego. The view from the room was breath taking and made for a  wonderful backdrop.

The ceremony and reception was being held on The Berkeley Ferry, that now stays docked, and was used back in the early 1900's and was particulary known for transporting people around after the 1906 San Francisco fire. It was amazingly beautiful and carried all types of artifacts. the lower level is a museum and gift shop while the upper level is commonly used for events. The style and naturally simple beauty of the ferry definitely mirrored that of Whitney. She has got to be one the easiest people to work with. Especially for a bride planning a wedding in just 6 months. I helped her out throughout the whole journey and it was so funny at times witnessing myself try to influence her with my own colorful vibrancy while she held her ground convincing me of the 30 different shades of white. HAHA. It was definately something we were and have been able to laugh about.

Staying with the ferry/travel type theme she decided to be creative and instead of place cards for the guests to find their tables she provided a little gift of having a message in a bottle. Each bottle had a rolled up picture of the bride and groom inside with a number directing the guest to which table they would be seated. Very unique and fun! Also instead of a typical guest book, they set out a cool breifcase filled with lots of "San Diego" postcards and pens allowing the guest to fill out a message of love for the couple. There was a nice vintage birdcage next to the suitcase where the guest would leave their cards/postcards and with, the help of a friend, the postcards will be mailed out to the couple over the course of a year until their first anniversary which makes for fun surprises. I loved it!

The ceremony took place on the deck where the sun was set perfect in the sky for great natural light. It was short and sweet and as the guests moved inside for cocktail hour, the nervous part began. This is the part where I have to POSE the couple and move them around and find some way to capture their natural love in pictures they can keep and frame and show to their grandchildren one day. ahhh such pressure. I'm sure the one part that makes everyone nervous. I spent months checking out wedding pictures, looking up ferry pictures to get ideas and of course the second this moment comes my mind goes blank!!! But then, the adrenaline kicks in and i just start out of nowhere coming up with different ideas, and the best part is they work and perfectly with our ferry backdrop. YES!

After our formal pictures, the party begins and I can start to take my job a little less seriously. I was of course a guest and it was time for me to relax a little and rely some more on my second photographer. Not fully of course but enough to eat and dance a little {maybe have a drink or two as well}. We all moved outside after dinner and got ready for group shot, toasts, and a lovely sunset first dance on the outside deck. It was PERFECT!!! We moved back inside and the real celebration took place. Father/Daughter dancing, and Mother/Son dancing. There was a cute moment during the Mother/Son dance where the groom started to shed a tear. If you know the groom, this is probably a rare occassion yet it was so romantic and beautiful. His boys jumped in, being that they all have a great relationship with his mom, and the dance turned into a big family hug. We all tried to get the bride in there but she being the sweet girl she is, she didnt want to take away a moment away from his mother. We encouraged her to jump in there and it was like a passing of the torch moment. JD started hugging Whitney and his mother passed her boy off to his new woman!!!

We all danced and were merry and before we knew it, the party was over. My first wedding was complete and it couldnt have been better with any other couple. I love you JD and Whitney. Ive known JD since high school and I met Whitney since they started dating before she was legal to drink and back then who would have ever known I would have been able to not only share this special moment with them but doccument it for them to LOVE ALWAYS!!! I feel special and appreciate this opportunity and little do you guys know, you have officially jumpstarted my dream! Thank you and of course I wish you nothing less then the best and a long happy future! :)))

Now for pictures:

i had more pictures i wanted to upload but it was taking too long!!! but be sure to keep up with my website www.lovealwaysphoto.com and my facebook page

My First Wedding!

So i know its been a few months since i started this blog and you guys have probably been waiting to hear about my first wedding. Well here it is finally.

It all started on my birthday when I was with my friend Whitney and she had just gotten engaged after being in a relationship with her boyfriend for a few years.. I was asking her about the wedding and she said she was planning on getting married in 6 short months. I thought that was simply insane YET easily do-able. We started talking and she was telling me that they wanted a private ceremony with just immediate family and everyone else would be invited to the wedding. Well the thought went through my head that this was the perfect situation to offer my services for the ceremony. I told her that I would love to shoot her ceremony since I wasnt gonna be a guest. They were on a budget so it would be benficial to both of us and they would just have to hire someone for the reception. So it was set, I had booked my first ceremony!!! Then all of a sudden, reality set in and the "oh shit" moment hit. This was real. It had been a goal of mine since I first started taking this more serious, but the moment was here and it happened in a way that wasnt in my plans. But i fgured that the opportunity arose and we have to start somewhere so why not taking pictures for a friend of mine whom trusts me.

Along the way, the situation arose where the private ceremony was no longer happening and they had decided to have the ceremony at the same spot as the reception. Because of a budget I was now all a sudden the MAIN photographer as well as a guest as the wedding. How was this going to be possible? I decided that I definately needed help bc I also wanted to enjoy the wedding as well as be in pictures myself so I posted in a Meetup photography group that I was apart of and got ONE bite. I knew it was a long shot bc i couldnt pay much and the wedding was in San Diego. BUT one girl was responsive and very much interested. Coincidentally her boyfriend lived in San Diego and she would be able to make a trip of it. She was also interested in helping me for longer then the 2 hours I could afford SCORE!!!
So the wedding finally came, i was nervous as hell, but very much excited. It went fast and went great and lots of pictures were taken. My 2nd shooter stayed the entire time and put in so much work, I definately got lucky. I was able to take lots of pictures yet also enjoy the wedding and be in a few myself. It took my one month to edit and my friend/bride LOVED them. After that I booked two more weddings for people I know. One just past this month and the next is in a year and people kept getting sent my way. I wanted to start as a 2nd shooter first to get some experience without having to be the main shooter but plans change and people like my work, so I have to take the opportunities as they come and trust in myself as much as others are trusting me with their special day. I still plan on hoping to be able to 2nd shoot sometime in the near future, especially before moving on to working with people I dont know yet, but its beginning and my wedding portfolio is finally coming along!!!!

First Entry {hello}

I have been wanting to start my photography blog for a while now but never sat down to start....until now. So I guess this is where I can let you know some about me. My name is Ashley. I am the mother of a 3 year old and the guardian of a 15 year old {my brother}. I have 3 jobs, photography is one. So yes, I am very BUSY! I never really had a nice camera so I never really took a lot of pictures until right after my son was born in 2008 which was when a whole new world was born. From the first time I snapped the very first picture with my Sony A200 DSLR I was in love and havent stopped. {well not including when all my equipment including my computer with all my pictures were stolen and i had to start from scratch...with a new Nikon D3000}. I originally started taking pictures of nature like items... flowers, sunsets, animals, landscapes. I then started following this blog which focused more on people which was challenging to me so I decided I would give it a try. I started by taking picture of friends kids and immediately got wonderful feedback and requests to do more. I decided to take a few photography classes at a local community college to learn how to really use my camera {yes, in M mode}. I taught myself how to work with photoshop {which I am still very amateur at} and became obsessed with learning post proccessing side. I then got my first paid work by doing a generational photoshoot for my best friend's family. After that I then did a boudior shoot for my other friend for her fiance {now hubby} and a few  of her friends started asking her about my pricing of which I had none at the time. I decided that if I wanted to do this I would have to start being more serious. So I made a website {www.lovealwaysphoto.com}, put together some pricing, and started doing more free shoots to build my portfolio.

I always knew I wanted to eventually get into weddings because I love everything about them, but knew I had to gain some respect and experience so it started with kids, families, maternity and slowing has been building  up to engagements and so far I have completed my first wedding along wtih 2 more bookings in the future. So far I have gotten a decent amount of work without really advertising just working through referrals. With every shoot, new clients are brought my way which is a good start. My goal in the next year is to put more into my art and make photography one of my main jobs so I can have more time to focus on my family. Right now my portfolios consists of the the "circle of life" as I like to call it. We start as one person {LOVE me}, we then become two {LOVE us} , that tuns into a unity {LOVE love} which most times results {LOVE bellies} leaving behind {LOVE kids} and we now have {LOVE family} and we are back at the beginning of our circle.

I love taking all type of photography but I will say I do want to get more involved with weddings. Yes I am scared of bridezillas, I know this job could be pretty demanding, but more importantly I am in love with LOVEEE and capturing that o-so-special moment between a new union {and all parties involved}. I  have been going through a lot of changes in my life lately, which have yes been stressful but I feel that these changes are nothing less then opportunities that are further opening the doors to my growing future including my photography. Welcome to my journey. What better way to start my new blog then with a post about my first wedding. But of course they deserve a post to themselves... stay tuned!!!

Love Always,

Ashley