Los Angeles Celebrity Engagement Session | Potato Mountain, Claremont | Jeff Campanella & Emily Weprich

//THE WARNER BROS. STORY//

So now that the TV SHOW has aired, i can share the backstory about a cool unprecedented opportunity we had earlier this month! A few weeks ago Warner Bros. called and asked to use an engagement picture in one of their episodes of MAJOR CRIMES. My client, Jeff, had landed a role on the show and part of the story line involved a fictional fiance. They asked if he had any recent sweetheart pictures and voila! LKM got the call asking for a few high res images to use in their fake mock up of a wedding site, we negotiated release, copyright limitations, usage and and the episode aired on TNT this past Wednesday! It's a 2 second clip (i'me efficient with my 5 minutes of fame ;D). Watched it in my pjs last night with a surreal thankfulness for cool opportunities and exposure! Check out  Season 4 Episode 10 Here :) 

So in other details that are highly more important and not nearly as narcissitic... Jeff & Emily are a riot. Highschool sweethearts. An actor. A fitness model. Vegans. Lovers. Laughers. 

I'm delighted to be trusted with capturing a piece of their love story during this season.

This session was set in this crazy random hole in a hill called Potato Mountain in the Claremont foothills of Southern California. We hung out in the last few rays of sunbeams, reached a few inner childs (yes i know that is not grammatically correct), and got to know each other. Having shot their family reunion several months prior, I had only seen slivers of Jeff's erratic (cough) goofy side and Emily's soft-spoken but eye-twinkling exuberance. Their affection is natural with longevity sprinkled all over it. :) ....

// CLIENT REVIEW //

(i swear i didn't pay him to say these things)

There i was, in my pjs watching a tv show flash this sweetheart picture created by LKM STUDIOS. I was pumped. Jeff then sends a follow up email titled: "REVIEW" with the instructions: Post this. It sounds like i'm not your spokesperson but a real client. And if i couldn't get any more narcissitic, I figure sharing the review hammers in that nail for the day. 

"This is not just a photographer. This is not just a pretty face with an even prettier personality. This is a force of nature. LKM is so good, that her photographs cross into different dimensions. It's true. One of our engagement pictures from our session with Laura was so electrifying, so vibrant, that it crossed from everyday land into TV land on the famous TNT drama 'Major Crimes.' How is this even possible? How could TV characters even find out about a photographer from a different dimension? Well, once you meet this woman, you will know that she is out of this world. Hate smiling? You will love smiling after your session with Laura. Feel unsexy? Laura will make you feel so darn sexy. Don't want to show intimacy with your significant other in public? Laura will make you feel confident, playful, and grateful to be taking pictures with the love of your life. Positive, warm, talented, and fun, book your session with Laura K Moore now!" 

Luke + Juliette | Corn Fields, Rock Quarrys + Shire-Like Hillsides | Engagement Session

I get another sister folks. Lets start with that. and this is her. and my brother. on their engagement session last weekend in the foothills of Mt. Baldy, Southern California. My brother is a prodigy of an artist. It's kinda rediculous. The things that he makes out of nothing (beat). They were highschool sweethearts and part of Luke's proposal included a series of paintings that told their love story as missionary kids in the Philippines, love birds and college students and now soon to be weds this summer. This is a snippet of some of their affection... 

Featured on Arizona Bride Magazine!! :D

SO ABOUT THAT GOOD NEWS...

Earlier this week i shared a facebook status that talked about good news in the photography department. good enough to make me burst into tears. and it’s friday and i can share now. but i want to explain why it means a lot. cuz some of you might be underwhelmed and think i’m silly. which is fine, but it was a big deal to me. 

9 months ago i started trying to submit work to different publications. both online wedding sites (the knot, green wedding shoes, ruffled, wedding chics, style me pretty, grey likes weddings…) and nothing. i got no replies. i take it back..one reply was a rejection. and i get it. It’s part of the way things work. hours were spent culling, submitting files in the variety of different ways that different blogs requested, writing reviews, gathering the details to present each wedding and session that was submitted as best as possible… hours were spent… and nothing.

(not to mention…with each submission, you can’t just blast that submission to multiple sources. publications want to have exclusive feature privileges so i would have to submit my best of the best to one selected magazine than wait for a month or two and then hope that the next submission would pick it up before the submission was outdated or out of season…)

so i stopped. discouraged. acquiescing to the reality that my capacity is only what it can be right now. i was ok. the worst was not hearing. even worse than a rejection. rejections could be constructive. helping me learn what to shoot. what publications don’t want. how to shoot in a way that tells a story with people but also captures the details and nuances that publications are hunting for… but nothing. for a long time.

and then a random email sent at midnight to a publication got a reply within minutes. not just a reply, but they wanted my session featured and they wanted to have it moved up the calendar and instead of waiting 3 months to have a slot scheduled, they gave me this friday. TODAY.

So, friends, folks. I present to you my very first feature. And by non other than, Arizona Bride Magazine. If you want to increase traffic and analytics, check out the feature and leave a comment. You guys--you friends, family, fans who are reading this--you and your support with Laura K. Moore Photography is the lifeblood. Thank you. So much.

GO HERE FOR THE FEATURE: http://arizonabridemag.com/…/glowing-autumn-engagement-sess…

Austin + Corrie | Lifestyle Engagement Session: "Adventure Meets Goofy" | Mt. Lemon, AZ

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” 
― Jim Bishop

"Our session was not only the most fun I have ever had taking pictures, but it was extremely comfortable and care free and I felt like the essence of Austin and I really go to be conveyed through the pictures!" ~ Corrie, Bride

Austin + Corrie made mention that they were goofy and adventurous. They wanted those things really captured. Mt. Lemon was where Austin proposed earlier this summer and they were keen on getting some of the mountain details and active bike nuances and sillyness in between. 

When we arrived near the top of the mountain are jaws dropped. We had no idea the leaves would be on fire and FALL would have already arrived. The couple were so giddy and eager to just love and be loved and be free... this session really was like a breath of fresh, lively air. 

So excited to be a part of this journey with you guys! Thank you for trusting me with such precious memories! | LKM

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Nathan + Emily | Mt. Baldy Engagement Session | Shades of Blue, Creek Beds and Giddy Innocence | Southern California Wedding Photographer

430am rolled around quickly. I met Emily in PJs and giddiness with my hair/makeup arsenal prepared. We got fancy and mapped out concept and wardrobe for our early morning session in the Mt. Baldy foothills--the same place Nathan proposed one month prior.

I've known Emily since she was 4 years old. I was a clown at family birthday parties. I have watched her become an incredible woman and someone who I can truly call a friend...and soon to be sister. She is marrying my brother--a man happier and more free than I have ever seen him. 

Their affection has ripened these last few years. The wait has been long and sometimes hard, but the way they love each other more freely--laugh deeply and anticipate each other--makes my heart smile like a thousand bursting suns. Delayed gratification...patience...the arduous task of waiting for the right time. the right heart. the right place.......God is so, so good. | LKM 

Doug + Brienne | Urban Color & Sea-Spray Sass | La Jolla Engagement Session | San Diego Wedding Photographer

Our afternoon was spent in a variety of obscure locations around San Diego. Doug & Brienne met and dated in this incredible city and wanted to tell their engagement story in its context. So there is green and there is city and there are small coffee shops with perfect views and cliffs and secluded shores with singing seals and sea-spray that glittered in the setting sun. There was laughing and twirling and snarky banter and sarcasm and arm-punches and lots of kissing and sunbeams in the middle of parking lots and chai and large over-sized trucks honking at the wardrobe changes made in the back of cars. 

I love these moments. I love the silly and the sweetness. I love that Doug & Brienne let go; relaxed, trusted, flirted, laughed and let the sun set on a pretty wonderful adventure of an afternoon. Only one of many, I. am. sure.  | LKM

Charlie + Ronika: Tucson Palo Verde Desert Wash & Sunset Bike Ride Engagement Session

Charlie & Ronika are so chill and made my job was painfully easy. I realized that much of their ease would allow me to hush up and let them breathe together. Pre-wedding craziness is at a high and this evening together seemed to be progressively more of a detox "i-love-you-so-much" interlude. And the reminding grace that "oh-my-gosh-i-want-to-be-with-this-person-forever" seemed to wash over them in moments of sweetness and sunbeams...sunset bike rides. I am beyond excited for their wedding at the Tucson Museum of Art. Game on baby. | lkm

EDIT // I asked Ronika for some of the backstory for her and Charlie's wedding day and she gave the sweetest proposal story that i had to add...

Its beginning: The modest rumble of a triumph motorcycle, led me to you that night. I made my way to the door to thank you, Charlie, for the two colorful assorted bouquets. I found you at the end of the steps looking hesitant but sexy in cowboy boots, fitted jeans, button down gray shirt covered by a brown vest. I walked toward the man who I had desired since a young girl. By our third date I realized he was the face I had tried so hard to imagine, a man full integrity, love and a need for adventure. I opened my arms and you embraced me, I felt the slightest trembling running through your skin. You grabbed my hands and looked up at me with a big determined grin and said, “Ronika a year ago today I asked you to hangout and today I wanted ask if you would hang out with me for the rest of your life!” . The man of my dreams took one knee and asked me to marry him. I was altogether beside myself unable to keep tears of happiness from ruling my entire face. My dreams had become a reality this is a moment I shall always remember....Shall we always to choose to love.

Disney Acrobate and Hollister Model Engagement Session | Padua Hills Theatre | Claremont, CA

{Lillie & Aaron | Disney Acrobate & Anakin Skywalker Engaged | Padua Hills Theatre, Claremont, Ca} So much giggles during this engagement session earlier this past summer! Anakin Skywalker (cough), i mean Aaron, dotes on his little lady and she gets equally googly-eyed. The whole time we shot he was strutting his model curves and she'd kidney-shot him from time to time. We were in stitches by the end of the day!

These two are getting married today! And I'm pretty sure there is nobody more giddy on the face of the planet than they are....wait. (time lapse). nope. i checked. | LKM

Johnny + Lauren | A Red + Black Classy Downtown Engagement Session

{Johnny + Lauren | Downtown Tucson Engagement Session } These two are getting married today!!!! So excited to CELEBRATE with them! | LKM

Andy + Autumn | Cowboy Meets Cowgirl | Tucson Engagement Session | Arizona Wedding Photographer

{Andy + Autumn | Cowboy Meets Cowgirl | Tucson Engagement Session | Arizona Wedding Photographer | Make Up & Hair Artist: Dana Buchanan} Autumn specifically contacted me because she said, 'i loved your website! it was clean. simple. and your images were beautiful.' AWESOME SAUCE. I've been processing brand identity behind the scenes for awhile now. I'm keeping things clean and simple until i figure it out. And apparently that's just fine because i got to meet, greet and laugh with two awesome little love birds who were precious to shoot. Her gentleness with him was my favorite part. Autumn adores Andy. And I can just tell it makes him walk 10 feet taller. He adores her back. And it makes her eyes dance like a million sunbeams...(grin)...too sappy for you? feast your eyeballs then and swoon later. | lkm

(above) she made those cute little placks herself. so crafty. i'm pretty jealous of craft people ya know. :) (below) Seriously. Her skin is flawless! I went to go do air brushing...and i was like, "uhm...well, i guess i could...nope. not really..."... this next series in the orange trees are some of my favorites. he just holds her...and she drinks in his embrace. a boy and his gun...and his girl. :) Andy is going to be deployed soon. Not sure where. Not sure when. Not sure for how long. But by golly, this will just have to be their FIRST of many sweetheart shoots...one day we're gonna have ourselves a WEDDING! Love you guys! | LKM