At this very moment, somewhere in the world, there’s a sassy blonde on the way to Italy to live the more romantic life. For now, there’s a lonely “cheeky suite” missing it’s sassy blonde. Before Amber said goodbye to her little bachelor pad me and Anne had at it with her on a Saturday afternoon in Hollywood.

The three of us ladies set out to shoot a session where Anne could really focus on her boudoir ideas. Each idea was an equal collaboration between the three of us, but if you ask me, Anne really shined during the bedroom scenes. Please check out her blog to see her shots. I’m ecstatic that Anne has decided to return to the world of photography, and focus her creative talents on her work behind the lens.

I met up with Amber and Anne one afternoon at the Farmers Market and discussed her shoot over treats and window shopping. During our planning session, Amber and I realized we had a lot more in common than we ever thought possible. When I saw this kitchen, I saw baked goods and an apron. So did Amber…

At first I thought Amber had this smile on her face because moments earlier, she had answered the door for “Mr. Sexpot Neighbor Man” in this ensemble.

Nope. Amber’s got a sweet tooth. Like, a really, REALLY, REALLY crazy sweet tooth.

I love the light in Amber’s bedroom….

When you live in a building that offers a panoramic view of Hollywood and beyond, you have to take advantage…

While not wearing pants.

Amber had this bowtie choker that went with her wardrobe perfectly. It’s like this thing was waiting for this shoot, on this day, with this model.

Right before we took this shot, Amber was having trouble opening the bottle of spirit glue she needed to glue her ‘stache on. I used a stepladder to smash the bottle, at which point Amber took the little applicator brush, dipped it in the glue on the ground, and exclamed, “I’m gonna stick this on my face!”. We were in stitches until we wrapped a few minutes later.

Amber, may you enjoy showing the rest of the world your secret ‘stache. Good luck in Italy!

About a year ago, I started offering my “portrait” booth as an alternative to the classic photo booth setups that I had seen at many events. At the time, I offered unlimited shooting and 4×6 color or black and white prints on demand, custom backgrounds up to 20 feet wide, custom logo’s and banners on the prints, and free clear bags, glassine envelopes, or custom enclosures.

But wait! Now there’s more!

A couple weeks ago when Anne helped coordinate Oscar & Tanya’s booth, we did so in less than 3 days. Tanya & Oscars friends scoured Party City and picked up a gigantic box of various props, and Tanya chose a plain white background because she knew there would be no lack of color based on her wedding decor and attire.

The night before the booth was ready to rock and roll. It occurred to me that Anne had all of the design files for Tanya’s invitation suite. I gave my buddy a call and begged her to make me some custom labels for the clear bags that were going to be used to hold the prints. Without hesitation, she hung up the phone and got to work.

Anne arrived to set up with a package full of these labels in her hot little hands:

I knew the second I spoke to Tanya for the first time that her booth was going to be fun because her friends were putting a lot of effort into the props. Since that was the focus (in addition to having a good time), I knew that surprising her with these labels would be a great way to give her guests the information without adding any distracting elements to the photos.

As an added bonus, Anne also made me these labels to use on the back of prints, on bags, and to hand out to little kids. Not quite as cool as getting a sticker from a Sheriff, or the Dentist…but not bad for a handout from a random Photographer at a wedding, right? =)

I’ve found that sometimes guests haven’t had a proper family portrait taken in years, and when they arrive to an event and see my setup sometimes they want to make the most of it and get a few shots for their homes and offices. In this case, it’s nice that I can offer them a print without a custom banner so that it will fit nicely in a frame without distractions. Plus, they have the option of getting an enlargement. Since I use a portrait studio lighting setup, it’s easy to grab a few family portraits after guests are done having fun for a few frames.

That’s where the custom label option comes in handy. So many folks are taking the time to work with Designers like Anne, that by the time they contract my services they typically have access to the creative elements they’ve developed to make their own event unique.

I do receive a lot of questions about my booth via email. Because there are few limitations to what I can do with my setup, I’ve found the best way to give interested parties access to specific information is to send out an information packet via email or snail mail after we’ve discussed all of the tiny little details during a consultation in person or over the phone (if you’re out of town).

I can tell you that the most common questions I receive are about cost, prints and about how many photos to expect in a 3 hour block. On average, the portrait booth costs about half as much as a portable classic style booth, depending on the level of customization. The 4×6 photos take about 30-60 seconds to print, and we keep them displayed in any way our client sees fit until their guests are ready to pick them up. Typically, we can do anywhere between 200-300 images in a 3 hour block (our most common package) which varies depending on how long guests spend putting on props and taking breaks to participate in other activities during the event. The booth is really only limited by your imagination, and thanks to my creative pals like Anne, it’s pretty easy to create just about anything you need to put your own twist on it.

Interested in booking the booth for your event? Email me at pamela@pamelamastersphotography.com

Oh, and big ups to Anne. I’m on a mission to learn a hundred different ways to say “Thank you” because of your continuous hard work, support, and friendship.

A good friend of mine asked me to come shoot her dance performance at the Celebrate Dance Festival on a Sunday afternoon at the Casa Del Prado Theater in Balboa Park. Needless to say, I was so impressed that these women inspired me, and I came home with an idea that I’m hoping to turn into a reality very soon.

I digress.

The Celebrate Dance Festival is a weekend event in San Diego’s Balboa Park that takes place each August. It’s free, open to the public, and features over 70 regional dance groups. I had a shoot earlier in the day up here in Los Angeles so I missed every other performance except for “Fimmine”, created by Sarah Swenson, and performed by Vox Dance Theatre . I’m really glad I was finally able to see my friend Alli at work!

I’ll let the festival program describe Swenson’s piece:

“Using only their gowns and Philip Glass’ thundering polyrhythmic score, seven brides face down one of society’s most loaded rituals.  Employing potent imagery and a spirited rhythmic attach, Fimmine exhibits the devotion, sisterhood, and fierce passion these women summon on their way to the altar.  Swenson’s signature work.“

I thought the piece was beautiful, and the ladies performed well. Here are some of my images from the afternoon:

On Sunday, September 12th, 300 Elite Yelpers arrived at the Los Angeles meeting & Event Center to celebrate the Yelp “Sweet September” Event. MKay over at Kitchen 12000 asked me to shoot the event, and of course I immediately jumped in the pool, especially since my last experience working with the K12000 crew was so legit.

The All Star Crew for the afternoon was a guarantee that me and the Yelpers would have a good time:

Yelp

Kitchen 12000

Essential Chocolate Desserts

L.A. Meeting & Event Center

Floral Fields

DJ – Armando Jovel

Lillian Vicky, Makeup Artist – lillianvicky@yahoo.com

Anne K., who Michael Kay also asked to cover the event, shot the K12000 crew in the kitchen while I circled the building capturing a little bit of everything. The two of us wanted to make sure we had full coverage, and the chick can photograph food, while I have triple A.D.D. and enjoy cruising around a venue. Be sure to check out her images from the event, but do so on a full stomach. No need to torture yourself.

I arrived and started documenting the makeup process. The ladies were all given costumes designed by Nonee of Kitchen 12000 with the help of Torn Up Tees. Lillian Vicky and crew rocked the makeup application, making sure each girl was given a unique set of hot pink feather eye makeup, and a coordinating overall look to match.

The bartenders were given slightly different makeup….

The Kitchen 12000 favors were genius. In the bag: edible non-toxic mushroom, granulated sugar, oregano, and in the syringe, pomegranate juice.

The ladies ready to serve the hungry yelpers…

Treats were put out over hot pink satin, and accompanied with crazy colorful lit centerpieces. Not something you see everyday, then again, you don’t typically spend a Sunday afternoon feeling like a Wonka contest winner.

I watched Melissa of Essential Chocolate Desserts refill these platters numerous times. The rice krispy treats seemed to go quickly. Makes sense, the popsicle stick made them easy to eat and really, who doesn’t love such a classic treat?

The chocolates were provided by KC Chocolatier, and were also very popular.

I’ve seen submerged floral centerpieces before, but the twisted metal wires that looped around the base of each Calla were a nice touch. The height of the lit centerpieces complimented the varying heights of the dessert bar platters. The minimal use of hot pink roses seemed smart, as to not overpower the linens.

A bar featuring world cuisine inspired hummus, pita, and various flavor accompaniments was just perfect for balancing the sweet and savory…

Arlene Vee of Kitchen 12000 poured ice cold milk to accompany all of the chocolate treats…

And for those yelpers who didn’t have to report to work first thing Monday morning, the hosted bar was a popular option, complete with candy inspired adult beverages.

Yelp provided their Elites with these old school style metal lunch boxes. Inside, an authentic old school thermos. Somehow, I don’t see these yelpers putting chicken noodle soup in their containers. They were also given a goodie bag filled with treats.

Thank you to Michael Kay for including me in this event. I’ve always wanted to attend a Yelp Elite event, I still can’t believe how much fun I had because I was able to shoot it too! Thanks to everyone else who brought this event together, including Dawson over at Yelp, Melissa at Essential Chocolate Desserts, and Debbie at Floral Fields. The sites, sounds, and tastes you guys provided made this such a fun event to capture!

To see more: Check out the reviews of this event on Yelp, or read more on the Yelp blog.

…that forces wedding guests to wear their inner freaks on their sleeves.

Okay, maybe the hosted bar had something to do with it. Maybe that box of props that showed up right after I started snapping away just inspired people. Or maybe, Tanya & Oscar have friends like mine.

Sure, I could have censored some of the more wild and crazy shots, but that wouldn’t be any fun now, would it?

Thank you to Anne K. for connecting the dots between Tanya and I. See, Tanya had Anne design her invitation suite, and at the last minute during a meeting between the two of them, Tanya mentioned how much she would have loved to have a portrait booth. Of course the first thing Anne did was give me a call and coordinate the last minute addition of a portrait booth to Tanya & Oscar’s wedding at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens.

Tanya and Oscar chose a modern day Fiesta theme for their wedding. Check out their invitations by Anne. Just hours before their wedding, Anne designed some labels for the bags that we included with each 4×6 print that each guest took with them. I was hoping to provide a photo of the label upon showing you this slideshow, but I’ve been so incredibly busy I haven’t had a chance to take a photo yet!

I’d also like to thank Carina of Tealight Weddings. From the moment I was added to Tanya & Oscars lineup, Carina made sure I was in the loop. It’s event coordinators like her who make my evening easy. I always knew where to find someone for a cleanup on aisle 6 (aka, spilled liquor in front of the booth), or when to quiet down so that the guests could focus their attention on some of the evenings other activities. Thanks Carina!

And like I haven’t written about her enough lately, a neverending thank you to Anne. She was in charge of the prints for the evening and that is no easy task. I can always count on her to show up ready to command the print station without any hangups or delays. To be able to call someone up 12 hours before an event and ask them to design custom labels without any hesitation or second thoughts is really an incredible bonus to working with someone as talented as her. Hello, my name is Pamela and I’m the President of the Anne K. fan club.

To view Oscar and Tanya’s portrait booth slideshow, click here or anywhere in the image below. *Warning* The photos in this slideshow are hardly G-rated. In fact, if you’re at work or there are little ones in the room, you may want to wait until later to check out these photos.

If you happen to be a guest from Oscar and Tanya’s wedding and you’re interested in ordering reprints from the portrait booth, please email me at pamela@pamelamastersphotography for ordering information.

When I smashed a bottle of spirit glue so Amber could put her mustache on?

No?

Oh that’s right, I haven’t told you about my day yet.

It started like this…

But ended like this…

And all those juicy details in between? Well I guess you’re just gonna have to hold on to your mustache and hang tight.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be unveiling a few changes around these parts. As for now, you’re probably noticing that my blog received a facelift. This is just one small piece of a rather large collaboration between Anne K. and myself, with the help of my techie husband, Mr. Masters.

If you happen to be waiting to receive information, images, or other products in the mail, it looks like you’ll be getting a sneak peak at my new packaging and stationary suite. In the meantime, everyone else will just have to wait for photos.

Julieann and I have a special friendship. Over the years, we’ve drifted in and out of each others lives but recently we’ve done a lot more and have spent a lot of time chatting. Even more recently, she and I have been shooting together. I love that I can geek out with her and her husband Erik for an entire day and talk shop.

Over the years, Julieann had asked a few times to do a session with me but always found a way to put it off. When she and I were having coffee together one day, she mentioned that she would be going on her annual camping trip to El Capitan State Beach with Erik. My eyes lit up and I told her it was time. It was.

Camping at El Capitan has been a tradition in Erik’s family for years. Julieann is not new to the outdoors either. She and her family are also expert campers. When the two of them met back in 2001, one of the instant attractions they had to each other was because of their mutual appreciation for nature. A typical vacation for these two is one that enables them to surf everyday or takes them out of the busy city to enjoy the company of each other while soaking up the sun. These two were even married on the sand. Instead of a typical reception, their post-nuptual celebration came in the form of surfing. The prize gift to the Bride and Groom? A set of matching surfboards.

This year during their annual trip to El Capitan, Erik and Julieann would be celebrating their 2nd wedding Anniversary and I couldn’t wait to shoot it. I’ll admit we had ulterior motives. When these two got married, they had the misfortune of receiving wedding photos that were not exactly what they had paid for and not something they could be proud to display in their home. Part of the purpose of our session was to try and recapture the essence of their wedding day while tying in the present. It wasn’t difficult seeing as how these two keep each other on their feet. Erik is the one that keeps calm on the surface but has been known to burst out with even the most random of comments. Julieann, she wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s honest and loyal, and you always know what she’s thinking. She’s strong, she heals people (she’s a Nurse), and she’s been known to burst out into song and dance if the moment calls for it. One of my favorite memories of the two of them was a time when Erik asked Julieann to “Keep the crazy on the inside”, his wife lovingly glanced over at him, threw her head in the air and exploded into a fit of laughter. That’s what I love about these two. They bring balance to a chaotic world, but not without a sense of humor and kindred spirits.

Here’s Julieann’s take on our session:

“When Pamela came up with the idea of trashing the dress @ El Cap, it instantly made sense to the both of us! We both looked at each other as if to say “DUH why had we not realized the COMPLETE SENSE of that IDEA?”
This photo session meant more to us than pretty pictures. This meant a lifetime of memories. It meant taking a piece of us that means forever, and making it whole by emerging it into a place and an event that simply describes us. Erik and I could not live without nature, our camping trips, the outdoors, and just being free spirited. These elements are so deeply in our veins, so true to who we are. The fact that we were able to capture OUR LIVES and pieces of us as a couple means MORE than just amazing photography to display.”

So last Wednesday we met up at their campsite, bustled a 2 year old wedding gown, played in and around the ocean and shared some laughs over the proper way to fall off a tree. Here are my favorite images from the day: