Emily Photo Wedding Photography Blog

Learning to use a Holga

Emily — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:46:12 +0000

As I wrote the title of this post, I realized its sounds a bit weird. One of my photographer friends said the other day, a holga’s a holga, there isn’t much to learn. For those of you who’ve never seen one, theres only a few settings on the camera: far away & close and cloudy or sunny, simple right? Apparently not for me. My first roll was hideous, actually kinda creepy looking and my second roll was entirely overexposed. If you look up Holga Photography, you’ll find all these funky, retro photos with amazing colors and effects and they make it look so easy.

Anyway, I switched from black and white to color (Kodak film) and took my Holga to Cancun. If I could get it right I thought it would be the perfect place to try. To my surprise, I liked the result!

Just as I was feeling great about myself and my new appreciation for simple photography, my Dad decides to show me his latest roll. He’s been experimenting along with me (with his fancy twin-reflex Holga) and says to me, I’m not sure exactly what I do to get them to look like this…

After chatting a bit, his lab pushes his Fuji color film. I love them and can’t wait to try it on my next roll. I’m lucky to have him to show me the ropes.

Karla and Jose’s Wedding Photos – Preview – Secret Jewel, Cancun

Emily — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:23:32 +0000

I knew I was in for a good time when Karla and Jose’s guests came up with a chant for me. I hear it every time I look at their photos, “Em-y-ly, Em-y-ly”. Love them! Here’s a preview of the hotness to come…

My view in Mexico

Emily — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:22:09 +0000

It’s been a busy couple of weeks! I had a blast both at Karla and Jose’s wedding in Cancun and visiting friends and family in Portland. We stayed at the Hilton in Cancun and this was our view…nice, huh? Ah, I miss it. BTW our hotel was pretty inexpensive because it was “off-season” meaning it rained for about an hour (in five days)and there were clouds in the sky. For me, it was the perfect time to go!

Shiri & Dante’s Wedding – Marrakesh House, Culver City

Emily — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:52:39 +0000

The lovely Shiri and Dante got married a few weeks ago at the Moroccan themed Marrakesh House in Culver City. The Marrakesh house is a beautiful venue for weddings and event that is environmentally friendly, go them!

I got to hang out with Shiri and her ladies at the Luxe Hotel in Beverly Hills in the morning, she looked AH-mazing! Big shout out to Jacqui & Theresa for rocking the hair and make-up. Check out some of favorites from the getting ready and there’s a lot more on the way :)

Christine got some great shots of the guys and captured Dante’s personally perfectly!

One Year Old Portrait Session – McCambridge Park in Burbank

Emily — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:50:31 +0000

Last weekend I met a client of mine in McCambridge Park for a quick session with her almost one-year-old Gabrielle. Here is one of my favorites so far. Isn’t she precious?

Jenn – Downtown LA – Portrait Session

Emily — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:08:15 +0000

I knew I would love Jenn because an awesome client and friend of mine, Kanieka, introduced us. She came to me wanting a well-deserved birthday present for herself, a fun portrait session in downtown LA. She recently lost a ton of weight and has never had professional photos done so I was pretty excited to be a part of it.

From a few minutes into the shoot up until the end, Jenn had me cracking up! She is a really cool person to be around and her upbeat, hilarious personality was fun to capture.

We started off at the Central Library and traveled around that area which of course I LOVE, but my favorite place for this shoot was the Children’s section of the library (totally Jenn’s idea). There is something comforting about sitting in a mini chair and surrounding yourself with thousands of classic books like Goodnight Moon and Horton Hears a Who, especially in that building!

Here are a few of many favorites from the session.

Mary & Luis Engagement Session – Downtown LA

Emily — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:47:34 +0000

If you can’t tell by the amount of photos I’ve posted, I’m excited about this blog entry. I work with Mary so I see her all the time, but we never had a chance to get to know each other outside of the work environment. As we’ve talked about her wedding plans, her and Luis’ story, and just about anything non-work-related, I’m wondering more and more why we didn’t become friends sooner. She’s just a sweet girl and when I met Luis I was quickly convinced they were meant to be.

Amanda and I met them in downtown LA a few weekends ago for their engagement session and even my strep throat didn’t stop us from having a blast. We hit up some really awesome spots like the Central Library, the Walt Disney Concert hall, and some random federal buildings that got me my first ever verbal warning :) My favorite place however was the parking lot across from the concert hall. It was dark and funky on the lower levels, which made for some fun video light stuff. The top level was completely empty and showed of the LA skyline perfectly.
This is one of the first photos I took, they were so comfortable right away. Love that!One of my favorites!

Mary & Luis Engagement Session Preview – Downtown LA

Emily — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:09:39 +0000

Last weekend before I headed off to Atlanta for Pictage U, Mary and Luis met us in Downtown LA for their engagement session. We started around the Walt Disney Concert Hall, looped around to the library, and found some fun places in-between. Downtown has become one of my absolute favorite places to shoot! In the full post you’ll see the location that I especially adore.

Shiri & Dante Engagement Session – Santa Monica Pier

Emily — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:17:40 +0000

I was so hyped after Shiri and Dante’s wedding Saturday that I finished up editing my favorites from their engagement session first thing Sunday morning! I’m SO excited to post about their wedding, but first check out these two at Santa Monica College (where they met) and the Pier…

Bella – 9-month-old baby photography Long Beach, CA

Emily — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:28:42 +0000

Baby Bella gets more and more adorable each time I see her! During her nine-month-old photo session, I got to see some of the new amazingly precious faces (like the one below). There are lots more to come but these make me smile…