After Playa del Carmen I packed up my bags again and started my drive to Las Vegas.  It was a gorgeous gorgeous day for a drive, the clouds were lovely and there was (still) snow in the mountains.  A double rainbow broke out after a small bout of rain just as Tony's favorite U2 song came on, and it was one of those moments when you felt really blessed to be alive.  :) 

WPPI was an amazing experience.  It was very inspiring to be in the same room with people who truly truly love the craft.  I roomed with Kati and we had a great time, she wrote a really great entry about it which kind of sums it all up.  Sadly all my ambitious plans of shooting around Vegas went to dust from the slew of platform classes and events.  As soon as I drove home on Thursday the first thing I did was fall asleep pass out on the couch from exhaustion.

My parents were also in town, and I was so glad to be able to spend a few moments with them.  There's nothing like a few continents of separation to make you remember how good it is when your family is around.  My dad joked that I got all my photography interests from him, and I think that's true enough, my dad is never without his camera.

After Vegas Tony and I were able to attend Dave and Sharon's beautiful wedding at the Atheneum in Pasadena.  The talented team of Orange Turtle Photography  covered their wedding, but I still shot a few images of the gals prepping before putting away my camera for the night.  When I arrived the music was playing and everyone was very relaxed, Sharon was the most mellow, relaxed bride I have ever seen .   I made some promises to certain bridesmaids that I wouldn't post certain pictures, so here are a few of the other images:

I love the adorable bridesmaid shoes.

Sharon made a gorgeous bride.  I love the goofiness of this picture when they were deciding on "poses."  The girls are fun. :)

It was a beautiful day in Playa del Carmen when Jen & Dave spoke their vows in front of forty of their closest friends and family.  There was a lot of love, a lot of laughter, and even a few tears. 



I knew even from their engagement that Jen & Dave are a special couple, so it was no surprise that the rest of their friends and family was equally fun.  They made everything easy. :)



It was a gorgeous day for their event.





After the ceremony, the whole wedding group walked behind the Mariachi band as they paraded around the street.  Kudos to the talented team of Two Penny Productions for keeping up with the crowd with all their equipment. :)



The wedding group partied it up for the rest of the night at the Blue Parrot. 



Did I mention that their whole group is incredibly musically talented?  There were a lot of performances that night, including a very sweet surprise song performed by Dave for Jen.



At the end of the night there was a fire dance, which was amazing!  Kelly and I were transfixed.



We had a great time in Playa del Carmen, and were so honored to be able to capture their beautiful wedding day.  Congrats Jen and Dave!

See their slideshow here .  Enjoy!

But first, a teaser from Jen and Dave's beautiful Playa del Carmen wedding.

Chris & Jeni tied the knot today at the lovely Summit House in Fullerton.  It was sweet and a little surreal to think that we're all growing up.  My camera was retired for the day (it doesn't really go with my dress), but I did get this cute shot.

A few days ago I drove a hundred and seventy five miles to San Luis Obispo to attend one of Mike Larson's three day photography workshops and came away refreshed and inspired.  I met a group of people who were open and passionate about what they do, and had a desire to build not only their business but their character as well.  It was a great learning and sharing experience.  It almost made being cooped up all day worth it (which is hard to do on a gorgeous day in SLO).  However, Kelly and I still managed to get out for a bit.  Below is an image from our foray to the wall of weird gross.  The infamous bubble gum alley had a a cloyingly sweet smell, evidence of recent additions.