A Little About My Wedding

So...one of the reasons I took a break from Nellie Photography was because I got married.

Before I got married, a lot of folks asked me: Who will take your wedding pictures?  The answer: It would be a photographer I admired and who I thought took excellent quality images.  I found that in Jasmine Wang Photography.

Jasmine did beautiful work.

I wanted a huge bouquet, but I didn't think about how heavy and taxing that thing would be while carrying it around all day.  I gained a little muscle!:

We had our wedding in San Francisco on the beach (Crissy Field).  There were only a handful of guests who made it to the beach, and they formed a circle around us as we said our nuptials.

Here's the circle our guests formed around us:

 That's my mom and I walking "down the aisle": 

Crissy Field is a public beach, so dogs and people were stopping and staring, saying "Congratulations."  One person even started taking photos of us like we were a tourist attraction and began asking, "Is this wedding for real?"  There was even a dog who entered our "circle" and started sniffing around us.  It was all hilarious to me.  I wouldn't have changed a thing.

By the way, Crissy Field has a fantastic view of the Golden Gate Bridge:

After our nuptials, we took our pictures at the Palace of Fine Arts.  If this isn't one of the coolest places for pictures, I don't know what is!


Just chillin' in a planter, gettin' my pose on:

Yikes...PDA!!:

Makin' sure he likes the back, as well as the front!:

 Goofy!:

I carried my dad with me the whole time--In a locket on my bouquet:

Even though I'm a photographer, and I guide my own clients through their poses, facial expressions, etc., I was SO NERVOUS having my own pictures taken.  I really only like being behind the camera, not in front!

Well, that's all for now.  I will share some more pictures from my wedding later.

Nellie Photography Needs a Hair & Makeup Artisit

That's right, I am in search of a new hair and makeup artist for my Pin-up & Boudoir shoots.  The artist/salon will have to be able to do hair and makeup both at their salon and at my home studio (weekdays and weekends).  Please contact me with your rates and we can talk!

Nellie Photography is Back!

I know it's been a while since you've heard from me.  I took a break from Nellie Photography (details on that later).   But coming early summer, Nellie Photography will be back in action.   I will be accepting new appointments for photo shoots at that time.

If you'd like to get a head start and schedule your appointment now, I can pencil you in for early summer.

A Little Pin-up Inspiration from VH1

These ladies look cute in their WWII vintage inspired persona's, huh?

Pin-up Girl Gina: O'hoy Mates!

Gina is an aspiring Pin-up Model. She's going to add the photos from this shoot to her portfolio (whoop whoop!). Can you believe she's a mommy too?!

Achieving an attractive Pin-up pose isn't very easy to do. It literally involves posing from head to fingers to toes. It takes just enough concentration and discomfort to make you (and me) sweat. But Miss Gina glided through her poses like butter! She "popped" right into her poses and needed little direction. 2 star stickers for her!

There were so many great photos from Gina's session that I had a hard time choosing which one's to post!

Photo #1: "Simply Classic". Ain't it cute? I'm proud to say that we carry this sailor girl dress in many sizes at our studio.

Photo #2: "You Don't Say?" This is actually one of my favorites because it's a great shot of Gina's side-sweeping hair. I also like the "muchness" of her eyes--large eyes look fab in photos. ;)


Photo #3: "Ducks, Bubbles, and Pointed Toes".

This photo was featured in PinupLifestyle.com as a featured photo of the month! Yeah baby, yeah!

(Don't you just love browsing through new pin-up sites?)

Photo #4: "Sultry Eyes." Her makeup is just flawless! I actually envy those eyebrows....gimme gimme now!

Photo #5: "Just Right." I have nothing more to say. Period.



Be sure to vote for your favorite photo so that Gina can receive her free 8x10 print. The winning photo needs only 10 votes! Post your vote by clicking on the "Comments" link below.

Family Portrait Sale!

Sneek Peek: Pin-up Girl Mechanic

Don't you love it? Mini-engine and all! This pin-up gal came prepared! More to come...

From Pin-up Girl to Havin' Baby Girls

Remember Amber? She came in for a Pin-up & Boudoir Session a while back.
(Here's a photo from her previous session:)

Well, now Amber has returned, and this time she is pregnant with a baby girl! I'm so happy for her and her family. This is a special blessing for them.

For her Maternity Session, Amber reprised the beautiful purple flower she wore in her hair during her Pin-up Session.

Photo #1: "The Warm Belly." I think Amber looks gorgeous and natural in this shot.

Photo #2: "The Warm Belly II." I couldn't decide between the black and white image or this color image. I love them both!



Photo #3: "I Spy With My Little Eye." A little boy who was supposed to lay his head on his mommy's belly and keep his eyes closed. But whatever! This shot was cute and worked! Sometimes 2 year olds will work with you and sometimes not. He was actually a pretty good listener, one of the best! :)



Photo #4: "The Look Back." We had the fan blowing for this shot, which worked quite well for us because we both were going through HOT FLASHES.

Photo #5: "Smells Like Roses." We caught him just in time for this photo. The little guy did not want to sit and "smell the roses." He was on the move. He had things to do. But I was able to snap this shot just before he slid down to the floor...

Photo #6: "Kiss Mommy's Belly." What more can ask of a boy who's soon to become Big Brother? He's got a lot weighing on his mind, ya know?

Photo #7: "Hearts and Footsies." Showing the love between Mother and Father and the love and anticipation they both share for their unborn baby = Tender.

Photo #8: "Hawaiian Shirts." You should have seen when the little guy had on his shades--he was too cool for TV!

Be sure to vote for your favorite photo so that Amber can receive her free 8x10 print. The winning photo needs only 10 votes! Post your vote by clicking on the "Comments" link below.

Whoa! What a Monster.

That's my baby, Panda Snow Bear, given a great big yawn to the camera. He's so used to being my "model" that he's pretty bored with it. He sure looks ferocious though, huh?

Is Anyone Else Excited...

...about Vanessa Williams being on Desperate Housewives this season!? I love it! They always needed a sexy Black woman on that street.

Now they need to add a gorgeous, sexy Asian woman....hmm who could it be? Maybe Tia Carrere or Lucy Liu?

Tia...

Lucy...



Oh, and I came across this cute pin-up style promo of the gals while on my Google search:

You can guess where I'll be Sept. 26th, 9pm.

Sneek Peek: Children's Portrait

Here's a much needed sneek peek of what's been going on at the Nellie Photography studio.....
I'm gonna start pumpin' out more fabulous blog posts soon. Sorry for the absence.

This group of sibs were as fun, crazy, and natural as the photo suggests. And I love it!!!

Panda and Tiger Imposters

I saw this little news clip and I just had to show someone.

An Asian zoo has dyed chow dogs and golden retrievers to resemble panda bears and tigers in order to attract more visitors.

I don't know how they did it, but it looks adorable!! Ya'll know I love me some dogs! :)

What I Did This Weekend--Pie!

So, on Sunday we all went up to my grandparent's house for dinner. My aunt usually doesn't cook, but when she does--it is the biz-nazz!! I looove when auntie R cooks!!

Anyways, she also brought all the makings for a sweet potatoe pie and to top it off: She gave me my own personal lesson! So now I know how to make "Potatoe Pie", baby! It's actually a verrry simple recipe, but a huge accomplishment for me.

Here's my very proud uncooked creation:

(By the way, the crust isn't made from scratch. It's Marie Calendars.)

Nothing was measured out. We just had to keep tasting it until it was just right. I'm prepping the oven right now. There's no set time on the oven either (just 350 degrees). My aunt instructed me that when you start smelling it, it's almost ready. Then once it rises up and then falls back down, it's done. We'll see how well I follow these simple directions later this afternoon...

Breaking News...

(Update: Don't worry guys. I'm not rockin' the split-ends anymore. I've had a few hair cuts since this photo was taken. LOL.)

Yes, after many years, I've finally joined the "Bride to Be" club!!!! Whoop whoop, yeah baby, work it, work it!!

So here's the nitty on the gritty:

My boyfriend, Willie, and I were out and about when all of a sudden it started raining. I made a dash for the car. As I was about to shut the car door, Willie shouted, "Wait"! I turned to look at him and saw that he was in the process of getting down on one knee. He pulled a Ring Pop out of his jacket pocket and began his "speech".

(He proposed with a Ring Pop like this):




I have to be honest. My first reaction was: "Hey, where's the real ring? Is this the really-real proposal?" The reason I felt this way was because we've been together since high school, and he's "proposed" before--but we were too young back then. But it turned out that this was the REAL proposal and the real ring was actually being sized.

By the way: He actually did end up proposing all over again once he placed the official ring on my finger...this time he did it in front of my mom! The poor guy had to propose like 3 times! LOL!



So, I've been in a "happy place" for a couple weeks now. I'll definitely be keeping you up to date on this new and exciting milestone in my life.

Pinks, Pearls, and Puffy Cheeks

Meet Zoe. Zoe has been to the studio before (as shown in the above maternity photo) but she wanted to come in again to be the solo star of her own personal photo session. So we gave her a Newborn Session!

The goal during this newborn session was to have Zoe sleep the whole time, but that wasn't her plan. Miss Zoe stayed awake and fussed almost the whole session. We ended up having to cut the session short and schedule a round 2. Between the two sessions, we ended up with some great shots.

Here's a fab Baby Announcement we created so Zoe's parents could show her off to fam and friends:

Front

Back

Photo #1: "The Princess and the Pea"
Miss Zoe did not want to close her eyes! She was so interested in what was going on. But that's okay, because this photo is just darling! By the way, our original idea was to have Zoe booty-naked on the towels, but then she left us a little "surprise". Mom cleaned up and then we decided a diaper would work just as well.

Photo #2: "Oh what a tooshie!"
This photo was achieved during the 2nd session--when Zoe finally cooperated with us! Tee. Hee.

Zoe is coming in for her next photo session in a couple of months. So stay tuned.

You can vote for your favorite photo (Photo #1 or Photo #2) so that Zoe's parents can receive their free 8x10 print. The winning photo needs only 10 votes! Post your vote by clicking on the "Comments" link below.

Pin-up Girl Rhiannon

Wowwee. I was super duper excited when Rhiannon came in for her Pin-up & Boudoir photo session, because she brought bookoo props. Fun, cute, bookoo props!

Rhiannon is one spunky lady. She did this shoot for her boyfriend for his birthday. She's also hoping this will be a start to her side job as a Pin-up model.

Actually, she's already given her boyfriend his gift and here was the follow-up email she sent me:

Hey Janelle,

I gave my man his gift last night and he was SPEECHLESS!!! He had no idea at all, and couldn't believe it was me in those pictures :] Needless to say, I think this was a job well done! Thank you so much! ...

(I love follow-up emails that have warm, fuzzy things to say!)

Image Provocateur did a fabulous job on the retro hairstyle. They even added real fresh flowers to accent Rhiannon's hair!


Photo #1: "Suzie Home-maker." I must say that Rhiannon gave great "face."
By the way, the title of this cookbook is: "Cooking with Love". Ahh, how sweet.
Another side note: Rhiannon's handy dandy assistant for the day, Bambi, helped construct the cute apron...Bambi is also her maybe soon-to-be-mother-in-law.

Photo #2: "Oh you are so silly, I just can't get enough of you!"

Photo #3: "The Red Swimsuit." And! Don't you know that you can get this spiffy swimsuit at Walmart!? Yes! Walmart is selling vintage styling swimsuits! I think Everyone has officially jumped on the bandwagon.

Photo #4: "27 Candles." Rhiannon was so prepared she even brought a cute little cake with numbered candles for her boyfriend's 27th.


Photo #5: "The Working Girl's Own Cook Book." ...and a martini are the perfect start to a delicious home cooked meal.



Photo #6: "This is no cartoon...it's the real thing!"

Photo #7: "To stir or to flatten, that is the question." Another winner facial expression!

Be sure to vote for your favorite photo so that Rhiannon can receive her free 8x10 print. The winning photo needs only 15 votes! Post your vote by clicking on the "Comments" link below.