I knew Juan & Perla’s wedding was going to be fun as I passed the Paul Frank beach cruiser while walking into the ballroom at the country club. I was even more certain when I saw that Perla had taken the time to bring some of her own fun props for their guests to use in the portrait booth.

Perla and Juan now hold the record for the most enthusiastic wedding guests….ever! I had so much fun with everyone! By the looks of it, everyone else had a great time too.

Click here or anywhere on the image below to launch Perla and Juan’s wedding portrait booth slideshow!

… I found myself driving past Santa Barbara to meet a woman in a dress and her handsome husband for a 2 year Anniversary celebration during their annual camping trip. Who says weekdays are boring?

I’m going to leave you hanging for a few days while I play catch up.

Tai, Ivy, Joshua and I had a session back in March when Joshua was just kind of hanging out and doing things that a 3 month old does. He had all his cute baby chub and spent a majority of his days sleeping and growing.

But not anymore, now he’s crawling, laughing, kicking, grunting, and making all sorts of goofy faces. He’s just as cute as ever, even more so because he’s such a social kid who likes to indulge any willing audience. In 5 short months he’s become quite the explorer (and kind of a flirt too). I found this out a couple weeks ago on a Sunday morning with Joshua, Ivy, Tai, and Anne. The weather was a bit humid but otherwise it was a beautiful day outside. We spent the morning catching up and hanging out…and taking photos.

8-10 months is a fun age for babies. There are so many milestones that seem to appear one right after the other in the blink of an eye. Joshua is really happy and likes to watch the world around him. He checks out everything in his field of view, kicks his feet in the arms of his parents to get the attention of folks passing by him, and grabs at his ears as if it’s he’s doing it for the first time. He loves a good game of peek-a-boo and is at the point where you can fully engage him with the camera. It was amazing to watch this little guy notice that I was changing the focal length on my zoom lens. Such a fun age! He’s getting so tall too! Those little legs have stretched out and the baby belly is gone. The next few months are going to be such an exciting time for this family. Watch out world! Joshua is on the move!

After our session, Ivy and Tai treated Anne and I to a tasty Sunday lunch. I wish I had taken photos of the food, but we were all starving and it was just so good I could never ask anyone at the table to wait to eat it. Thanks again for lunch guys! Oh, and thank you especially for helping a sister out and keeping my glass of tea full! I can’t wait until next time!

Oh, and please check out Anne’s version of the day.

Last week, I received a phone call from Anne asking if I was available to shoot a private dinner party that her friend Joella was throwing. Anne would be in charge of the design of the florals, decor, and coordination while Kitchen12000 would be in charge of cooking up a 4 course meal and cocktail menu with about 36 hours notice. I love the adventure of a last minute opportunity, so of course I immediately joined the team responsible for making it all come together!

Anne designed the gorgeous table and floating lit floral arrangements for the pool. When I asked her what was in the centerpieces, she responded, “There were lisanthus, football mums and button mums. I liked making the centerpieces visually interesting by varying the textures. Structured flowers with soft flowers. I wanted something classic and modern. That’s why I used the candlesticks that had classic shapes but were in clear and mercury glass.”

I loved the touches of green in the white centerpieces. The white flowers and candlelight at different heights bounced some light onto guests faces just as I would catch them laughing. Needless to say, all of the design elements of this dinner party were pleasing to the eye.

Shortly after meeting Joella (who is a fabulous multi-tasker, if I do say so myself), I was greeted in the kitchen by the folks at Kitchen12000. Don’t let their casual “these people could be in my family” charm fool you…they are organized and quick even while carrying on casual conversation (and that is true with everyone on their team). Their menu was beautiful, and what I tasted was fantastic. They were also super friendly and all smiles whenever we would cruise through to snap photos of their mouth watering plates. The servers left no glass empty and no plate unkempt.

Double Prawns with Kim Chi and Red Cabbage shred, topped with a Citrus Soy reduction

MKay, Steve, and the rest of the posse gettin’ down on it...

Marinated Cucumber Carpet with 3 Potato Hash, topped with a Radicchio and Frise Sesame Salad

Chilled Glass Noodles with Blueberry Citrus Broth and Candied Ginger

4 Style Japanese BBQ Sampler with Steamed Rice and Black Rice Vinegar Dipping Sauce (Marbled Beef, Chicken Breast, Shrimp, Ahi Tuna

To check out more photos courtesy of Anne on the Kitchen12000 site, click here.

The guests were serenaded by EVERYTHING throughout the history of music provided by these two gentlemen playing their guitars who didn’t stop all evening. They even rocked the theme song from Super Mario Bros!

Thank you Joella, I hope you shook a tail feather @ the club for me! Thanks again to everyone at Kitchen12000 for the snacks and smiles! Anne, you are amazing.

Jen and I met in 3rd grade. We grew up in a small town (at least it was in Elementary school) and so we were always in the same classes together and had the same close knit group of friends. As we grew up and the area’s population grew faster than mold, we met more and more friends and eventually hung out in two separate crowds, maybe only waving or giving each other a simple “hello” in the hallways in 9th grade. A few years passed and then we never spoke again after High School.

Until now.

This is 2009, and five years ago or so Jen found me on myspace. A few years later, we both made the transition to facebook and found a few other girlfriends from long ago.

We kept up with each other here and there and checked out each others photos, sent messages back and forth, and exchanged comments. It was nice being able to keep up with someone who meant so much to me as a child but was so easy to lose track of as an adult.

Roughly 10 years ago when the black hole existed in our friendship, Jen had met Jerome in college. They’ve been madly in love with each other ever since. They recently celebrated their 5 year Wedding Anniversary in Scottsdale! (Congrats, guys!)

A couple months ago, Jen asked if I would shoot a portrait session with her, the handsome hubs Jerome and their two dogs, Lola and Lou. She asked if I had any suggestions for locations. I knew from looking at her facebook photos and getting a sense of her tastes that The Viceroy would be a perfect fit for them. We spent a little time really shaping their shoot beforehand, discussing wardrobe and the looks they were hoping to achieve. I’ve noticed over the years that Jen and Jerome are super affectionate. They have an amazing sense of style, and as you will notice they are photogenic times ten thousand and forty seven.

On a warm Tuesday afternoon, Jen and Jerome drove up to The Viceroy with Lou, Lola, and their sister, Melissa…who was there to help with wardrobe changes, do Jen’s hair, and touch up makeup. I can’t even begin to describe how well the 5 humans and 2 canines worked together that day to create something special. Jen, Jerome, Anne, Melissa, Lola, & Lou…..thank you so much! I had an amazing time. I feel like my internal shutter clicked a few extra times that day. Some sort of inner light bulb went off and I realized…I’m in LOVE with editorial shoots! It was so much fun to see how we all helped each other develop our ideas…everyone was such an inspiration to me. It.was.fabulous.

If I may share some great news, I have recently been teaming up with Anne of The Paper Stylist. She has such an eye, and during this shoot acted as a 2nd photographer, studio assistant, set dresser, stylist, art director, and overall great company. In the next week I’ll be blogging projects that we’ve been working on together. I think it will become pretty obvious why I love working with her! Oh, and thanks to Anne, I now have a right sidebar photo.

Jen and Jerome are fans of the tv show “Mad Men”…..can you tell?

These two have some chemistry. Like I even need to point that out!

P.S. – You see Jen’s great hair and makeup? That’s Melissa’s work, and if you’d like her contact info please email me @ pamela@pamelamastersphotography.com

On a Saturday evening, Rudy and Christina celebrated their one year anniversary surrounded by their friends and family. The happy couple had decided to provide a portrait/photo booth for their guests. I loved that her soiree was an intimate affair, because I got to interact with them just a tad bit more. As usual, the more times folks stepped into my office, the more they wanted to play up their portraits. Love it!

Click here or anywhere on the image below to check out their slideshow. Happy Anniversary, Rudy & Christina!

Despite the fact that I was bummin’ because Mr. Masters has been out of town on business, I still managed to have my usual Sunday Funday. Mostly because of this cute kid, his parents, and my pal Anne.

I realize I’ve been teasing and teasing away this week. I had 4 solid days of shooting so I have a bit of editing to do in the next few days. Of course I’ll fill you in with all the details as I make progress =)

Two more teasers from Jen and Jerome’s session…

More to come shortly!

These guys melt my heart!

One fabulous couple, two fabulous dogs, and a fabulous setting = one completely stoked photographer! More to come!