Beauty for Ashes Photography

WE MOVED!!!!!!!

2008-03-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

We're super excited to announce our NEW BLOG SITE with a special post!!! This means that from now on please visit...

http://blog.johnlauren.com

Don't forget to leave us a comment!

John & Lauren

Headshots...

2008-02-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

So... I work at Forever 21 and I am officially the photographer for the Newsletter Committee. Our issues are distributed quarterly. It is so much fun and it is a way to get away from the accounting side of my 9-5. It is a great opportunity for exposure to some very important people who keep the company running, great experience to staying creative when it comes head shots, and just having a great time at work. With head shots, you think there is only so much you can do, but with more experience and exposure, you can get some cool angles... Here are a couple shots I got for the next issue....

Bianca and Bernie, the corporate trainers

Irving, The Controller

Jenny, The DM

Joseph, head of the Men's collection

Paul, VP of HR

On Monday, I have scheduled the President of the company and the owner... nervous, but super excited... I praise God for the opportunity to use what I love at work.

Wilderness Training Course

2008-01-30T22:36:00.001-08:00

So after work, the husband and I went to REI cause he joined this travel/training course on how to survive in the wild doing... I don't know, guy stuff... Anyway, My husband got a day pack and some hiking polls (that were in my opinion) way overpriced, but what could you do... Anyway, he keeps asking me when I'm going to hike with him and it brought me back to our honeymoon... So much fun! Anyways... these hiking polls were way cheaper, and probably not as reliable, but worked just fine for us... Maybe this jump started his desire to be more "outdoorsy" but who knows...

His best friend always makes fun of him cause when he visits him in Oregon, Albert thingsk Jp wants to try new food spots and Jp can't wait for Albert to take him on hikes...

Anyways, we are on our honeymoon here and I miss it so much. It was so much fun and so cheap!

This place is so beautful, and on top of that, we barely got an y bug bites...

Our honeymoon was full of adventures... first we went water rafting into our first stop...

Pacuare Lodge... we had some awesome candlelit gourmet meals here.

Hiked to see some awesome waterfalls.

Some crazy flying

Some fishing

Some ziplining...

Some tree planting dedicated to us honeymooners..

Some ATVing

Last but not least... some good eating... we ate here like everyday...

Our Friends Ele & Heather

2008-01-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

Congratulaions!!!

We've known Ele and Heather for a long time and it was great seeing them finally getting to this day, a day that they've been waiting for for almost two years now.

Although we were not the official photographers, you can't help not taking pictures of this couple. They have this connection that really comes through in the pictures. They are such a beautiful couple! Their wedding took place in San Juan Capistrano and it was the perfect day. They were truly blessed with great weather for their big day.

If you know the bible bearer, I think he is more shy than anything. When he was walking down the aisle, the bible became his hat! He was adorable!

And the groom. He looked great. Oh Ele, you are married now!

And the beautiful bride. For their bacheor-bachelorette party, JP and I knew she would make a beautiful bride, and we were so right. She looked amazing!

You can tell they were so excited to finally start this new life together. We were so happy for them.

Not all couples choose to have communion at their wedding, but they did. They wanted to have communion at their wedding and they were towards the back of the alter. Looking at them and watching them together, they truly have this connection. With these two pictures John wanted to capture the color of the stained glass windows while still trying to create a silhouette shot. Don't you think these came out perfect?!! I love his eye for these things =) For those of you that have your own SLR camera, this is a great exercise for you to try. Maybe later this week, we'll post, as Me Ra puts it, the "recipe" for these photos.

Too many pictures to sort through, fastforward to the reception, their first dance. They are such a romatic couple. The way the hold each other screams love!

Cling, cling, cling...

Something else they did different I thought worked out really well. They had a grand exit. Their wedding ended at around 4 pm because they had a plane to catch. It was so cute. John's camera settings were perfect to where he was able to catch the still bubbles and have the couple not blurry at all... that's my husband...

To Ele and Heather.. congratulations! We have a bunch of pictures to give you. and please, give me your address! Again, congratulations... There is so much to learn from each other and about each other. But the journey is going to be so much fun!

2008...Full of New Beginnings!

2008-01-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone...Happy New Year!

I know we've been really bad at updating our blog lately especially with all the great shots we've been wanting to share with you all (and yes that includes you too Earl & Cheryl!) but as we've mentioned in one of our past posts, we're going through a transition period. And with 2008 a new and fresh year, we too have new and fresh things to launch sooner than you know!

First we're going to have our new official website up where you'll be able to view full galleries of our photos and possibly even see whether or not we're booked on a certain day! It's going to be awesome and we can't wait for you all to see it! We're waiting for a few other things to fall in place before we go live but we'll be keeping you posted.

To go along with that, we're launching a new blog site as well. It'll be more customized to our style and hopefully, through the blog, you'll continue to be able to learn about us on a more personal level as well as us being able to know about you through your comments! We're big believers that good pictures don't just happen, they're created and a big part of that creation is the relationship we have with our clients. That's exactly why we only book 12+ weddings a year. It's important to us that we have a great relationship with our clients...when you're comfortable with us, the more comfortable you'll be in front of two cameras!

So for our first step in our transition phase we have a new EMAIL ADDRESS...
weddings@johnlauren.com
If you have any questions whatsoever about our photography style, availability or even what camera we use...shoot us an email! We'd love to hear from you.

Keep an eye out for more changes to come! We look forward to hearing from you!

John&Lauren

Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

2007-12-07T22:02:00.001-08:00

This year has a lot of first's. And the first's are super fun! Especially looking for a Christmas Tree. Jp and I love Christmas time and the season, so we made sure we got a tree sooner than later. We got our tree last week and we love it. It has made us more than proud. So the journey began with searching the city of Corona for trees. There weren't too many places, so we didn't have to search too far. We only had two spots to check.. hehe..

So, we got to our first spot and it was nice and clean... but... the trees weren't covered. Who knows how long the trees had been sitting there. Even though these trees looked really nice, when you touched them, the pine needles would fall so easily, so we knew this wasn't the place where we wanted to buy our tree.

Being a little disappointed, we went to our next stop and these trees were nice and green, so searching down aisles, we spotted this cluster of trees, and when we saw the big one in the back, we knew this was the one...

A little unraveling and moments later, she was ours and ready to go home...=)
The perfect height, size, and color. It was way greener than some other trees we saw...

Yup, it truly was the one.

So the husband got it ready to go...

So we took our 10 year old Christmas tree to celebrate our first Christmas as husband and wife. We are a young family the three of us. Since no one likes my ultimate child name, our Christmas tree's name is Wolverine!!! way cool!

Through the front door we go, and into our humble abode.

Some decor, but of course, I buy the wrong sheer.

I love traditions, but they are tiring..haha. But I love the fact that we did this as a family. I didn't do it alone, and he didn't have to do it alone. We enjoyed it together. I love that!

So a lot of our friends buy their annual Christmas ornaments, and I'm too pooped to go out and get one, maybe later on, so for now... look at our annual very first Christmas ornament... all of them! Isn't it great!

I don't know if many of you are like my husband, but he was super geek when we found some LED Christmas lights... but I have to admit, they are awesome, blue and bright, and saves energy... way worth it!

As the tree is almost done, we don't have our star or our skirt, so for now.. 150 ornaments later...part of our very first Christmas tree!

When we get our tree topper, I'll show you the rest... it looks funny right now..hehe

Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire

2007-12-01T00:16:00.000-08:00

jackfrost nipping at your nose...

well..

Not really...hehe.. more like smores cooking in our fireplace....even better if you ask me! tonight was bummy night to just relax at home after a long week at work. We get to spend time with each other with smores and watching the fire and hearing the crackling of the wood. Ssoo relaxing!

He did the cooking, I did the eating...

So, he has a technique about his smores...it has to be perfect, so, first things first, the marshmallow goes into the fire...

While it gets soft, he makes sure the marshmallow gets put on fire, so then, it really melts the chocolate...

and the results... uber-yummy!

probably not the healthiest, but after a long week of working and commuting, you gotta treat yourself every now and then..

It's almost Christmas!

We gave a Rockin' Thanks...

2007-11-26T22:10:00.000-08:00

So our Thanksgiving was awesome this year. For our first thanksgiving together, we thought we did pretty well. Our first and hopefully not the last thanksgiving party was a blast and we hope it happens every year. We went to visit my brother in law's family for lunch and then headed home in the afternoon and 4 hours later of cooking, we had dinner. But I cheated, my mom cooked the turkey, and boy was it an awesome turkey!!! Here is our moms together... they are so cute!

It was nice because all the cousins came over and played rockband till 2 in the morning! This is my brother in law, my husband, cousin, and my sister's boyfriend...

This is my sister and Sebastian. Sebastian is an awesome dj... Check out his website...
DJ ETHOS

Not only did we have a rockin Thanksgiving, I had an awesome birthday...a rockin' birthday. There were so many things going on and so many parties in a row, and not enough pictures were takin, but i caught a couple... So cute...

To all those who were able to celebrate my birthday with me, thank you so much. I had so much fun... Oh, and for the people who didn't leave till 3 am... thanks for locking up..haha. I guess I'm the new Michelle... We love you guys!

Washington Workshop

2007-11-22T00:28:00.000-08:00

So the same weekend we went to Oregon, we also went to a Photography Workshop with MeRa Koh Photography. Me Ra was our wedding photographer who actually showed us something that we want to do as for a living is something tangible. We can actually do something we love for a living. I mean, we like our jobs, but if we can stay home together and work together, that would be awesome!

So it started with a meet and greet on Friday night over cheese and wine...yummy! Then a full weekend of learning and applying. It was such an awesome weekend meeting new friends from many other states as well as learning new things with photography. We learned about lighting, using more of your camera and dealing with business scenarios. They definately showed us the real side of the struggle of running your own business, but the fact that they are a husband and wife team and how they pull through it is awesome.

There were a total of 4 models but I'm only going to post our favorites! I think I posted about this like months ago, but Jp and I shoot so different. In the last post, he usually knows how to capture details and I usually go for the fit as much as you can in a picture. It was kind of hard to do that becuase there were 20 of other people wanting to get their shot in. So fitting everything means fitting everyone... and you don't want everyone in your couple shots, but Jp set this one up perfectly. He envisioned it, and asked everyone to move aside for a couple of seconds....and the results are awesome.

Jp is really learning how to set up a shot and you get results like these...

I still like the fit everything in kind of shot, but I had a totally different eye this time around. This is Jp's favorite picture that I took, but I think I can find other ones =) On the other side of the picture, everyone was standing there and I didn't really like the angle or what was in the background... so I was trying to figure out a way to get them and no one else, so I had to shoot no where else but up. And here are my results...

This workshop was totally awesome... I would totally recommend to go to one... She was awesome because she teaches in a way that is super easy to understand. She also uses models that just about anyone has, kids.... She teaches how to capture their kid moments without interrupting them and letting the shot go by... She really has a gift and it shows in how her 5 year old business has progressed... what an inspiration!

Mateo and Oregon

2007-11-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

The rest doesn't matter...haha. Well, the husband and i journeyed out to Oregon to visit Jp's best man and the fam. We went up during the perfect weekend with perfect weather, pretty trees, and yummy food. If you don't know Jp and I, we love food, and it was good. Especially the wil atlantic salmon...so good! Anyways... Mateo is so cute! He would give us our wake up call by jumping in our bed

After getting ready for the day, Jp and i fell in love with the Zaporteza's tree. This tree was awesome!!! I don't know if the leaves are still there, but this tree was really cool. The color was so cool and really big, but not only was there 1 of them, but 2! That was really hard to see, but really cool!

They have a huge front yard and since it is a corner house, it was full of trees and event here backyard was so nice... minus the 2 dead plants Tiff killed..haha... But really, Their house is beautiful and it looks like a house house.... Fully and nicely decorated, clean and really broken in... it really is a beautiful house...haha... Jp and I were taking notes aside and thinking of how we can decorate our house cause really, it looks like it's out of a catalog, they probably don't think so, but it is... I didn't post pictures of the interior cause you have to go to oregon to see it...hehe

After an awsome lunch that I wished I remembered the name of it, but when I find out, I'll be sure to blog on it, cause I had the best and only Salmon Hash I have ever had... So the fam brought us to Portland and we did a lot of walking and some sight seeing... Well... Jp went sight seeing thanks to Albert... but that's a whole other post...haha

Day two, we got our wake up call from Mateo... gotta love it, and this time, Albert fed him before we left to go shopping at Nike... cause when your at Nike, your there for at least 2 to 3 hours... and I didn't realize this, so Mateo wasn't hungry anymore, but Jp and I were starving.

Since we were starving, we went to McMenamins. This restaurant is located in an old school. Cool concept, but really weird...

We had to walk down these halls to get to the restaurant... scary! I was even afraid to go to the bathroom by myself...so i had the hubby escort me...it was super scary...

But did Mateo care....not at all.... He was havin a blast!

The cool thing is that Tiff is learning to use her camera, so she was capturing some cool shots while we were there...

Even after eating all that food, and all that playing, Albert let Mateo fly a little bit...

Okay, this last picture is here for a reason... This hand is famous!!! The magic comes from these fingers =)

Even though this was a short trip, I had so much fun and it was so beautiful. It is nothing like California. They have huge old trees and we have tall palm trees... The weather is different, but the town has so much character. I can't wait to go there again and spend more than two days with them. Not to mention the guest room's matress. So comfortable! Thanks Zaporteza's for letting us visit. We will be back sooner than later... see you guys for Christmas! haha... See you in Vegas..haha

earl + cheryl = married

2007-11-15T21:19:00.001-08:00

We are going through a couple of changes at the moment, but we couldn't resist...

First, there is going to be a posting bonanza this weekend! We need to talk about oregon, washington, the workshop, and the wedding! well, the wedding is going to have to wait a little bit, and you will see why in the next paragraph, so stay tuned for a first class ticket to oregon and washington. Now...

Earl and Cheryl were married on november 10th and had such cool style. From the dress to the city pictures to the reception details. it looked so awesome! with the style of their wedding, everywhere you looked, there was always something to take a picture of. That could be why we have over 2000 pictures to sort through!!! Yup, I said it, 2000 pictures...but the wedding was a blast!

This post isn't to show the slideshow... but just a teaser of what is to come. I didn't really want to show who this couple is yet, becuase they are so cute! but just a couple shots to get your feet wet, cause really, there is a lot more to come!

The shoes... you gotta love the shoes. There is another picture to represent how Cheryl branded her wedding, so keep tuning in. They were so classy looking...

Jp really has an eye when it comes to really feeling the moment. When I look at this picture, and I always say this, but it looks so quiet. This shot is right after the sponsors put the cord and veil over the couple, and the prayer was after. I think John really captured the moment.

This picture meant to much to me... the pressure of the day and what is to come and just of what is expected of you as the bride and groom truly melted away when they were just walking together hand in hand. Seeing Cheryl and Earl before the ceremony, there is no way you can't let the big day get to you, but during this time, I believe they actually were able to look at each other and just think...we just got married ... and enjoyed each other as husband and wife for their first hour of marriage.

To Earl and Cheryl, the wait will totally be worth it! We hope you are having an awesome time on your honeymoon and can't wait to hear back from you guys when you come back...

check out their movie trailer with
*** Red 5 Studios, a Calomay Production***

Transition Stage

2007-11-11T18:44:00.000-08:00

Hello People!

It's been almost two weeks since we posted, but so much has gone on. We had our first wedding on Saturday and it was so fun! The bride was so beautiful with such an awesome dress! Well, we have so much to catch up on and so much to post on and will update everything here soon! Don't worry...

brian + jackie = engaged!!!

2007-10-31T22:04:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a 4 day awesome trip from Oregon and Seattle. We spent some time with our good friends Albert, Tiff and the funniest one of the bunch...Mateo. The latter part of our trip we were in Seattle for a photography workshop. But more on that later...

Right now, we want you to meet brian + jackie. Yay! they're getting married!!

This shoot was special because first of all, it was our very first engagement shoot, such a perfect day to have it, and with an awesome couple! John has known jackie for about 5 months now and seemed to have a general interest in our work, so she asked us to do her engagement shoot...so cool! jackie and brian are getting married back east so i thought it was totally cool that they had some pictures from southern california to start it off. We wanted to do something super special to present this, but that was taking tttoooo long, so here it is....

Beauty for Ashes Photography

world premiere slide show...just click on their names!
***** jackie and brian *****

Thank you so much for waiting to see them, we love them especially the ones right below... again, congratulations on your engagement, and happy wedding planning from here on out... it's going to be so beautiful...

here are some of our favorites...

Please, give us some feedback, so please leave a message, we would really love to here what you guys had to say!

John and Lauren
Beauty for Ashes Photography

True Bella

2007-10-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, we are guilty. True Bella had her photo shoot quite awhile ago, it was so long she went from being the only child to a RUNNING, older sister. It is so amazing how much time flies...Ruby, the mother was actually pregnant with baby #2. The parents haven't even really seen these photos, so we hope you absolutely love them! We actually had this shoot back in January! haha ...

Well, I wanted to start off these series of photos with her feet, cause it shows how small they were back then, and also how much she uses them now.

Haha... True's...when is he coming home picture...oh no Ruby!

I think this photo might have captured how she was...very quiet and well behaved. She seems so quiet here...

So True's parents discovered she was allergic to something a little late...haha. They found out she was allergic to dairy and what a journey it was to find out what it was. Not only a journey, a sacrifice because her Mom loves loves loves chocolate, so a few sacrifices where in mind. Well, her being allergic to dairy, it made her skin really dry and I thought post process work was needed, but I hesitated. This was a time in her life and family where this was True. Spots and all. Praise God it was nothing life threatening, so some of the shots, they were left in. Only because this is what I knew of True back then... SSOOO Cute red spots and all!

During the shoot, she was sooo good! I think she started to like the camera because we would find her looking at the lens a little more and more throughout the day!

I love this picture my husband took (detail shot) since True is a little bit older, she is more independent now, but at this age, she could barely hold her bottle without her mom. I also love this because it shows how small her hands are in comparison to her mom's. So different in size and represents how much Ruby guides True in her life. It shows how much Ruby's hands are involved in growing her and showing her Christ.

So cute!

So, by the time we went outside, she was getting really tired and irritated with Beauty For Ashes Photography...Sorry True!

So True is an older sister and is running all over the place...we can't wait to have photo shoot #2 with her and her sister. With better equipment and better knowledge of our cameras, we can't wait! So Ruby and Ben.... how 'bout it?

Work...Work...Work

2007-10-05T00:22:00.001-07:00

Alright...

So it was one of those nights... a night that I think every married couple goes through.... or maybe it's just us, but I hope every other couple goes through, or else John and I have problems...but it was just one of those nights. So I was trying to think of how I can be part of his day, or part of his everyday routine... Since I am now going to be working in LA, I am taking advantage of the fact that I still have the luxury of sleeping in right now, but not for long, and kind of neglecting my husband in the morning cause I know sleeping in will no longer be an option anymore, so.. here are a couple of items my husband picks up every morning like clockwork...without a doubt...trust me, I've seen him do it...

His Wedding Ring

His Keys...

His bag...

And since the hubby is sick, he is a big fan of cough drops right now...The lunch sack... yeah, he could pick that up more often, but that's my fault =(.

So, I was like, a big fat picture of my head...no that wouldn't work...I can't think of anything cause it is way past my bedtime, so i just wanted to make a little note to tell my husband and the world...

My husband works really hard, commutes really far, and starting up our business... I don't realize how awesome of a husband he is to do all this for our family of two...not three yet... He is very talented and loving towards me... He is already sleeping right now.. but I love you very much!

Blogged Out

2007-09-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

Okay,

So Time Warner is still in the works of giving us our internet back. Oh the funny thing is, Time Warner sent us a bill!! haha. They bill a month in advance too, but we don't have internet! And, they are billing us for our installation fee because we"cancelled" our internet....Anyway...

So, a couple of weeks ago, I was telling John, the other half of Beauty For Ashes Photography, how blogged out I was...but now that it's been awhile, I am so missing it right now! I want to share pictures, and the newest additions to our great adventure to becoming awesome photographers... haha...

Quick update.. as you know our wedding photographers are holding these workshops and telling us all their secrets.. So I, Lauren, will be flying out to Washington on Saturday for a 1-day workshop and flying back. Then, in October, we are flying to Oregon, hanging out with The Zaporteza's, fellow Nike-an's, and then taking a road trip back to Washington. Then, Beauty For Ashes Photography will be attending a 2-day workshop on bettering ourselves and becoming one with our cameras... but really, it will be a blast, cold, and very educational, so I am very excited!

So, I miss my blogging that includes pictures... So, the pictures will have to wait, but they will be great!

Credit Mystery

2007-09-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

As you know, Jp and I went on our family vacation over the weekend to go camping at Pismo Beahc, Oceana Dunes, and went ATV riding and didn't shower for 3-days! It was great if you asked me. But... this year, it was the most windy it has ever been since my family started camping here, but we got through it, and Jp wants to go back... We didn't bring our camera because of the sand and the lens...not a good mix, especially with the winds... it was really windy!

On top of that, on Sunday, Jp get an email on his phone saying someone tried to use his Credit Card over the weekend, but BofA didn't let the purchase go through cause the Credit Card has not been used in so long with a zero balance, so praise God for Security Protection... but that isn't the end of it. We got home Sunday night, and fiending to use the internet, we couldn't log on. Jp being the techy... tried all he could be still wasn't working. So we called Time Warner, and they said over the weekend, we requested the account to be closed....!!!?! what! We were in the sand dunes! So, we are hoping the custome service person who closed it made a mistake, but if they didn't, that person who closed it has my husband's information and was able to close the account. What thrill would they get out of closing the account?!? I don't know, but it was a success.

So now, we can't get our internet back untill the investigation is done, which should be closed on Friday, I'm hoping! So untill then, not pictures, no babies, no family updates...nothing... Just me at work talking about credit. It is funny how the higher the credit score, the more trust worthy you are. But when someone gets a hold of it and ruins it... while you didn't do anything, is very frustrating. praise God I took my Fraud Examination class, but even with all the precautions.... it happens to my husband. No damage has happened yet... so pray nothing does!

Babe-A-Rama

2007-09-11T23:13:00.001-07:00

Kids are so cute! Jacob is probably one of the funniest kids Beauty For Ashes have ever encountered. He sucks his finger, talks in grunts, and is a Papa's Boy! But when he gets used to the camera, he knows what he is doing. In the next post, we will show you just how comfortable he was...

Haha, already using props...

Bubba #1 and Bubba #2...or shall we call them Eyes and Lashes...you'll see what I'm talkin about...

This is Bubba #1

and Bubba #2

Austin...I think he just discovered His legs and how to really use them, cause this boy was all over the place

Last but not least....the Bling of all Babies...AJ

Kids grow so fast and it's incredible how much they learn just by watching and listening... More Babe-A-Rama to come

Michael and Christina

2007-09-04T19:07:00.001-07:00

Michael and Christina's wedding took place at the Cathedral, but Beauty For Ashes Photography had a one-stop trip at the Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown LA.

We were able to get a couple of images of the bride getting ready. She was actually calm, but her cell phone was by her the whole time.

The invtations and her wedding main color was pink, her favorite color, and had a modern style to it, but she chose a classy eternity band which signies her unity with Michael.

Going to the hotel or location where the bride is getting ready is not just to see what happens behind the scenes, but so important to see the details she picked to make her day complete. It could be the details on the dress, the shoes, or even the girls she hand picked to be in her wedding. You want to try to capture everything the bride loved as she picked them. She probably mentioned how she loved the laced flowers, or the style of the eternity band, or the way the shoes would look with the dress or even the height it would give her. Capturing the details is something I know I wanted, so it is important to know what the bride would want to see in her pictures.

Her dress was so unique because the tail was detachable. Since it was detachable, I wanted to show how small the dress was without it.

Although John usually has that eye for detail, I loved the simplicity of the back of the dress and had to take it.

Cousin Reunion

2007-08-30T16:01:00.001-07:00

Cayucos, Ca

So cousin reunion took place in Cayucos, Ca. I had such an awesome time. Driving home, I was wishing I had met everyone years ago. I haven't laughed like that...maybe in months. It was such a beautiful place and I got to meet such cool people. This is going to be just the first post about Cousin Reunion. I just wanted to reminisce on some of places we went to and what we did. On Saturday...wine tasting...yummy! The next post will be of the awesome people we went with...so stay tuned...

I had to put this one. He was posing, and kept posing....sssooo cute!!!

And thanks to Alina and Alexar....for the highlights!

I was so sad....I don't think we got any images of you guys! hilarious!!! Ode to Cranium!!!

Thank you for the partying gift!

The Padre Wedding

2007-08-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

The business...

The one thing I love about this idea more than the possibility of staying home with future kids, but the fact that i can enjoy this new thing with my husband. I feel truly blessed by seeing how God put us friends together in this romantic relationship, we have so many more things in common than I could have ever thought. It was such an awesome surprise and gift from God.

The one thing that we both love is photography. Even though we both love it, we have such different styles, and you can really see it. Jp loves details and the little things that make things so unique, and i love that too, but i really enjoy seeing a lot. I like depth and making children look smaller than they already are and venues look ginormous!

To give you an idea, here is a wedding we went to with our awesome friends at Red 5 Studios

I like this one cause she looks so tiny. She was all over the dance floor!

Here is Jp and the details. It must be important for the bride to have these shots because being a former bride, I know how much thought she must have put into these brown paper bags.

I couldn't help but capture the energy this little girl had. Seeing her in this picture, I hope i was able to capture her personality and this era in her youth.

Jp and his details...I love it!

Here are some other images we were able to capture

The Taleon Wedding

2007-08-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

The Taleon Wedding is probably going to be one of the most memorable weddings Beauty For Ashes Photography has done because it was the first attempt to picturing ourselves as photographers. Second of all, I, the wife, was in the wedding!

This wedding is my older sister's wedding that took place October of 2006. The ceremony was in a local church in Chino Hills and the reception was at an awesome auditorium. This auditorium was decked out with so much character, you really didn't have to do much to make it look any better.

Michelle and Nathaniel, here is a taste of some of the pictures we have been holding hostage. Even though we weren't your official photographers, we hope you can enjoy what John did with so little knowledge at the time.

Here goes....October 2006...

This image was a couple of days before the wedding. They, amongst many couples, were practicing their first dance. It was funny...and cute...

This picture should look familiar...it was our first blog which was so long ago!

My sister had a Fall Themed Wedding and she had this great idea to use Pumpkins for name cards....it was so unique and so different, how can you get a bad image of this.

My husband loves those detail shots and he takes the shots so well. In the very near future, Beauty For Ashes will be blogging with some new images. They are too cool!

Almost there!

2007-07-31T22:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Wow, it's been a really really long time since I've posted anything on this blog and so with so many things to share, i thought what better time than now?

This will be a two part post...first just giving you a little update on things (cuz there are a few things that have happened) and second, photography stuff that I've learned/am trying out with some pics as examples. For those of you that have a simple Canon Rebel like me or just any SLR camera, you might find this kind of cool, cuz i did and i'm really happy with the results...

Well a lot has happened since the last post and I'm not just talking about in photography. Where do start? Well, for one...I am now married to a beautiful girl named Lauren Mae. The wedding was unbelievable but as Owen and I would tell you...way too fast! It's such a surreal time that everything is like a blur...one moment i'm getting ready, putting on my white patent leather AF1s, next we're taking pictures, dancing to a song being sung by a mariachi band singer! Needless to say, we had a blast and everything was perfect.

We also got a house! I don't have too many pics of it but here's a shot of my wife the day we got the keys...

and in case you're wondering, she's holding up a set of keys not shooting a jumper =) We've now been in the house for just about two months now and I'm excited to say that we're having our first party on Aug 11th, 2007...it's a party that means a lot to me probably a little more so than Owen...its the annual FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT PARTY BABY!!!

I'll be continuing the post tomorrow featuring some new things that I've been testing with my camera that I actually used at a wedding we've recently had the opportunity to be a part of. I'll be posting some of those pics as well as a bonus pic of my ringbearer which turned out to be one of my all time favorites.

Check back with us tomorrow!

JL

Milestone #1

2006-12-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

I don't know how you got here but thanks for finding your way to my first public, unofficial, semi-ghetto, pre-professional, amateur (*deep breathe*) blog/presentation of a few of the first wedding photographs of Beauty for Ashes Photography, taken October of this year.

Before I go on, let me first thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for allowing me to venture of into this cool world of photography. I don't know what He has in store for me yet so we'll just have to wait and see =) But also, I want to thank my beautiful fiance...without her, i know i don't know if this would have ever started...she bought my first camera! =) Thirdly, i have to give a shout out to Owen & i's wedding photographers Mera and Brian...little do they know the inspiration they provide me and Owen. they're great! check'm out. Mera also has a blog where you can find Owen and i's engagement pics. Thanks again guys!

So for those of you that don't know...i'm in the process of starting Beauty for Ashes Photography. Right now, it's composed of myself and my fiance Lauren or for most of you Owen...a soon to be 'husband and wife' team =). The focus Beauty for Ashes Photography is weddings but if you have kids, we'd love to shoot them too. We do still have tons to learn but we're getting there. i guess like the saying goes..."you gotta start somewhere".

One of the questions that you're probably wondering is..."Why Beauty for Ashes?" or "What does Beauty for Ashes mean exactly?"...good questions!

Question #1: "Why Beauty for Ashes"?
Answer: Honestly, i didn't want to use the typical first initial, last name followed by the word PHOTOGRAPHY. i just thought it was pretty uncreative on my part to do that...not to say that photographers that have that as their names are uncreative but just for me...i didn't want to do it...it would'a been something like..jmphotography.com or something. Not too cool if you ask me. Secondly, i wanted a name that had some kind of meaning...and if at all possible...something that reflected some kind of biblical meaning. Lo and behold, one Sunday during service (yes i know...i probably was day dreaming during the message or something..hehe), it came to me. it sounded cool but then i had to check out what it meant...which leads me to...

Question #2: "What does Beauty for Ashes mean?"
Answer: "The Lord has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners . . . to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61:1,3)
Way back when, during the time of the ancient Israelites, ashes would be put on their heads as an indication of mourning or sorrow but instead God promised "beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning (oil was used as an aid to beauty), and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair had a wonderful feeling. It spoke of catastrophe and pain being lifted off their shoulders, and replaced with the joy of freedom, the warmth of love, and the richness of life." God totally hooked me up with this one. I thought it was the perfect symbol or phrase with meaning, that i was looking for. The way i like to think about it is that in marriage, God takes two people that are so imperfect in a million ways and that are at times, just like Owen and I, from two separate ends of the earth, or in my case country...and so beautifully joins them together as one, changing their lives for the better. That's what Beauty for Ashes means to me.

So there's more to come and as i try to get my website up and hopefully more pics...in the meantime, i'd love to get your feedback.

BTW - i meant to upload a total of 5 pics but for some reason, they're not uploading correctly. I'll try to get it resolved so just keep an eye out.