Monthly Archives: September 2009

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A Day Shopping with Angela.. Sheeren’s Vintage Store Los Angeles

September 29, 2009 – 12:37 pm

Here is a shoot from a couple weeks ago that I had been excited to post but had to wait til the Utterly Engaged team launched issue #04  OLD SCHOOL.. I was asked to shoot a private shopping day with Angela Giang with Shop L’Atelier.  The shoot was supposed to take place at the cute and little Shareen’s Vintage shop up in LA. So Eva Chiou with Red Velvet Occasions and my self headed up there in pursuit of this little hidden gem.. when we got there we thought we were given the wrong address.We were in the middle of huge industrial type buildings.. this was also before the shop was opened so we had no idea that the stores location was in the middle of a warehouse. thats right WAREHOUSE! I have never seen so much vintage stuff all in one location.. Stinks it was all girl stuff..

What stinks even more is that boys aren’t even allowed in there.. they made a special exception for me since I was the photographer and that we were shooting before store hours..

Check out how HUGE this place is.. whats even more incredible is that there was probably triple the clothes here on the other side still in bags ready to be looked through..

Meet Angela..Personal vintage shopping extraordinaire!!

Check out how awesome these dresses are…

this dress was hand made out of an old dress.. super cute..

they even have a wedding dress section..

Angela trying on a few dresses..

Short and sweet.. if you want more information on how to find this place or how much the dresses cost check out the magazine article in Utterly Engaged HERE!

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Portrait Session | Comments (3)

Jessica Claire – Orange County Workshop!

September 23, 2009 – 6:09 pm

I have been very excited ever since I found out that I was one of the lucky ones to attend Jessica Claire’s Orange County Workshop. Yesterday was the big day and was incredibly excited to learn from one of the best photographer and industry leader in America.  In addition to this Jessica was named one of  the “top 10 wedding photographers in the world” by American Photo. There was some serious things to be learned.. and I couldn’t wait… I actually had a really hard time sleeping the night before..

I had never been to a class before.. never taken a single class on photography or attended any workshops so I was nervous.. how does it work..? who where my classmates going to be..? do we get to eat..?

I felt like I was a little kid again going to kindergarten.  And much to my surprise the moment I walked in the most amazing studio EVER! (ps.. Jess your studio is ridiculously amazing!) we were asked to make name badges! Yes! JUST LIKE KINDERGARTEN!  This is an abnormally LARGE post so give it time to load.. You will see why and be thankful!

Class of 2009!

Here was my seat..

The day started at 9:30 am with a quick little meet and greet and some great breakfast.. All the schooling was done in jess’s Studio in Ladera Ranch. (which is Ridiculous!)  I knew we where in for a big day when we started at 10 sharp and got cranking.. Good thing I brought my laptop otherwise there would have been no way to write down the wealth of knowledge that Jessica poured out on us!! I think I wrote like 20 pages of notes.. not even kidding..

The day consisted of all kinds of topics that were helpful and will be very powerful tools to implement into my business structure. She was an amazing teacher for the day. she never tired and was just dishing out the essential elements of what makes a successful wedding business.. Those of you who know Jessica, know that she is by far the best when it comes to running a successful business.

after frying our brains for a few hours we took another little break for lunch.. St. Louis girls getting their grub on..

same with my new photog friend Bill Blakey.  A super awesome guy!

seriously.. check out how insane that accent wall is..

Mark and Adam from Shoot Q where there also providing the lunch and hanging out.

After lunch we started the shooting workshop.. some shots of Jessica in action.. it was cool because Jess had the idea of having a workshop be like an actual wedding day.. of course it would be very expensive and not practical to do a full wedding but she had the bride and groom get ready at her studio/house..

as you can see there was a lot of competition for getting the shots :)

Here are some of my shots.. Awesome job on the hair andmakeup as always by  Vivian Tran:  All Made Up

The lighting was perfect in there..

Ok now I dont know if your ready for this.. Jessica had no idea what the place was going to look like.. she left all the designing and creation up to 3 incredible designers and said have fun and I trust you.. the absolute best thing you can do with an artist.. let them go and run with it!

Summer from Grey Likes Weddings, Megan Gonzalez with MAEMAE Paperie and Lauryl Lane are the three  responsible for the magnificent creation  you will see below! Here are just a few quick fun pics they had in front of the photo station.

I cant begin to express how awesome this wedding looked..  Every little thing was hand picked and brought in to this little remote and intimate cite.. I was so jealoius.. I want all of it for my wedding! I know Kristin will be even more jealous after she sees these photos..Photos seriously dont do it justice but I certainly tried

…and their creation…

I was like a kid in a candy store with all these details to shoot.. I didnt know where to start!

The incredible head table.. every chair, place setting, glass everything was all unique and different..

I LOVE the hotair balloons from MAEMAE Paperie

check out this cake!! I mean every detail was covered… even to the hand made bride and groom on top.

Now the fun part..

The Shootsac in ACTION.. def going to buy 2 of them now after seeing how sweet they are in person and light and efficient!

Fake formalities.. You will notice the special guest stars… The Norwoods! They have such a cute little family!

Jessica asked if there was any volunteers to take over and give the portrait session a try and asked if I wanted to specifically… I could not wait!! Here is what I got..

It was an all around EPIC day! I learned so much not only from Jessica but all the other photographers that were there.. It was a great opportunity and I highly HIGHLY recommend it to everyone I know! I look forward to implementing the various strategies taught and look forward to seeing were God will take the business. I just want to thank everybody that went it was such a pleasure meeting all of you and if we didnt get to chat much then feel free to email or whatever and look forward to talking with all of you soon!

Also if any of you have any photos of me at all// taking photos or whatever please feel free to email them to me as they would be greatly appreciated..

Again here is all the people that helped make this day possible

Event & Photo Stylist:  Grey Likes Weddings

Floral Design:  Lauryl Lane

Hair & Makeup:  Vivian Tran:  All Made Up

Wedding Stationary, Favors, and Paper Suite:  MaeMae Paperie

Printing of paper products:  Czar Press

Fabric Rosettes, shoe clips, and “just married” banner over cake:  B. Poetic

Cake:  Cheryl Stewart of Cake My Day

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (33)

Meet the ELLSWORTH’S

September 21, 2009 – 1:11 pm

Sorry I haven’t bloged in awhile.. we have been shooting like crazy and have some awesome stuff to post.. you will all just have to be patient… but for now you get to enjoy one of the raddest couples on the face of this planet..

Meet Roger and Lyndzee Ellsworth with Ellsworth Photography.. also known as The ROG and L-Town (formerly known as L-TRAIN but Roger randomly decides to switch back and forth like today for instance right after I finished this post so lets call her L-Train and then when your done reading this blog Roger will change it back so then call her L-Town until Lyndzee doesn’t want to be called either of those names and just go by Lyndzee).

So ROG and L-Towntrainyndzee are quite possibly two of the funnest most energetic photographers we know and just down right awesome people not to mention A   MAZING photographers. Since Kristin and I just recently got engaged Rog and Lyndzee thought it would be a good idea to get some engagement photos done.. since we are terrified of being in front of the camera [much more prefer to be behind it :) ].. I only agreed to it if I could take photos of the two of them as well.. We had such an awesome time.. seriously one of the funnest times I have ever had.. Here are some of the results from the day..

love their style..

Honestly it wasn’t even fair.. I mean.. look at how well these two photograph!

This is when we started fighting over the light :)   it was sooo perfect!

I love this shot..

64 ounces of EP love.. those of you who know them know what Im talking about.. SOO Good!

After an amazing photo sess we hit up good ol’ cheesecake factory both of our personal fav’s.. Pretty much it was an epic day! and cant wait to do it again next week… and the week after that … and probably the week after that too :)

Thank you Roger and Lyndzee for an awesome day. You guys have become a very special part of our lives the last few months and not only really and appreciate your photography but are so blessed to call you friends. We look forward to the many more new and exciting opportunities that lie ahead in years to come..

If you want to check out our photos you can see them on their blog here.

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Portrait Session | Comments (11)

Todd and Kate {Parents to BE}

September 8, 2009 – 12:57 am

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to shoot two of my very close friends Todd and Kate!  Todd has become a big part of my life over the past 2 years and its cool to see where our friendship has grown.. what started off as passing hellos quickly transformed to partners in a weekly golf foursome and playing in the same praise band at our church. Virtually overnight!

Todd approached me to  take a photog sess with the two of them and baby Presley… still to make her grand appearance but is still very much present.. I was thrilled, excited and honestly a little nervous.. I had never taken maternity photos so I had no idea what to expect.. I have never really been around pregnant people much before so its all a little new to me.  I mean.. come on..there is a living thing totally growing inside your body!! SOO CRAZY! But it was totally cool!

I have to give Kate huge props for bearing the heat of a 100+ degree day 7 months prego and truckin’ off road to get to the cool spots.. HUGE PROPS.. Here is what we got from the day! I think they came out awesome!

This is when I felt baby Presley kick.. It was seriously one of the coolest things i have ever felt.. I have never felt something living kicking inside another human before.. ever…..CRAZY! as you can tell I am totally new to this whole area :)

I love these shots.. Todd and Kate are so sweet with eachother and make a great pair!

I dont know why but I think this is one of my favorite shots of the day.. just simple..

This one is my other favoite shot of the day.. Love the “vegetation”..

We got some crazy killer stuff from the day.. not bad for my first maternity shoot I think.. I am so excited to see baby Presley.. we already got some plans for new born photos.. they are going to be awesome so stay tuned!

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Maternity | Comments (5)

Sweet and Saucy Shop!

September 3, 2009 – 8:51 am

Ok so a couple of weeks ago I had the amazing opportunity to shoot the Brand new Sweet and Saucy Shop. I have been soo excited to post this bad boy but had to wait until the launch of the third issue of the Utterly Engaged Magazine . I was so excited to shoot her store ever since Melody and I met at the Utterly Engaged launch party where I was able to try her incredible sweets! It was a chocolate late lollipop thingy and it was SOO GOOD! So when Eva from Red Velvet Occasions asked me to shoot her store and goodies for their magazine I was in!!

Check out Melody’s brand new store. Its so awesome! Especially the lights.. Melody made them herself!

How mouth watering do these things look!

I love this cake..

you DO deserve it.. these ones were yummy too!

and these ones.. :)

Melody’s little brother being the model for the day!

Melody’s little niece being the professional sampler for the day :)

Check out this A M A Z I N G  cake!

Meet Melody Brandon, the Pastry Chef/Owner/woman behind the scenes of Sweet and Saucy Shop!

The Utterly Engaged Girls getting the GRUB’n ON :)

proof that I did attempt to bring home a cupcake for my lady.. Red Velvet, Kristin’s favorite..but it was a hot day and was melting.. bummer… for Kristin ;)

sas15

I had a wonderrful time trying and sampling all of her sweets honestly we tried so many that I dont even remember the names of them… SOO GOOD.. But I do know that if you are in need for a super stylish and amazingly delicious cake and sweets for your big day or party that the Sweet and Saucy Shop is the place to go. The services is wonderful and the goodies.. well you need to taste them to believe it!

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (7)