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

Part Three: The In-N-Out Burger! At one point in my life, I actually thought that The In-N-Out Burger was a fictional fast-food chain created solely to exist in the world of ‘The Big Lebowski’. Alas, I was wrong. Rather than a mythical burger joint…this is a real place :) SO, I finally went to the In-N-Out for the first time ever! Don’t worry, I bought a t-shirt and made a fool of myself. I also managed to get strongly chastised for attempting to photograph the phrase “Quality you can taste” on the wall, due to legal issues. So those things were pretty much par for the course as my adventurous life goes…but the food was delicious! Here are my notes on the In-N-Out: really good cheeseburgers, yummy fries, awesome chocolate shakes, friendly service, and totally paranoid management.

And in the event that you were really looking forward to the day when this blog would feature an image of nothing but my entire face scarfing down a cheesburger…that day has arrived…

Part Two: The All-Girl Brazilian Christmas Party! My sweet friend Cristi Owen had her girlfriends over for an amazing Brazilian meal at her home. As you may know, Cristi is originally from Brazil and moved to the States when she was 20. I seriously cannot even explain how good this food was. I spent the rest of my time in Phoenix talking about Cristi’s stupendous dessert…and how I wanted to eat it every day for the rest of my life. Another cool touch to this party was the seating arrangement. Every year, Cristi buys an ornament for each of the girls coming to the dinner party, and uses it as a place card. Each girl has to figure out which ornament and seat is hers! The dinner was followed by an ornament exchange, and tons of fun fellowship. This was a good night. Good times for sure!

So, if you have followed this blog you probably know why this was my ornament. Cristi and I met in Ireland this past summer and stayed together in this wonderful Irish home in the countryside of Kinvara. Next to our house was a gorgeous pasture with stone walls, overflowing with the cutest sheep! Pretty much the whole trip, we kept planning to go take pictures of these beautiful angelic sheep. When we finally did get next door to get images of the sheep…they were all gone. They had been sold for food! How sad is that!

Gina with her ornament…she traveled to Italy this past year :)

The ornament I gave to Cristi…self-explanatory.

Cristi and friends enjoying the evening :)

Me with the “Cowboy Snowman” I won during the ornament exchange!

Me and some of the girls with our ornaments…

Cristi giving me her best Serena Van Der Woodsen :)


Our Rock Band! That’s right, I learned how to play Rock Band. It was my first time to ever play, and Gina’s first time as well - we’re the ones dying laughing :)

And yes, you can fail Rock Band…

Yea for fun times with the girls! Thanks for a lovely evening Cristi :)

Part One: The All-Girl Phoenix Photographers Christmas Party! So there were numerous great things about this party. First of all, I was invited - Woo Hoo! Secondly, I met lots of awesome photographers and made new friends. Third, I scored a pretty sweet Christmas ornament during the Dirty Santa ornament exchange. And last but not least, there were some amazing fireworks to top off the evening :)

Gisele, our lovely hostess, opening her ornament…

Rachael, Cristi, Angie, Gretchen, and MJ watching the ornament exchange…

Gretchen, MJ, and Katina!

The evening got off to a bang with the chandelier explosion…

Remnants of the chandelier explosion…

Mandy hand-modeling a piece of burnt glass…

Thanks girls for such a fun evening! I loved getting to know each of you :) Phoenix photographers rock - great images, great fellowship, and great ornaments!

Back in Birmingham! Woo Hoo! I’ll be posting all of my adventures in Phoenix over the next few days, plus numerous portrait sessions and gorgeous weddings that I’ve had to lag behind posting on. So get excited - tons of fun coming soon to a blog near you!

Talk about a trooper! Melissa weathered some serious chill as we shot her bridal portraits around town last Friday…OUTSIDE. The light was just gorgeous and the weather was perfect for our shots…but not so much for modeling a gown. All that aside, this day turned out so well! Melissa was glowing and beautiful and I had such a great time working with her! I couldn’t wait for you all to get a sneak peek. But you know the rules - no seeing the dress before the big day! So here is Melissa in all of her bridal bliss beauty…in a headshot series :)

This past Thursday I headed over to The Modern Brand offices for a holiday party they gave for BodyLove. If these are two organizations you are unfamiliar with, let me bring you up to speed on some exciting things happening in Birmingham! BodyLove is a local radio drama that has been featured in the LA Times! This program takes a groundbreaking approach to addressing health issues, particularly those targeting the African-American community. BodyLove is a non-profit outreach program supported by numerous corporate sponsors including Media For Health, The Junior League of Birmingham, The Alabama Department of Public Health, amongst many many others. The program is growing in popularity in a major way, and the hope is that it will impact the health concerns of our Alabama citizens mightily. As we speak, BodyLove is branching into new markets - so get out there and find out more about how you can support this great cause! The Modern Brand became involved in the branding for BodyLove, and I had the opportunity to document the first branding session between the two organizations back in the summer. The Modern Brand is making major headway in the Birmingham scene and their fresh approach to both their clients and their market will take them to a great place in the industry. I am so thankful to have met all of these new friends and I can’t wait to see them all take Birmingham by storm! Happy Holidays to all of you - thanks for giving me the opportunity to partake in your holiday cheer and exciting plans!

A little branding…

Lovely ladies of BodyLove and The Modern Brand…

Original members of the BodyLove Organization…

Michael of The Modern Brand - with a little Holiday cheer :)

BodyLove’s new Executive Director getting a little love…

The utterly fabulous Caprenia Anthony!

Gotta love these cute girls :)

Okay, I couldn’t resist…don’t you just want to pinch those cheeks???

Thanks for the chance to work with all of you! Best of luck in the coming year!

Here it is! After much anticipation and a constant back and forth in my mind, we finally have the first proof of our 2009 full page print ad! I was going for something really simple and elegant with an image that pops. I am so happy that my WONDERFUL graphic designer was able to hit this out of the park for me! Truly, it reflects me and my photography, and is exactly what was floating around in my mind. SO…enjoy the sneak peek! The ad will be debuting in various magazines for this next season.

Thanks to Lucy, I now have some serious Christmas decor plans. Me and Christmas Tree Shopping…not great friends. As much as I love the Christmas season, and have plenty of Christmas spirit, I just can’t quite seem to take the decor thing to task. It is some sort of mental block I suppose. Regardless, Lucy wasn’t putting up with my lackadaisical ways this year. So we went out in search of a Christmas Tree and some general decor for my home. It was interesting for sure. She wanted to check out every single tree available - but my attention span allows for only three, and then I pick one from that! It all came together beautifully in the end, and now my house smells of Rosemary and the Christmas season. SO, on to the studio next…

Congratulations to Emily and James! They are taking the plunge and I couldn’t be happier for them :) These two are such a great match and I really enjoyed our engagement session. Their wedding is coming up really soon, on December 6, 2008, and we just barely squeezed in this shoot! This is a couple who I am so thankful to be working with because their spirit and hearts towards one another really comes through in their interactions…it makes for truly lovely images. I’m so excited to be capturing their wedding day and am looking forward to more time with them! I’ll definitely post more shots from this session later, but here is a sneak peek for now…

Congratulations to a great couple!