Been knowing Edgar for years and this guy knows how to get down with those clippers. Best fade I've ever gotten was from this dude. Glad to see he's doing big things. If you're ever in the West Hollywood area, hit up his shop.
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Photo by JOYAndLOVEphotography
As bachelorette parties have become more and more adventurous, they have also become more luxurious—and that often means more expensive. It’s not uncommon for bridal party members to pitch in $1,000 each for the event. You can, however, shave some of the costs down by getting creative with certain elements, like accommodations and activities.
Looking for budget-friendly bachelorette party ideas that won’t take away the “fun” factor? We’ve got several:
- Scavenger hunts are an action-adventure way to kick off a bachelorette party, and they can be relatively inexpensive. Stick to one heavily populated area—like a mall or arts district—or have your friends traipse across the city. Get personal with the clues for items you’re searching for to really hone in on your bride-to-be. For example, you can take a picture at the place where the bride and groom had their first date.
- A good old-fashioned sleepover is a great way for the bridal party to celebrate and spend some quality time together. Plus, opening up your home means not having to pay for hotel rooms or travel, which can really cut down on costs. You can unleash your inner teenager and go for plush pajamas, pints of ice cream and a variety of games. You can make it a themed movie night and binge watch the bride-to-be’s favorite flicks. If you want to make it really special, hire a local chef to come cook dinner for the night.
Photo by JOYAndLOVEphotography
- Destination bachelorette parties sound pricey, but they don’t have to be. This is most easily accomplished by a larger guest list, so that communal costs are less of a burden. For example, if everyone shares a vacation rental right here in Los Angeles, you can seriously slash your travel, room and board costs. Plus, with access to a kitchen, you can cook more and save money on eating out. Make it easier to get around by renting a place within walking distance of activities you're interested in. And Turnkey notes you can easily find a rental if you'll be hiking in hipster-friendly Silver Lake, embracing the boho lifestyle of Venice Beach, hitting up museums and sports games in Central LA, visiting the Hollywood Hills, or cruising down the coast from El Segundo to Redondo Beach.
- Give back to your community to honor your bride-to-be. A weekend of service is a thoughtful and selfless way to celebrate her milestone. Choose causes that are important to her or could be meaningful to her life in some way. For example, if she is a nurse, you could all go donate blood together or volunteer at a children’s hospital. If you can, try to mix things up with indoor and outdoor activities, manual labor and softer skills.
- Take a cooking class with all your friends for a unique night out that lets you bake your cake and eat it, too. Cooking classes can be educational as well as a lot of fun. You’ll be able to enjoy each other’s company while enjoying each other’s cooking. Make it really adventurous by learning to cook something different—like sushi or creme brulee.
- The pub crawl can be a budget-friendly idea for the bride-to-be who is more down-to-earth. Picking several bars close to each other lets you save money on ride-shares, while picking ones hosting happy hour or ladies’ nights can save you money on drinks. If you want the attention, you can wear the traditional crowns, sashes, T-shirts and other traditional bachelorette party garb. Ham it up at each location to get drinks on the house or as gifts from other patrons.
Being creative with your bachelorette party ideas is optional, but highly recommended. It’s the best way to make low-cost high excitement when it comes to planning a memorable event for the bride-to-be. Whether it’s a cooking class or enjoying a staycation in Los Angeles, you’re sure to put together a party the bride-to-be will enjoy.
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Connecting with our child is very important. When you connect well with your child you create a confident child rather than an insecure child. As your child grows older, they are less defiant than they would be if they were left without love and affection.
When you bond with your child over the years, it helps your child become more confident and succeed better in life.
We have busy lives and by the end of the day, we are so tired that we just want to sit in front of the television and relax. However, taking out time to spend with our child is very important.
We as parents spend a lot of our time teaching our children to be more organized, to have discipline and to imbibe the values that we are taught. However, sometimes it makes sense to just relax with our kids and bond over an activity which we both will enjoy.
If you are doing an enjoyable activity, time flies by. Photography is a great activity that you can teach your kid and bond with them over. You can also introduce your kid to new aspects of nature and your surrounding via photography.
-Photo by Dan Barr
Here are a few suggestions about the photography activities that you can do with your kids which will help you to bond with them.
- Take them on a nature walk: When you go on a nature walk with your kids, you get to spend quality time with them in the absence of any distractions. You start talking to them more freely and the abundance of new things around them makes them prone to ask you questions. Going on a nature walk is a very rejuvenating exercise. You can teach them how to click photographs of trees, birds, and animals that you may encounter. This will give them a better appreciation of our nature and the surrounding world.
- Fishing and underwater activities: Another great opportunity to bond with your child over photography is when you go swimming or fishing with them. If there are any water bodies near the place you live, you can make a trip there and teach your child how to click photos out there. You can even buy a waterproof camera for kids so that they can learn how to click photos under water. With an underwater or a waterproof camera, you can click photos of fishes and corals if you are going underwater. Another advantage of a waterproof camera is that you don’t have to worry if it gets wet if it suddenly starts raining.
- Photography while cooking: When you are cooking, children love to come into the kitchen to spend time with you and to taste the yummy food that you cook. You can use this as an opportunity to bond with your child. You can either cook yourself or then let them click photographs of the food that you cooked, or you can have them cook an easy dish and then guide them how to click the best photo of that dish. Children will love to click photos of a dish that they have made as it gives them a sense of accomplishment. You too get to bond with your child and teach them two new skills i.e. cooking and photography.
-Photo by Dan Barr
Most of the time, when you are cooking, you are stressed and you want to finish the cooking quickly. So you generally have a tendency to remove your kids from the kitchen. Instead of removing them, we can partner with them to cook better and have a more enjoyable time. Research shows that when you involve your child in cooking a meal, you increase the bonding in your family and reduce behavior issues. Even though when you have kids in the kitchen, you may take more time to complete the tasks and it is less convenient since there are so many positive effects, it is worth it.
4. Road trip: For your kids, there is nothing that beats a road trip with you where they get to enjoy, spend quality time and bond with you. A road trip is a great opportunity to teach your kid photography and bond with them. You can stop at any natural scenery and click photographs since you are out the whole day long with them in a vehicle, you can show them how to take advantage of the different brightness that comes with morning light, afternoon light, and evening light. You can also show them how to click photographs when you are in a moving vehicle. The key here is to remember that you need to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. You need to take a lot of breaks at every opportunity that you get to click photographs. You can even make a collage or a photo book when you are back about all the interesting things that you kid captured over the road trip. This will give your child lasting memories of the trip and will help you to strengthen your bond with them.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many opportunities to bond with your child over photography. You can either take out time and go out of the house and click photographs along with engaging in other fun activities like a nature walk and fishing or you can teach them photography right at home. The bond you will create when you spend quality time with your child will help them to improve their self-confidence and their self-esteem. Photography is a skill that will be with them for the rest of their lives and they will always have fond memories when they look back at the time they spent with you learning photography.
About the Author:
Dan Barr is a photographer, a parent to two girls, and the founder of KidsCameraGuide.com, a blog which is all about teaching photography to kids and kids cameras. You can visit Dan at his website www.kidscameraguide.com.
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So glad I was chosen to capture such beautiful moments.
Had the honor of capturing these two sisters who are ready to have one amazing celebration of LIFE this November.
Looking forward to their big day where Quinceañera and Sweet 16 will join forces to make it an EPIC event!
-JOY And Love Photography
I captured their wedding and now capturing Karina's baby bump is a true honor.
Here are a few shots I took and I so look forward to meeting their baby soon.
Capturing the cuteness of this lil angel was so rewarding as I loved how all images came out :-)
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Joy was looking to improve the look of her website with some updated stylish photos. Had a great time capturing these images and the website came out amazing. check it out at www.JoyBoston.com
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Here are some of the pictures we took at Heritage Park and Garden in Cerritos CA.
Check out more of their photo session by clicking play below.
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Every Birthday celebration is a special one, wether your turning 1 or 100... But there's something EXTRA special when you get a chance to celebrate a loved ones 50th Birthday due to the fact that it's simply right in the middle of 1 and 100.
I had the honor and privilege of being part of an extraordinary mans 50th birthday party celebration which was located at the roof top of The Marriott in Marina Del Rey CA. I knew it was going to be an excellent event once I found myself standing in front of a wide variety of sweets conveniently located at the entrance of the hall courtesy of Polkatots Cupcakes.
Mr. Tony did not look a day over 30 and had some very impressive dance moves that made me want to take notes. He was surrounded by tons of Family and Friends that showed him much love on his special day and I'm glad I got to capture it all unfold for Tony and his wife Rita who can re-live That special day and remember back when that #50 candle got blown out and marked another one of many more Birthday years to come.
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My Prince Charming!
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Before bed time there's STORY TIME! I wanted to capture the joy my son and I share when spending time together so I set my camera on the floor and let the self timer do its thing! This is what you get :)]]>
For the people I did pre-engagements & Weddings for... Just wanna take a minute to Thank You. I thank you for renewing my faith in LOVE all while capturing the love you share with your significant other. Watching you guys all Lovey Dovey is a reminder of my own vows and commitments I made my wife over 3 years ago on our wedding day!
For the family sessions, maternity sessions, and new born sessions I've done. I thank you for allowing me in your homes and putting up with the silly faces and baby talk impersonations I do in order to get you to laugh. I know my chipmunk laugh would be enough to get to job done but I'm a over achiever.
So cheers to 2013! I wish all couples, families, and babies the best year, yet! Cheers to living a JOYFUL & LOVING life!
Here are some of my favorite images from 2012… enjoy
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For the past 2 holiday seasons , I have had the chance to give a family something they may have never had before—a portrait together totally free of charge. This is my 3rd anual "Donate a Portrait Day" where I donate my time, to capture these gorgeous families do what they do best... Love each other! Shout out to the POLICE ACTIVITES LEAUGE who filled up the time slots with families who came in every 15 minutes from 9:30am - 3:00pm. Sometimes a portrait can be seen as a luxury, but to some it may mean the world! My prayers go out to the families in the tragic incident in CT. God Bless you all!
-William A Joya
-William A Joya
This year was my sons 3rd Christmas (4th if you count belly time) but the first Christmas that I actually see him super dooper excited about his gifts and being surrounded by soo many people that adore him. He received everything from a new pair of Toms. a thomas the train tracks set, to dozens of hot wheels and lets not forget his very first Bike! Can't wait to teach him how to take the training wheels off that bad boy and let him ride free!lol
Recently I've been going to Church on Sundays after being absent for a while and It's really nourished my soul and has filled a void In my heart. It feels awesome to drop off my son at the nursery room they provide and actually pay attention to message thats preached (Shout out to Core Church).
I think of this Christmas and am so thankful of what I've got. I might not have the luxury items that would make me popular and cool but I know I got one thing that tons of people would kill for....
A lovely Family!
God Bless you all and always remember that there's a God up above that Loves You!
Merry Christmas
William A. Joya
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One of the greatest perks of being a parent is that you get invited to so many fun filled functions. BBQ's, birthdays, & play dates start to fill the calendar. These events are just as much fun for adults as it is for the kids. (I'm not sure who has a better time, Josiah or I when we attend)This weekend my little family was invited to a gorgeous little princess's 1st birthday party at "El Torito" (brunch buffet style feast is amazing). There was face painting, Balloon animals, super heroes and several adorable princess's. When I hear the word "Princess" I automatically think of the Disney princess's such as Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty... Etc. But one look at this birthday girl and there's no surprise of why she's given the title of Princess.
After Breaking the Piñata.. Someone had a sweet tooth!
Proud parents of Captain America (Lil David) and Princess Giuliana
Her first Birthday cake.
Happy Birthday Giuliana!!! Thanks for the invite.... and may god keep blessing you and your lovely family with many more birthdays to come. :)]]>
, "Dance With Me"
And lets not forget those cool moves Ricky Ricardo always showed off at his Club Babalu in I Love Lucy). - Their Cigars are sooo good that they banded them from being sold in the US.
- Last but not least, I know they have some of the best health care systems as seen on Michael Moore's documentary called "Sicko
"O.K. I might not know too much about the Cuban lifestyle but I do know that "El Rincon Criollo" makes great delightful dishes that leaves you 100% satisfied all while providing an ambiance that all the movies portrayed Cuba to be. Here are photos of Josiah and the cool vintage car they have parked in front of their place. My wife, my son and I had a great feast and will definitely visit again soon.
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On this last visit I decided to bring my camera along and snap a couple of pictures to share. Here's my version of the shop as seen through my lens... Enjoy
Josiahs first hair cut without sitting on daddy's lap
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This place holds a really special place in my heart! It kept me out of a whole lot of trouble in my rebellious teenage years.... I always wanted to pay them back some way, some how. Well, what better way than to revisit and capture the smiles of the current "Rebellious Teenagers" that are there now (J/K on the Rebellious part... or not :)
Thanks to Don Condon who's been super awesome through out all these years, we set up a Time & Date to capture today's youth the day before their big graduation day. It was the first time they had unpacked their caps and gowns and were feeling the enthusiasm of THE BIG DAY just around the corner.
Here are a few pictures I captured... Enjoy!
Culver City High Graduate! (My wife Martha Gratuated from Culver High so had to give them a shout out too)
10 years Later and still feeling young... Shout out to the CLASS OF 2002 and everyone who graduated High School.
Remeber kids.... Be Cool & Stay in School!
(Is that still a cool thing to say to kids these days? Eeek... Stay Swag)
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As A kid I always believed in maybe one day becoming a super hero just like Superman or Spiderman. At 7 years old I remember taking aluminum foil and sticking it inside the toaster to do an experiment on what would happen. Well I got electrocuted! Didn't give me electrical super powers like I expected it to. Did give me a little spanking from mommy for ruining her brand new "General Electric" bread warmer.
Now that I have a little family of my own I could only try my best to show my son the good from the bad.
I made a huge mistake and taught him the word "FIGHT" a couple weeks ago.
We love to wrestle and drive mommy insane but I never expected to be awakened by my son screaming "FIGHT" at 6:30am this sunday morning and swinging away at my head.
I had tons of images to edit saturday night and went to bed pretty late... So waking up by tiny knuckles wasn't in the agenda but So what... It was Time To FIGHT! lol
It's amazing how one simple glance at my sons dimples can brighten up my day no matter how dull or cloudy it may be.
To all the readers out there... If we have not had the honor of meeting each other, I could honestly say that I'm just a simple man, who is living a simple life, Just having the time of my life, Loving the "JOY" of my life (who you probably already guessed is my son), & Loving the "LOVE" of my life witch is my very supportive wife.
TWO OF MY BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS OF ALL TIME!
Wrapped up in one.
When I grow up I want to be a famous Photographer...
I got my 2 inspirations to provide me the fuel to get to my destination...
So now it's time to take it to the next level.
Thanks for joining me on this little ride down memory lane and if you want to share where you get your inspiration from please feel free to write on the comments section of this blog.
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View their slide show that captures the beauty of Cassi's Maternity to actually holding their baby Makayla
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Do you know how to juggle? I've tried tossing a banana, apple, and orange up in the air in hopes to keep them all afloat but end up with a mess after they drop to the floor. Let me tell you a little about Kammi who just graduated from the Los Angeles Harbor College Nursing Program in Wilmington, California. She's one of the greatest jugglers I know! She's a wife, mother, hard worker, and WAS a student who was determined to give it all she's got in order to become a Registered Nurse. We met after my friend Tanisha (who's son is also named Josiah) heard her asking if anyone knew of any good photographers and my name was brought up. She was looking for some pictures to commemorate her graduation and why not? She deserves to walk by a huge framed picture of herself in a Cap & Gown every morning after all the long hours of studying that she put in.
I've always wanted to do a photo session at the gorgeous Disney Concert Hall but I've never had the opportunity until working with Kammi.
She was fun, full of joy and a pleasure to capture as she showed off her scrubs and RN badge that stood out more than a batman sign across the nights sky (Atleast to us it did). I'm so very glad we met and I wish her the very best in her new journey as a Registered Nurse. Enjoy a few pictures from her session in Downtown LA.
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This maternity session took place in Palos Verdes CA. We met up in redondo beach and scouted the area for beautiful locations. Originally we were going to do beach photo's but something told us to just take a little drive and go where ever the wind takes us.. Thank goodness we listened to the little voice in our heads and decided to venture out. It was a gorgious day and we stopped by several different locations.... Stopping every time we saw a little eye candy here and there.
Chris and Claudia were a blast to work with and am soooo glad we crossed paths. I literally felt as if we had known each other from past lives. After our shoot we exchanged numbers and I informed them to contact me at anytime if they ever needed anything... Literally the second day I got a text from Chris... ( The father to be) He informs me of his plan to propose to Claudia and if I could help... I almost jumped off my seat with excitement! It was an honor to be of assistance in a special time like this one. He came up with the idea of incorporating a slide show with a poem he wrote specifically to ask Claudia to marry him. I did what he asked and waited 1 whole week to see him go down 1 knee. It was beautiful and I'm so grateful to be in the line of business making memories last an eternity. I know as their child gets older and will see this blog I would like for him to say "Hey, there's William... He looks exactly the same as when he took my school pictures"... lol
Enjoy the video made with tons of JOY And LOVE!
Check out the Slide Show with Bonus proposal at the end.
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