Billabong Christmas Party

The event was in an old hanger.

Recycled classic record covers,song sheets and a homemade bar adorned the inside

I had the privilege of photographing White Lilac's amazing event design at the Billabong Christmas party at Great Park in Irvine. (You gotta love that name..."Great Park" I mean I should switch my photography studio name to "Great Photography")
Billabong's owner Gordan Merchant flew from Australia to be at the event. Rides on the giant Helium Balloon were free for the night (turns out the rides are free until January when they will charge $20 per adult per ride)

I don't think I've told the world yet, but I think I've found my match interms of event Style and design. I love working with White Lilac Inc! Those women are amazing! Take a look at their work! So creative, beautiful and well done! All of the records, music sheets, boards, even the bar is made from recycled material from thrift stores and vintage stores. Much harder work, but better for the earth. Try it some time. Want to see more event photos? Go HERE there should be images soon.

Books on strings with christmas lights coming from the ceiling.

The homemade bar with nothing but classic records spread accross the exterior.

Barbara

My Luciano Pavarotti portrait.

Oh my word, this Album cover makes me happy.

My lovely lady and I getting ready to party the night away.

Sunny and Katie of White Lilac.

Heading out for our balloon ride.Yes, my stache is back!

The Helium balloon that brought us 400 feet above ground and then back down again. It was like being a miniature piece of rice under a little kids balloon... string and all. I asked questions such as "What if that string holding us to the ground breaks? Will we be a physics lesson to the rest of humanity until the end of time?" I learned about the releasing of helium in a controlled manner would bring us safely down somewhere in a 40 mile radius.

I love this series. A perfect way to end a selective night at a surf industry Christmas party.

Palm Springs Summary

My parker shots while scouting for the shoot.

Palm Springs:

I stayed at the Parker Hotel for 2 nights.
1st night was a rehearsal dinner (a very LONG rehearsal dinner), 2nd Day was the wedding (see previous post) Night was filled with a wedding reception and then an after party of champagne and burgers with the White Lilac crew...minus Sunny who was fighting an extremely painful migraine and had to be rushed to the ER for a few shots from large needles. The night was interesting to say the least... Adam and I weren't sure which room we had to stay in, so confusion quickly turned into switching rooms and then switching back. I ended up relaxing by the firepit for awhile talking with a bunch of different people... some on drugs, some on alcohol, some on both... one retired stripper (that didn't get the memo she was retired) one myspace operator that had Reebok Pumps on, the wedding's hair stylist (nory) , 2 "would be" bridesmaids oh! and a passed out lady that was apparently just sleeping in one of the 8 firepit chairs... A weird night, but memorable, it felt like something from a Coen Brother's film... it didn't really amount to much except a weird concept and strong charactors.
My plan for the next day was to wake up early and play a game of tennis with Will Ferrell who supposedly was still at the hotel... it didn't happen... I woke up at 11am.
A fun trip, great pictures, met some fun people from Houston.
I have a few more pictures to post, but I can't locate where the images are...but I've only checked 3 of the drives...
If you go to Palm Springs or Palm Desert, visit The Parker Hotel. Its rediculas.

(Clockwise) Me, Sunny,Adam and Katie getting iPhone portraits taken.

Angie and David's Wedding

The Parker Hotel in Palm Springs hosted one of my favorite weddings of the year.
Event Design and consulting: White Lilac , they did an amazing job, Sunny and Katie deserve gold stars.
Adam Sjoberg Assisted and shot with me, some of the image credit goes inpart to him releasing stress off of me as well as doing some excellent shooting of his own.
Overall the Location,the event design,the newly married couple and the photographs came together to make a gorgeous event.
Here is a teaser of some of my favorite images.

Angie's fashion shoot

I'll post more on this later, the personalized side to this trip.

SLIDESHOW now up!

I love shooting for White Lilac

Yes, once again I photographed for White Lilac.
This time the event was held inside a tent near the Island Hotel, Also home of Fashion island in Newport Beach.
The pomp and glory of the decorations were most impressive. Thanks in full to White Lilac's team of Sunny Ravanbach and Katie Rudd. They worked extra hard to transform this room into exactly what the Harvesters would need for a successful Charity Event.
Take a look around!
As it turns out, one of our studio's favorite clients Jackie Melby is a key person in organizing the Harvesters events. Good work Jackie and the rest of the Harvesters!