Chelsea Nicole Photography – Las Vegas, Southern California and Destination Wedding Photographer » The latest work from Chelsea Nicole!

It’s a rare occasion that Debbie and Will’s family is all together, so they decided to celebrate with a family photo-session while their children were home to visit. But in addition to family photos, Debbie and her son Landon were scheming up a very special surprise. They came up with the idea to use the photo-shoot as a way doing a secret proposal for Landon’s girlfriend Tiffany.

While we planned everything out together, Landon took every precaution to keep the proposal a surprise – from waiting until Tiffany was out of the house to chat about details to coming up with a secret code phrase, ‘Red Elephant’.  On the day of, after I brought the two of them into the space I wanted I told Tiffany to look away off into the distance as if there was a ‘Red Elephant’ standing there. She laughed and said “What?” And as she turned back around, Landon was down on one knee opening a special little box. She said, yes!

The day was full of happy tears, smiles and loads of laughter. I loved being a part of such an incredible occasion and spending the morning with this amazing family. So without further ado, meet the Derentzs – Aley, Landon, Tiffany, Debbie, Will, Luke, Kaitlyn and Adam:

Now for the big moment…

Landon’s family decorated their getaway limousine:

Cheers to the happy couple. :-) Congrats you two!

xo
Chelsea Nicole

Today I get to introduce the fabulous girls of Scheme Events – Tara, Traci and Rissa!

I love these girls and when they first reached out to ask if I could photograph them for their new site, I knew we had to plan something as fun and lively as they are.

Something that sets Scheme apart from other planners is their eye for, and love of, the design aspect of a wedding. I love this about them, so I came up with several ideas that reflected who they are and what they do.

Of course, with a name like Scheme, you can just picture them coming up with all sorts of ideas for weddings. So I had this idea for a giant chalkboard backdrop FILLED with wedding-related inspiration. Scheme contacted caricature artist, Jessica of Girl Who Drew You who took the idea to the next level with her beautiful drawings! Big thanks also goes to Megan at Makeup in the 702 for rocking the hair and makeup, and to my Jayse for coming along and assisting!

Part 2 of our shoot was outdoors at the lovely Springs Preserve:

Tara, Rissa and Traci: Thanks for a day of fun and laughter! I had a blast with you guys! :-)

Kristen & Stephen came out from South Carolina for their 2-year anniversary celebration. As a super sweet anniversary gift, Stephen put together a couple’s shoot for them downtown at the Neon Boneyard! And it was such a treat to be a part of it! These two have that perfect balance of sweet and spunky that make them a blast to photograph. In addition, Stephen’s the talent behind Blackmon Photography (click here to check out some of his awesome work), and if you’ve followed my blog you’d know how much I LOVE working with other photographers and creative types!

Here’s a few teaser photos from our time together:

Did I mention that they were also super stylish? I loved Kristen’s dress and adorable Anthropologie necklace!
We found this awesome little “B” for Blackmon…

S + K: Congrats on 2 years together! It was really awesome getting to know and photograph you guys! Be sure to keep in touch and look me up if you’re ever back in town – whether it be for a photo-conference or for play. :-)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

With Valentine’s day approaching, I knew I just had to do a themed couples shoot to celebrate! And this fab couple, Larissa & Staford were up for anything and totally perfect for it. The inspiration for their candy-colored photo-shoot came from the classic heart-shaped Valentine’s candies we all know and love, Sweethearts!

To start things off, we went to the The Pottery Shop in Town Square. Big thanks to Liz for letting us take a few photos in her adorable shop!

Then we headed to the dry lakebed for a bit of outdoor fun with balloons!

L + S: You two are so cute together. :-) Thanks for a super fun time and for letting your inner kids loose with me! Hope you two have a wonderful Valentine’s day today!

The power of a community is unparalleled…. and the photography community in Las Vegas is beyond powerful! What started as a simple idea has now grown into an incredible event. It is truly amazing to see what can be accomplished when a community unites for a cause.

I’m proud to announce Portrait Palooza!

Photographers in Las Vegas are aiming to raise at least $10,000 for Savannah Grace Lighten, and we need your help!

Savannah Grace Lighten was born September 19th, 2010 with severe brain damage. Her parents Terrence and Suzi Lighten are members of the Las Vegas photography community, and are two of the most kindhearted and giving people I have ever met. Please visit Savannah’s Journey to learn more about her heartbreaking story.

The Lighten family has hopes that a treatment called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy will help Savannah recover from her serious brain injuries, and the Las Vegas photography community wants to see her receive these treatments. Which brings us to Portrait Palooza!

Here’s some details….

• Who: 16 of Las Vegas’ finest professional photographers
• What: 100 families donating $100 towards a private portrait session. This includes a 20-minute session, 10 final images and the high-resolution digital files. 100% of the donation fee will go to the Lighten family.
• When: This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 19, 20, 21, appointments will be available from 10:00am to 5:00pm. If you’d like to book with me, I’ll be at Sunset Park on Friday –  Click here to see available timeslots!
• Where:  HENDERSON – Sunset Park, Henderson, NV, picnic area “D” right next to the pool (Nov 19, and 20th), SUMMERLIN – JW Marriott (Sunday, Nov. 21st)
• How: Go to www.PortraitPalooza.com for more details and schedule a reservation to have your photos taken.

Thank Yous: Mindy of Red Rock Studios for the blog post. Steve Fogarty, of Fogarty Foto has been an integral part of this project. Without his energy and commitment, Portrait Palooza would be greatly suffering!  Jayse Hansen designed the incredible PortraitPalooza logo. DWAlliance is donating their event scheduling software, a key contribution necessary to coordinate all these moving parts. Michael Testagrossa of the JW Marriot is donating use of their grounds for PortraitPalooza North on Sunday, November 21, 2011. Juliet Douglas of Green Orchid Events is coordinating the on-site atmospherics and staffing. And of course, to the photographers who are donating many hours, and lots of talent, toward helping baby Savannah.

Our friends Sam and Karen had a beautiful baby boy and I was honored that they asked me to document his first year. I think you’ll agree that he is too cute for words! I really enjoyed capturing this special time for their family and can’t wait for our next session. It’s going to be amazing to watch him grow – It always goes so fast!

Newborn babies are so sleepy – it’s the sweetest thing.

Tyler was so tiny at only 10-days old. I loved capturing all his itty-bitty baby features.

Sam’s big into sports so we captured a few of Tyler cuddled up with his baseball and snowboarding gear. He’s definitely going to be a daddy’s boy.

All cozy in dad’s arms…