Whitney Lewis Photography

Allison and Darron: Pre-wedding day formals at Santa Monica Pier

Whitney — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:08:15 +0000

I’m originally from Austin, Texas, which I once thought to be a fairly big city. I live now in Lehi, Utah, which is definitely NOT a big city. Neither location really educated me on what “bad traffic” can really mean. I was actually pretty naive when it came to such things, and didn’t really understand how horrendous a traffic situation can really be. NO LONGER!

We met up with Allison and Darron at the Los Angeles LDS Temple to shoot some bride and groom photos the day before their wedding (bridals/groomals/pre-wedding-vanity-shoot, call it whatever you like :), and when we finished, we headed on over to the Santa Monica Pier to finish the rest of the evening. It’s only a hair over 5 miles from the Temple to the Pier, and I figured even with “bad” traffic we’d get there in about 30 minutes. …About an hour and a half later we pull into the parking garage a block away from the Pier, and I am ready to pull out my hair.

This was fairly representative of the traffic situation during our trip down there. We fought with “Jeeves” our friendly GPS unit the whole way about whether or not we dared get onto a freeway while we were down there. It seemed like “rush hour” was actually from about 8am-11:30am and then again from 12:00pm-8pm.

Anyways, once we got to the Pier everything was great. Allison was completely gorgeous in her dress (even after close to two hours in the car getting there), and we ended up getting some really fun images. There were THOUSANDS of people around the Pier and the beach, which made Allison and Darron feel a little out of place in their wedding clothes, but they were awesome! Seriously, if I were on the other side of the camera I would have died. We even had an audience that spontaneously started cheering when they did their first kiss for the camera. Darron was so cute about the process- once he realized that we were going to have an audience for the remainder of the evening, he made the joke that he would just tell people that they were models just doing their job. So the whole time, he just said over and over under his breath “It’s ok, I’m a model.” It made for a fun running joke, and anytime we needed a genuine smile I just had to remind him to give his model face. “Ok, now BLUE STEEL!”

^ Insert cheering here. Yaaaaay….

As I’ve mentioned before, I am addicted to color, and so I think this ferris wheel below is amazing.

This next one on the left is definitely where Darron the Model shines…

Take a look at the complete set of the formals at Santa Monica here.

Erin and Cole- Beach Formals

Whitney — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:49:46 +0000

Went to Newport Beach, Ca to shoot a wedding for Erin and Cole, and we were able to do a pre-wedding-day bride and groom shoot at a resort in Laguna Niguel. It was a beautiful location, and Erin kept getting compliments right and left from the people passing by. There was one little girl in particular who was extremely excited to “see the princess”. :)

Cole surprised Erin with very sparkly wedding band to go along with her engagement ring.

You can see more photos of Erin and Cole here.

Never strikes twice

Whitney — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:28:14 +0000

This is my favorite photo from an engagement shoot earlier this summer. No photoshop needed… just a kiss and the summer sky. :)

No related posts.

Sodja Wedding

Whitney — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:22:20 +0000

I’m dreadfully behind on my blog posts, but the as the insanity of the summer wedding rush is passing, here’s a few photos from one of the first weddings this summer.

Wedding: LDS Bountiful Temple
Luncheon: Wight House
Reception: Eldredge Manor

Brittany and Scott

Whitney — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:11:27 +0000

People can meet and fall in love in the most unexpected places. When Brittany signed up for an art class at BYU, she probably wasn’t expecting to meet the love of her life, and she certainly wouldn’t have predicted the circumstances. I mean, when you picture meeting “the one” for the very first time, they would normally have their clothes on, right? :)

As it turns out, Brittany spent hours sketching her future husband with a roomful of people, all while he sported nothing but a blue speedo (no nude models due to the policies of the church-run campus). I guess it gives a new meaning to the phrase “Love at first sight.”

Brittany and Scott were very fun to shoot, and were easy to work with. We got quite a bit of rain (not that you would necessarily notice in the photos), but they were gung ho about the whole process and happily tramped around anywhere I suggested.

To see more photos from Brittany and Scott’s engagement photos, click here.

No related posts.

Erin’s Bridals- Cascade Springs and Alpine Loop

Whitney — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:26:51 +0000

As I mentioned when I did their engagments, Erin has a lot of experience in front of a camera. She works for KSL and is also a reporter for BYU-TV, so she is quite at home with with situation. For her bridal photos, we trekked on up to Cascade Springs and a few other spots along the Alpine Loop. It turned out to be a gorgeous day.

This first one is probably my favorite out of the set.

The full gallery can be found on smugmug here.

Shauna and Andrew

Whitney — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:12:53 +0000

For Shauna and Andrew’s engagement photos we decided to head on up to downtown Salt Lake City and focus on Memory Grove Park as well as a few locations around the U of U campus. Lots of nice sunlight that day, and we ended up with a lot of photos they were really happy with to show off how much they love each other.

Piggy back rides- equally cool when you’re 5 and when you’re engaged. …Or really just any time. :D

I love it when a guy tries out the kissy-face.

Take a look at the full engagement gallery here.

Hatch Wedding

Whitney — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:28:44 +0000

This wedding was awesome. Everyone, including the bride, was wearing cowboy boots the whole time. The groom and the men from the bridal party were all wearing western tuxedo shirts, and cowboy hats were everywhere. The ceremony and the reception were in Bountiful at the Wight House, and the location was beautiful.

Christina and Heber are a joy to shoot because their personalities and their just absolute cheerfulness just shine through every photo they are in.

I loved her bouquet… stargazer lilies are always just gorgeous. :)

See all of the photos of Christina and Heber’s wedding here.

Hatch Reception

Whitney — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:13:42 +0000

The reception, like the ceremony, was both fun and super relaxed. I love easy-going brides and grooms, as their family is often easy-going as well! The cake and a lot of the details at the wedding were gorgeous, and a lot of people got up and danced when the music came on. Being a dancer myself, I always feel it’s more enjoyable when everyone is getting their groove on.

Before everyone else could start dancing, the Christina and Heber got to strut their stuff.

Then it was dad’s turn.

Formal stuff over, now it’s time to party!

This couple had some of the cutest expressions…. I mean seriously, look at that face.

You can see all of their photos, beginning to end, here.

Zmoos Wedding- Salt Lake City

Whitney — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:18:04 +0000

One of the top reasons I liked working with Abbey and Taylor is even when things went wrong, sometimes disastrously so, they were still so pleasant and happy. They had had some fairly large hurdles to overcome with their formal session and as the day of the wedding came things seemed to continue in that same vein.

Abbey and Taylor had extended family in town for the weekend, and apparently some of the nieces came bearing gifts in the form of plague. The little Typhoid Marys kindly shared a nice violent flu with everyone in the family, including the bride, a few days before the big day itself. Although Abbey was mostly feeling better by the morning of the wedding, on the way to the Salt Lake Temple she had an allergic reaction to something, and her eye swelled almost completely shut (fortunately a temporary situation!). Later, about halfway through the newlywed photos, Taylor’s tux coat button popped off for the second time. Finally, someone accidentally spilled water over one of their favorite enlargements from the bridal session, right before the reception was due to begin. Despite this and the normal stress and craziness that come part and parcel in a wedding day, Abbey and Taylor were both happy, smiling, and thoroughly in love. It was extraordinary, and they were awesome!

I thought this was precious….

You got to be careful with a whole bunch of groomsman who are bigger than you. Crazy stuff happens. ;)

The entire wedding can be seen here. Go check it out!