"Raising teens is like nailing jello to a tree"

We had a fun session scheduled, for Alyssa's 17th Birthday!  She spent the entire morning getting ready, curling her hair, perfect makeup, picked out her outfits the night before, etc...She went to school, came home and decided she had to re-do her already perfect hair-do, touch-up her already perfect makeup, take a second, third, fifteenth glance in the mirror before she approved of her outfit!  All this while I was yelling, "Alyssa, hurry up before we lose light"..."okaaaaaaay Mother"!!!!!  NO, not okaaaaaaaay!  Time was ticking, in fact the ticks were louder than ever and Yup it happened, we left too late!  As we were on the beautiful [insert sarcastic smile here] 405 freeway, sitting in the more than usual traffic we saw the perfect sunset along with the perfect light fading fast!  I wanted to yell, scream and bang my head on the steering wheel.  I felt 50lbs. of pressure sitting on my shoulders not only because  this was a huge waste of time, but because this was my 1st mentoring session with Emilio! He was so understaning and said "We'll just make the best of this"!  What a guy!  He was so positive, so understanding and so ready to learn!  Emilio sure did make the best of it!  We knew that we coudn't shoot in the natural light available, so we "made the best of it" and scouted all of Seal Beach for future sessions.  Since Alyssa was picture perfect, we used her to model what a perfect shot should look like.  "Alyssa, stand here, Alyssa, sit on those stairs, Alyssa, go ask those people if we can take pictures in front of their truck", Alyssa, Alyssa, Alyssa!!!!  "Moooommmm, stop making me feel bad"!!  This makes me think of one of my favorite teen quotes "Raising teens is like nailing jello to a tree"!!!!!!!  Those of you with teens know exactly what I'm talking about!  This weekend we will re-take Alyssa's pictures, and make sure this Diva is ready to roll!  I'm glad my EPIC FAIL was with my own offspring!  I Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  


Here's one of Emilio's pictures, that he took!  Not bad for his 1st time shooting in manual.  

Photo by: EMILIO RAMOS PHOTOGRAPHY

Santa's Little Helper -- Baby Sophie

Playing with babies is so much fun!  Tutus, pearls, bling and hairbows included made it extra fun! This little DIVA was late a whole hour, but as you will see, she was worth the wait! Sophie's mom is entering her in a contest and asked if I could photograph this little cutie.  How could I say no to such a little package of joy!  


Meet 3 month old Baby Sophie!  She's a living doll!  

Sophie's mom picked out all her cute outfits and Christmas decor! 

Santa Rocks!!  

We decided to use Sophie's Uncle Anthony's truck as a prop, and per Mom's request
I had to get the Chevy  logo in the pic!  I think it's adorable!

This smile made my week!  

Thank you for trusting me to be your photographer and capturing memories of your most precious gift!  Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and I'm sure Sophie will win the contest!  She has my vote :)  

Thankful for my Family + some totally random shots

This Thanksgiving I am grateful for so many things:


.....God and all of His glory
.....Abe, because of his Love, patience and understanding 
.....Alyssa, because she dreams BIG...and I know she will follow her dreams 
.....Alexander, because he is the most humble, loving kid I know
.....Ari, my pumpkin, because she can melt my heart just by smiling her toothy smile.  
....Diesel & Bella (my dogs) because I can yell at them for lying on the couches, and in the same minute they will come and give me kisses and jump in excitement higher than a grasshopper when I say their names.  


I am thankful for the gift of photography, because without my camera I wouldn't be able to capture life's wonderful moments.  Here are some recent and RANDOM moments I want to share :)  

Thank you for visiting and understanding how RANDOM my picture selection is. 


In case your wondering why Alyssa is bleaching Alexander's hair, it's good news!  Alexander made the Varsity Wrestling team at his school, and the initiation was they had to bleach their hair, get fro-hawks and closer to season dye one side of their hair purple!!! AY DIOS MIO!!!  My handsome black haired boy looks a little ridiculous,but I think it's something great and I'm glad we have pictures for him to always remember.  Alyssa may have found her calling of being a hairdresser, but we will have to see if the other 5,885  things she wants to do don't work out.  Arianna is eating Christmas lights because, well...she's Arianna! Sometimes there's no real reason why they do what they do.  


I wish you all a very blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving!  


xoxo,
Faith Cherisse

Let them eat cake- Part 2

This is part two from the inspired "Marie Antoinette" shoot that took place at Tonya Joy's "let them eat cake" workshop.  As you can see Mallory and Cody are the epitome of beautiful people and I was so intrigued with all their beauty.  

                                              

Mallory, you are a striking beauty!

See what I mean by beautiful?  They don't even have to smile to show off all their beauty!

Mallory was such a natural in front of the camera.  

I love how in Love you two are!  That look Cody is giving Mallory, just melts my heart!  

GORGEOUS!

Cupcakes made by Kristina Kendig- Catering & Creative Extraordinaire.  

Hair and makeup by  Katrina Kirk

This is one of my favorites!  I love the expression on both Mallory & Cody!  

Thank you again to Tonya Joy for a wonderful day!  I love the way you made everybody feel so comfortable as soon as we walked in the door.  Instead of a handshake, I got a hug :)  The details were amazing, and your hospitality was more than I could have asked for!

The Crowder Family & lots of Kelsey!

Last Saturday Oct. 16,2010 I had the pleasure of attending Tonya Joy's 3rd Workshop! Tonya is an amazing photographer, teacher & friend.  She opened her heart and home to do what she loves! I am forever grateful for the new friends I made, the gorgeous people I got to photograph and the information I walked away with was invaluable!  Tonya hired a dream team for everything from models, food, hair & make-up. The Crowder family couldn't have been more good looking and were a dream to photograph!  Kelsey worked that camera like nobody's business!  I had too many favorites to display, so bear with me and enjoy!  

Isn't this the sweetest little girl!  agh...she's adorable!

So the children never forget how small and precious they once were :) 

 Tonya put together this beautiful outfit & jewerly. 

Fierce!  

I couldn't stop focusing on Kelsey. She had a crowd that saw her beauty from a mile away, and kept commenting on beautiful she is!  

Hari and make-up by  Vivian Tran  of  ALL MADE UP TEAM.

Mr. Crowder couldn't have been happier about this part of the photo shoot!  

Thank you for God for allowing me to do what I love and meeting such wonderful people along the way!  

Tonya Joy Workshop "Let them eat cake" Sneak peek!

Here's a little sneak peek of last Saturday's shoot at Tonya Joy's 3rd workshop "Let them eat cake"!  I have a ton of pictures to edit and another amazingly stunning couple to show off!  I couldn't wait to share with you all the beauty and as Tyra Banks would say Fierceness from these gorgeous people!  

                                                        Kelsey you are gorgeous! 

If you want to see more gorgeous photos please watch for future posts!  Lots of eye candy coming to the blog!  

xoxo,

Cherisse

My 1st blog post EVER + Holiday Mini-sessions

"The journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step".

My first of many blog posts will start today!! Here is my 1st step! I am both excited and nervous about opening up and sharing more of me with all of you. Some of you are following me because you share my passion of love, life, family, photography, OR because I MADE YOU!! If I made you, I'm glad you took my threat serious, if your following because I'm me I hope my family doesn't scare you away :)

As a way to say thank you, I have created a Holiday Special! Holiday Mini-Sessions will be in full effect starting November 7-20th! Please book your session today!