fine art

Happy VDay

Valerie is an independent woman who loves golfing, dancing, her family, and socializing with her friends.  She has great confidence and poise that helped her rock her boudoir photoshoot!   We did the session in the comfort of her own apartment with bright natural lighting that poured through her big windows.  Here’s a little celebration of hotness for today’s Vday, (and I’m not talking about Valentines!)

Boudoir photoshoot

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IMG_9871bw.jpg

IMG_9871bw.jpg

DoIf you’re looking for something special to give your Valentine this Vday, it’s still not too late to schedule your boudoir/portrait photoshoot for yourself for someone special!   Contact me asap for more information and to get scheduled this week! sherri@sherrijphotography.com

Destination Wedding: Lower Yosemite Falls

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Kelly and David’s destination wedding.  When Kelly described her wedding to me, I was super excited.  She planned on a very intimate ceremony with about 25 guests, lots of personal details, and the location…. Yosemite!  I’ve actually been wanting to go to Yosemite for a while now, so this was a dream.  Included below are mostly pictures of the guest experience and Kelly.  First, a picture of the “Tunnel View.”

yosemite wedding destination

yosemite wedding photography

A welcome gift bag awaiting at the hotel for us.  Included in the bag was snacks, water, mini flashlight, map, paper soap, band-aids, sun block, compass, hand sanitizer, carabiner, off repellent, matches, and tissue.  I love all the details Kelly thought about!

yosemite wedding photography

I started with some pictures of David at 9am.  Location: The Lower Yosemite Falls Lodge.

yosemite wedding photography

Kelly got ready in a cozy cabin at the historic Awahnee Hotel, right under the falls.

yosemite wedding photography

Awahnee Hotel yosemite wedding photography

Awahnee Hotel

Kelly’s dress was customized with a beautiful red flower and sheer gold fabric on the backing.  She also made her necklace, earrings, and the hangars!

Awahnee Hotel yosemite

Ever since I got my Canon 100mm macro lens, the “ring shot” is one of my favorite things to do.   I like to incorporate one object that represents the wedding.   It’s usually something simple like a pine cone (as shown below), a leaf, a bird’s nest from the table decorations, or flowers.

yosemite wedding photography

Awahnee Hotel yosemite wedding photography

yosemite wedding photography

Intimate ceremony at the falls.

yosemite wedding photography

Guest added leafs with their finger prints on a tree Kelly made.

yosemite wedding photography

yosemite wedding photography

yosemite wedding photography

Since the wedding took place in the morning, everyone had a great lunch at the historic Awahnee hotel.  I was done shooting by 3:30pm, which is the record earliest finish time for me!  After their busy morning, Kelly and David were able to start their relaxing weekend hanging out with friends and family, hiking, and rock climbing.

Awahnee Hotel yosemite

*Pleast note: for personal reasons, some of the images from the wedding will remain private.

Nicholas and Manami’s Wedding: Long Beach Museum of Art

On Saturday, I had the great pleasure of documenting Nicholas and Manami’s wedding at the Long Beach Museum of Art.  I met Nicholas and Manami in the fall of last year.  They are both graphic designers from Alameda, who planned on creating lots of the details of their wedding themselves.  They were in town for a weekend, and at our consultation, they spoke of succulents, a colorful color palate, and an intimate gathering of 60 of their favorite people.   I knew instantly I liked them and have been looking forward to shooting their wedding ever since!  This past Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day for their wedding, in addition to a great day for the Long Beach Grand Prix that took place a couple blocks down the street.   Thinking traffic would be horrible, I left Santa Monica 3 hours early.  Turns out, I arrived 2.5 hours early… which was just fine by me!  I’d much rather be hours early, than even 5 minutes late.  Below are some of my favorite shots from the wedding day.  Friends and family can view all images HERE.

The first, is a set of images is Nicholas and Manami’s custom wedding stationary that they created themselves!  I especially love the design with the banner, how perfect!  It really set the expectation for their wedding… fun, flags, and f-ruffles!  Ok, I know f-ruffles isn’t a word…  but it kinda rhymed. =)

custom flag wedding invite wedding photography

When we arrived, Manami was getting ready in her dressing room.   Getting colored shoes to match a wedding dress can be tricky, but I think it’s super fun and modern.  The ruffles on her shoes matched her dress perfectly!

long beach museum of art wedding photography

Sherri Johnson Wedding Photography

long beach museum of art wedding photography

Los Angles Wedding Photography

Nicholas and Manami decided to do a “First Look” before the ceremony… which allowed us time to get these shots of them together.

long beach museum of art wedding photography

Custom fabric balls decorated the isle.  These are so fun and colorful, and a great alternative to flowers.

wedding ceremony decoration

long beach wedding photographer

long beach museum of art wedding photography

long beach museum of art wedding photography

long beach museum of art wedding photography

long beach wedding photographer

long beach museum of art wedding photographer

The first dance.

SherriJ Wedding Photography

san diego wedding photographer

Photography: SherriJ Photography
Venue: Long Beach Museum of Art
Makeup: Chinatsu Watanabe
Flowers: J’Adore Florist
Invitations: Nicholas and Manami’s own designs.  Contact me for their information!

Sherri Johnson Wedding Photography

*Update June 14th, this wedding has been published on California Wedding Wave.

Bridal + Fashion Shootout with Gavin Wade Photographers WPPI

This was my 2nd year attending WPPI in Vegas, aka the week-long spring break for wedding and portrait photographers… but instead of partying (the whole time) most of us were in lectures and seminars for most of the day from the crack of dawn into the evening.  For me, it was all about business, networking, gathering inspiration, and finding great vendors for my 2011 clients.  Looking back at the experience, I’m so glad I went and can’t believe I even debated going!  Summary: I won an awesome high quality Barbour Backdrop while in an 8am seminar with Blair Phillips Photography, purchased some new Radio Poppers to get control of my off camera flashes, and did a pretty cool bridal/fashion desert photoshoot with Gavin and Erin Wade!  Pictures attached below.

las vegas wedding photographer

desert wedding photoshoot

Los Angles Wedding Photographer

destination Wedding Photographer

las vegas fashion shoot desert

Styled by Erin and Gavin of  Gavin Wade Photographers
Models: Brittanie and Tomas Cruz (Bride and Groom) Kate Colosi (High Fashion)
Hair/Makeup: Lindsey of Linsey Shea Photography

Angela + Eugene: Malibu Engagement

I’m happy to share an amazing session from this weekend, featuring Angela and Eugene.  We met during the holidays and they shared some great plans for their June wedding at Rancho del Cielo, in Malibu.  For their engagement, they wanted to incorporate some fun and style.  The colors of their wedding will be honey and wheat with accents of coral and blue.  Angela did an amazing job preparing with cute outfits and a basket full of goodies that included bubbles, a paint kit, letters, and origami cranes and hearts they both folded together.  I love the personal touches!

prop ideas engagement photoshoot

prop ideas engagement photoshoot

Los Angles Wedding Photographer

prop ideas engagement photoshoot

Los Angles Wedding Photographer

sunset engagement malibu

Southern California Wedding Photographer

Update: Angela and Eugene have been published on Fabulously Wed!  You can check out their feature HERE.