I met Evelyn and Phillip on a lovely Sunday afternoon to do their engagement shoot.  Evelyn and Phillip are one of those envious couples who have their wedding act together, and I am in complete awe at how they've managed to whip their wedding into shape.  I think they deserve an award, and that will be that they will probably not go to their honeymoon all exhausted like many other couples (including yours truly).

Here are a few pics from their session.





You wouldn't be able to tell from most of their engagement pics, but most of the time they looked like this (below).  They were constantly laughing and teasing each other, and brought a lot of energy to their shoot.  I thoughtlessly chimed into a few of their more private conversations with some inane comment or the other (I am known to do that from time to time, sorry guys!).  But they were pretty nice about it. I am always full of opinions, even when I'm busy shooting. :)

Yuto is a recent fashion school grad, and wanted to photograph some pieces from his most recent collection.  So we battled traffic and took a few shots in afternoon at Topanga Canyon.  Here are a few photos from the shoot:

Every year, in the wee hours of the morning, little fish flock southern California beaches to spawn in what is known as the Grunion run.  My first (and until recently, only) experience was spent shivering on the beach at night scouring the beaches with a flashlight, only to walk away sleepy and tired with an empty bucket.



This time around I still ended up with an empty bucket, but that was because we gave up our catch to a family.  We hit a relatively desolate stretch of beach about ten minutes before midnight, and waited, finally following the birds to the end of the beach where our flashlights revealed lightning quick flashes of silver.  Many of them are ridiculously quick, I can't tell you how often I attempted to chase one down only to be smacked by a cold Pacific ocean wave for my troubles.  They are also small and squirmy, and I was very leery of squishing them.



The videos below are courtesy of Vivian's camera, starring Ricky (with commentary by Vivian) and the Grunions. :)

Since Tony's graduation we've been able to hang out more together and actually enjoy this pleasant, low key summer.  Here are just a few of the things we've been up to (in no chronological order). :)

*  "Transformations" in the old Westwood parking lot for the Transformers movie premiere.  Two drive-bys and attempted evasion of heavy security through the pretext of a Diddy Reese purchase yielded this nice glimpse of a two story Bumblebee, hulking over nearby buildings.



*  Tony and I also headed down to the Edgemar Center for our belated anniversary play.  The Edgemar Center was designed by Frank Gehry, and is a funky little building in the heart of Main street.  We were there a few months ago to celebrate Christmas with southern California style, that is, on a sunny day with a Christmas tree of shopping carts.



We watched the play, the Miracle Worker.  For those of you who know Helen Keller's story, the role of Helen as a child is an incredibly physically demanding role.  Watching her stumble around, kick, slap, and struggle is almost a little shocking.  But the actress, an eight year old child, pulled it off with convincing aplomb.  I highly recommend this play.

*  We also dropped by a community carnival held at the Venice YABA.  It was a loud, fun, tasty affair.  This was my favorite, a blueberry imagawa yaki, which was a pastry filled with blueberry filling hot from the steamer.  Yum.



My friend Ricky had a face painting and pie throwing booth there.



I lobbed one just as he was brashly taunting me, and it hit him square in the mouth.  Victory never tasted so sweet - wish I could say the same for him.  I know what is in those fillings and it is definitely not something I want to be eating. :)  But props to them for having such a fun and entertaining booth.




*  My friend Diana finally made the trek up to LA.  We went to Father's Office in Santa Monica for tasty burgers and beers.



We also checked out LACMA's contemporary collection. Tom surprised Diana with a kick at the lampposts.

 


I was not allowed to take a picture of the Jeff Koons exhibit, and finally snagged it through a mere technicality (I stood outside the building but propped open the doors).  Yes, I'm persistent.  But how often do you see a larger-than-life balloon animal??



We were on the elevator, debating which floor to go on, when on the second floor button we see the sign "Your Bright Future."  Was there any doubt which floor we'd pick?  The irony is that when we got onto that floor, we were told "members only" and sent packing.  D'oh.



*  The Public Arts Fair celebrates the works of Yayoi Kusama



*  Etsy in the real world would look something like the Renegade fair.  There I bought my strawberry plant, still in complete denial of my lack of a green thumb.

A few days ago I shot a boudoir session, which she graciously allowed me to share!  I know not everyone wants to look at a boudoir session, so to see all the pictures, please go here, and enter in the name of the slideshow: M_boudoir.

The special thing about these sessions is that it incorporates so many personal touches, and since it's for her groom's gift on their wedding day, it was all about him (lucky him!).  She wore the jerseys of his favorite teams (even though her school was a rival!) and her glasses, which she hates but he is apparently a fan of.  Now that's sweet. :)