I have been looking for a little charm or brooch for my flower bouquet, I don’t feel like I have a lot of time to search, but I though I’d just go to the local antique store and look. I looked around for a bit skimming through the ‘old lady’ brooches they had just not feeling like I would find something I really liked that I felt was somewhat meaningful. Then I randomly found this case with a real locket in it! “OH I want this!” I thought. Then I looked at the price … $2.00… “Oh yes this is mine”.

I use to have a locket when I was little (gold) that my mom gave me, I never put anything in it so I had no idea that I’d have a pretty hard time fitting these tiny little photos in, but it’s so worth it.

I asked alex what photo he wanted, he said “one with the dogs” so that’s what I did! got all my guys in my locket with me.

I can’t wait to carry this around on my bouquet all day, and then find a pretty necklace chain to wear it on after. It’s gorgeous.

• I got him from a mall pet store (I know horrible right), well it get’s worse! he was there so long that I bought him ‘on sale’ with a credit card. even on sale he still wasn’t cheap $1,200.00. That was my single largest purchase to that date.

Since Alex and I are planning our wedding in Breham Texas, it’s technically a destination wedding. Over half of the guests will have to rent a hotel room, at least for the night. Knowing that most of my family, who are all living in Southern California, will not be able to make the trip all the way out to Texas for my wedding my parents planned an engagement party to be held locally. I think it was a great way to get together with the family, and really include everyone in our wedding regardless if they could attend the actual wedding or not.

My Grandmother (on my fathers side) even  flew into California just for the event!! and she’s going to be at the wedding! I am so happy and thankful so many of my close friends and family members were able to attend. Here are a few photos. If it weren’t for my wedding photographer & friend Carla I probably wouldn’t have any photos to show you from the day. Thanks Carla & Christine!.. and my little photo assistant Alex for the jumping group shot

(Above) My mom’s mom, my mom, me… then my sister

These are my favorite worst family/group photos ever! haha. If you are over 30 and in the Cortez family you (A) are not paying attention (B) not smiling or (C) making ugly faces while talking because you are trying to talk someone out of taking your picture. Which brings me to Alex, who is ‘B’, he’s slowing coming around to smiling when we take photos…. baby steps.

• named after Desmond Dekker (singer) and nicknamed after Desi Arnaz (actor)

Party time! It has been MONTHS since my fabulous Texas themed Bridal Shower, and between editing, shooting, living, and planning a wedding it seems like a never ending wave of things to do. I am thrilled to finally share my Bridal Shower!

It’s a Texas themed bridal shower because I am having my April 14th 2012 wedding in Brenham, Texas. Kinda a destination wedding for just about everyone attending. I’m not going to make this really long winded, because I could go on and on… so I’m not going to get started and just let the photos speak for themselves and just give you some main highlighted information that you might find helpful.

Brandi Lemon photographed the event and had my bridal shower featured on : www.inspiredbythis.com/2011/11/inspired-by-this-texas-sized-bridal-shower/

THANK YOU ALL!!!! I am so happy and grateful to have such wonderful friends that helped make this day so memorable. Especially Brandi for really taking this on and blowing me away with the detail and thought you put into everything, THANK YOU! Also a special THANK YOU to my sister for taking an active part in conducting the day, and thinking of some fun games to play. Drew, you are always that extra something that takes everything to the next level, your artistic & organization really help to get things done and heading in the right direction THANK YOU. Blair THANK YOU, for coming through and really going above and beyond to help with any missing pieces and accessorize was really wonderful, it was great to see you in action.

photos by Chloe, Brandi Welles, and Me

Brandi (first image bellow) made the really cute invites you see above. My sister is the red head in the third image top row bellow.

So when I went through and read all these cards after it cracked me up! lines like ” we are the oddest couple ” was on just about every card! haha. so true.Pies in a jar, homemade banana pudding & vanilla cookies were the take away gifts. yumm.UGH! the food was so good. I was pretty wound up so eating was hard, I think that’s how I’m going to feel on my wedding day. Eating is the last thing on my mind!Playing this mummy, bridal dress game

while walking trough the line to judge who won and had the best wedding dress, Amara laughed and broke the tissue holding her ‘dress’ on and the whole thing just fell right off!! hahaha

Lyndsay gave my this really great gift with 4 bottles of wine for different occasions, while reading them I started to cry and got way to choked up to finish. She came over an helped me out by reading them out loud for me. I kept crying.

Brandi some how rolled her ankle (I think it was intentional) and had to sit it out for the clean up

I have known Amie & Scott since high school, it was really an honor to photograph their wedding, I had an amazing time the entire day, even dancing a bit during the reception. I am so glad we reconnected and have an even stronger friendship now.

Amie loves leopard print so I made sure to take some photos on her favorite chair in the Cypress Hotel where she was getting ready. She also took all (4) of my pre wedding photography prep tips, which was really wonderful. The dress was perfect, ring was dazzling, the first look was emotional, and there are so many walking down the isle shots! Also, I thought this was the coolest thing, she had the officient request that phones were turned off and that photos were not taken, to just relax and be present with them in the moment. You’ll notice no people sticking cameras out and standing in the isle. The speeches were so emotional and wonderful too, all the love that surrounded these two was exciting. When it came time to cut the cake Amie bopped Scott with a little frosting on the nose, and then licked it off, it was so cute! I loved how affectionate they are with each other. Thank you both for selecting me as your photographer to capture the magic of the day!

Thomas Fogarty Winery was a dream venue! It was tucked way up high in the mountains with evening fog (the famous SF fog) rolling over the tree’s in the distance until sunset. I was very surreal. I remember wishing there were two more of me, because there was so much to be photographed. The detail Amie put into her wedding was awesome, my two personal favorite touches were (1) the wine bottles with hydrangeas along the isle (2) the wonderfully smelling cuts of wood her mom got for table center pieces.  Then later that evening bats came out, at first I didn’t know what they were. They moved so fast I couldn’t get a shot of them zipping around in the air… actually I got 1, but I think I included as many photos as I possibly could in this post as it is.

After slowly winding down out of an intense wedding photographer mode this past holiday season, I have had sometime to go out, relax, work on personal projects, wedding crafts, and hit the gym. Of course photography is still in the forefront of my mind, but I have rediscovered a huge interest in all the photography options out there!

• instant film -never owned anything other than the classic polaroid camera, but now I am looking at instafilm in a totally new light. definitely going to nab something up soon nabbed it!
• vintage camera’s – love their look, solid non-battery operated frames. I have been reading about when they were introduced, how many sold, quality, and just a general historical read up. very interesting (for me).
• film – this is what I grew up on, learned to take pictures with, spent ALL my money (and mostly my parents money) on. Not an inexpensive hobby (or obsession) at 13yrs old. My favorite film was Kodak Portra 160 . I bought a new block of film & I plan on shooting with my really old expired film also to see what cool things I get.
• wet lab – this holds a special place very dear to me, I have so many fond, and not so fond memories of spending hours … like I’m talking 8+ hours working in wet lab darkrooms non stop listening to my CD player (YES I KNOW! CD player… geez I feel old) only stopping to grab a sandwich and go back
  to finish a school project. I wonder if there are wet labs that you can just go to and pay a fee like a gym?? *researching* Foothill High School, Orange Coast College & Brooks Institute of Photography are all schools I attended to learn about making my own prints.
• digital – this is my work horse. Love digital photography. It makes same day shooting and blogging possible! with all the wonderful programs out there to help you really see your vision of a photograph through the way you see it in your minds eye. The newest Nikon camera, D4, is on my purchase list this year!

After all this pondering and reflection, I feel like I want to incorporate these things, and give my clients this photographic experience. A truly unique “Marcella Treybig Photography” experience. I have been blessed with the working knowledge of how to use all these things effectively. Now, I know that not everyone that hires me is crazy about photography (some are), but I feel like it’s my job to give them my all. This year, 2012, I am going to mix it up with some of these media’s. I am not going to take away any of the coverage or services I provide in a wedding day, but I want to add a little something MORE, that little extra that separates me from everyone else. I have a little experimenting to find out exactly what this will be, but I am thrilled! and trust me, if you are one of my couples, you will be too!

XO Marcella

Kerri & Matt’s wedding is coming up this MARCH! — > want to see more of their engagement photos? click HERE

Seeing the ball drop in Times Square, is one of those things I’ve always wanted to do, but with all the madness of standing around in Times Square for 6 hours without being able to leave didn’t sound like a fun New Year evening to me. SO we did what most of you probably did, went home (to my friends apartment) and watched the ball drop on TV!

The entire weekend was jam packed with things to do, we hardly made a dent in our ‘must do’ list. We started off at the Empire State Building, took a nap, had a delicious dinner with our hosts Adam & Robert, slept in the next morning and missed our 911 memorial tour (next time) visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, visited 3 museums and had dinner with a Flamenco dancing show, grabbed some champagne, saw Ron Perlman, and watched the ball drop on TV. Of course there was shopping, and exploring Central Park between destinations.

Here are some photos from our trip! can’t wait for our next visit —>

I know that every New Years people are making resolutions, setting goals, loosing holiday weight, and celebrating the new calendar year. After the wedding photography lull from November & December I feel relaxed and rejuvenated, ready to seize the New Year! Much like a ‘bucket list’ for my personal life, I have a bucket list for the life of my photography career. I have finally started to make a dent in this list so I thought I would share since a few biggies were achieved in 2011… I added a few more to the list for 2012, as I’ll keep doing every year.

1. photograph a double wedding! (my aunt had a double wedding with her sister & it’s just unheard of these days)
2. photograph a bride with a non-white wedding dress (black would be my top choice)
3. photograph a Trash the Dress session (water, paint, or something messy)
4. photograph a wedding proposal - Yep, 2011 I photographed my first proposal in Washington DC. It was more than I hoped it would be  AND I’m photographing their wedding this June!
5. photograph a wedding where their dog (pet) is in the wedding
6. photograph a wedding out of the United States  - I KNOW! so amazing. It was in Prague, Czech Republic. Keep an eye out for the post!
7. photograph a huge diamond engagement ring, 3 ct. +
8. photograph a wedding in a castle (preferably in Ireland)
9. photograph a same sex marriage
10. photograph a huge 700+ person wedding (with 3 photography assistants of course!)
11. photograph a wedding in the woods
12. photograph a vividly colorful wedding - I had a few! Indian weddings & African Themed, this post will also be coming in 2012
13. photograph a wedding with large/lots of animals (I love animals  - I’m talking Horses & lots of them at two different weddings! posting in 2012
14. photograph a wedding on a cruise ship
15. photograph a military wedding with swords
16. photograph a wedding in wildflower fields (a surreal amount of flowers)
17. photograph a wedding in a warehouse / industrial feel
18. photograph a wedding in a barn
19. photograph a natural red haired bride
20. photograph a wedding at Disneyland (California)
21. photograph fun rainy day engagement portraits
22. photograph a city roof top wedding
23. photograph a bride & groom in the winter snow
24. photograph a couple outside with a full rainbow arch
25. photograph a bride & groom OR engaged couple while it’s snowing outside
26. photograph a bride & groom OR engaged couple on a boat (row boat please)
27. photograph a wedding at a Malibu, CA venue ( Calamigos Ranch or Saddlerock Ranch)
28. photograph a wedding in Washington DC - 7/16/2011 at the Meridian House.
29. photograph a black and white color themed wedding (one accent color)
30. photograph a wedding or engagement session with hot air balloons
31. I would like to be added to Style Me Pretty’s ‘little black book’ vendor list
32. I would love to be featured on Southern Weddings wedding blog
33. get published in an in print magazine, any magazine counts.
34. have an assistant for office, post production & promotional works (sigh- this will be here for awhile)
35. blog once a week! every week. (for at least a year straight)
36. post preview photos on FB days after the wedding (consistently every time)
37. finish reading all of my Scott Kelby books
38. read more educational books on photography to push my creativity further
39. get a total of 3 SB800 flashes with battery packs – one more flash to go & 2 more batter packs away!
40. own 50mm f/1.4G lens
41. own 24mm f/1.4 lens – just got this for Christmas this year 2011
42. own 70-200mm f/2.8 lens - also purchased this this yeah with the help of my supporting fiancé 2011
43. own 10.5mm lens
44. own 85mm f/1.4 lens
45. own 35mm f/1.4 lens
46. own 105mm f/2.8 micro lens
47. own the new Nikon Camera (D800 or whatever they call it IF it ever comes out)
48. finally get a website that I love & reflects me as well as my photographic style – it’s UP. check it out. December 2011
49. open a business bank account - woohoo, no more co-mingling bank accounts either! May 2011
50. Think Tank V.2 case for airline travel and all my lens‘  - This is one of those purchases I knew I needed, but had no idea how much. Worth every penny…. which was a lot of penny’s
51. build a Client Cafe where all my clients can see all my products, services, pricing, tips & suggestions as well as a forum.
52. add client testimonials to my website / client cafe
53. have my own office (home office totally counts, as long as it’s a separate room) – I have a home office!!! got one when I moved to Maryland in May 2011 
54. make a photo coffee table book of my travels (South America- Brazil, Chile and Argentina)
55. establish the wonderful value to my brides of having a wedding album (I would love all my couple to own something in print, it’s worth it)
56. brand spanking new business cards! something fancy that I LOOOOVE – coming soon!
57. brand spanking new client photography packets for the new year – coming soon!
58. teach Alex (fiancé) how to become my assistant so he can help me and we can spend more time together on the weekends  - I wasn’t sure if this was something he would be good at, but he’s blown me away with what a great assistant he can be. xoxoxoxo
59. build and invest in a brand new collection of wedding albums to show clients. supports #55 (3-4 different albums) – only 1-2 more to go!
60. maintain my 25-27 weddings a year goal
61. own a photography studio again (this will have to wait several years until Alex isn’t in the Military anymore)
62. photograph a New Years Eve wedding KISS

I am so thankful for all the opportunities that have come my way, big and small, and that I have been able to seize them. I try to live my life with purpose and find strength in words of wisdom. I’ll leave you with two of my favorites.

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sail to always reach my destination”

“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.”

-James Dean