A beautiful creation: Ana and Baby

Today I got to do a maternity shoot with my friend Ana and her beautiful son Lucas. I drove up to Mexico for the day to shoot these pictures but ended up staying a couple of days. I laughed so hard during this shoot because Ana couldn't believe she was standing in the middle of a desert in nothing more then a shawl! But there is such a beauty in a pregnant woman that truly can not compare with anything else.

The bible puts this miracle best when it says

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

How beautiful is this miracle? How great is our God!

a different kind of beauty...

Many of you might not know this but I am currently living in Mexico and work there as a missionary. I come up about once a month to still shoot weddings but my day to day is all in Tijuana. Shooting weddings you see many beautiful things, but in the people I work with here each day I see a different kind of beauty. I thought I would share a few pictures of the people that we work with here in TJ so you could get a little peak into my life here...

Her fairytale day...

One of the first things I remember about Joey was that from the first time that she saw Robert Hall in a slideshow of a Robert Hall wedding we shot she wanted to get married there. She told me all about how much she loved Robert Hall and Mike Larson Photography. Like I always say, it is so much fun to shoot pictures of people that are excited about the photography.

There wedding was beautiful and went really smooth. Joey is really easy going and was also really easy to shoot, very willing to try a bunch of different things. Ricky is also pretty easy going, him and his groomsman were a crack up! I love listening to the toasts because you get to learn about the bride and groom in a little more intimate way. These toasts kept me laughing all the way through.

I have to apologize for not getting these pictures up sooner, but I hope you all like them!

A friend to have, a friend to keep...

This post is much delayed also but in an attempt to catch up I wanted to post a few pictures from the Bobby and Kristina's wedding. Kristina and I have been friends since high school and I was so blessed when she asked me to shoot her wedding. Kristina is one of those friends that you want to keep for all your life. She is loyal, loving, consistent. And it is clear that Bobby is the just the one God chose for her.

They flew me out to Texas for the wedding along with my assistant Anna Joy, who is actually no assistant at all because she is an amazing photographer that owns her own photography business and could probably outshoot me any day! :) I was so appreciative to have her with me!

Below are just a few of the pictures from the day, enjoy!

A little wind, a lot of love...

Two days ago I shot Megan and Matt's wedding. My brother's name is Matt and of course my name is Meagan so all day long I thought people were calling me and my brother! :) Megan and Matt are great and their wedding was so much fun! Very laid back, which I love, your wedding day only happens once so you might as well enjoy it! One thing I remember about Megan and Matt from their engagement shoot was that they were super easy going and willing to try anything. They acted the same on their wedding day which made my job fun and easy!

One thing that really stood out to me about their wedding was something said during their toasts. Matt's brother was giving a speech and said something along the lines of " Megan and Matt's love has made it through so much, it has overcome." As I was sitting there I was thinking, that is what love is, it is a choice, something you put effort into and fight for. I'm not exactly sure what it is they have overcome but I know that that is the testimony I want my love story to have. Today too many couples base their relationships just on feelings and we see most marriages end in divorce. But it is the couples that can go through the storm together, and hold on to the gift of their relationship, that will see the fruit of their efforts. Like I said, love is not a feeling, it is a choice, a laying down of one's life for the other, just as Christ did for us.

Hope you guys enjoy the pictures. There are actually two other weddings that I need to blog but they will be coming next.

God bless you all!

a little latin flair... oo la la!

Okay so I know I haven't posted in a very long time, and because of that I am going to make up for it by posting a bunch of pictures from this wedding I shot this Saturday. This weekend was an amazing wedding! Okay, well I guess I should start by saying I was half dead with the flu, literally, I spent the whole day before in bed with a 101 temperature. But from the beginning I have loved this couple and couldn't imagine not being there. Not to mention that you can't really "call in sick" as a wedding photographer. I am so glad that I pushed through because I was so blessed to shoot their wedding. They are from the valley like me, so how could I not love them! These two are meant for each other, a very special couple to say the least. And from the beginning they have been so stoked about the photography. As a photographer you kind of feed off that and it makes you shoot better. Since I am still kind of sick I can't write for long but I did want to post the images and apologize to everyone for my lack of posting! :) Ernie and Jess, I pray the Lord blesses your marriage!

Ryan & Courtney: A lot more wind! :)

On Sunday, after a crazy week of tons of photo shoots, I had another engagement shoot with Courtney and Ryan. As tired as I was from a wedding the day before and non-stop shooting, they made it so much fun. Courtney is one of those people that just makes you smile and laugh when you are around her. She has such a bubbly and joyful personality. Ryan is awesome too! He did really well with the photoshoot depite some minor technical difficulties that we had.

So about those technical difficulties, if I thought we had wind on Matt and Megan's shoot I had no clue how windy it could get. We drove up Perfumo Canyon to try to shoot up there and pretty much turned around almost immediately. It was so windy that Sophie almost couldn't get her car door open to get out of the car when we got there. The funny thing about wind is it really is the one weather type that you just absolutely can not shoot in. Atleast not that type of wind. All the other things: snow, rain, overcast... you can do them all, but this was insane! So once again we decided to head to Avila hoping for weather a little more friendly.

Avila was beautiful. We shot at the apple blossom trees that were in full bloom, they were gorgeous! Here are a few of the shots from their engagement shoot.

Lance & Vivian: The Beauty of NOT planning :)

Lance and Vivian were actually surprise guests and Kristina and Bobby's engagement shoot. They drove up to Santa Monica with them for the engagement shoot, and since it was their five year anniversary we decided to take some pictures of them also. They had been trying to make plans for their anniversary and nothing was coming to fruition so in the end they ended up coming along for the ride. But sometimes NOT planning gives you the best outcome, because they got a free anniversary shoot out of it!

Lance and Vivian were a blast to have along for the trip. They were so comfortable to be around and also very patient since an engagement shoot isn't the fastest event to attend. We had a great time though. I pray that the Lord gives them many more plus five year anniversaries.

Here are a few of their shots!

Kristina & Bobby: Old Friends and New

Last week I shot Kristina and Bobby's engagement pictures. Although I just met Bobby for the first time, I have known Kristina practically forever! Kristina and I went to high school together in Quito, Ecuador! Not everyone can say that... :) Whether it be political coups, being shot at, our volcano erupting, or things less melodramatic like our birthdays being one day apart and sharing parties year after year... we definitely have a history together! I was so blessed to hear that Kris was getting married, and even more blessed when they asked me to do the photos.

Bobby and Kristina are the exact right match. Meeting him felt like I had known him forever also, he fit right in to what I imagined Kristina's potential husband looking like. And we're pretty picky too when it comes to us girlies from high school! We have high standards for each other, but he passed with flying colors! :)

Kristina and Bobby flew in from Hawaii and then met us in Santa Monica for the engagement shoot. Although the day was a little cloudy all the colors from the boardwalk helped to bring life to the pictures. After leaving the boardwalk we started driving east for 45 minutes. We had no idea where we going but we were searching for sun. To be honest, I dont even know what city we ended up in but we finally found the sun and shot at St. Mary's College. The grounds were beautiful so we pulled over and started shooting.

I can't wait to see what the Lord does with Bobby and Kristina, what He has for their life. I am excited to watch it unfold!

Here are a few of the images from the shoot! :)

Matt & Megan: The beginning of the wind

This last week has been the craziest week of wind I think I have ever had in our beautiful little town of San Luis Obispo. Matt and Megan are getting married at Holland Ranch, which was where we started the engagement shoot. We weren't there for long though, the wind was blowing us all over the place. We kind of gave up on the sunbounce turned paraglider (is that a word??) Poor Trista was flying all over the place trying to hold it. We left Holland Ranch in search of calmer ground. We found it Avila... thank you Avila for almost always having amazing weather despite what it looks like anywhere else.

Matt and Megan are perfect for each other. Their sense of humor matches perfectly! I am stoked to shoot their wedding, especially since it will be my first time shooting a wedding at Holland Ranch. Here are a few of the images from the shoot... sorry it took a while to get these up! :)

Time for a seminar!!!

So Mike had a seminar this week for a few photographers and the benefit of working for Mike Larson Photography is that we get to go for free! I have to keep this post a little short but I will say that our model for the mock photoshoot was the beautiful Autumn Cipriano. Here are a few of the images from the shoot.

Chris and Ashley

This weekend I got to shoot Chris and Ashley's Engagement pictures! This is such a neat couple! They have been together for four and a half years and are tying the know this May! I love when you meet a couple and you just know "this one is just right." You meet them and you know immediately, God hand-picked these ones for each other. I love that!

After a quick coffee stop we shot at two locations. Yet again it was an amazingly beautiful day on the central coast, I mean seriously, I can not believe the weather lately! It has been so gorgeous! First we went to Laguna Park and shot there for a while. They got into the groove really quickly! I kept joking with Ashley that she looks like Carrie Underwood... :) I wonder if she sings like her??? :) Here are a few of the shots from Laguna Park...

After Laguna Park we headed towards Shell Beach. I love Avila but it was time to switch it up a bit. Shell Beach was the perfect option Here are a few of the shots from there... :)