A while back, the lovely Davina Fear did a nice interview with me for her Women in Business Series.  She was particularly interested in how I juggle my workflow with a (now walking!!!!) baby in the house.  I give detailed, day-by-day instructions for making it happen RIGHT HERE!

And since no mommy post is complete without a cute pic of the wee one, here's Maxfield on his new swing!

For years now, my husband and I have frequented Sushi Wasabi, a tiny strip-mall sushi restaurant in what can only be described as the "wrong side of the tracks."  It is 30 miles from our house and the decor leaves a lot to be desired.  In fact, the only decor being a big sign above the sushi bar that reads "TRUST ME."  But we go, year after year, because it is the best damn sushi in the world.

So what makes Sushi Wasabi so good?  What makes it good is the hard-core dedication of it's chef, Katsu, to doing his own thing. Although conjuring scenes from Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi," Katsu is 100% dedicated to serving only the best sushi.  There is no menu, there is no edamame, there are no Sexy Ninja rolls.... heck, Katsu won't even let you take your order to go. Everything at Sushi Wasabi is served Omakase Style, which means that the Chef feeds you whatever he/she wants until you're full. Omakase is the antithesis of choice.

I have often visited Katsu and looked around to notice that this little restaurant is packed to the gills (pun intended.)  There is always a ton of people waiting for Katsu to work his magic, despite the lack of loud music, neon cocktails and ridiculously-named sushi rolls.  Let's just say that Katsu's business is booming, and he didn't have to make a single compromise to do it. Methinks there is a business lesson here....

As photographers, we do our best work when we are given total trust from our clients. But how many of us are asking for it?  Do you have the guts to be like Katsu and ask "TRUST ME?" I do. And, admittedly, not all clients honor my request; some clients take a look at the proverbial "menu" and walk out of my "sushi bar." But you can bet that the clients who take a chance - who let me do my thing - leave very, very full.

delightfully,
Chenin

Contact Me * My Portfolio * Stuff for Photographers

Last Sunday, I had the unique opportunity of styling and photographing a shoot for 16 lovely women!  The ladies at Details, Details are top-notch when it comes to design and service, so I really wanted to knock it out of the park for them. 

The inspiration for my shoot was a sort of Parisian Flea Market, with a little touch of whimsy and an homage to my love of all things hills, grass and green.  Jeannie was kind enough to give me carte blanche with the look and feel of the session and scoured flea markets for weeks looking for awesome props.  Ultimately, it took her flea-market finds, half of the furniture from my studio, some borrowed trunks from a friend, and some actual pieces from my own home to make this happen. 

Having never done anything on this scale before, I was a little taken aback at how many people it takes to make something like this happen!  We had 3 men moving furniture, a hair and makeup team working their magic and, of course, the models and myself. 

After a ton of worrying about the light, when it finally came time to shoot, the sun peeked behind the clouds and created the most perfect light a girl could ask for.  Here are a couple favorites from the shoot -

It's Monday and I can finally share my images from The StyleLab! I think it's safe to say that the workshop was a great success.  The Wedding Chicks, Doug and I received rave reviews from the attendees and everyone seemed to walk away with some knowledge and inspiration.  It truly was a great time and I am really looking forward to doing it again soon.

This workshop simply could not have happened without the generosity of a lot of vendors.  These people donated their time, creativity and handiwork to make the first StyleLab an amazing event. I will be indebted to them forever and ever....

Styled By: Angel Swanson of Events of Love & Splendor

Floral Design: The Treasured Petal

Stationary: Wiley Valentine

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals

Dress Designer: Joan Shum

Makeup & Hair: All Made Up Team

Deserts & Goodies: Vanilla Bakeshop

Venue: Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club

And a special thanks to Amy and Jocey at The Wedding Chicks for being my partners in crime through this whole crazy thing.  I was always the kid in school that got stuck doing everyone's homework and it was so, so nice to have these gals do (more!) than their part! Love you girls :)

EMAIL US TO BE NOTIFIED OF FUTURE STYLELAB WORKSHOPS

And now, for some photos!  Surprisingly, even though it poured rain and I was soaking wet, I have a lot of photos I really love.... so bear with me as I share a TON of piccies :)


EMAIL US TO BE NOTIFIED OF FUTURE STYLELAB WORKSHOPS

I've had a chance to dry off, rest a bit, and reflect on this week's StyleLab. It's been 2 years since I've taught a workshop and I forgot how much I love this feeling.  The feeling that not only did I teach a fabulous group of photographers, but I learned from a fabulous group of photographers.  If I knew of some fabulously eloquent quote about learning from one's students, I would insert it here (alas, I don't, but perhaps I will do a little research and edit this one day.)

For some time now, I've hesitated to teach another workshop.  Mostly because I loathe the term "rockstar photographer," and I am decidedly uncomfortable standing in front of a room and discussing my "genius," (of which I am totally lacking.)  But I do LOVE to teach, and I LOVE to make friends, and I LOVE to create with other artists.

I've also hesitated to teach a workshop in Orange County, because they are plentiful in this neck of the woods.  Trust me Internet: I have cursed my geographic location on more than one occasion.  But Orange County *is* a lovely place to visit.  There's Disneyland, the (in)famous Laguna Beach and, of course, our consistently beautiful weather.

So you can imagine my chagrin when I tuned to the weather channel a few days back, only to find out that Orange County was bracing for record rainfall.  Right during the StyleLab.  But SoCal threatens to rain all the time and never acts on it's threats, so I ordered a tent as a back-up and thought nothing of it again.

That is, until Tuesday morning when I watched the incredible Angel Swanson and Kristen Brancaleone wade through mud and run through torrential rain to set up what turned out to be an amazing tablescape.  And when it came time to take my 20 students outdoors to photograph Angel and Kristen's handiwork, it rained and it rained and it rained some more.  Then came thunder and lightening and hurricane-force winds.  And finally, when CNN announced a tornado warning, I decided that is simply wasn't safe to be standing, ankle-deep in water, with nothing but a metal tent to shelter us from said tornado.



It turns out that my positive-thinking about the forecast, and my blind trust of SoCal's reputation for weather, bit me in the proverbial ass.  But instead of crying on my Nikon (which I admittedly wanted to do), I looked around and noticed how much fun we were having.  Angel and Kristen were smiling ear-to-ear, Jocey and Amy were laughing their asses off and the students were happily rocking their garbage-bag-ponchos.  I really couldn't help but smile.  And it was right then that I decided to take a page from Angel and Kristen's book and *think positive.*  After all, when else do you get a chance to photograph something beautiful, make 20 new friends, and witness a history-making storm all in one day? It was a fabulous day indeed. 

I will post lots more photos on Monday, including a list of the amazing vendors that made this happen.  But for now, here's a quick sneak peek of a shoot I will never forget-