Kelly McCord Photography Blog

Kate and Matt's Isla de Mujeres Wedding Album

I've written before about how very blessed I was to be able to shoot Kate and Matt's wedding in Cancun, or more specifically, on the tiny little island of Isla de Mujeres, off the coast of Cancun. Where the island is so small most people get around by golf cart (including us, with all our photography gear!) -- it was an adventure, to say the least, and such an incredible pleasure and honor!! =)  And not only was it super-awesome to get to shoot a destination wedding (and I'm open and willing to do more destination weddings, people!! all you have to do is ask!!!).

ANYhow, I loved not only getting to shoot their wedding, but get to know Kate and Matt, along with their friends and family!  Really, it was one of the highlights of 2007!!  Definitely one of the highlights. My cousin Mia, is a flight attendant, for a private airplane, and Matt is one of the pilots she flies with, and she referred me to Kate and Matt, so again -- thanks Mia!! It was so fun, and I have you to thank!

So we just had the Bridal Expo, last weekend, and I made two new albums to show prospective clients; the one in the post below, of M'Kenzi and Jordan's wedding at (the incredible and fabulous) Rancho Soquel, but also of Kate and Matt's amazingly awesome Isla de Mujeres wedding, on Zama Beach (I'm not sure if it's 'on Zama Beach' or 'at Zama Beach Resort), but either way, that's where it was; Zama Beach Resort. Anyway, I wanted two very different albums, and so I did the local Rancho Soquel wedding (to see that album, it's the post below this one), and Kate and Matt's Isla de Mujeres, very Mexcian, very destination wedding-y wedding.  As I was with the Rancho Soquel album, I was really so excited and happy with how this album turned out. In fact, I can't decide which one I like the most, as they're both completely different and unique, both in style, and the look and feel of both.  If you'd like to check out the album I made to show clients Kate and Matt's destination wedding, you can click here, to go see the wedding album slideshow.

It's fun for me to see the wedding all together in an album (even if you're only seeing it online), as when I shoot, throughout the day, I am shooting with the final album in mind, and I think both of these wedding albums show that.  So go check out Kate and Matt's album, and then, if you want to see more wedding album goodness, click here, to read about M'Kenzi' and Jordan's Rancho  Soquel Wedding album.

Also, if you'd like a quick peek of how my booth looked at the wedding fair this year, here's how it looked (can you believe that none of my friends/fellow photographers brought their cameras? I'm not kidding, isn't that funny? I asked 3 other friends who were exhibiting there, and none of us had brought a camera with us. So please forgive the iPhone-esque nature of this photo!). =) But it at least gives you an idea of how it looked (I'm so embarrassed - these are literally the worst quality photos I've ever posted -- augh!)...click on 'continue reading' to see rest of the photos from the Bridal Expo! =)

And, many, many, many thanks goes to my dear friend Megs, for working the Bridal Expo with me -- Megs, you're the absolute BEST!!  And I can't forget my incredible Aunt Susi, who did all the super-fun,, whimsical flower arrangements for my booth -- she is ALSO the absolute BEST! =) (Click here to be taken to her website, and see some of her wedding work, it's amazing).

Missing Messages, Dr. Phil and My So-Called-Life...

Just a quick note to let all my clients know, if you've tried calling me in the last week, to two weeks, I've switched phone services, and it's resulted in some missed calls, and some messages that weren't received.  I'm very sorry for this, and it should be all squared awayvery soon!  Email is the best way to reach me, so drop me a line if you need me, and I'll call you back!!  And I'll be posting another shoot or wedding very soon.

I have SO much to tell you all; I just shot another celebrity wedding, and some of my wedding photos from a few months ago are going to be on Dr. Phil, and some of my other photos are going to be in a magazine, and a gazillion other things to update you on, but alas, not at this moment, but I promise to write very soon about all of these fun (and crazy!) things!!

And I'm starting to book up for next summer, so if you're wanting me to shoot your next wedding, drop me a line, so we can get you on the calendar!!

And because I'm me, there has to be at least one photo in every blog, so  we're breaking form for this post, with a bunch of personal shots of (crazy! I know! I do actually have a personal life) me and my family.  I've got so much more where these came from, (our trip to San Francisco, going to the SC County Fair, the girls first days of school, etc., etc.), but I don't have time to edit all of them at the moment, so I just grabbed a few highlights (with the hope to have more of the family shots posted fairly soon-ish, or at least time to go through all of them). And these aren't super-artistic, or anything of the sort, these are more in more in the vein of  I'm-so-proud-of-my-kids-aren't-they-the-cutest-ever
type of mom photos. But what can I say??  They are the cutest kids ever.  There seem to be a lot of sequence-type shots in here, I'm not entirely sure why, but there you go.

Just as the cobblers kids never had any shoes, so too, does the photographer never have formal portraits of her own family.  These days, I'm just happy if we're all in the same general vicinity together and I'm able to get a shot or two of my girlies,  which is why I'm so joyfully posting 'family album,' type shots, because my kids and husband mean more to me than anything, and yet, family life has definitely taken a hit with all my working for the past five months.  Needless to say, I can't wait for our impending  family vacation to Ireland!!  So enjoy some of my more personal shots, and I'll post more of my professional-type stuff soon...

And there are a bunch more family photos after the jump, to see them, click on 'continue reading...' below.

Chichenitza, My Birthday, Cancun, Isla de Mujeres and White Sand Beaches

As I posted below, I was going to do one slideshow, to show my first international destination wedding, on Isla de Mujeres, in Cancun. However, I had such a hard time finding a song that would be both sweet and romantic enough to represent Matt and Katt, and also fun and upbeat, to show our day-trip to Chichenitza. And then I decided to throw some of my birthday shots in (since that's where I was when I had my birthday) for my friends to see, that it turned into two slideshows.  One is of Kate and Matt's beautiful wedding day, on Isla de Mujeres, on Zama Beach (which is a quick 20-ish minute trip over by ferry from Cancun), and one that shows a few shots from my birthday, the hotel, and our day-trip to Chichenitza, with Kate, Matt and their friends (Tom and Joette, who we also fell in love with -- incidentally, if you're reading this, would love to hear from you, I lost your emails on the trip back to the U.S., so if you've got a moment, I'd love to say hi!), and their parents.  So, without further ado, I give  you:

My birthday in Cancun, (which we actually spent on Isla de Mujeres, scouting out the ceremony location), the Marriott, in Cancun, and the day-trip to Chichenitza.  Click here to see the birthday/Isla/Chichenitza slideshow...

And, even more exciting (for me), Kate and Matt's wedding slideshow.  Like I gushed said in the post below, I was so blessed and honored to be asked (and flown down) to be part of their special day, and I absolutely love both Kate and Matt, they are some of the kindest, most generous people I've ever shot, and of course, they're both super-cute, so that makes for nice pictures. =) Click here to see the wedding slideshow.

Also, just a technical aside, if you watch both slideshows you'll notice that the Chichenitza slideshow is a lot bigger, and the reason for this is, I was almost done with the wedding slideshow, when I had some issues with the program I use, and went and found there was an upgrade, so I downloaded it, and the upgraded version had the ability to make larger slideshows (YAY!!!), but I had already basically finished Matt and Kates, and these slideshows take SO long to make (we're talking days), that the thought of doing it all over again, just to be a bit bigger was just more than I could take, so the size of the slideshow in no way reflect my love of their wedding photos!  I hope you enjoy them.

Also, I need to talk about my birthday, and Kimmy for just a moment.  Despite this being the first birthday I hadn't spent with Ross in 10 years (which made it a little hard for me), Kim made sure I had a good day. We had room service for breakfast, and Kim proceeded to whip out a birthday hat and plop in on  my head along with one for her (you'll see me in the slideshow paying the room service with my hat on, and bedhead and jammies).  She schlepped a birthday gift and card for me, as well, to make sure I had something to open.  Now that's a friend.  The day was really wonderful, like I said in the previous post, we spent the afternoon, after we'd scouted out Zama Beach for the wedding (this is on the island, Isla de Mujeres, that we took a ferry to), floating and playing in the surf, collecting a myriad of shells, (that's a portion of the shells we collected, in the photo below), jumping off the dock (that you see in the slideshow, and the photos in the post below), having lunch on chaise lounges in our suits, beach-side, and laid in the sun for just a bit, before we had to hoof it back over to the mainland, where we were JUST in time for our 'couples' massage (which we still giggle about).  And despite the not-so-great lobster dinner, that made us both feel sick, it was still a great day.  I was able to relax, and just be in the moment, which given that this was a work trip, should've been harder, but Kimmy made it really easy for me.  That, combined with the thrill and fun of driving like a maniac all across the island in our golf cart, and her great company made it a wonderful birthday to remember, despite the fact that I spent a large part of it working.  And of course, I can't forget Kate and Matt, who put us up in a great room at the Marriott, which made the stay just as pleasant as could be. 

And not only is Kim my dear friend, but she is a great assistant.  We've been shooting together for awhile now, and she really anticipates me and my needs, helps me stay calm under pressure, and generally just makes shooting even more fun for me. I am so grateful that she's my  assistant this year (not to take anything away from my other previous/current assistants, of course).  And she really worked her tail off (well, we both did), during our trip, which I can go into more of later, suffice it to say, she was incredible, and a total trooper, and I truly couldn't have done it without her (besides the fact, that I really just like being with her, in general).

We had a great trip, and despite some bumps and bruises (remind me to tell you all about the mile run through LAX carrying all of my equipment),  we had a great time, and I'm indebted to her, and thrilled that Kate and Matt wanted me enough to have Kim and I join them , and be a part of their big day. We both felt incredibly blessed to be there, and be there however we could for Kate, (whether photographically, or otherwise).  I would love to shoot more destination weddings, both international and otherwise.  It was an adventure, and one I'd have fun doing again, for sure.  Phew, this is a much longer post than I intended, but there you have it. I hope you enjoy the slideshows of the journey, I had a fun time making them.

Oh! And one more note, the song playing on the wedding slideshow is called, "The Luckiest," by Ben Folds, and it might be one of the best 'love songs' I've ever heard in my life.  Seriously, watch the show just to listen to the song, it's so beautiful.

Kate and Matt en Cancun!

 

In May, Kim and I flew down to Cancun, Mexico to shoot Kate and Matt's destination wedding, on Isla de Mujeres, in Cancun, Mexico.  It was quite an incredible experience, and I was thrilled to be asked, and to be able to do it!  It was a crazy, mad-cap trip, which I can go into in more detail later, but getting to know Matt and Kate, and their friends and family was a privilege and honor that I won't soon forget.  I have so many favorites, this is going to be a large post. First of all, I first have to thank my cousin Mia, for putting me in contact with Kate and Matt. I'm completely indebted to her, for the introduction.

Being in Mexico, with Kim was a hoot, and we had a good time, especially on my birthday, where we rode over on the ferry to Isla de Mujeres, to scope out the ceremony and reception location (Zama Beach Resort, a gorgeous place for a wedding).  We spent the afternoon riding around like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on the golf cart that Kate and Matt had reserved for us, and spent the afternoon on the beach (at Zama Resort), in our bathing suits, jumping off the dock, looking for shells and swimming around on the white sand beach.  We had lunch on the beach, and after the ferry ride back to mainland Cancun, had a 'couples' massage (which cracked us up to no end), having a dinner by the ocean and an early night to bed, to wake up for our trip the next morning.

On Wenesday, we met Kate, Matt and their friends and family, and embarked on the 3-hour ride to Chichenitza.  It was incredible to see the sites I'd heard so much about, they were incredible to see, and I was happy to record Kate and Matt's day there, for them with their friends and family.  After that, every headed back to the hotel to do their own thing for the evening. Kimmy and I went to the beach for a while, and she fell asleep while I read, with the gorgeous waves lapping the incredibly white-sand beach.  We had dinner  in our rooms, and went to bed early to prep for the wedding the next day.

Kim and I went over to Isla de Mujeres early in the day, to meet Kate and Matt, and do their portrait session, before the ceremony started, and we had a great time riding around on the golf carts, all over Isla de Mujeres, shooting pictures down small alleys, on craggy rock, in front of crazy-bright, fabulously painted buildings for a couple hours.  At the ceremony, Kate held a simple bouquet of calla lillies, and  walked down the beach aisle to her groom, to the sounds of a small group of mariachi. The ceremony was short and sweet (and absolutely beautiful, in front of the pier, and the crystal-clear blue water).   Surrounded by their family and friends, it was lovely to watch, and I felt privileged to be there.  After the ceremony, we took some more portraits, with everyone there, and a few more of Kate and Matt, on the dock, and then it was time for a delicious Mexican dinner under the stars, with the beach and water in the foreground.  It was a great time, and I know I keep saying it, but I felt privileged to be asked to be there, and shoot the day, and I felt like I not only got to see a wonderful time in their lives, but I made new friends, as well. 

I'm in the process of making a slideshow, which includes some of the photos from the day trip, the day before the wedding, that we took to Chichenitza.  When the slideshow is up, I'll post it here, but in the meantime, a few of my favorites are also featured here, and there will be many more after the jump....

EDIT: To see the slideshow, go to next post, by clicking here...

I'm In Elle Magazine!!!

I am thrilled to let you in on a little secret. One of my wedding photos is in the March issue o f Elle Magazine.  I'm not kidding. It's something I've known might happen for a while, but have been waiting to see if it would happen.  One of the other florists I think is great (yes, there are other florists besides my Aunt Susi (but only a small handful) that I think are great, anyhow, Teresa, of Bonny Doon Garden Co., and I have worked together on a few weddings. One of the weddings we worked on together was Valentine and Darrell's wedding.

And what was really unique about Valentine and Darrell's wedding, was that they did all their flowers organic. So Teresa called me up ahead of time, and asked me to take some shots for her, since it would be a unique thing, and she knew of a woman working on a book about the organic flower industry, Amy Stewart, who might be interested in using them, or at least seeing them. So, after the wedding we showed them to Amy, and she contacted us later in the year, to let us know that Elle was going to be writing about her book, and could she send a few from that wedding, in case they wanted to use some. So fast forward to today, and I got an email from Teresa, letting me know that they used one of the  shots I took. How awesome is that?!?!? I am thrilled.To be in Elle magazine in any capacity is exciting.  The shot featured here is the shot they used, and once I get a copy of the magazine, I'll post that as well.

This news is icing on the cake of  a great couple of weeks for me. I've booked 8 new weddings for this year, in the span of less than a week, I'm already starting to book 2008, and I'm starting my season this upcoming weekend. So things are great, and busy. I've got 18 weddings already for this year, which is considerably more than I had at this time last year.

One of my clients, who hired me last year, Kate and Matt,  were originally going to have their wedding in Chico, decided to scale way back, and have a small destination wedding in Cancun, of which they asked me to go and shoot. I'm SO excited, as I love travelling, and I love shooting, so to get to combine them in an official capacity is more than thrilling. Plus, I really like Kate, and get along with her so well already, that I know it's going to be a blast.  I'm so stoked they're able to fly me and my assistant out to shoot their wedding, and I can't wait!! It's been one of my goals to shoot an international destination wedding (I've shot destination weddings before, just not internaltionally), my next goal is in Europe or the UK (preferably Italy, of course). =)  So things have been really great the past few weeks, albeit, still very busy. But good busy, not, I've I'm-not-sleeping-because-I-have-to-get-stuff-done kind of busy, just regular busy, which is much more mangeable.

Whoa...Down In Mexico...

Just a quick note...we just got back from a family vaca...if you've been trying to get ahold of me, that's where we've been! I thought I'd turned on my auto-responder on my email, but apparently I didn't do it correctly!

Hopefully will post soon, with tales of our adventures; swimming with dolphins, super-fun family time, and the trials of living in a less-than-200-square-foot room on our cruise for 8 days. More soon (with photos, of course)! So sad, so glad to be back. And sorry if you've been trying to get ahold of me, to no avail. I'm a bit behind on my wedding editing, but hoping to be back up to speed soon. 

Happy soon-to-be-Thanksgiving. I'm thrilled I'm able to play my Christmas music without getting grumpy looks from Ross. One of my favorite singers of all time, Sarah McLachlan, has a new Christmas CD out, with one of my favorite songs of all time, (although I'm a bit sad it doesn't feature one of my favorite Christmas songs (versions), of all time - Sarah McLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies, singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen together), I used to blast this, when I worked at Coastlands, so if you were there with me, you'll be familiar no doubt. Go check it out, it's beautiful. Here's a link to the Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLachlan version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (which is the best version I've ever heard, and I don't know if it's because I love both bands, or if I just like how it sounds or both, but I strongly urge you to check it out), you won't be disappointed:  

Here's the link to one of my favorite songs, which has been previously published, featured on the new Sarah McLachlan Christmas CD, Wintersong (this link will also make the entire album pop up in iTunes, if you want to sample the whole album):  

And if you don't have iTunes installed, you can hear the new album here, on Sarah's site.
 

Napa Getaway Weekend

Click here to see all the photos from our Napa trip!

Ross and I had the privilege to be able to go on a long-weekend to Napa at the end of August, with our dear friends, Kiersten and Brad. I've finally posted a pictorial, on flickr, if you want to check them out, click on the link above. And if you want to read a little more about the trip, you can read about it on my personl blog, by clicking here.

I love this photo, that I took at Kunde Estate Winery, a lot.

 

Ann and Peter

Sorry I've been so absent, I've had a crazy month -- I'm not sure if you've read my other blog, but I've had three weddings and Ross' 30th birthday week, where we went away with our family to L.A. and Disneyland (some family shots from Disney/L.A. here  ), so I've been seriously working, but not seriously blogging, by any means. So forgive my absence, but hopefully here are some fun shots for you to check out, and I should be posting said weddings shortly...

I recently shot a couple who goes to my church, and who I've known (well, Ann anyhow), for ages.  I think I met Ann when I was in high school, and she was a youth worker in my youth group.  So I've known her for a long time, and in that time, I've never really seen her with a super serious boyfriend, until she met Peter.  And can I just tell you how great it is to watch someone you've known forever, finally find the guy of their dreams? It's just so fun to watch them interact, and see just how ga-ga he is about her, and how very loved she is and is feeling. It's so great.  It's so fun for me to get to see couples interact on such a personal level when I'm shooting them, even if I have known them for 15 years or so. I just feel privileged to take part in something so important in their lives.

Anyhow, I digress.  We had a great time shooting them. We initially shot on West Cliff Drive (that's Wesssst SiiiiIIIIde for those of you in Santa Cruz - there's always been a weird west side/east side thing in Santa Cruz, having to do with the surfers and their territory.  I didn't try to understand it when I was with a surfer, and I don't try to understand now). But anyway, we were on the West Side, and it was a gorgeous location that I'd never shot before -- beautiful tree and cliff running down to the ocean. From there we drove a short ways to main beach, by the Boardwalk, and finished up their shoot there. I'm so happy with  how the photos turned out, and how beautiful they both look (and, from a total camera-geek perspective -- oh MAN I am in love with the gorgeous pastel colors, and bokeh of my my brand new, awesome (85mm, f1.2) lens.

Also, Pink Sun Drops asked me last post, how I always get people to do jumping shots, and the answer is almost always, they've seen my work and ask to do the jumping shots (or dipping, or running toward the camera - those are other ones that get requested).  And if I feel like the shots have been a little standard, or not tons of pizazz, I usually try and think of fun stuff to have people do, to make the shoot their own, and also just to make it a little more fun and interesting.  I think I've talked before about how at every wedding and every shoot, I challenge myself to do something different, or see someething in a new way, and so while I always try and mix it up and see things fresh, there are some shots that a lot of people really like, and ask to do again and again, and the jumping shot is one of those.

This is an example of trying to do things a little different, they were being so playful and silly with one another and I suggested Peter pick Ann up and swing her around -- well, he was more than happy to do so, and just totally went for it, this is one in a series of these, and I just love how it turned out, the movement, the colors, the joy on their faces...

More photos after the jump...

Celebs, Suites, The Good Life and More

That's a commercial shot of my sister as model, for my friend Kiersten's company, which I'll explain more below.

Also, I shot my couple-that-I-can't-tell-you-about  last week for their engagement shoot. It was so fun and amazing, and I wish I could show you the photos, and tell you all about it. And I may be able to at some point, but not now.

I will say, shooting someone who is absolutely sure of herself in front of a camera, and used to doing it, is an incredible thing for a photographer, and I think the pictures reflect that.

In other news, our family flew down to L.A. this weekend, to support my friend Kiersten, with a pre-Oscar event her company was invited to participate in. Have you heard of gifting suites? If not, here's a quick run-down.  Celebrities are invited to come 'shop' (which isn't really shopping, because they're giving products away for free) at a gifting event.  So Kiersten was invited to show at this event (which means, give her products away for free).  And because I'm a photographer and because it was also her 30th birthday that weekend (and I wanted to be with her for that anyway), we decided to go down and support her. 

So last Tuesdsay Kiersten overnighted me her latest products for Milkdudz, and my sis and I got to work. If you want to see all the shots from the photo shoot for Milkdudz, you can do so by clicking here. Those are all Kiersten's prouducts, featuring my sister, my daughter Sofia and my nephew Maddox. If you want to hear about my trip to L.A., (or see some celeb shots) continue after the jump...

Grammy In Italy

I was incredibly blessed on my thirtieth birthday to have my mom, dad and Grammy fly out and meet us for the last leg of our Italy trip, in Venice. They were all there to help me welcome my thirtieth decade. It was unbelievable to have them there.

This shot is one of my all-time favorites of my grandma. What you don't know about this picture is that we're standing in San Marco's square, dancing. And she's watching my girls dance, which is why she's got that happy look on her face, which is why I smile whenever I see it.

To me, the best photography is capturing a moment, that you can't get back, and the ability to look back and have total recall, which triggers the same emotion you had when you were in the midst of it. It's such an emotional art form.