Remember those old cartoons that would show a character with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other? Well I really believe I have them on my shoulders! The angel was cheering me on, telling me that this was such a good opportunity and to hustle my little butt off! The Devil (or evil Janelle with horns and a tail) was saying turn back now!! You can’t do this! Stick to what you’re used to. You’re setting yourself up for failure! You don’t even know these people that you’re shooting with. You have no idea how to even use external Flash and this is an indoor wedding. RUN Trick!!! Side note: Hannah told me that it was an indoor wedding, in a dark venue and we need to use an external flash the whole time… I had a panic attack! First off I don’t even OWN a flash. Second, I don’t even know how to USE one, let alone turn the thing ON! My self esteem quickly went Low… I mean Low Low! Jack could see that I wanted to back out, so he gave me a lil pep talk. Driving over my nerves almost got the best of me! I knew that the more that I thought about it, the more that I’d want to turn my car right around! So I turned my radio really loud so I couldn’t hear myself think. Gotye’s “Someone I used to know” song was playing; I immediately started laughing because for the past few days Jack hasn’t been able to get this darn song out of his head. Then all my jams started playing so I was good! Isn’t it funny that music has the power of taking you to a whole different place. So now I arrived to the Fox Theater in Redlands and I’m looking for parking. I admit that I am an ALRIGHT driver, but when you put me in an unknown environment… ALRIGHT turns into HORRIBLE! I was totally zoned out looking for parking when I almost hit a motorcyclist! It all happened in slow motion, I could see the fear in his eyes and him starting to swivel the arms of his motorcycle. I got out of his way as fast as I could! I pulled into a nearby parking lot and I feared that he was going to follow me and kick my butt for almost killing him! I would’ve deserved it, but thank God he didn’t. So I was off to a bad start… Luckily things got better once I met the team of photographers for the day. Hannah is the head hancho that got us all together. To say she’s amazing is an understatement! She’s totally cool! Abbey& Gina were the other 2 second shooters, & they were awesome too! I love meeting friendly people. Hannah gave us a tour of the dark theatre where both the ceremony & reception were to take place. We were trying out our cameras & settings when I realized that my autofocus sensors weren’t grabbing on to anything that didn’t have a pin light on it, and the bride & groom were not going to be under a light. It was too dark for my sensors to focus. We tried everything and… NOTHING! Im guessing it’s because I have a camera that doesn’t have as many focusing sensors as the upper level cameras do. This meant that I was going to have to manual focus the whole reception! DUN DUN DUN… the walls were coming in & I couldn’t breathe! So now I don’t know how to use my flash & I have to worry about manual focusing too! I had to take 3 shots of each pose & play with the focus to get at least one in focus! It was sooooo frustrating but at least there were two other shooters to get the shots. Other than that the whole wedding went smoothly! I have to start doing some pushups to be able to hold the 70-200 2.8 lensaround, that thing is a monster! My little weak wrists were dying trying to hold that thang up! I was on a real high because after getting my toes wet, I wanted to dive right in! I am certain that this is RIGHT for me! I want to be a wedding photographer! Thank you so Much HANNAH! I am very appreciative of you for giving me this opportunity! I me great gals from this & ate some bomb food!!! Yummm!! Friends + Food = one happy gal! Venue details... Groom had to grab a smoke before he saw his bride, I followed him outside & thought this was a cool photo because the flame added enough light to see the details of his face! I was posted on the stairs so i was able to run up and down the balcony to be able to get these shots... While Hannah was posing her bride & groom I was off to the side getting different angles to add to her collection... Reception details... first dance... This lil guys photo was my favorite of the night! All the kids made a mess with the rose petals & he was trying to clean them up! The brides father and sister dancing away...
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I'M JANELLE MARINA
Wife, Mama Shark, + Photographer. Most days, you'll find me in mismatched socks and a top knot, working behind my computer with a smile on my face, listening to Zac Brown Band and R&B --or, dancing in the kitchen with my 3 littles and hunka husband, seeing who could come up with the coolest dance moves. I'm a wedding photographer, West Elm lover, aspiring advocate for our buddies with special needs, and a Certified Dreamer since 1986. We live in a cozy city in Southern California and are always up for a good adventure. I enjoy telling stories with my camera, grubbing on spicy food, and solving the latest Dateline case.
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December 2019
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