We had the pleasure of joining the rehearsal lunch at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse. The weather was absolutely superb - the kind that makes you feel bad that you’re enjoying high 70 degree weather while the rest of the country is in a winter freeze. The view of San Diego is spectacular from Harbor Island and reminds me of how blessed I am to call myself a, “San Diegan.”

It was such a beautiful gathering of both families and friends. Vaness and Daniel both wore their wedding colors - her in shimmering gold, him in bold red. Too cute!

The two families together.

I somehow managed to not be in any other photo but this one with my big ol’ mouth.

I love Vaness’ smile and how just lights up her whole face.

The bride and groom’s welcome speech.

Vaness looks even smaller with such a huge camera!

Silly faces!

10 shots later…

Proof that neither Daniel nor Vaness’ dad could stay away from the camera… and I completely understand.

Tristan’s (Daniel’s younger brother) speech.

Cheers!

Daniel’s tie even has gold in it!

Eliza’s (Vaness’ younger sister) speech

The food was super yummy and very well displayed! I loved how every dish came with an orchid.

Spinach & artichoke dip with house-made potato chips

Calamari strips with pineapple jalapeno dipping sauce

California Gold Salad

Adam (and most of the other guests) had the shrimp basket.

I had the club sandwich. YUM!

And what Vaness & Daniel celebration would it be without a delicacy from Hans & Harry?! Adam and I are hooked!

Intense!

Practicing for the wedding day!

Vaness and siblings.

And of course, boys being boys. LOL!

Coming up next! Bridal slumber party!

Now that I’m finally caught up on sleep and have returned to the real world, I’ve finally had some time to sort through the many photos I took last week and process them.

On Friday, all the girls went to get pampered with manis and pedis. It was quite relaxing! I realized that I should do it more often. Just need to convince my husband why it’s a necessary monthly expenditure.

The beautiful bride to be!

Daniel’s mom joined us too!

All our pretty fingers and toes!

Afterwards, we met up with the boys, ahem… MEN, at Seau’s for a wedding party get-together. Then the most amazing this happened! The boys somehow get Junior Seau to come over and wish Daniel and Vaness good luck with their marriage! It was all quite surreal, but I love Daniel’s face and expression afterwards. Apparently, Junior Seau was someone he looked up to back when he was young. How cool is that?!

Coming up next… Rehearsal Lunch!

*photos were taken with my trusty, but grainy point-and-shoot.

My goal last year was to have a website by the end of 2008. I praise God that what seemed impossible to me at first was made possible by the hands of God. Wow.

I spent a long time working on this site and it is finally complete. The perfectionist in me probably delayed the official launching of it for awhile since I couldn’t stop mulling over every little detail many, many times. But here it is!

http://www.jasminemariephotography.com

My splash page.

I want to thank Melissa McClure, Jen Harris, Melissa Koehler, and the Baxters of Ohana for helping me to build my portfolio this past year. I sincerely thank you for allowing a know-nothing like me shoot beside you. Without you, I wouldn’t even be able to do this.

I am so excited about what 2009 has in store!

It’s amazing how quickly life gets filled up once teaching starts up again. I finally got our scanner out and scanned the photobooth picture we got at Melissa’s wedding. She had a fotocabina photobooth, which I’ve only seen in pictures, so it was cool to see it up close and personal. It was fun watching everyone go through it with the various props and all. Plus, photographers are such HAMS!

My husband cracks me up!

Check out some of the photobooth photos at Vaness & Daniel’s wedding that Melissa Koehler took. It was such a beautiful wedding. I have lots of photos to sort through and will get them posted soon!

Daniel had me tag along with him on a family shoot in November. I finally got around to blogging them! We went out to Point Loma Nazarene University for the afternoon shoot.

We had such a fun time with them. Little Hamilton was quite stubborn at first, but I think I won him over when I let him tackle me to the ground in the grass. And little Ayla? PRECIOUS. She was such a ham for the camera! Plus, Mom and Dad were so awesome! You want me to throw her up in the air for some shots

A cute brother & sister shot.

The stunts photographers go through to get that perfect shot! Daniel on top of my SUV. What a rockstar!

It’s raining babies!!!

I love how Ayla’s got her dad tackled to the ground.

Thanks for having me tag-along, Daniel!

The Longest Day episodes are a product of a secret project made by photographers that had 24 hours to write, record, and edit a video for WPPI. It seemed like a fun idea and they’ve finally released some episodes!

Here’s the first episode that shows how it all went down.

They just released the 2nd episode.

Can’t wait for the next one!

Melissa McClure has been such a blessing in my life. Along with Jen, they gave a newbie like me a chance to shoot with them even though I was ill-equipped and had zero experience. It really meant (and continues to mean) a lot to me that someone would help me out, especially since the industry is so competitive. Melissa continues to be a blessing and Adam and I had such a blast at their wedding yesterday!

It was held at Ocean View Villas. And God answered our prayers to stop the rain too! It was absolutely beautiful out on the cliffs.

Melissa is the queen of social networking. If you ever need ANYTHING, Melissa probably knows someone, or someone that knows someone. So it came as no surprise that she read her vows from her cell phone and then proceeded to twitter. Plus, there were TONS of photographers there. I could feel the awkwardness of being at a wedding and not shooting it alongside many others. It was the first wedding I’ve been to in awhile as a guest. I think the last wedding where I wasn’t shooting was my own.

I did bring my camera, but found that I didn’t use it very much. Being the gracious bride she is, they had the Chargers playoff game playing in the other room and most of us spent our time cheering our Chargers on! What a game!!!

Here are my few shots:

Doesn’t she look stunning?!

One small part of the majestic view from the cliffs.

The place cards were SO cute. I loved the little cameras!

Melissa and Tim, we hope you have a fabulous time on your honeymoon! And can’t wait to see all the photos that come pouring in from your wonderful wedding. We wish you two all the best!

Looking back to 2008, I am still blown away at what God has done in my life. Getting married to the love of my life, starting a new home with my hubby, gaining another family, and starting my photography career. What a doozy of a year, indeed. Everything that has happened to me photog-wise has been unforeseen gifts from God. If someone told me Jan 2008 that I would be here Jan 2009, I would laugh out loud.

So seeing as how much has been given to me, I feel absolutely honored to be able to give back somehow. I am happy to announce that Hakeem and Ute are the winners of my giveaway!

Their story was sent in by Ann and Diana and it deeply touched my heart because it is yet another illustration of how our God is a one of details that always has our best interests in mind.

Here’s their story:

Hakeem & Ute Oluwo won a once in a million lottery, literally. A couple of years ago, they were chosen for the Green Card lottery, enabling them (semi) hassle-free entry into the US from their current home country of Austria. They chose to move to San Diego after having met some of the members of our church who were in Austria on a mission trip. Hakeem & Ute knew that the most important decision about the move would be connecting with spiritual family. So San Diego, it was!

Little did they know of the struggle & hardship that would face them in years to come. Ute, a licensed Austrian nurse, would have to re-take many of her nursing classes, as the credits did not transfer to the US licensing system. Hakeem took two jobs to support his growing family, as Ute learned she was pregnant with their second daughter. He takes one night a week off to play “daddy”, so that Ute can finish the schooling she needs.

They’re not deserving because there’s some tragedy in their life, no one’s dying of cancer. They’re deserving simply because they can’t afford the luxury of having professional photos taken of them. All of their finances currently go to meet their family’s basic needs.

The Oluwo’s are a beautiful family. Hakeem is Nigerian, Ute is Austrian and they have two beautiful daughters Julia, 5 and Alisa, 2. But their real beauty is an inner beauty, coated with humility and a true love for people.

These two would do anything for anyone, in a heartbeat! Despite what’s going on in their own lives, they continually give spiritually & emotionally to everyone they meet. They are so easy to get along with and always looking for a way to encourage others. They are pillars in our church in San Diego, and they have been a tremendous source of encouragement for us and countless others and they deserve to be blessed.

Having professional photographs taken of their family would be something that they would cherish dearly and share with others around the world. I hope you consider them not because they’re deserving by the world’s standards, but because they’re truly a magnificent family.

Submitted with love and admiration,
Diana & Ann

I can’t wait to do the shoot and share the photos! Thanks for the submission, Ann and Diana!