Jillian and Michael

On Saturday I had the pleasure of 2nd shooting for the wedding of Jillian and Michael.   They are such a lovely couple, you could just see how much they love each other. When I first arrived at her suite, Jillian was wearing a terry wrap and just looked so sweet standing in the doorway.  I could just tell that she was going to be such a pleasure to work with, and I was right!!!  She is sweet, elegant and was such a beautiful bride.  The wedding was at the one and only Ritz Carlton in Dana Point and had a breathtaking view of the ocean.  I can never get enough of the view at the Ritz, never.

~This first shot is one of my favorites, Jillian looks stunning!!!!~

~The newly married couple posed for this right after the ceremony at sunset.  It was spectacular!~

~The lovely flower girl sniffing her beautiful flowers!~

~The details were absolutely exquisite!  It was my first time working with Gail Garceau, one of the best wedding coordinator's you can find.  She made sure every detail was perfect, she's quite the talented lady.  See for yourself~


~Another one of my favorites.  Jillian is a beauty!~

~the flower girl and ring bearer as they are approaching the altar~

~the flowers were so beautiful!~

~Another beautiful and elegant pose~

~The ceremony~




~the food looked delicious!~

~more exquisite details of the reception~

This last shot was so fun!  Actually it was Dave who found it.  This was taken through one of the amazing floral displays and the reflection is of the main building of the Ritz Carlton.  Pretty darn amazing!!!!!

It was a lovely day!  Jillian and Michael, may your life together always be filled with love, joy, wisdom and God's grace.  Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

Blessings,

~Cindy~

 

Distinction

Yesterday was a pivotal day in the life of Cindy Meadors, professionally and spiritually. I woke up and as some people read the morning paper or watch the news, I read blogs. Blogs from some of my favorite photographers, what they are up to, events they recently shot, everything you can imagine. I, for some reason, wasn't in a particularly happy place yesterday morning and then read something that started changing both my heart and my spirit. No surprise that the first one came from one my favorite people and photographers, Mike Colón. Here's what Mike had to say:

"wide awake in a hotel room "

I'm on my back in a hotel room in the dark thinking about life. Its 4am on the East Coast and I'm still on West Coast time so I can't sleep.
Something Julie said to me last night before we went to bed is still ringing in my head. It was something she has never said to me before and it kinda felt weird hearing her say it. She said "You're big time." She's always told me how proud she is of me but has never straight up told me I am "big time" before. I have to admit that for a second it gave me a big head, but I quickly realized that everything we have accomplished in our business and in life has been 100% by the awesome and undeserved grace of God. Although we have worked extremely hard, I simply can't forget about the dozens of times God bailed us out of sure financial disaster!

This is what i know: Life is fragile! I screw up often! The more I live the more I realize that God is involved in every area of my life, holding it together so it doesn't crumble beneath me.

My secret to success: Get right with God (often). Pray every night for wisdom, blessings, forgiveness, safety, and to be used by Him. Remember to thank Him for everything good in your life!
Thank you Lord for my beautiful wife and two boys. Thank you for always taking care of us! Help me not to live in vain but to do your work and share your love with others.
Ok goodnight all :) God bless!

My day started getting drastically better when I heard the "icing on the cake." It came from the incredible Dane Sanders through another amazing photographer, David Jay. David Jay will be traveling all over the country this summer and will be hosting a seminar called, "Free to Succeed." I am so excited to be attending this seminar and will have the opportunity to meet not only himself, but Jasmine Star. Oh, la, la!!! This is going to be one fantastic tour. I wish it was next week and not almost two months away, what a great opportunity it's going to be to listen to and learn from both of them.

David Jay was speaking on Dane's blog about Dane's upcoming book entitled "Fast Track Photographer," due out very soon (Dane, I can't WAIT to read it!!) THIS is the line that has stirred up all sorts of things in me, it kept me up last night, all night. Couldn't sleep a wink thinking about it. It's profound, so write it down or better yet memorize it and say it to yourself all day long. Here goes:

"You must remember to be personally and professionally distinct in order to avoid extinction." In other words, what is it that sets you apart from the next person? Why should someone hire me, as opposed to hundreds or thousands of other photographers out there? That's the question I have been pondering for the last 24 hours. I'm going to leave it at that for now, meditate for a while on that thought and will post more tomorrow as I want to make sure I am able to identify specific things that are truly different about me than anyone else. Stay tuned, you know.......this is the kind of thing that changes the course of one's life.

All the best,

~Cindy~

A New Era

As a photographer, you find joy in most every image you take.  Some are good, some are very good and some absolutely make your heart sing.  Well, this one is making me sing like a bird.  I happen to love the subject of this photo more than I can say.  He's my son, my first born, and he's moving on to high school.  Can't believe it, the time has gone by so fast!!!!  It seems like yesterday he was crawling around in diapers, playing with Hot Wheels, just a toddler.  Now, you're all grown up!  

Is it me, or is he incredibly handsome?  I just wanted to give him a shout out and tell him how very proud I am of him and that his mom is crazy about him.  My son, may God always bless you!!

~mom~

Second Shooting

I am blessed to in addition to my own work to have the opportunity to be a second shooter.  It rocks, it really does.  There's NO pressure on you to produce all the standard images for the bride and groom.  No, the second shooter gets all the icing on the cake.  You get the shots that sometimes get missed because the main shooter can't be everywhere at all times.    These are a few shots that I took last weekend.  The first one is of a lovely lady and her beautiful baby.  I love the look on her face and how the soft light coming through the window just beautifully covered her.  Enjoy!

~Cindy~

Why I Love Dogs

It is safe to say that I am absolutely crazy about dogs, almost to the point of ridiculous. I love them, all of them. I go up to dogs that I have just met and after a few moments I find myself kissing them like they belong to me. They aren't called "man's best friend" without reason. It's because they are loyal to their owners and family through and through. My dog, Jonah, is one of the brightest rays of light in my life, other than God and my family and friends. I adore him and he has brought me so much joy. I decided to spotlight some special dogs I have photographed lately and will continue on a regular basis to showcase special animals in my life and business. Another division of Cindy Meadors Photography called "Pawsitively Priceless" is soon to come and will be all about dogs. How awesome is that!!!!!!

Here are a few of my favorites, I hope you enjoy them!!

This first one, of course, is of my darling Jonah.  He is really something!


This little angel is an adorable Maltese named "Emmett."  He is like a huge ball of fluff!!!

I ran into this dog in downtown Santa Ana, he was just going for this soda like crazy. I was using a 85mm f/1.2 lens. Everything I have heard about this lens is true. It's like "butter!!!!"  

This dog was just hanging out at a photo shoot I was at and couldn't resist.

"If you can dream it, you can do it"

~Cindy~