There is a new blog in town...

I have made some changes to the Photography By Charise blog! I will no longer be posting on this blog at this web address...

I am very excited to announce the new and improved blog located at www.PhotographyByChariseBlog.com. Head on over and take a peek. And, dont be shy...leave a comment and let me know what you think :)

Please dont forget to update your RSS feeds and or Favorites Links. For all of you that currently subscribe to my blog you will continue to receive updates from the new site. And for those of you that arent currently 'subscribed' to the blog, you may do so at the bottom of the new blog page by entering your email addy.

As my 2 year old would say....'peace out'

About 2 months ago I did a maternity session for Cynthia and Steve. We captured some beautiful images of Cynthia and her little baby bump while having a great time chatting about their sweet baby girl. Not too long after the maternity session Cynthia and Steve came back to the studio for a family session...as we were finishing up the family session we grabbed a few more maternity snaps as Cynthia said she really felt like baby 'A' would be making her appearance sooner, rather than later. Sure enough, no more than a week had passed before I got word that baby 'A' had arrived...about a month early. Through a few scares at the time of delivery and some time in the NICU, baby 'A' is now home and is healthy and adorable as can be!!! She is so tiny and so precious...simlply amazing!

Cynthia and Steve, thank you so much for letting me capture such a beautiful time in yours and 'A's life. I couldnt be happier to have been able to create these images for you guys.

They grow and change so fast!

Having a child of my own I should really know this by now, but for some reason it never ceases to amaze me how fast children really grow. One of my favorite things about being a photographer is when I get the opportunity to see these beautiful children that I photograph change and grow as they continue to come in for new sessions. Honestly, I get this amazing gift of seeing the ever evolving and changing person that they will become....what an awesome thing to be a part of!

This is the second time that I have had the great opportunity to photograph these two cuties. Our first session was around the end of 07, we did a really fun and casual session on the beach and captured some great images for their holiday card. It really seems like just yesterday we were out shooting that session so when Stephanie came in with "E" and "G" I was just shocked at how much they have grown. I mean really, it seems like it was just yesterday!!! "G" is turning into such a little man...sigh...so sweet!!! And "E" such the little girl, she loved putting on my petti skirts and dancing around like a princess...gotta love that!

These two shots are from our session last year





And here are the cuties from our most recent session.

VIVA LAS VEGAS!!

Whew......I just returned from an amazing week in Vegas for a huge Photography Convention (WPPI) What an amazing week! I have come home mentally refreshed, inspired, full of new information, and well to be honest a bit exhausted. By day I attended different classes and seminars, then hit the venue booth and trade show floors to check out all sorts of great products, then off to a few more classes and/or seminars and completed the evenings with some awesome parties thrown by some awesome vendors and other photographers!

On Tuesday afternoon and again at night myself and my good friend and fellow photographer Emma were able to sneak away to hit the Vegas strip for some shooting...we started out just having some fun shooting the normal stuff on the strip.

You know I love me some sun flare....

This is Emma shooting me while I'm shooting her :)

Then we hit the strip again once the sun went down and classes were over

We decided we were on a mission to find us a bride and groom somewhere on the strip that would let us shoot them so we headed across the street to the Bellagio hoping we would find an unsuspecting couple watching the water show.

And wouldn't you know it....we found ourselves the newly married Christine and Kevin, who agreed to let us photograph them...although I'm not too sure they realized what they were in for :) It started as just myself and Emma, and we were soon joined by Melissa McClure and her fiance and Lauren Wright, and soon a few other photographers that happened to be walking the strip...and I even think we drew the attention of some completely random people with their point and shoot cameras as they were walking by, ohhh, and we cant leave out the wonderful people driving by cheering the bride and groom on....LOL....ahhhh Vegas.

In all seriousness, Christine and Kevin were SUCH troopers, so sweet and honestly I cant thank them enough for taking some time out of their big night to satisfy our photography passion. You guys were AWESOME and I will be emailing you soon to get your address so we can mail you your images...thanks again you two!

I also want to thank my clients and prospective clients for their patience while I was away...my Internet service at the hotel was SO spotty and we were on the go so much that getting emails out was super difficult. I have a few galleries that are just about ready for viewing and will be posting a few more sneak peeks tomorrow!

Congrats to my brother :)

Most of my blogging is usually about my wonderful clients and our recent sessions but today I wanted to give a shout out to my brother as I am truly so very proud of him and his accomplishments.

My brother Mark has been working for FedEx Kinkos for about 10 years now. He started as co-worker, running print jobs, taking customer orders and all that good stuff that comes along with it. He slowly started to work is way up the Kinkos ladder and was recently promoted to a branch manager of the NEW East Simi Valley FedEx Kinkos Branch. Yesterday they had their offical 'ribbon cutting' to celebrate the grand opening so I packed up my camera (go figure) and my daughter, who was really excited to go see Uncle Mark, and captured a few snaps of his 'big day'.



already hard at work :)






Scott (the Branch Manager for the West Simi FedEx Kinkos location) and Mark getting ready to cut the ribbon while surrounded by a few members of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce.




After the ribbon has been cut all of the attending chamber members sign the ribbon


The new store is located on Tapo Canyon right across the parking lot from the Regal Cinemas so next time you need some copies, need to send a shipment, or need some office supplies, be sure to drop by and say hi to him. Ohh, I should add that the West Simi Valley FedEx Kinkos isnt going anywhere...they just added another branch in Simi to make things a little more convenient for all of us.

Jeremy + Melissa : I DO

Several months ago when I met with Jeremy and Melissa to discuss their wedding I remember us talking about their big day, all the plans they had made and the "what if it rains?". The weather here in So Cal has been so back and forth we weren't sure what to expect. Well their big day came, and there was definitely no sign of rain....it was a beautiful day, the sun made such an appearance that we were actually struggling to hide from it on several occasions :). I was joined by my very good friend and fellow photographer Cheyenne who helped me capture their big day.

Their morning started with a small and intimate ceremony at the Los Angeles Temple, followed by a nice relaxing lunch and mini celebration at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica with their family and bridal party. Shortly after lunch we snuck away for some beautiful portraits (and some fun) at the hotel and at the Santa Monica Pier. After our trip to the pier, we returned to the Sheraton where Jeremy and Melissa had a very touching ring ceremony while surrounded by all of their friends and family. And then of course the big celebration began! It was an amazing day full of fun, joy and love!

**Beware, image overload :)

Lunch and celebration at the hotel before the ring ceremony








a little fun in the elevator :)


















some fun on the pier












Jeremy and Melissa had taken dance lessons and had the most adorable first dance routine together....so sweet!