Inna and Fotis: All You Need Is Love!

When I first met this couple, I thought they were married for years. Little did I know: at that time they were not even engaged. A very intellectual, extremely outspoken Inna with aristocratic features, and calm Fotis with deep kind blue eyes.

They wanted their love story to be sweet, simple and cute. I think, it turned out passionate, joyful and sunny. How could it be any different with those two love birds in the sunny San Diego?

Okay, okay, enough talking....
Enjoy!!!!

Pannikin Cafe, Encinitas

Meditation Garden, Encinitas

The Union

 Swamis Beach, Encinitas

Senior Pictures for Kate

A dear friend whose wedding I shot about a year ago recommended me to her aunt for her daughter's senior pictures.

Susan and Kate live in Colorado, but come to visit San Diego quite often: there is family here, beautiful weather, warm sun year round, and gorgeous beaches.

Most kids in Colorado have their senior photos taken in the mountains or on hiking trails, but that wasn't Kate's dream, Kate wanted the ocean.

I tend to send my clients a little questionnaire so I can understand them better, know how to work with them, learn about their expectations, and envision the photo shoot.

Kate described herself as Loud, Passionate, Inquisitive, Driven, Optimistic, Fast-Paced and Dramatic. She wanted the photo shoot to look fun, laid-back, and very pretty in a casual sort of way.

When we met for the pre-shoot consultation, I had two main questions: "are you okay to walk?" and "would you consider getting into the water?" To my delight she said "yes" to both which brightened up my day and got me into "let's play" mode.

The surf calendar for Sunset Cliffs stated "high tide" when I looked it up. I didn't realize that the tide even got that high. My modest ambition took a turn for the unexpected when my idea to have Kate in the ocean splashing water at me, turned into the ocean splashing water all over both of us. I was ready to back us up (safety and client's comfort always come first) but Kate confidently said "I don't mind" and bravely went for it with all the delightful courage of a fun and sweet sixteen year old.

This is how it started... Beautiful, sincere, casual, and classy.

We experimented a bit and mutually decided to "go for it". Kate bravely dove into Luba's ocean of creativity.

These pictures make me smile... Just by looking at them I start feeling an ocean breeze on my skin and smelling fresh salty air.

When we got enough we moved on to other fun adventures, keeping the joy of discovery in our hearts.

At some point I asked her to imagine somebody she really liked and "flirt" with me.

This is when she turned from a sweet, innocent teenager to an absolutely gorgeous woman.

This is how I view adolescence: you are all alone in this world, sitting there, looking ahead and trying to figure out what's next.... You'll learn a ton soon (if you dare to have a courage to) about yourself and the world around you... and God help you!

This isn't how I see it for Kate though. The next image was created for her.

She is calm and confident. She doesn't know what's ahead of her, but she'll figure it out. 

My explanation of the idea for the shot got my lovely model thinking....

It was getting dark and we decided to go to Ocean Beach to continue with some night portraits by the pier but found an enigmatic spot on the way to the car.

A little mystery never hurts, right?

We finished off the photo shoot with some long exposure shots in the complete darkness. 

What a great smile! What a Beautiful Girl!

When my images move something deep in my soul, I know that I must be doing something right.