Elise Noel

Samuel and Carrie Chen: Wedding

On February 13, 2010 Samuel and Carrie said their vows in a church to become one. It was Carrie's dream to be married in a church. Sam and Carrie met at the church that they were married at in 2006. It was special for Carrie's father to walk her down down the isle. He came to the USA from Taiwan for the wedding. They had people travel from all over the world and the USA to be there for their special day.

Groomsmen

Carrie's bridesmaid and friend Erica, who will be getting married in June.

The happy couple between changes from formal dress to traditional dresses.

Carrie with flower girl Sophia.

This is one of my favorites.

Sneak Peak: Sam and Carrie's Wedding

A weekend of love....Sam and Carrie were married valentine's weekend in Azusa, California.
This was a special weekend for Sam and Carrie. It was fun, festive and full of tradition. I have never been to a Chinese wedding reception before...so this was first for me. They celebrated a traditional American wedding ceremony and Chinese/American reception. The color of celebration was red, which was perfect being Valentine's weekend and all.

Sam and Carrie met at the Foothill Community Chinese Church in Azusa. They praise God for bringing them together and so do we:) This is also where they were married. They were engaged in Disneyland. Sam met Carrie's parents, who live in Taiwan, two days before the wedding. So this was a special weekend on many levels. I get up set when I don't see my family for a couple months...Carrie had not seen her family in three years. It was beautful to see the family together for such a grand ocassion.

The reception was elegant and playful! It was set at the Hilton in San Gabriel. The bride changed into two new gowns throughout the evening, both red. There were games, speeches, and gifts. The food was excellent. It was 12 courses of Chinese family style dishes from scallops, to fish to shrimp and more. They were joined by family, friends and co-workers. It was special when they went around to each table and toasted them and thanked them for coming.

This Realtor Doesn't Mess Around

This is Gerard Myles from Keller Williams. I had the opportuntiy to do a photo shoot with his team. Gerard is a boxer, so he broke out the boxing gloves for this shot. We thought it would fun to do a few shots of him with the people that are standing behind him in his transactions...Noel, Tami, Apolla, and DJ. Gerard is serious about selling houses, but he has sense of humor as well.

Light Experiment

The other night some friends of ours were over and we were experimenting with lighting. I got this shot by bouncing the flash of a reflector to the right of the subject. I love it when I can capture a special intimate moment like this one. They are just so sweet.

Christmas Couple

It has been a while since I have had a chance to post. Here are a few of the shots I took of Tim and Jamie for their Christmas card. Aren't they a good looking couple. We went to Cal Tech to shoot these.

Rainy Day in Southern California

On a rainy day, there is nothing more fun that jumping in puddles and running around in the rain. I am from the midwest and I grew up splashing in puddles, sliding in the wet grass and playing in the rain. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to play in the rain with Georgette, Jazz and Brooks. We had a rainy day photo shoot. Because this is southern California the rain is hit or miss, so some of the photo were a dribbling rain and others the sun was shining, but it was fun. The girls each showed their personality through there individual pictures. They were tough little cookies braving the cold while we worked on getting the perfect shot. I got to experiment with my new 50mm 1.4 lense. So far I love it!


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PCJC Women's Retreat

I had the opportunity to attend and photograph a women's conference this weekend with the Pacific Coast Japanese Conference (PCJC). It was the second annual conference that gave women a chance to get away, rest and experience God in new ways. Church communities from the PCJC gathered to worship God and spend time with their community. It started on Friday and went through Sunday morning. Some of the highlights included a pajama dinner, speaker Myra Perrine, hot tub, girl talk, massage, card making, lessons on life coaching, prayer times, worship, a scarf tying seminar, and more. Heavenly Treasures came and gave slippers to all the participants. They also set up a shop where women could purchase jewelry, handbags, scarfs, etc. One hundred percent of the proceeds are reinvested back into the people that make these projects in third world countries. Read more on their website.
Lives were changed for the better this weekend and I was excited to document and particapate in it. It was exciting to see the lives of women transformed and to see people set free. Here is a link to the pictures from the weekend:

Click here to view photos of the PCJC Women's Retreat 2010