Writer, Photographer,

Here are some of my favorite images from my lovely cousin Alison’s wedding on the 7th…it took place at the Westlake Village Inn and I was really impressed with how beautiful everything looked! This wedding was a photographer’s dream! Bright colors, beautiful weather, a butterfly release, and a stunning location:

Her flowers alone were just beautiful…but as you’ll see a little later, the bridesmaid dresses were really stunning too–aqua!

I just think this is a really fun, happy picture…I’m partial to DOF shots where the main activity in the photo is a little muted. I feel like that’s how life is sometimes–the excitement is just beyond the focal point.

How sweet is this?? They did a butterfly release instead of unity candle (I didn’t know this, but CA apparently has some really stringent rules about outdoor flames). It was so precious, and made for some really great photo ops.

Here’s another reason these two are a photographer’s dream: theatrical kiss! You just can’t stage this level of awesome. I chose to process this a bit differently too, with some de-noiseing after HDR to really make it look like a painting. This is my favorite shot from the day.

Ok, here’s a bonus image of one of my ridiculously cute nephews: Graham! All 3 boys were throwing the flower petals up and were just so entertained by them. I love this! Special thanks to my sister and bro-in-law for producing such photogenic children!

The lovely Pointer family, with their new addition! Seriously, aren’t they a good-looking family? I really like how this one is composed…not straight on, and with everybody staggered. My beautiful cousin Bethany is modeling the stunning aqua the bridesmaids wore, isn’t that a cool color? Also, see the guy on the far right? That handsome devil is getting married in TWO WEEKS up in Yosemite! Another gorgeous wedding location…my camera and I are charged and ready to go!

P.S. Full set from the day is available here.

YAY! I’ve been hearing little bits of good news about these photo contests. I got an email from SnapAlley.com telling me that my entry had been moved onto the next level of judging. The thing is, while I know which photo it is, I can’t find in my records what the category of the contest or prizes are. It seems I didn’t even record the entry on my blog! Shame on me! Anyway, it’s this photo, which I took at The Mission Inn, Riverside:

And TODAY I received notice that I’ve won an actual prize from the ephotozine.com contest: “Cities and Scapes.” That was one of the first contests I entered, and it appears I’ve won 6th place! The write-up from the site is here, with my specific mention saying: “Final our sixth winner is Jillangill for her shot of the Los Angeles skyline and silhouetted figures. The panoramic treatment works well for this subject and the image gives a sense of freedom from the bustle of city life.”

If you scroll down a bit you can see thumnails of each winning photo. I don’t even have any idea what I’ve actually won, besides that it’s some kind of gear from ThinkTank photo. I’m so excited I don’t CARE if it’s last place. This was an international contest, and I feel good about any encouragement whatsoever at this point. Thanks, ephotozine!

It’s another exciting day in the life of Jillangill…I get to go to my cousin Alison’s wedding! She very kindly planned it just one hour from where I live, so that’s quite convenient and I appreciate it. Photos soon! That much I can always promise!

It’s wedding season, y’all! For some reason, this year has been rife with weddings for us. We’re talking 8 weddings, when we usually go to maybe 2 in a year. Luckily, I really like weddings because there’s so much to shoot! I do feel like it’s different when you’re attending a wedding and snapping a few shots, versus being THE PHOTOGRAPHER responsible for capturing anything and everything. As you can probably guess, I much prefer the former (since I really like taking candids anyway). So last week my cousin Brian married a truly lovely, sweet girl in Louisiana. Me and the camera had never been to the South before, so we thought, “Sweet! Let’s go!” It was great, especially because my sister and I both left our husbands at home and got to bunk together and have great sister chats. Plus, there are so many clouds there! And I love clouds!! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the weekend. Full set is available here.

There’s something about non-traditional shots that really appeals to me. Sometimes I think people say more with their bodies than with their faces. I love the closeness here: my cousin with my aunt and uncle.

I always like the shot where the rest of the room can be in chaos, and the bride and groom are just focused on each other. I like the idea of that–in this shot though, we have vigilant father-of-the-bride action. I think that’s hilarious!

Ah, the kiss! How can you not love this couple…they’re crazy about each other and that’s so cool. I love the emotion portrayed here, Brian really went for it. Go, Brian!

And this one! What a lucky shot with the timing of that flash! I was thrilled with this capture…just the right amount of motion, everyone’s so happy, and even the petals are in focus. That’s my brother and sister in the background, and I believe everyone was laughing in this shot because the groomsman standing next to me had just nailed Brian full in the face with two fistfulls of rose petals. Nice.

This one was taken on my flight home; we took off right at sunset and chased the sun back to California. I love that…taking off into an eternal sunset. Wasn’t I right about the clouds, here?? Amazing! I wish we saw more of those in dry-as-a-bone California!

And just so you know I haven’t been completely slacking on the contest front, I did enter two of my photos into the Living Oceans Society’s Ocean Exposures contest. Here’s what I chose:

Of course I had to choose this one…it’s one of my all-time faves!

I included this fairly recent shot, too. I don’t do a ton of ocean/beach shooting because I feel like it all starts to look the same. For me to like an ocean shot enough, it’s got to have more going on…better framing than just waves and sand and rocks. I like the colors in this one, and the framing that the branch provides.

Sidenote: part of the reason it’s taken me a week to get on board with posting and catch-up is that I finally got a new laptop! I’m thrilled, but now comes the task of moving all my files over and reorganizing everything, all while learning an updated system. Next up: my cousin Alison’s wedding on Tuesday!