Richelle Dante Photography » Laguna Beach Photography

House Guests…

admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 09:01:13 +0000

So the last three weeks or so have kind of been crazy… good crazy. I have had three friends stay with me back to back. The cool thing about these friends is that I met them all on a super fun, amazing trip to Thailand and Cambodia in December of 2009… better known as The Raddest Photo Trip Ever. I don’t know if Bobby knew he was putting together a group of totally unique people that would become close friends, but he did! I remember when the trip was over it was like coming home from camp. I was afraid I would never see my new friends again since we are spread throughout the country. I think we all felt the same way and have made an effort to stay in contact and hang out as often as we can. Sometimes I feel like I see and talk to my RPTE friends more than my local friends. It’s pretty awesome!

The first of the RPTE crew to stay with me was Katie from Fargo. She was here at the beginning of the year and I asked her if she would want to come back in April to shoot a wedding with me in Santa Barbara. Luckily, she wanted to shoot with me and we made a little mini vacation out of it! We got to see Josh, another RPTE friend, and his girlfriend, Kim, while in SB and we took a trip to Solvang the day after the wedding. On the way back from Solvang we stopped at a random location I found during an engagement shoot and did mini shoots of each other…

If I’m going to take tourist pics, I’m going to act like one of those obnoxious tourists (and make Katie act like one too).

The super pretty spot we stopped at on the way back. I kind of love these two images side by side. It looks like miniature Katie is dreaming about life size Katie. haha

I’m excited to be heading to Fargo this summer to shoot a wedding with Katie. I hear weddings are different there… we shall see!

My next guest was Amy from Louisiana. I was excited to have Amy stay with me because she can always make me laugh. She was in town with her youngest daughter, Ava. Her class won the Disney Planet Challenge and got treated like royalty at Disneyland! It was so fun to meet Ava and hang out with Amy. We also got to hang out with Bobby, Lindsay and Clive at Chick-fil-a, of course.

At Disneyland waiting for the fireworks to start!

Amy stayed a day longer than Ava was here so she was able to take family photos for my family and we also did headshots for each other.

Here is one of my favorites from my family shoot!

My favorite of Amy…

After all the shooting, we headed to Laguna for a quick bite to eat. Of course we had to take tourist pictures in front of the lifeguard stand.

The last of my guests was Megan. She is from Northern California so I probably see her the most (besides Hannah). It was fun to have her here! We didn’t really do much but sit around and edit together. I always love to have company while editing… sometimes it can be lonely! It was also fun to have a buddy to go to Denny’s with at 2 in the morning. So, since I don’t have any photos of Megan, I will share one from a birthday party I shot the weekend she was here.

How cute is this cake! Made by Cinderella Cakes.

I love that I have the space to have guests stay with me and I especially love when my RPTE friends come visit! Who’s next?!?

Addison Turns One!

admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:05:13 +0000

Addison will be turning one very soon! I’m pretty sure she is ready for her party… especially since she gets to wear an adorable tutu! We headed to Laguna for some fun family shots and some of the birthday girl!

I first met Addison when she was about 2 weeks old…

She’s grown up so much!!

I love this field I found! A little bit of rain= a ton of green grass!

The expression on the right has to be one of the cutest faces ever!

Addison has the prettiest blue eyes and the way the sun was hitting them made them sparkle!

We did a few shots at Hotel Laguna, where Addison’s parents got married. On the right, a pouty crying face. Photo shoots are tough work. =)

Such a sweet family!

Laguna Beach Family Photography

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:24:09 +0000

Before I tell you about this awesome family, please be sure to go vote for my photo, #4, on Bobby Earle’s blog. To learn more about it, check out my last blog post. Thanks!

On Saturday I met the sweetest family! Veronica, Cal, Jeremy, Hadowas, and Sofia came ready for some fun shooting on the beach. I love shooting in Laguna because of all the pretty rocks. Sometimes I get bored with just an ocean so I need some rocks to keep it exciting! It was a perfect day, not too cold, not too hot. The sun was shining and the kids were smiling. Hadowas and Jeremy had fun climbing the rocks and looking for little crabs. Sofia enjoyed discovering sand for the first time! Here are a few fun shots…

Such a cutie!

The boys were so sweet with their little sister!

Jeremy and Hadowas

While I was shooting Veronica and Cal…

The boys were having fun climbing on the rocks!

Sofia discovered sand and then had to try it out. She discovered it doesn’t taste very good.

Such a sweet family…

I love this one… while they were all laughing, Sofia decided to start crying. Love the contrast. =)

Bill and Liz :: Laguna Beach Maternity

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:20:24 +0000

A few months back I posted a sneak peek of Bill and Liz who were expecting little Delilah in July. Well, she’s here and we are doing a newborn session tomorrow! I’m so excited to meet her and will be sure to post a sneek peak, within two months. =) This was my first maternity shoot and I was so grateful Bill and Liz trusted me. I’ve seen a lot of maternity photos and decided when I shoot maternity I want to keep it the same style as my engagement shoots. I like the focus to be the relationship between the parents, the love they have and the new love they have for their baby. Most of the shots we took were with both Bill and Liz. They both play an important role and I felt like it was important to show that they are a family.

I hope this is all making sense… it’s past midnight and I should be asleep but I had to post this before meeting Delilah tomorrow! Enjoy!

One of my favorites… amazing light!!!

So I had this great idea to use “girly” colored balloons to represent the expectation of a baby girl. Great idea, huh? Yes, except it was so windy they got very tangled and kept blowing in front of them. I did manage to get a few good shots!

Such a sweet couple!

Love this one too!

We headed to Laguna next. Again, I couldn’t ask for better light!

Liz brought the blocks for her belly… such a cute idea. If her name was any longer it wouldn’t have fit. =)

One of the few I took of Liz by herself… she has (had) the cutest baby bump!