photography by jaana: affordable los angeles photography

new blog!

Well, after a lot of time, web tutorials, indecisiveness and backaches from sitting at the computer for hours on end - I did it. I am finally launching my new photography blog today! Yay! I wanted to keep it clean and simple, and I was surprised how much work that was. But I'm glad it's done and I have the look I want. So please bookmark the new page and check in often for updates. Thanks for the support everyone!

http://www.photographybyjaana.com/blog

XOXO.

socal shootout: trash the dress

This part of the Shootout was really fun. By the time we were done, the dress wasn't exactly TRASHED, but she did get down and dirty for us photographers. Literally, laying down in the dirt. And climbing trees, and running through fields barefoot, and sitting in scratchy bushes. Lindsey was a trooper. I didn't get a chance to even see the other models because I was having too much fun with her!

These aren't necessarily my favorites, but shows a little range of all the types of poses we did. To see a few more pics, please check out my Facebook album!

Here are some of what the other models & photographers did - so cool!
(Arts and Crafts, Channeling Picasso, The Little Mermaid, Appetite for Destruction, Let Them Eat Cake)

socal shootout

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to attend an event in Orange County called the SoCal Photog Shootout. Every couple of months, talented photographers Hanssie Trainor and Matt Saville arrange it so that a bunch of photographers get to meet up and shoot photos. This month's event was held at the Bella Collina golf course in San Clemente. What a beautiful location! After we signed in and mingled for awhile, we split up into groups and took a model around the grounds to shoot photos and trash wedding dresses! I was in Sarah Chen's group shooting Earth, Wind & Fire with our H.O.T. model, Lindsey. She totally rocked!

It was seriously a lot of fun. You get a chance to learn from other photographers and show off your own chops. Not to mention network and get to know lots of people from the area. I definitely give props to Hanssie and Matt to arrange such a cool event that benefits photographers so much. I know for me, it gave some much needed practice and was very thrilling to see what my bridal-type shots looked like (since I haven't done any wedding photography yet). I am hoping to attend many more of these events and continue learning!

Here is the first batch of bridal portraits with the adorable Tiffany and Micah. I'll post some dress-trashing tomorrow!

A special thanks to all the vendors who made the SoCal Shootout possible:

Jay's Catering
Mary Lallande, Venue Concierge
Bella Collina Golf Course
Kimberly Bragalone, Makeup Artist
Kacee Geoffroy, Makeup Artist
Bows-n-Berries Hairpieces
Jay Jensen Florals
Avery J. Productions
The Models: Lindsey Addie, Stevie Marshalek, Joseph Sandoval, Tiffany Amber, Micah Hansen, Chelsea Ravitch, Shannon Bratton, Megan Bibbo (a lot of them are on Facebook)
The Group Leaders: Cean One, Sara France, Greg Bumatay, Sarah K. Chen, Matthew Saville, Chris Diset
Joe Photo, Speaker

bridals!

These are what I'm working on right now... Pretty sweet, eh? I'll explain more when I get some further editing done, but so far I'm loving these! Many more to come...

random disney shots

Just a few of my recent faves. I know, I have issues.

another disney birthday

One of my best friends celebrated her birthday at Disneyland with her mom, and I was lucky enough to be there and take pictures. A fun day for everyone!

On the Jungle Cruise - a true adventure!!

She and Mom waiting for Big Thunder Mountain!

How cute is she?! I love moms.

Loving that ride!

Bonding with Mickey - cute!

mammoth trip: part 3

These are just a few random ones I liked...

Smallest guy with the biggest pine cone

Find the chipmunk!

mammoth trip: part 2

Such a pretty place (some of these were taken through the car window, but you get the idea!)

mammoth trip: part 1

Pictures from our quick trip to Mammoth over the weekend. It was sort of short notice, but you can't beat a free condo. Not to mention all the trees, fresh air, and crisp weather you could ask for...

The remains of the fire of '92

Tons of fallen trees like this - they looked so cool.

This reminded me of a bird or pterodactyl, thought it was interesting.

Beautiful Rainbow Falls - can't believe a little rainbow actually showed up!

aquarium

One other place we went while I had visitors was the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. I had never been there before and it was much bigger than I imagined! We didn't even see the whole thing. But had fun checking it out... (Then ate sushi afterward. Haha)

disney <3

Luckily when my sister came to visit she brought a friend who was celebrating a birthday. This friend had also never been to Disneyland!! So happy birthday to her. (And to us - since we all had so much fun!)

How's this for a look of awe... his eyes say it all!

baby face

My sister came to visit a couple weeks ago and it was great to see her and my nephew again. It doesn't hurt that he's adorable and I could photograph him all day long. In fact, I did. These aren't shots I would normally choose to post, because there is no real sunlight! But the "wrong-ness" of these photos is what I like about them. The lighting was just so unique for each one that I couldn't resist...

friends

These are my friends. We were out on the town to celebrate a birthday. Love these shots because they sort of have a big city feel, even though we were just taken in little ol' Burbank.

The birthday boy

Had fun playing with different B&W tones...

Probably my favorite of the bunch. Since I'm a sucker for Bokeh and all.

disney days

Some classics of the Happiest Place on Earth - on one of the hottest days of the year. Yuck!

California Adventure

It's a Small World afterall.

Probably the closest I'll ever get to Johnny Depp :(

Love this one! I honestly can't believe it turned out.

photo walk: UCLA campus

I truly had no idea how large this campus was. I got a little lost during my walk, but it was a good detour since there was so much to see in every direction.

For more UCLA pics, check out my Flickr stream.

camping out in california

This past weekend we spent a couple days out by Kern River. We had a great camping spot and it was fun to get back to nature for a little bit.

The shallow, clear water.

The fishing was no good. We only caught Crawfish...

...and water snakes!

Steamy

Time spent around the campfire (morning & night) is my favorite.

the man

My husband rarely takes a serious picture (because he wants to be remembered as "fun"), but once in awhile I'll get a shot of that magical dimple. He's the one that taught me the basics of photography and has encouraged me ever step of the way. I owe him everything...