Newport Beach Lds Wedding
My heart is full as I reflect upon Emmi and Matt’s wedding day. So many heart-felt details were incorporated into this celebration of love. The honoring of the eternal nature of love, the revisiting of the couple’s first date locale, a brush with the beach (where Matt proposed)… it was like taking a trip in a time machine– spanning the entirely of their relationship up to that present day. Speaking of which, (not to spoil the romantic musings), they happened to be married on National Donut Day! Hence a few of the following images. And the icing on the cake… (no pun intended). Emmi is a native of Peru. Her family was not able to make the trip to California for the wedding. As a special surprise, Matt arranged a Skype session with Emmi’s family during their reception! Her reaction was priceless! These two have so much love for one another! I am so thankful I was invited to be a part of it! I wish you both a world of happiness! Thank you for your patronage!!! xoxo!
Newport Beach Family Session
This shoot took me back to my days as a preschool teacher at the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center. That was where I discovered I loved photographing people. (I’d been photographing landscapes and still life as a hobby up until that point.) I began bringing my camera to work so I could photograph the children I had grown close to and wanted to remember after they graduated and moved on. This endeavor turned into a project that I collaborated on with my supervisor: making an end-of-the-year slideshow dvd of portraits, details and activities for the families to take with them; a multi-media yearbook if you will. My love for photographing children expanded to include a love for photographing couples, then I landed my first paid wedding– and the rest is a continuing history in the making. So now we’ve come full circle. Meet Stacy! She ad her dad left their home in Texas for a two week vacation that included Disneyland, a tour of Dave’s home state of Oregon, and concluded back in California with this photo shoot just in time for Father’s Day. Dave’s not big on pictures, and was perfectly fine with letting Stacy steal the show! (She totally did!) 😀
Lakewood Newborn Session
There is nothing I can think of that is sweeter than a newborn baby. I reverence the sacredness of conception and birth and give thanks for the blessing of family. I am also grateful for the opportunity to document this little miracle. Please welcome sweet Gwendolyn Rose into the world! A huge thank you and shout out to my dear friend Kayla, of Little Lashes Photography, for her assistance on this shoot! Congratulations to the proud parents, Jackie and Scott! Gwen is so precious! Thank you for your patronage!!! xoxo
DTLA Graduation Session with Courtney
There are sooo many things I could say about this shoot! First off Courtney, THANK YOU! This shoot brings me so much JOY! It was such fun running around DTLA with you! This first image puts a big smile on my face! What a wacky random portrait! LOVE IT! The theme for this shoot was art, music, and literature– I think we nailed it! 😀 Courtney is about to graduate with a Bachelors in English from CSULB! Congratulations Courtney! All your hard work is about to pay off! I’m so excited to see what direction you take in life. I know you will bring creativity and ~vision~ with you wherever you go! xoxo!
Happy 4th to my Blog!
As I begin to write my traditional April blog anniversary commemoration, my mind is reflecting on last year’s post…. It included images from a trip I took to Joshua Tree with my dear friend KC. He and I would probably make a joke about this picture I’m posting today– For those of you who haven’t seen this plant before, the blooms are called Shrimp Boats. We would start laughing about “shrimps”, have a tickle fight, and then go grab some lunch and talk about life. I usually make a special effort to do a full visual post in honor of my blog, but this time around I’m feeling too blue. I’ve been doing a ton of gardening this week to try and distract myself– I wish I could go into further detail. For now, I’ll just say happy birthday lil’ bloogy poo. May we all create conditions for greatness in our professional and personal lives this year! xoxo
Seal Beach Maternity Session
My heart is full as I write this post. This maternity session celebrates the astounding joy that can only be embodied by *first*time* parents to be. Imagine the anticipation; the waiting for your new little wonder and creation to join you in full-fledge physical presence. Then multiply it by 100! Or even 1000! Through the help of modern medicine, great effort, and periods of heart break, Jackie and Scott are realizing their long-held dream of parenthood! I remember the day Jackie shared the news with me. It was around Christmas time last year. Jackie was then 6 months pregnant, but it was hard to tell. (She didn’t want to spread the news until they were certain this little girl was going to make it to full term.) As I sat across from her in her living room, she revealed the precious news. I wanted to sing! I wanted to shout for joy, cry, laugh, give her the biggest hug I could manage… I was ecstatic for her! Words can not do justice to the emotions I felt then, or the emotions she and Scott must be feeling. It was an honor to commemorate this special time in their lives. XOXO!
San Gabriel River Parkway Nature Trail Family Session
I love this family for so many reasons! Fun, fashionable, and faithful are a few words that come easily to mind when I think of the Araizas. I know them through church association and have so many good memories with them individually. All the hours of ironing and agonizing over wardrobe choices, prepping and bribing the children to smile paid off. 🙂 Loretta and Henry, you have a beautiful family~ I hope to have such a legacy of my own. Much love to you all and thank you for your patronage! xo!
Long Beach Portraits Cultured Magazine
Kendell Carter is a contemporary artist whose work is street, historical, and fresh all rolled into one. Through our association, I have had the opportunity to shoot his work inside of galleries, on location, at Art L.A. Contemporary, and most recently at MOLAA. For more info on that show, Transformations, click here. It’s an awesome body of work that celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit. I highly recommend checking it out! (On view through May 24th, 2015.) Here comes the extra fun part! This month, Kendell asked me if I’d do the honors of creating his portrait for an interview for Cultured Magazine. I just got word this morning that dawn altier photography has officially been published! SUPER EXCITING!!! I love what I do! Here are the shots we sent in. See and read the interview here.
Rancho Los Cerritos Family Session
Talk about panache! You may remember Angel from her graduation shoot here. Since then, she has married, brought a son into the world, and is in the midst of obtaining a Masters degree in Education. GO girl!!! 😀 We had a great time catching up and I loved the energy they brought to the session. Here are my favorite images. Enjoy!
Los Angeles LDS Temple Wedding
I’m so excited to be able to feature Lindsay and Mike’s wedding day! Their ceremony took place at the LDS temple in L.A., followed by a yummy dessert bar and tons of dancing in Mike’s hometown of Lancaster. I was especially fond of all the beautiful details they incorporated into their day! Lindsay’s tiara and the guys’ cuff links were top of my list! Thank you for your patronage! I had a blast photographing all the fun! May love fill your days and nights always!
Downtown Long Beach Couples Session
I’ve known Hannah since the day she was born. It’s hard to believe she’s all grown up and married now! (Adam and Hannah flew in from Washington the night before our shoot. Needless to say they were a bit tired the next morning.) I had suggested we start at sunrise for a dramatic sky. I’m so pleased with the results! Check out the first two images! Well worth rolling out of bed at 5 a.m.! 😀 Thank you for your patronage Hannah and for a wonderful morning cruising around Long Beach! Congrats to you and Adam and much love to you both!
Los Angeles Temple Wedding Kim and Josh
september 30, 2014
A lot has happened over the past month. Big changes. One of the positives was getting into grad school at the tail end of August. I applied to the MSW program at CSULB back in February. Needless to say, life has gotten 10x’s busier. It’s an adjustment to say the least– more on this later. For now, here is a lil sneak peek of Kim and Josh’s wedding. 🙂
Los Angeles LDS Wedding and Wilson Golf Course Reception
The first word that comes to mind when I think of Bianca and Jared’s wedding is COLOR! Talk about a sensational summer synthesis of fuschia, gold, orange, and royal blue! Bianca and Jared, you two are adorable together! It truly was a pleasure to work with you and your families! There are so many memorable moments and details… At the ring ceremony, one of the couple’s friends serenaded them with John Legend’s ‘All of Me’. It was beautiful! Bianca’s mom is an event planner– her reception decor was incredible! The guest Flamenco dancers and the food were amazing too! I loved the entire day from start to finish! Thank you so much for hiring me to be a part of it!
Long Beach Artist Kendell Carter
Kendell Carter is an artist who is passionate about bringing people together through “art as experience”. His goal is to create a world where social distinctions and hierarchies cease to exist. His work functions as a catalyst for dialogue about issues of race, consumerism, art, design, utility, architecture and unity. He invites a new normalcy, where knee-jerk reactions to culture, and ultimately humanity, give way to a different kind of being in the world. He explores “alternate conditions” through elaborately staged, somewhat disorienting installations that encompass both familiar and foreign objects. He mixes materials and design traditions, such as name-brand clothing, du-rags and graffiti, toile and bronze-plated Timberland boots. One work featured below is his famous coupling of an Eames chair wearing a hoodie. The melding of formal and casual culture is quite common in his work. The Eames chair image is set to be published in the Krannert Art Museum’s MetaModern Catalogue as part of a show Kendell will be featured in in January 2015– We are EXCITED about that! It is an honor to know Kendell and photograph his work. He is a creative genius who seeks to inspire others to reach their peak potential of creativity. Thank you for all you do for me and countless others KC!
Disneyland Engagement Session
For a romance that budded and bloomed at Disneyland, it wasn’t hard for Lindsay and Mike to pick a location for their engagement session. Their first kiss happened on the tram that takes guests to and from the park and it seems as if all the major dating milestone moments could be connected to a ride, a restaurant, or location within the park. What a fun place to fall in love! Mike even proposed to Lindsay at that scenic walkway next to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. When they asked me if I’d be opened to shooting at Disneyland, how could I resist? It was a blast! Here are a few of my favorites from the day. Congrats Lindsay and Mike! Looking forward to your wedding in October!
El Dorado Park Maternity Session
This post is close to my heart. It’s Mother’s Day Eve and this post is about Rachel, the first friend I ever made in public school. Her mom saw me in tears in the doorway of Mrs. Nerell’s kindergarten classroom and brought Rachel over to introduce her to me and my mom. Minutes later, Rach and I were off exploring the dramatic play area and picking out squares on the story-time carpet. Life in a foreign environment was suddenly bearable thanks to her! Many years have passed since then… and she is now a wife and a new momma! She and her hubby Jesse welcomed a son into the world last month! It was awesome to reunite with her through this photo shoot! Happy Mother’s Day Rach– to all mothers! And a special thank you to my Momma! You are my voice of reason and I love that we can have silly moments together! Much Love! XOXO
Joshua Tree and Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum
April is the dawn altier photography blog’s birth month. Happy 3rd birthday lil’ bloggy poo! To commemorate, here are some images captured in the arid landscape of Joshua Tree. KC and I ventured there for a Little Dragon concert at the delicious Pappy and Harriets and purposely discovered Noah Purifoy’s Outdoor Museum prior to the show. We had a great time exploring this sculptural ghost town, where many people’s trash has truly become another man’s treasure. If you are planning a trip to the high desert, we recommend adding this place to your itinerary!
baby J trees grow up to become…
adult J Trees.
Laguna Beach High School Grad Session
There are a few times in your life when professional photography is an absolute MUST. Senior portraits are no exception. If you can swing it, please don’t settle for the school’s photographer. No offense to a studio set-up, but there’s only so much creative latitude you can have with a “step-right-up”one-stop-shot kind of set-up. Who wants to be typical and cookie cutter? Why not create portraits that are a bit more scenic?
Shayne wanted a beach backdrop. Done! No better place than Laguna! He wanted wardrobe options. Done! You want traditional mixed with non-traditional. You wanna wear your sunny’s in a few of the shots? Done and done! He brought props too. Cool!!! That said, this first shot is probably my favorite. Love the wave crashing in the background and the expression on Shayne’s face! Congrats Shayne on 4 years of hard work in the bag! I know it will pay off! Here’s to getting in to UCSD!!! Go Tritons!!! 🙂
San Francisco
San Francisco is, by far, my favorite city to visit. Talk about zany, eccentric, colorful, and fun! A friend and I drove up there earlier this month, (March 2014), and it was great to be back exploring the uniqueness of the neighborhoods, parks and local markets, as well as climbing the mountainous thoroughfares. Highlights from the trip include crossing the Golden Gate Bridge by foot, savoring salsiccia pizza and ricotta cannoli amazingness at Pizzeria Delfina, and cruising down Haight Street for a little shopping. Here are my favorite images from our meanderings. Enjoy!
Rancho Los Cerritos Family Session
This first image melts my heart! Laura, John, and Harrison, I love you!!! Thank you for hiring me to do your family pictures!!! It was an absolute BLAST working with you and I look forward to our next shoot together! Enjoy these beautiful images and thank you for making them possible!
