As for Richelle Dante Photography, this was by far the busiest year yet. If you follow me on Facebook, I’m sure you saw a bunch of status updates that had to do with me editing. I don’t think I have ever spent so much time behind a computer screen in my entire life! Luckily, I now have my assistant, Natalie, who helps with booking shoots and replying to emails in a timely manner. There were way too many emails I sent out this year that started with “sorry for the delay”. With a growing company, there have been lessons learned that will hopefully make 2012 even more successful!

I am so thankful for all my clients. Some have been coming to me for 3 or 4 years now and I have truly enjoyed watching their families grow! I seriously feel so blessed to get to work with such a nice group of people. You all make my job so much better and it makes all the hours I sit behind my computer worth it! I’m excited for next year… to continue seeing families grow and meeting new brides and grooms, and families.

For next year there will be a few new additions! DREAM sessions will be added (see my last post for more info). I’m so excited for these and for stretching my creativity even more. I’m also hoping to add more nationwide shoots… whether it is a wedding or a family/newborn shoot. I’ve had so many people say “if you were only closer”. Well, I love to travel and I love shooting in new places so I’m hoping I can make it happen in a way that is affordable for the client and me! There will also be more mini shoots, similar to the Santa shoot I recently did. Hopefully the first one will be in the Spring! To start off the new year, I will be heading to Cambodia and Vietnam. I’m looking forward for some downtime to think about the coming year. Details for the DREAM sessions and nationwide sessions will be announced in late January or February, depending on how bad my jet lag is.

Here is a recap of 2011. EVERY shoot from this year is in here including engagement, couple, weddings, weddings I second shot with friends, maternity, newborn, baby, family and my one senior. I hope you enjoy it! (PS, if I missed your shoot I didn’t mean to but I’m pretty sure every shoot is in here.)

Because I rarely post a photo of myself on here, this is the one I used for my Christmas card this year. If you didn’t get one, I only got about half of the cards out I was planning to send. Something else to work on for 2012. (Special thanks to Kim for the photo!)

I met Cari and Justin a few years ago when I did a couples shoot for them. Cari told me then I would be shooting her wedding so I was so excited to hear the Justin proposed! I had so much fun with their engagement shoot, climbing rocks in freezing temperatures, I knew their wedding would be just as fun (and hopefully warmer). They were married at the University Club of Santa Barbara on a cloudy day in September. We shot their portraits at the nearby Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens and Courthouse.

This is a huge post, as they are a beautiful couple and Donna had so many amazing details I couldn’t leave any out!

Love all the colors in the table arrangements!

So many pretty details!

Love the something blue!

The invitation, designed by The Perfect Details, was probably the coolest invitation I’ve seen. On the inside of the box is a map of Cari and Justin’s journey together!

The bouquets were also really cool! Cari had all kinds of different orange flowers and each bridesmaid had one of those types of flowers in their bouquets.

A little wedding day Madlibs… of course!

I might have had a little too much fun with the antlers…

Gorgeous, inside and out!

Such a fun group of girls!

Cari’s sister is pregnant so of course we had to show off the bump!

Best. First. Look. Ever!

Cari’s face says it all…

I always have fun with the groomsman shots…

Umm, yeah, beautiful couple!

Love this one!

We headed over to the Santa Barbara Courthouse for a few more shots…

One of my favorites!

Loved their ride!

Every couple should look this excited when getting married…

I hope I am as excited when I get married as Cari was when they were pronounced husband and wife! Seriously, how sweet is this?!?

First dance…

Love this…

One single guy= easy win for the garter toss!

Cari and Justin, thank you so much for choosing me to capture your beautiful day! I’m so, so glad I was there to witness such a sweet, beautiful love! I can’t wait to take your family portraits.

Donna, thank you for making their wedding even more fun to shoot. You were a pleasure to work with and hopefully we will meet again in 2012!!

This past weekend I headed to the Salton Sea with Avalon and her mama and dad. SO many cool shots from this shoot!

How gorgeous is she!

Tatum was full of smiles…

It was so nice meeting Lucy and her family!

Loved all the color at this shoot…

I always have so much fun with this family!

Ashley and Colin’s is one of my favorite maternity shoots I’ve shot.

Tyler is the sweetest two year old I know and he loves Thomas!

This little guy was two weeks old when I met him…

The day after my brother’s wedding, I had the pleasure of shooting Sarina and Sam’s wedding…

One of the biggest events in the last month was my brother’s wedding! After many rain dances, the skies cleared and it was a great day!

Stephanie had so much fun twirling in her dress…

My brother was a good sport…

Adorable Addison turned two!

Kaylee slept through her entire shoot!

Four kids + downtown Pasadena = Tons of fun!

In the middle of all the chaos of October I took a week off and went to St. Thomas. One of my favorite parts of the trip was chasing the iguanas. Yep, I’m serious. The beaches were amazing but the iguanas were so cool!

Love Grant’s candy corn hat his mommy brought!

I met Jayden when he was just a week old!

My first shoot with Savannah, she was only 8 months! Now she is two and has a little brother on the way!

Giuliana started the marathon of newborns. How precious is she?!?

Alex and Brent were married in October!

Such a sweet family! I love seeing the kids grow! Luke is now two and hard to keep up with.

So now you’re all caught up! Hopefully there will be a full post soon!!

I have known Aimee since I was about 12. We grew up skating together and cheering each other on. When Aimee asked me to shoot her wedding I thought back to when we first met and I could have never imagined I would be her wedding photographer. I’m so glad I became a photographer and got to play such an important role in her wedding.

Aimee and Sasha first met while skating a show together. Their love has grown through the years and after being together for quite awhile they finally tied the knot! I’m so excited to share their beautiful wedding!

Aimee’s dress and shoes were perfect! They were both so her.

I think I took more shoe shots at this wedding then ever before. There were so many cool spots to shoot them

I don’t always get to do ring shots (I don’t always have access to the rings) but when I do, I love it!

I think this was the most peaceful getting ready time I’ve ever experienced. One person with Aimee and Sasha had some time to himself. It made for a very calm and very smooth day.

Sasha and Aimee decided to do a first look. Such a perfect location for them to do so!

Love this!

The wedding party…

The stairs happened to be right by the front doors and it happened to be windy. I did not bring a wind machine… promise! Aimee seriously looks like a super model here!

I wanted this shot to have an old fashioned feel. What do you think?

Such a beautiful couple in a beautiful location!

I’m pretty sure they are in love…

Gorgeousness!

A few of the pretty details. Sadly, I think I just killed my bamboo. Turns out they like water… all the time. :/

Sasha’s face was priceless when he saw Aimee walking towards him…

Lighting a candle + lots of wind = best man helping light the unity candle

I think they are happy…

We took a few more photos after the ceremony when the light was pretty outside.

This is my favorite from the entire day. They were walking back inside after taking some portraits and I turned around to take a quick shots. Candids are my favorites.

Loved the cake and the decor on the table…

First dance…

Aimee is an amazing salsa dancer! Her brother-in-law joined her for a super fun dance!

The band was awesome! I’m pretty sure everyone had an amazing time!

Thank you so much to Jen Lebron for shooting with me! You made the day even more fun and you got some awesome shots!

How gorgeous is Lindsay in her Monique Lhuillier gown!

Perfect light!

I got to spend a lot of time with the guys. Hmm, what should I say about them… they are a fun group.

One of the great mysteries when second shooting is what the couple will be like. You never know what they are going to look like, if they’ll be nice, if the bride will become bridezilla, etc. Fortunately, Will and Naomi were so sweet and so exited to have awesome photos. This definitely makes my job so much easier and more enjoyable!

(the bacon was for the dog walking down he aisle)

Naomi’s dress was so fun!

One of my favorite dress shots ever…

When I look at the one on the right I think hipster bouquet. I see a new wedding trend starting.

Naomi is a cook and made all of the jelly for her guests!

Love the details!

Hollowing out books as center pieces = genius!

Coolest tie ever…

Will’s boutonniere was amazing…

I love Naomi’s veil! She looked gorgeous!

Ready, set, time to get married!

The Ace = fun place to shoot!

Abi did an amazing job!

Not only is this diner adorable but they have the most amazing pie I’ve ever tasted. All I remember is that there were bananas and carmel. I crave it all the time!

Love this candid moments…

A wedding is not complete without synchronized swimmers. duh.

It’s kind if creepy but kind of cool. According to Naomi, the cheek meat (if I remember right) is yummy. I will take her word for it!

The best photo booth setup I’ve seen!

We went to the diner with the Sugar and Fluff team when we were done shooting. Of course we had to stop in the lobby and take a few fun shots.

We were worn out but I still had my pie!

Alexis and Luis met us at our hotel and I noticed there were some clouds coming in and the wind was picking up. All I kept thinking was that there really couldn’t be a storm coming in and where would we shoot if there was. I came from Orange County, Luis from San Diego and Alexis from Chicago. I refused to let weather get in the way. From what I knew of desert storms, they can pass through quickly so if they were going to come, I was hoping the would leave just as fast as they got there.

A little about Luis and Alexis… they have been married for about two years but like a lot of military couples they never got to have full wedding and they didn’t have any wedding photos. Luis is a marine stationed in San Diego and Alexis is living in Chicago with their daughter (whose newborn photos I did). For the Fourth of July, they decided to meet up in Vegas and finally get some photos done! Alexis contacted me to see if I knew any photographers in Vegas but since I needed to go out there to scout locations anyway, I offered to drive out. I can’t even tell you how glad I am that I went! They are the sweetest couple and we got some pretty amazing shots!

Okay, so now back to the weather. As you will see in the photo below our drive out to the desert was not a dry one. I think most people would have turned around at this point but I had a gut feeling it would clear by the time we got to our location. Luis had the weather pulled up on his phone and I think he was a little skeptical about my choice to keep driving. Deep down, I think I was doubting my gut feeling also but I figured we had nothing to lose! The rain was coming down so hard at some points I couldn’t see out the window. Lightning was striking all around us. All I could do is nervously laugh. As we pulled up to the first location it wasn’t raining! We got out of the car and shot for about 2 minutes and huge drops slowly started coming down. Alexis was amazing and didn’t freak out about getting a little wet. We hopped back in the car and kept driving to the next spot. We were in a giant dry river bed and all around us were storms but the spot we were in was clear. I was closely watching the lightening striking all around us to make sure it didn’t get to close. It was seriously an amazing thing to see. One side the sky is black and there is thunder and lightening. The other side the clouds are white and blue sky and the sun are popping through. We got hit with rain here and there but nothing crazy like the drive over. The cool thing about all the storms is that it cooled down to 74 degrees!! Amazing!!

I had so many favorites from this shoot and here are a few!

Yes, I took this while I was driving… I know, bad. Crazy that it actually cleared up!

This is literally 20 minutes after I took the photo above. I love the colors of Luis’ uniform with Alexis’ shoes and the desert background. Perfection!

Alexis said one of her friends texted her saying there were flash flood warnings. We were standing in a dry river bed. Not the smartest thing but look at these photos! You would have done the same thing.

So, so, so in love!

Storm clouds on the left, clearing skies on the right, gorgeous couple in the middle.

They seriously look like models. I promise, they are a real couple!

Alexis is gorgeous!

One of my favorites…

Alexis wanted to wear his hat so I had Luis hold her bouquet.

My very favorite! I can’t believe we actually had sunshine in between all the storms!

When we were driving back we stopped at this little tunnel one more time. The light was too amazing not to stop!

I made the bouquet and the boutonniere and I have to say it was the hardest one I’ve made yet and I don’t see myself working with succulents for awhile. I pictured a bouquet with succulents, billy bobs, peacock feathers and white flowers. The picture in my head was much prettier then how it turned out but I still think it looked pretty good… at least the front of it did. From now on, I think I’ll leave bouquet making up to the professionals! BTW, Luis didn’t wear the boutonniere since his uniform was decorated (I hope that’s the right term) enough.

I’m so glad I got to be a part of Kim and Jay’s intimate ceremony. Kim picked the most beautiful location to get married and I had so much fun finding beautiful areas of the Pasadena City Hall. It was a wedding I will never forget…

Monique and Chris’ wedding was all put together by friends and family. Everyone worked together and put in many hours to make their day special. It was perfect! The day ran smoothly filled with lots of joy and LOTS of tears. Happy tears of course.

I was thankful to have my friend (and RPTE creator), Bobby Earle, shoot with me. Everybody loved him and he definitely added to making their day even more special. If he wasn’t there, Chris might not have been able to see Monique walk down the aisle. When we were doing the groomsman shots Chris took his glasses off for a few and left them there. Right before the ceremony he realized he didn’t have his glasses. Bobby literally dropped everything, got in his car and went and got them. He saved the day!

Here are some favorites…

I really, really love having fun with the shoe shot. They usually get their own mini shoot if time allows.

One of Monique’s bridesmaids was three weeks from her due date. She was seriously an amazing friend… never once complaining and so happy for her friend.

Love these shots Bobby got of Chris…

Sweetest bridesmaids ever…

I love that the guys were up for shooting at this vacant building that was down the street. They were so fun to shoot!

The guys wanted to show their socks but I really didn’t want them to just pulled up their pant legs to show them. I’ve seen this shot a lot lately and I didn’t want to do the same old thing so I combined two kind of cliche shots to have a somewhat original idea. haha The jump shot and the “show off the socks” shot combined gets you something like this…

Bobby and I synced our cameras before we started shooting so when I was editing I noticed that Chris and Monique were both praying at the same time. This wasn’t planned… neither knew the other was praying.

Such a sweet moment with her dad. Everyone was in tears… including me!

This was Chris’ reaction when he saw Monique. Best. groom. reaction. ever!!

They were married at their church and did all the decoration themselves. Monique and her mom made that chandelier! Impressive!

I wish I could remember what was so funny.

First communion as husband and wife…

I love the middle one… it looks like they are saying, “dude, we’re married!!!”

I don’t know if their smile could get any bigger.

Love this spot we found down the street!

Not only are they the sweetest people you will ever meet… but they look good too!

Joy, lots of joy…

Bobby got this one with his 45mm tilt. Love it!

It was magical under this tree. I love this…

A little tilt of my own.

Pretty details!

First dance…

This is what I look like at the end of a wedding. Kind of tired but so glad I got a photo with the bride a groom! (thanks Bobby)

With the desert comes unpredictable weather. Somehow we avoided most of the storms although lightening was literally striking all around us. I was constantly watching it to make sure it wasn’t to close. The last thing I would want is to have a client, or myself, get struck by lightening.

Here is a sneak peek for now. More photos and more of the story coming soon!

Look at the storm clouds on the left and the sky clearing on the right. If you did a full circle at this spot you could see storms all around us. Apparently there was a flash flood warning too… and we are in a dry river bed.

And then the sun appeared!