Los Angeles Wedding Photographer | Chelsea Elizabeth Photography | Westlake Village, Santa Barbara

I met up with Seta and Sako for some engagement pictures at Gardens of the World in Thousand Oaks. It’s such a little treasure in the heart of Thousand Oaks. We walked through japaense gardens, spanish courtyards to Italian fountains. We had fun exploring the gardens, hunting for some good light for some killer portraits. I used to work with Seta so it was great seeing her again. She’s going to have a fabulous wedding! I can’t wait to photograph them again!

I had the pleasure of doing the Rau family holiday portrait on Friday. So much fun! Jen picked out the location and styled her family. I love the green and pink! The best part… playing with her sweet 85 1.2 lens :) I’m definitely adding that baby to my bag for next season!

On vacation :)
 
Day 1 – Tuesday
Steve and I are traveling through Italy. We almost didn’t make it. Our flight from LA was delayed and we had only 5 minutes to catch our connecting flight in chicago. Close call! The next flight to rome was on Wednesday! Yikes!!!! So we didn’t have time to upgrade our tickets to first class, but we were just so happy to get on the plane we would have sat anywhere. The first day we spent walking to the touring ancient rome (Colosseum, Palazzo Venezia, and the old Roman Forum). it’s simply amazing! We arrived at 8 am and literally walked around till 8pm. My feet were going to fall off. After lunch we walked around and toured the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. The Trevi fountain is amazing! So beautiful. I just had to walk back after dinner and see what it looked like all lit up at night. I just listed off a few things we saw, we really covered the map on foot. I think we walked about 15 miles, from 8 am to midnight. At least that’s what my feet were telling me ;) Steve and I had a great time walking through all the winding alley ways through rome. It was truely and amazing first day in Italy :)

Day 2 – Wednesday
Since we had such a big day the first day I wasn’t suprised when we woke up to find it was 3pm in the afternoon… yes… we slept 15 hours! By the time we showered and left the hotel it was dusk. We missed our second day in Rome. Everything looks fabulous lit up a night we didn’t mind. After dinner we walked even more and toured across the Tibre river to the vatican, then onto Castel S. Angelo and onto Piazza Navonna. The vatican was so big it took my breath away. I couldn’t imagine how big St. Mark’s square was. It looked beautiful lit up at night. The We saw Piazza Barberini, Piazza Del Popolo, Galleria Nazional d’Arte Antica, I think we even ventured onto see Trevi fountain again ;) Piazza Navonna was one of my favorite spots to hang out and get a bottle of wine.

The Vatican at night

Day 3 – Thursday
Our first stop was the Vatican. I couldn’t wait to see St. Peters. It was amazing. The font bordering the basilica was so large it really let you realize how big St. Peters is. I could have spent hours in the basilica listening to the story of each piece of art. The celiings were my favorite :) The Sistine Chapel was closed on Thursday…. we were sooo bummed. We decided that since we like Piazza Navonna so much that we were going to head back there for lunch. Upon the way we found the cutest little alleyway resturant so we decided to eat there. My second favorite resturant. It was two of the best hours I’ve spent in Italy :) I love getting out of the tourist areas and just hanging out. After dinner we walked to check out the Basilica of Rome. It’s where the pope carries out his role of Bishop of Rome. The Basiica almost looks as big as St. Peters from the outside. On the way home we got some gelato. I think I like golden spoon better… but I’m just not a big ice cream fan.

Day 4 – Friday
I just had to see the Sistine Chapel… so we headed out first thing in the morning to see it. I had no idea the line would be a mile long. We tried :) no luck! So we headed to the train station to catch the train to Venice. I loved seeing the countryside by train. i can’t wait to go wine tasting through Tuscany :) We got into Venice Friday night and I was just blown away when I got off the train station. What a sight!!!!!

I had the best time photographing Belinda’s Birthday party! It was a black and white themed party thrown in an amazing backyard. I want that house :) Belinda was surrounded by fabulous family & friends. It was great to see Cat & Adi again too:)

Happy Birthday Belinda!

The photogs are off on the search for the perfect Avatar. Atlantic City was the perfect setting for some fun shots! We went all night. Great times wtih great people :)

Another pic by Geri!

Later in the night at the Ego Lounge… the search goes on ;) Here’s the fabulous Beth Cardwell!

Pics of Jason Domingues :)

And these are pictures of me, by Don Mears, pimping Mark Eric :)

On Saturday I shot Brigette’s Bat Mitzvah. It was in her very own backyard and it was fabulous. They laid out the red carpert for the guests…. literally! The backyard was decorated beautifully. It was the perfect layout for a party. The food was good and the guests were having a great time. Brigette & Stephanie looked so beautiful in the stunning dresses that they picked out! I had a great time capturing this special occasion for the Jaffe family!

It was great working with Dan from Eurostar Productions. Not only is he awesome at his job but he’s fun to work with too! :) I hope we work together again soon!
View clips from the videographer, Euro Star Productions!

View the video! :)

Wyatt is 3 months old! More blogging to come soon.

I met up with the Hastings again for a family portrait and some play pictures of Craig & Austin. The hastings have an awesome backyard so we chose that as our photoshoot. I love taking pictures of kids being kids. Catching those candid moments that parents treasure as thier kids grow. Craig & Austin were tons of fun. Those two really know how to play :)

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Lisa signed up for my Baby’s first year package. I’m so excited! Our first session was Paris’s 3 month birthday. She’s sooooo cute! I loved getting some shots in Paris’s crib with all her toys and blankets. I really think children portriats work best when you capture them in their own environment. We has some fun when we took her outside to play on the grass. I loved seeing her cute little toes play with the grass.

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I’m really excited about shooting Melody’s wedding next weekend. She also needed a picture for her real estate business card. We planned a nice shoot in her garden. What an amazing garden! I should have taken some pics of the flowers for my note cards ;) Melody has an amazing green thumb! I think we got a some great shots. I can’t wait to see her business card!