Simply put, this engagement session makes me happy. Kayla and Sean couldn’t be more perfect for each other and it was such a thrill to be able to capture that special something they share. I can’t wait to photograph their wedding (only 18 days to go)!

Kayla & Sean, I had an blast with you guys! Thanks for being so trusting and open to my ideas.

After some brainstorming, we came up with the idea of doing an Amelia Earhart-esque style vintage aviation shoot in the middle of the Nevada desert.

The plane in the first image is a P-51 Mustang – one of Johnnie’s favorite vintage airplanes and one that he had the opportunity to fly alongside during many of his air shows.

I grew to love Johnnie and Angela when photographing their wedding way back in December of 2008 so I was stoked when Johnnie wrote to tell me they were returning to Vegas and he wanted to suprise Angela with a trash the dress to celebrate their 2-year wedding anniversary. It was awesome being able to both catch up on everything and capture them again at this new stage in their lives. They are bidding adieu to air shows and are starting their next adventure together in South Korea (where Johnnie’s now stationed for work). Angela even keeps an awesome photo-blog where they document all their travel and adventures.

Couldn’t resist doing my happier take on the iconic cinematography of Robert Burks in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “North by Northwest” (1959).

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!

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend! More from Larissa & Staford’s love shoot will be posted on V-Day.

xox Chelsea

And this next hot little number came from the Bettie Page store. I love how playful and flirtatious they are in these!

The wedding day

With the wedding day came even more reasons to love these two. Even though a full day of pouring rain meant moving their outdoor ceremony and reception inside, it didn’t dampen their spirits in the least! The entire day was so full of positive energy and an overwhelming amount of love.

And to top things off, not only did they not sweat the rain, but they totally embraced it! Chrissy & Jason’s up-for-anything attitudes meant they were down for a bit of fun in the rain.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas & New Years filled with all your favorite things, people and puppies!

xoxo
Chelsea, Jayse & Bella

Alan’s an amazingly talented piano player. So, we started things out at my place, where his fingers graced our baby grand with the sweet notes of a song he wrote for especially for Elena. This is the same song that will be playing in May when she takes that very special walk down the aisle. I could have died! It was gorgeous. And it’s one of two songs that he not only wrote for her, but had professionally produced and recorded. How romantic is that?! *melt* You see, he’s the talent behind A Thin Line, with the recently released album: A Thin Line | Between Love And Hate. It’s available on iTunes and Amazon and is definitely worth a check out!

Spend even a little time with Elena and Alan and you’re in for non-stop laughs.

I think it’s so sweet how they play and flirt. I couldn’t stop photographing. Hard to narrow down the images, but here’s a few that show what fun they have together.

Be on the lookout for their wedding (including fusion!) this May! I can’t wait!

“What would we want for our ultimate wedding photography coverage?”

Jayse and I start many local-pub conversations this way. Of course we talk with our mouths half-full of way-too-fattening-nachos (extra jalapenos for me, extra olives for Jayse please).

“What would we want for our ultimate wedding?” It’s a guideline for everything I do and all of my product offerings. Over the past six months these conversations have led to one missing component from our ultimate wedding coverage: Video.

But, wait! I’m not talking about your typical hour-long all-encompassing video. While there’s definitely a place for that (and I would be happy to recommend some really cool local videographers if that’s what you’re looking for), Jayse and I agreed that the kind of video we LOVE and wanted for our couples is a short-n-sweet, stylized piece from the day.

Jayse is no stranger to film. While I am editing photos, Jayse is usually across the desk from me designing and creating neat visual effects shots for big blockbuster films like Wolverine or 2012. In fact he’s currently working on Oliver Stone’s sequel to Wall Street. We both love great cinematography and we love great stories. And we knew if something more like the films we loved could be captured, edited, color-toned and rendered into our eager little hands – we’d have something we’d be proud to show off – or share it on our iPhones – or upload to our Facebook page – or watch on a big-screen.

And thus, we are very excited to announce:

Fusion: photography style video

Fusion has been officially added to my new 2010 wedding catalog! Contact me for more details. Or, click here to find out a bit more about fusion and how it works!

So – Fusion – there you have it. Hope you like it as much as we do!

*****

UPDATE: Kory and Trent’s engagement session has been featured on Rock and Roll Bride! Click here to check out the feature which also includes lots of extra images.

We even whipped out the light-sabers for a little Star Wars action!

Of course, I had to capture dad getting in on the action too!

Funny face contest – who do you think should be named the winner?

Jayse and I love this family!