PAYING IT FORWARD

My husband and I were married in April of this year and it
was literally the craziest time of my life, a great crazy, but overwhelming and at times exhausting.

There were so many things that I needed and didn't even think I'd be able to get, mainly because I was not in the budget. NOTHING was in the budget. Luckily it was meant to be, because somehow I managed
(with the help of some incredible people)
to make everything work.

Now because it wasn't in the budget I pulled a lot of strings and even did some trades. I was gonna have a really nice, small, outdoor, vintage wedding....I was determined and it happened.

Now, because of my own personal experience and from getting the "behind the scenes" feel,
 I was inspired.

I want to give back,

I want to "pay it foward"

Especially since I'm beginning in my business venture I think it'd be really great to help others in the process of moving forward.

So this is my proposed plan:

Every year I'm going to select a couple to shoot a wedding for them entirely FREE....

FREE

No strings attached, a few guidelines but no money whatsoever.

This is my "Pay if Foward" Competition
and here are the "guidelines"

All I ask of the couple is:

• Enjoy the style of photography that I shoot
• Appreciate the gift and not take advantage 
• Most importantly...in the spirit of  "paying it forward"

tell me...

what "pay if forward" gesture will you do for another

or what have you done already?

Also the wedding should take place in the Inland Empire or San Diego County,

if the wedding is outside of these areas then the winning couple should agree to pay for travel accomodations at cost

Please write me an email that tells me your story, who you and your spouse are,

how you met and why you think you as a couple should receive this gift.

Tell me in detail why a photographer is so important to you.

This email should illustrate to me the essence of who you are as people.

Share with me details of your wedding-location, and any special details.
I'm looking for honesty & sincerity....just be you.

The winner will be chosen by selecting the top 3 couples and then through a decision by myself  and a panel of 2 others we will decide who will win the wedding day package, the other 2 couples will still receive an engagement session sitting.

Starting today I'm looking for couples who will be getting married from Setember of 2010 all the way to the beginning of 2011 to enter this contest

then this contest will close and start again in the middle of 2011.

The winning couple will recieve the following services from
Vivid Essence Photography

An engagement session
(within the surrounding areas specified)

Up to 6 1/2 hours of wedding photography

private online gallery of images for viewing/purchasing by guests or family

A dvd of all images edited and ready for print  

Please browse my blog and website to see the quality of my work

vivid essence photography

 Email me at:

Photography@vividessencephotography.com

-subject line to say "pay if forward 2010"

or send me a message through

facebook

Feel free to forward this to anyone you know who is getting married or may know someone getting married, or if you would like to contribute to the winning couple feel free to email me at photography@vividessencephotography.com

Good luck to all and I can't wait to give this gift to a very deserving couple!

Tags: California wedding photography, free wedding photography, inland empire, san diego, fun, affordable, artistic, illustrative, diane lopez, vivid essence, your wedding, young, modern, fresh

Emma & Matt Engagement session in La Jolla

It had been foggy all last week along the coast, but Tuesday it really couldn't have been any perfect. There were the perfect amount of clouds, with the perfect amount of breeze....PLUS we managed to find a parking right in the very front....that's never happend...lol!

Sooo...I normally never post this many, but I had such a hard time picking just a couple of them out. There were sooo many good ones! Emma is just a beautiful girl, with an ease in front of the camera and Matt compliments her so well....They made it a breeze for me to get some awesome shots.

Oh yea, Matt works as an EMT :)



Alright...I know there was alot!! But I hope you enjoyed them....I can't wait to shoot the wedding Emma & Matt it's just around the corner!

If you liked the pics let me know by leaving a comment :)

My sister Sabrina...

So for a very long time I'd been on the search for my real dad and my sister Sabrina....the last time I'd seen my dad was when I was just 16....I would see him every 5-10 years it seemed, this time it will have been 12 years in July. I met my sister Sabrina yesterday....she texted me on Monday to wish me happy birthday...I was really glad she did because I was a little nervous about calling her myself...we text back an forth and I finally offered to have her come along on a photoshoot with me. I didn't know if she'd actually want to or not...she's 17...these types of things can be pretty boring at that age...I remember being her age :)

I couldn't resist doing a few pictures of her before it was time to shoot my couple, she's a petite girl, the way I used to be when I was her age, she has a natural beauty, the type I always wished I had, and she had the most perfect set of teeth without braces I had ever seen, lucky. Honestly my pictures didn't even do her justice, but she is extremely photogenic....After the shoot she said it was fun and that she was glad I invited her...maybe next time she'll invite me to do something she likes to do :)

Tawnee & Ivan Tino get married (sneak peek)

On May 28th Tawnee and Ivan had a beautiful wedding in Etiwanda Gardens, here's a little sneak peek of what's to come....

They have a ton more that will be coming soon! I had such a blast shooting their wedding....I hope they love their photos just as much as I do.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Tino!!

Photo Tip of the day

When I first started this blog, it was because I was wanting to share what I knew myself. I don't know everything, or even alot. But my passion and eye may be useful to someone else who's just getting started and is looking for help or answers.

Have you ever done a shoot where that pose you shot would've been perfect if they didn't blink, or if they were looking right at you, or not at you at all?

What I try to do when I take a photo is, I'll set a couple up into a pose. Then I'll shoot several shots of that pose....look at me...ok, look to the side, alright look at eachother. Then I'll switch up my angles, zoom in for tight shots or zoom out, and maybe even take a couple of diagonal shots, or shots from the ground. Of that one pose you can get 10 pictures that look completely different or that look similar, it's up to you.

Try to as much as you can, to crop with your camera, rather than cropping in Photoshop, or other editing programs. This will give you a better picture in the end and it will also save you in editing time. Imagine how you would crop that picture while you're shooting it, and take several.

Below, all the same pose, different angles or tighter crops...I would have them do three things with every crop or angle shot...but it's so fast...Boom...boom....boom... :)