October « 2010 « en pointe photography . the blog . northern california, san francisco, bay area, sacramento wedding & lifestyle photographer

Archive for October, 2010

cassidy & david . the engagement session.

October 21, 2010

vintage kitchen + adorable pups + gorgeous couple + sunny skies turned into fog in an hour + red heels = LOVE! <3

David & Cassidy are some of the cutest people ever and I LOVED all the ideas that Cassidy had for the engagement session – what’s more, is everything we did was in a 5 mile radius of where they lived! We went to the are where they always walk their dogs, and the overlook they love to go to. And of course, their adorable home. Gotta love that green tile ;) And their adorable fur babies. ;)

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lisa & gary . the wedding.

October 19, 2010

Cascades of flowers + yellow + grey + awesome dress + the Prado + adorable couple = <3

Lisa & Gary were married at the Prado (one of my fave venues!) and I loved all the flowers that adorned the whole place – all thanks to Lisa’s cousin!

venue . the prado
wedding coordination . meaghan schmaltz . weddings made splendid
dj . the savvy bride . lynn bautista
florist . phillip camerino

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a dancer’s soul . emily.

October 15, 2010

. . . . . . . . .

For some time now, I have wanted to photograph dancers. Dance was like one of those things that hovers in your life; for me, it was always, always a passion. Growing up, there wasn’t a moment I didn’t want to become a ballerina, or dancer of some sort. I used to watched the Nutcracker almost every year live, as well as watch it on PBS, where there would be no talking for hours, and finally when I switched the channel, I found it strange to hear people speaking all of the sudden. I was never able to take classes when I was young because my family couldn’t afford it, so I would simply rely on day dreaming, putting on home “performances” and watching others dance. But that passion never died.

As I grew older and gravitated towards photography, I always had dance in the back of my head. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to dance full out for my own benefit, but that’s a post for another time. As my passion for photography grew, I always held dance there, even when I named my photography business. It has always had a hold on me, like a magnet.

I love photography because I love being able to show people how I see the world, and how things make me feel. I love dance because to me, it’s a way to feel free, to let yourself go, to visually interpret music. Dancers dance for so many different reasons, but as any artist, it’s a means to communicate, and get things out of their body that they may not be able to say through their mouths. Because of my two great passions, it was only natural they would combine at some point. And that point has arrived.

I met Emily only this year, but I’ve seen her dancing for much longer than that through the recitals at my dance studio. Emily is a wonderful spirit, full of life and energy on top of being a beautiful dancer. I knew I wanted to photograph her to capture that – to capture why she dances, and the dancer’s soul that she has. I didn’t want to just capture how amazing her leaps are (which are amazing), or how dynamic her dancing is. No, dance is so much more than that. Dance is a voice. Dancing not only involves the large moments when you are leaping, but the little moments in between. When you take a breath. When you gather yourself. When you show the world just what you want to say.

When you let yourself go.

I am so excited to be sharing this with you all, but these images are only a scratch on the surface for me. I want to dig more, meet more dancers, photograph their stories, their dancing, their souls. I want to explore that in photographs. And I want to share it with the world.

Posted in Dance, Movement from Within, Personal | 7 Comments »

clarity . {the west coast roadtrip 09} . the journey home . the final chapter.

October 4, 2010

a bird over the water . san onofre, ca . polaroid sx-70

A year ago today, I began my trip home.

a dust devil . near fresno, ca . canon 5D mk2

pyramid lake . on the grapevine, ca . canon 5D mk2

the skyline . los angeles, ca . canon 5D mk2

when the I-5 sign changes to say san diego . santa ana, ca . canon 5D mk2

birds & men . san onofre, ca . canon 5D mk2

flying in the breeze . san onofre, ca . canon 5D mk2

the sun . san onofre, ca . polaroid 420 land camera

welcome home . san diego, ca . canon 5D mk2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A year ago this morning in Sacramento, I got into my car, turned on the GPS and it asked me: “Where to?” I pressed one button.

“Home.”

I was on the last stretch of what was a wonderful trip, and I was happy to be getting home, but sad the whole experience was over. I began driving and noticed that the GPS was taking me to CA-99 instead of I-5 which is what I usually take when I drove home. Well the heck with it, I thought, why not take 99 then? This was a trip for firsts and this was definitely be a first for something I was so familiar with doing.

And let me tell you, it was just as boring at I-5!

LOL, okay maybe not AS boring, there were certainly more cities that I passed through, and I saw lots of ‘dust devils’ that were basically little tiny tornadoes, but it was pretty uneventful aside from that.

The only stop I made besides getting gas, was at San Onofre, to say a little farewell to driving on the coast – at least on this trip. The birds there were pretty fun, I would watch them just hang in one spot because it was so windy. They would just stay there, with their wings outstretched, enjoying the feeling of not going anywhere at all for the moment.

As I drove through San Diego, I had made it in time for sunset – yet again. :) And then I was home.

. . . . . . . . . .

People had asked me, why did you take this trip? What were you going for? The title says it all, I was going for clarity.

Clarity within myself, clarity as an artist. I think for myself, it was so easy to fall into the same routine, the same things, the same mindset. Especially if I never got out of my comfort zone/California box. Our experiences are what enrich us as people, and I wasn’t really experiencing anything new. I wasn’t sure if the things that I was doing were things that were easy to do, or things that I really wanted to do. Forcing myself out of my comfort zone, out of my regular box, allowed me to really evaluate situations that I came across and form my own opinions. And my own viewpoints, I think. I became surer of myself as a person, and I think that in large part, it was not only the experiences I gained and the places I saw, but the people that I came in contact with too. I adapted habits from people I stayed with, and created routines that I found fit *me.* I had wonderful conversations and felt like I was able to think differently. And not only that, but it allowed me to be more open to many things.

I was able to approach life and situations with openness, and because of that, people seemed to react to me more openly too. It allowed for genuine interactions and for that I was truly grateful. I find it hard to keep that openness alive at home – you’re so occupied with daily life and work and tasks that you don’t look at everything so openly and with curiosity – you’re really just wanting to get things done, or make your way around. But ever since coming back, I’ve been making a genuine effort to try and look at my surroundings with the same openness, and curiosity, or – with “fresh eyes” as a friend said. ;) It allows me to look at things with a fresh perspective, or at least, allows me to be more open to people around me and the possible experiences that might happen because of that openness.

You think that paragraph could’ve had the word open one more time? lol

On top of that, I’ve learned to honor myself and the passions that I have, and what drives me. Because of this, I have had a few projects surface, one of which I shall be sharing soon. :) These passions don’t just come from anywhere, it is what drives us to a goal, and has the potential to be something great if we let it. Will it be scary to pursue? Most likely. Will it be hard? Most definitely. Will it be amazing & worth it when it happens? Oh, yes.

“The journey is the reward.” - Chinese Proverb

So, to close this chapter, I just wanted to say thank you to those who have supported me on this journey & thank you to everyone who was with me on this journey. <3 I am grateful for you all. I am who I am thanks to all of you.

Posted in Roadtrip 09 | 1 Comment »