Amelia Strauss Photography Blog » Amelia Strauss >> Southern California Editorial Photographer / Destination Wedding Photographer

From one of my favorite heavenly series of the summer.  Also, a reminder to set this blog on fire - so, fresh content coming soon…

I literally JUST finished shooting a destination wedding in Jamaica - heavily on film.  But I did shoot some digital images throughout the day, and as I’m obsessed with skies, I thought I would share tonight’s Jamaican sunset off the cliffs with you.  Straight out of camera - no edits at all.  It was unreal.  Just gorgeous.

Don’t we look happy?  ;)

This morning I was in a lake in Tennessee.  IN a lake.  If you know me personally, you know how astounding that statement is.  For Cassie and Ryan, I would do pretty much anything though…they’re worth it…and so are the series we shot this morning for their day after.

Wedding images to come.  Congratulations Cassie and Ryan!  Y’all are MY ten ;)

So, I now know why Palm Springs is such a hot spot for a weekend away! The desert and mountains are just incredible - and with a lack of wind or humidity, I was pretty much in heaven.  New goal?  Make it back for a Spa weekend!

Here are just a few images from last weekends Palm Springs desert resort wedding…

Getting ready in the bridal suite…

For the record, it is the next couple of images that make “formal” shots fun.  Throw some kids around, and great things can happen…

Seriously, CUTEST FLOWERGIRLS EVER? You say it, not me…

What are some hot shot flowergirls without a decked out ringbearer?

And, the sky!  I am obsessed with the twilight hour in the West…this was during cocktail hour…

Many thanks to my great friend Heather Kincaid for putting up with me on the drive back and forth from LA, and for including me in such fun projects!

How about this for the twilight hour? I love the desert!

I can’t wait to post some images from the day - thank you Heather and the Desert - this was such a fun treat for me!

Attend ‘The Image is Found’ workshop with my friend Cristi - DONE!

So, in August of 2008, I met my dear friend Cristi Owen.  If you follow this blog at all, you are well aware of Cristi and our fast, tight-knit friendship.  Shortly after we met in Kinvara, Ireland, Cristi and I were lost in a whirlwind of all of these ideas we had to grow our businesses and friendship.  Many of those ideas can be found elsewhere on this blog, such as the Alpha Kappa Camera girls!  Attending a workshop together, one that was somewhat unconventional, definitely made it onto the growing list of goals we accumulated.

Cristi had heard of this studio in San Diego called ‘The Image Is Found’, which I didn’t know of at the time.  Keep in mind this was a little while ago, and studio exposure has drastically changed.  *This was also prior to anyone and everyone putting on a workshop*  Anyway, Cristi shows me some of their work and I find myself saying, “YES! Let’s DO this!” - never-mind that fact that the workshops (or ShootShops to use proper lingo) are only twice a year in San Diego, and we were living in Phoenix and Birmingham, Alabama, AND we both had to work around our own business schedules.  It seemed a lofty and maybe unrealistic or unattainable goal…but it still made it onto my 101 in 1001 list!  For the meantime, I just left my feelers out.

In November of 2009, Cristi was in Birmingham visiting me and we saw on Twitter that a ShootShop had been announced for Saturday, March 6, 2010 in Las Vegas.  Perfect!  We would both be in Vegas anyway for WPPI and could just go a couple of days early so that the timing for the workshop would work out.  Okay, so in the grand scheme this seemed to be a fantastic idea, but a word to the wise - IF you are planning on going to Vegas for a workshop, followed up by the biggest professional convention you’ll go to all year, and want to wrap that all up with some intense Vegas Strip experiences for your husband’s 30th birthday…you are in for much much more than you can handle.

We arrive at the ShootShop early on the morning of the 7th, with absolutely no clue what to expect.  Actually, I didn’t really have any expectations at all.  I don’t do many workshops, and I really hate how rampant they are in today’s culture within the photography industry.  So, maybe I stroll in a little skeptical.  And then, quickly, I was blown away.  OR my brain exploded.  Take your pick.

Nate and Jaclyn are the owners and photographers behind The Image Is Found and they rock my socks off.  These guys are fun, quirky, creative, and unapologetic about it.  In fact, they built their brand entirely around their personalities.  This is everything I was once afraid to do.  I just found the courage to be myself within my company this past year, and that was both a hard lesson and a hard transition.  It was incredibly empowering to hear their story of trying to exist in a market without being themselves, and then making the plunge towards shooting what you really want to shoot and being who you really are.

We also went to the outskirts of Vegas and shot in a drainage ditch…which was totally rad.  It’s so nice to have experiences where you gain insight into new ways to develop and refine your client interaction.  We also did a lot of question and answer time, and covered a whole gamut of photography workflow.  And just to put a cherry on top, we had amazing meals in our beautiful space at Mandalay Bay.  I may or may not have kicked the day off right by destroying the gourmet coffee maker, and causing coffee to explode everywhere…

It was a wonderfully challenging day, and if you ever get the chance to spend some time with Nate and Jaclyn - DO IT!

I particularly loved getting to have some time with Cristi and learning and exploring together.  We had an awesome time.  Truly, nothing really compares to having a precious friend with you along the journey of your career and life.

Here’s me and Cristi in that drainage ditch!

*Image by Matt of Matt and Katie | Photographers based out of Brisbane, Australia - thanks friends!*  Edits by Amelia.

Wow, how I love Alabama in October…

Yep, you read that title right. Completely random post? Sure. Totally worth the randomness? You’re the judge…

So, here I am in an upscale hotel in Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles. This is our base of operations as we search for our new home on the west coast. Gorgeous town! I really love this community. And really nice hotel - intimate, sophisticated, cozy - you really couldn’t ask for more.

Enter my Larry David life < here >. I’m sitting in the bar yesterday, in the early evening, just taking a break with my husband before dinner. We had drinks and appetizers, enjoying the view. I ordered a shrimp cocktail. After eating four of my six shrimp, I decided I’d had enough and headed up to the room to blog and get ready for dinner. Then, after I left, this guy in a suit asks my husband if I didn’t like the shrimp. He replies, “she liked it, she was just done” - thinking he was asking for a recommendation for appetizers. Like any normal person would assume…

Well, he turned around for a minute to order a drink, and when he turned back around, the dish was still there…but the last two shrimp were GONE. And weirder, this guy is hiding his hand underneath his coat. REALLY? WHAT? Who eats leftover shrimp? In a nice hotel? In a suit? Like a spy? Seriously?!

So, that was that. The Shrimp Scavenger. Just a little tale of my normal Larry David life…but now on the west coast.

Well, I’m excited to be heading out to Los Angeles to find a place to live. My plan of finding a neighborhood the first week I was out there was perhaps a tad overzealous - so we’ll be trying to narrow it down further this trip. In the meantime I’ve been pouring over real estate magazines and a tourist publication called “Where L.A.”, as well as watching the entire first season of Entourage. Okay, that’s not really relevant, I know, but I feel better about watching the whole season in two days if I think of it as research…

As soon as I know for sure where we’ll be, I’ll definitely be putting images up on the blog. Anyone care to have some input? I would love to hear from you! Let me know if you have any thoughts about where we should be looking!