New Blog

I have evolved and gotten a new blog. Super YAY!

Link

yay!

See more reviews of Cakes and Kisses Wedding Photography on Project Wedding.

Real Wedding- Santa Clarita : Jess and Mike

I cry at weddings. I try to hide behind my camera, or wipe my eyes while no one is looking, but eventually it shows. I find myself being to connected, and so intimate to special moments from behind my lens. Thank goodness, as for Jessica and Micheal wedding, I wasn't the only crier in the bunch. I was amongst a wedding of emotional messes like myself. Yay.


She walked down to The Beatles "All You Need is Love", and then I saw the groom's eyes, welled up with tears and holding his breath while she glided toward him with her Dad. I was trying to hold my composure and then I saw his family all filling up with tears, and then the bridesmaids, and the groomsmen. Then when Jessica's dad lifted her veil I could see that everyone was touched emotionally in the way same way. And we all had the same happy tears on our cheeks. This was going to be a beautiful wedding.



After the tears and "I dos" we went to Jessica's parents house in Canyon Country. We were able to sneak a few portraits on a staircase, in front of the pool, and my favorite, hike a fence and play in an open field.
Absolutely loved her flowers...
Oh how I love to back light, and make the couples kiss... Best part of my weekend.

This shot was Brienne Michelle's idea... and I love it.


Nothing like a first dance to Billy Joel's "She's Got a Way"...


A beautiful Father/Daughter dance to "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman (that one gets my heart strings every time).


And a Mother/Son dance without a dry eye in the house.

Jessica was also part of my incredible bridal spa shoot earlier this year. She was absolutely as stunning on her wedding day, if not more, than on our shoot. I am so grateful that she wore her wedding dress for me, even though we had to be careful not to really show it in case Mike saw the photos.

I don't know how I get so lucky. Michael and Jessica are an amazing couple. They are so fabulous and absolutely a perfect match. Their friends and family were so kind and wonderful to me and my team. I couldn't help but get warm and fuzzy.

Weddings are all about beautiful moments. It is about the quick glances, private whispers and stolen kisses between the bride and the groom. As a photographer is it my quest and duty to capture these moments. I want to ensure that for a they have images of those moments for a lifetime, to share with their families.

Friends and Family can click to see more images from their wedding posted on Pictage.




I love working as a team. There are so many talented photographers and I am so lucky that I get to work with friends/talent. Brienne Michelle, Tibor Deme and Jordan Murphy, were my extended eyes and story tellers for Jessica and Michaels' wedding day. I love all their styles and techinques. I invited them to this wedding because I knew that it would be one to remember.

Brienne has an obession with fashionable shoes, warm fuzzy light, and beautiful staircases. She captures moments and has a beautiful charm that shines through with every couple she works with. I love and admire her work. She is devine. To see more of her beautiful photography, click here.

Tibor is a fantastic photographer with an edge and composition that I highly admire. He is able to be present in the moment, creative with images, and bring an art to normalise. For more of his wedding photography, click here.

Jordan Murphy is a film shooter. She brings a organic warmth to her images. Her enthusiasm weddings, sense of humor, and love of photography makes her a excellent partner in weddings.
I will post up her images as soon as I get them... But I know they will be worth the wait.

All the best in love and happiness!!

Strawberry Fields for Holly

First off, I love strawberries. It is my favorite thing of all time. I think they are the perfect fruit, accessory, decoration, shape, and fragrance. Please refer to me as Holly Strawberry Steen from now on... With that said

There are benefits to being a photographer. Take away the obvious, like being able to go to beautiful locations, working with awesome clients that love you, and doing a profession you love, well you are left with the additional unknown benefits.

A surprising extra perk to being a photographer, is having awesome photographer friends. I have made so many beautiful friendship just with the sheer common interest of photography. Vanessa Brooke, is my photographer bff.

Vanessa Brooke is a fabulous Lifestyle and Children photographer. We love going out on shoot together. We laugh and play, and most importantly get to try out new and fun things that we could have never done with clients.

Vanessa asked me to shoot some shots of her and her son in some barn somewhere in Pomona. Absolutely sounds like a blast, so I agreed and got her some photos for her blog and living room wall. They are great.

Here is a link, go under families and look for the fabulous boy with a fo-hawk. (In fact you will see that we are wearing the same pair of boots!) We love shooting each other so much, you have seen other photos we have done together like the ones on the blog.

In return, she wanted to shoot me.


Eek.

I am not really into photos of myself. Well, that isn't true, I used to be, but since I am getting older, I feel like I have to spend more time retouching my images to make me look like I used to, I don't like my photo.

That put aside, we found the treasure of all treasures to me ... The Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch, strawberry field. They were having the Cal Poly Pomona Tractor and Car show. All the tractors were all out for us to play on.
I have no idea why I thought that standing in a field with tractors with cowboy boots on was so funny, but really I couldn't stop laughing. Thanks for the great moment capture V.
Practicing what I learning in tractor modeling school...

I am not sure if they frown upon driving the tractors... but it makes for a fun photo.
whee


Totally laying in strawberries, and enjoying every moment.
Cheese :

I am sure this is payback for every silly thing that I have ever put a bride through
Good times.

So thank god I have friends to take photos of me in total glee while sitting in a strawberry field. other wise the moment would be have just been a happy memory. Thanks VB.