As many of you know, we hired Richelle Jean (she's RJ to us fyi..haha) to help us with our biz and so far she's been awesome!  We wouldn't know what we'd do without her! So what's she do exactly???!!!  First she helps keep us organized!, second, she helps with our post process and on occasion, more importantly than anything, I get to pull her away from all that stuff and have her do dumb things like this... =)

She's such a trooper!!  The only reason why she looks so serious in the picture is because I asked her to and for the split second that she was able to pull it off, that's what we ended up with =)  We like off camera lighting =) Just in case you're wondering, that shot was taking right outside of our house on the street.  We used two lights, one right behind her and one in a softbox about 4 ft to her left.  Besides bloching out a few specs of light from the background, this shot is straight from the camera.  If you'd to know more, just ask in the comments! There are more pics of our dear Studio Assistant RJ but we'll save those for another time ;) Happy Birthday RJ!! =)

October 1st is the deadline so just a quick reminder... Help with the baby name! We still don't have a name and your help would be so greatly appreciated! :) We can talk about it all day long and still walk away with our nameless wonder.... So email us at contest@johnlauren.com with your name and awesome picture for inspiration. I still can't believe we are going to have a baby!!! So exciting... so nervous... and a lil overwelming... I wonder who she is going to look like... me... or John... Hehe... I like this pic... its so NY Anyway... tomorrow is the deadline so dream of silly cute names...

 

 

 

I know it's the start of Football Season and all, but starting out my third trimester with the babe and nearing the end of a way cool bonding experience with our child, I am finding so many similiarities between pregnancy and baseball... There are 9 innings, things are pretty slow the first half of the game, but pick up towards the end of the game. The one part that totally sticks out in my head is called the 7th inning stretch.

The 7th inning stretch takes place in between the halves of the seventh inning of any game. It's a time in the game where you get up stretch, talk, get more snacks, what have you. Well.... I'n my pregnancy I am at the top of the 7th inning and the stretch came early.... Stretch Marks have taken over my lower abdomen and they are here to stay!!! It won't end before the bottom of the 7th, but will be with me for eternity!!! Oh how they have plagued my stomach for life.. haha... But worth it.. I guess. haha.. I thought I was so in the clear of stretch marks, boy was I wrong... I didn't scratch or anything... I don't have stretchy skin... oh well. I am still debating whether this is picture worthy or not.. I mean, with pregnancy, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly... more on the ugly side... but we'll see if I'm compelled to share. And it's totally weird. I got to bed and do my normal examination and I wake up and there are more!!! And I"m using an oil rub... like I said, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Chinese Tea Ceremony: Crowne Plaza Hotel - Redondo Beach White Dress Ceremony: The Neighborhood Church - Palos Verdes Reception: Universal Hilton - Los Angeles, Ca Videographer: Red5Studios.net Remember our latest Wedding Sneak Preview?!  =) One of the most important aspects for Lauren and I when it comes down to shooting weddings, starts with having great rapport with our clients and when we first met Linda+Dennis, we knew we had met one of the most down-to-earth, fun-loving and kindest couples yet. With everything from a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony to a 400+ guest reception it was definitely an action packed day.  Regardless, Linda was radiant and Dennis was always right there by her side to keep her smiling =) Here are a few photos of the day followed by their slideshow. Off camera lighting makes me happy =) We caught this just at the right moment as the flash of another camera illuminated her veil...one of our favorites. We like silhouette shots...=) ...And Linda loves Disneyland =) To Linda and Dennis, you guys are awesome!  And Linda, despite the million and one things that were going on, you looked radiant and beautiful.  It was an honor shooting your wedding.  You treated us like royalty and we can' t thank you enough.  We hope you both love and enjoy your slideshow as we did puttig it together.  We wish you only the best! with love, John+Lauren **************Linda+Dennis Wedding Day Slideshow**************

This past weekend Lauren and I and a few of our friends headed up to Joshua Tree  and had a BLAST!  (more on that tomorrow!) If you haven't had a chance to go, please do...trust me, you won't regret it.

But besides that, there are so many other things that Lauren and I are so thankful for!  Question, when was the last time you've had a chance to reflect back, maybe a week, 2 weeks, 2 months or even 2 years?!  Is there anything to be thankful for?  Yeah I know, this isn't Thanksgiving yet but it's always great to look back and see how you've grown as a person, with your relationships or even with your business and or skills, you know, camera skills, nun chuck skills etc. =)  So if you haven't, do it and let us know how it went by leaving a comment! So what are we thankful for?! Here's two... 1) We're excited and thankful to announce that our NEW website will be going live really soon!! YEAH!  We know it's long over due so we're putting the final touches on the site and I'm hoping it'll be up by Oct 1st (crossing my fingers!).  We really can't wait to get it going so check back with updates before then. 2) This one is obvious but...we've been uber blessed this year with our soon to be new born baby in December (she’s going to be a Christmas baby!!  hehe)  We know, as you know, we're having a girl and with Lauren now 7 months, she'll be here faster than I could change my camera lens!'

So what's this mean really?! Well, with so many cool things happening (the above two just to name a few), Lauren and I thought it would be great to somehow “Give Back” and the way we're doing it is with a Promo for all our soon to be Brides and we've also included Families as well!  Our deadline for our Promo is December 2008! So what’s included in the "Give Back" Promo?! For our Brides...

from now until 12/08, we’re including the following in all three of our Wedding Packages:

A High-Res DVD of Images from your Wedding Day ($795 value)  - This DVD will include a collection of 600+ custom color corrected images (or more depending on the Package) as well as all the remastered images found in your Custom Slideshow.

A New Print Package ($150 value) - Choosing from any of your Wedding Day or Engagement Session images, this Print Package includes 2-8x10, 2-5x7, 2-4x6 and 8-wallets for you to keep, frame, give away or...you get the picture =)

For our Families...

from now until 12/08:

All Family Portrait Sessions ($250 value) will be discounted 30% off it's normal cost!  Anyone in Southern California out there?!  This is perfect for the Holiday Season just around the corner!

 A New Print Package ($150 value) will also be included - Choosing from any of your Family Portrait Session images, this Print Package includes 2-8x10, 2-5x7, 2-4x6 and 8-wallets for you to keep, frame, give away or...you get the picture =)

Ok so how exactly do you take advantage of the Promo?  Simple, just shoot us an email at Weddings@johnlauren.com and be sure to put "Give Back Promo - Bride/Families (which ever one it is you're inquiring about) in the Subject line so we can point it out and in the email let us know who you are. Thought of anything that you were thankful for yet?!  Let us know with a comment!