BeccaStudios.com (theblog)

MARRIED!

So...you're wondering...where the heck did Rebecca go? no blogs...barely any twitters-I know...I fell off the grid. HARD. Most of you know why, but if you don't, it's because yesterday (October 11,2009) I got MARRIED (to the oh-so-fabulous Mr. Orbie Pullen!!) Awesome, exciting, overwhelming...it was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be. So, with that said, I would just like to give an extra special thank you to all my clients who have been so patient during this wild and crazy time. 

With that in mind, I want to let you all know that (as with follows most weddings lol) Orbie and I will be on our honeymoon starting this Friday Oct 16 through Tuesday October 3d. During this time, I will be unable to process any prints orders, or fulfill any album revisions. Also, I am unsure about phone or email access, so please excuse any delays in responding to phone or email messages. 

Thank you so much for you patience and understanding!!

PS- Don't worry...there will be posts about our wedding with pics to follow, as well as posts for all the fabulous vendors who helped make our wedding as fun and fabulous as it was!!!

 

All my thanks,

Mrs. Rebecca Meredith Pullen   (!!!)

Fabulous shoes from Heidi Hughett over at Couture Celebrations!

I LOVE Heidi! If you haven't met Heidi (or checked out her event planning studio), then I would highly recommend it! Heidi (and her fab assistant Lia) run a super amazing event planning business here in Santa Cruz. Besides working in weddings, we have one other thing (well, one of many) in common....we  love love LOVE shoes! In fact, Heidi loves shoes so much, she does a blog post (Shoes for thought Thursdays) every week on her blog. How rad is that? 

Anywho, I had been having problems in my mission for sassy fuschia shoes for my own upcoming wedding (coming soon-blog posts on my wedding adventures!)...so Heidi did a whole shoe post for me!! You should check out the sassy shoes she found for me!

Here is one pair I'm digging....

What do you think?

You can visit her blog at:

http://couturecelebrations.blogspot.com/

Moving!

So Mr. Pullen and I are officially moving this weekend! We're moving to a larger home (more office space...woohoo!), but luckily we're staying close to our oh-so-awesome beachside neighborhood. I'm SUPER excited!! 

Here's what it means for you:

As of tonight (Friday April 3) I will not have internet until midweek next week (the horror!!!!!!). Please be patient with me if I don't reply to any emails straightaway. Since I'm the only soul alive without an iphone, I don't have the luxury to check my email every 2.8 seconds. 

Also, I'm hoping to set up my office asap, but it still may take me some time. With that in mind, any engagement sessions from the last couple weeks may be a bit delayed in being uploaded. Sorry for any inconvenience!! 

Thank you guys for your patience during this super exciting time! 

Cheers,

Rebecca

2009 baby!

Well, I hope everyone had amazing holiday and a fantastic new year! Orbie and I had a blast on our trip to Colorado...it was so nice to see the family. We stayed a bit longer than we did last year, so we had more time to do some mini adventures. We took day trips to Boulder and Vale, went tubing with the family, Orbie got a snowboard a couple days (I even braved skiing again...and I didn't eat it once! skills...), and of course some post xmas shopping!  Everything else involved vegging with the family and rotating between the pool table and the wii station. 

But now I'm home, and am working at full throttle to get as much work as I can before our next trip (Mexico! woOo!) It's been pretty nuts lately, but I'm really excited over some of the rad albums coming from this last season's weddings! Also, I've been able to do some really awesome maternity shoots for some super cool soon-to-be mom's, so I'll have to do some Maternity posts soon too so you can check those out! 

Anywho...I'm super excited for this new year, and all the amazing and fabulous things it will bring!

Will work for travel....

So, I'll be honest...I'm am not much of a techie. So I am not so fully versed in web lingo as many as my peers. However, today, during one of my random web wandering sessions (while waiting for thumbnails to load, files to copy...all that fun stuff), I thought  "hey...I haven't looked at my web or blog stats lately. That might be fun" (and by fun I mean I had already checked and rechecked my usual fav blogs, Twitter site, and other misc time killing websites-so I was reaching...)

I've gotta say...it's so awesome...it lists the countries people are in when they visit your site! I mean, I had no idea people from all over the world were visiting my website! Romania, Australia, Asia, all over Europe (to name a tiny few)...it blew my mind!! Anyway, it got me thinking....I wonder if these people know that

I ADORE traveling!  (hence the juggling of upcoming trips to Mexico, Colorado, and Vegas)

So if you're sitting here...looking at my photography and wondering "I wonder if this amazing and slightly sassy photographer would fly over and photograph my wedding?" then the answer is Yes!!!

Not only would I do it, I would LOVE to do it! It's the perfect marriage (sorry for the pun) of my love for travel and my love for photography. So, if you are looking for a photographer for your totally fabulous destination wedding, you should definitely shoot me an email (Rebecca@BeccaStudios.com) or give me a call...

Birthday!!

So I want to give everyone a heads up that I will be out of the office for the next few days for some birthday fun!! I will be back in on Wed. Cheers!!!

Speaking Engagement at SJSU

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of visiting San Jose State University, and being invited to speak at the Business Practices in Photography class.  Sandi Frank, a past professor of mine, who is also a fabulous commercial and fine art photographer, teaches the class.. It was one of my favorite classes in college (in addition to studio lighting class, also taught by Sandi...coincidence?) and thank goodness for it, since it prepared me for what was to come. 

I'm a solid believer in sharing knowledge. I think there are a good many egos in the art field, who hole themselves, and their knowledge, up like hermits in a cave, trying to hide their "trade secrets". No one learns by themselves, and I wouldn't be the photographer and business woman I am if it weren't for people like Sandi, and all my other fantastic professors, friends, collegues, peers, other photographers, and Orbie (my oh so fantastic and talented fiance, and photographer extrodinaire), all who are/were willing to share what they knew.  Unfortunately, when I was in the class, we didn't have the chance to have a Wedding Photographer speak, and so there are many things I know now, that I wish I had learned then! So, I love being able to give back, and share what I've learned over the last few years.

I should mention Orbie and I were invited to speak together (Rebecca factoid: Orbie and I met in college). I think we make a great team, and this was no different. We both have different businesses and styles, and as such, have a total variety of information to share.  It was an awesome experience, and by sharing what I know, it makes me step back and realize how far I've come and learned since I had sat in those same chairs. 

Here is a snapshot of Orbie, Sandi, and I, along with a few of the students in the class....

Vacation Baby!!

Hello all! I just want to give a heads up that I will be out of the office from Feb 27 to March 9. Orbie and I will be having a fantastic vacation at Lake Tahoe and then Hawaii (two totally opposite locations, I know). I will not have access to my email, so if it is something urgent, the best way to reach me is by phone. Otherwise, I will return all emails on March 10th.

Cheers!!

Locks of Love

I've been growing out my hair for a long while now. It was pretty long, and to be honest, I was getting tired of it (Ever closed your hair in a car door? Not so fun I assure you...). Anyway, I decided it was time to start fresh. Which leads me to....

Locks of Love is an amazing non-profit organization that takes donated hair and makes them into hairpieces for disadvantaged children who suffer from long term hair loss due to medical conditions, cancer treatments, and other causes. To date, over 2,000 children have been helped. I had heard of Locks of Love, and other similar organizations, as I'm sure many of us have. While doing the research though, I realized how I had never appreciated something as simple as having hair. So, with my ruler and ziplock bag in hand, I headed over to Kepare Salon in Capitola.

Here I am, seconds before the cut!

Katie, at Kepare Salon, did an AMAZING job styling my hair. If you're looking for someone who is not only an amazing stylist, but a totally awesome person too, swing over to Kepare Salon in Capitola, ask for Katie, and you won't regret it. Here it is!

Ready for the "after" pic?

Sassy!

So here is my new challenge for my clients this year:

Obviously I know you don't want to change to a drastic new style before your wedding. BUT, once the wedding is over, and you realize you're tired of growing your hair out for your sassy wedding day 'do, here is my offer. If you go for to big "chop" and donate your hair to Locks of Love, Childhook Leukemia Foundation, or a similar non-profit organization, then I will give you a $150 print credit to be used for your event! Don't forget to take pictures!!

A few things to know:

-Carefully research which organization to determine which you would like to donate to.
-Donated hair must be 10 inches for Locks of Love, 12 inches for Childhood Leukemia Foundation, 8 inches for Pantene Beautiful Lengths (as seen on Oprah).
-Depending on which organization you choose, hair may be colored or permed, but many do not accept bleached or highlighted hair.
-Hair must be secured in a loose braid or ponytail before being cut.

The Holidays, Baked Beans, and Summer Vacation

To start off, no I was not abducted by aliens. I realize it's been awhile since my last blog, so I hope you can forgive me. On to the update!! (I'll keep it brief, there's a lot to cover!) There will be a shocking lack of photos in this post...sorry!

1) Since it has been awhile...let's start with Happy New Year!! (Yes I know it's February, but bear with me). We (the fella and I) had a FANTASTIC holiday, which was packed full of family, travel (Colorado), and more importantly, an obscene amount of cookies (Homemade Danish shortbread + Homemade deliciously chewy gingerbread= Awesome-ness!). Which leads me to...

2) We're engaged!  Orbie has a spectacular post about it HERE, but the short version is Orbie proposed Christmas morning, while we were opening presents. To give you a visual, we woke up, and went straight into presents, so I was still in my flannel pj's, and my hair was a sight to behold (Now you can see why there are no pictures...). I opened his present to me only to find a can of baked beans (which makes this blog's title make a little more sense, yeah?), a can of tuna (He put these in to fool me about the weight and size of the gift), and a small box. The rest is a little blurry, but it pretty much involves Orbie popping the question, and me turning into a bawling mess for about half an hour. Best Christmas EVER!! (By the way, I'd like to point out that Orbie's claim that I am a chronic present shaker is a flat out lie...)

3) It's a little known fact that Wedding Photographers don't vanish into a dark cave during the winter, only to emerge in the Spring. In reality, this time of year is almost like our "Summer Vacation" (It's California for crying out loud, it's not much of a stretch weather-wise). So far we've had some fantastic trips to Mendocino and Colorado (I swear, I'll post some pics from these at some point). This month (which will be nuts), we'll be going to Tahoe, Hawaii, and Las Vegas (2 for fun, one is 1/2 business, 1/2 fun. ) Awesome!!!

Soon, I'll be doing some engagement sessions, so check back for that. I am SO excited for this year. I have so many awesome couples that I get to work with, and its going to be FANTASTIC!!! I mean, seriously, I've consider myself so blessed to have had such amazing clients in the past. It's the best a photographer can ask for. This year though, I don't know what it is, (and I hope I don't sound like a raving dork), but people are really raising the awesome-ness bar.

Check back soon for travels photos, and upcoming Engagement Sessions!!!