Michelle Bellofatto Photography

Derek + April | Married

On a gorgeous San Diego day in May, the handsome Derek wed the gorgeous and vivacious April in a fun, colorful and intimate at home wedding.

Their story is simple, but they clearly are a match made in heaven.  So much love and adoration between these two.

I'll let their images tell the story of their love and special day.

Derek and April, thank you so much for sharing your wedding day with me.  I enjoyed capturing your love through my lens.  

I hope you enjoyed your little sneak peek.  I'll be working on your proofs over the next several weeks.

xo

 

 

 

Malachi's Birth | At Home

As I sit here and edit the images from Malachi's birth, I am weeping with joy.  What an amazing blessing it was to be present for such a monumental occasion.

My dear friend chose to deliver her 4th child in the comfort of her own home surrounded by her family. 

I think I may have been the most nervous person in the room.

Being a woman, I so admire the strength and determination of my friend.  She is truly an amazing woman in every way. 

For you photography enthusiasts, here is the technical side- Nikon D700 50mm 1.4 1/20th ISO 2000-3200.  The only available light came from the bathroom behind me.  I used the birthing pool or a wall to stabalized myself to prevent blur.

Here is Malachi's birth story in the form of images.

LOVE...Oldest son holding his hands to his mouth in awe, mom reaching out her hand to touch her newborn and dad holding her arm.

Now her youngest is a big brother!

Her boys made her eggs right after delivery!

2nd born getting ready to cut the cord.

Congratulations Faulkner Family!!  xo 

Mr. & Mrs. Lane | Poway, CA

What can I say, another day, another beautiful couple.

I mean really, how many people do you know with amazing green eyes, perfect teeth, and killer smiles?  Somehow, these two excessively good looking people found each other.  I'm already imagining what their offspring will look like.  Hmmm.... amazing green eyes, perfect teeth and killer smiles.

These Newlyweds wanted a few portraits so I happily met them at the family's property where we were surrounded by beauty and warm sunlight.  It was perfect.

Here's a sneak peek of a few that caught my eye from our Mini Shoot last weekend-

It was fun hanging out Jeff & Kerri!  xo

Chris + Sarah :: Married!

It was obvious from the beginning they were right for each other.  Not everyone is so lucky to have this kind of "instant" insight when it comes to their future spouse.

Sarah was my neighbor and I remember two things about her, one, she was often seen running, riding or doing some kind of exercise.  Two, I remember how much she adored her new boyfriend.

Chris and Sarah spent the majority of their courtship in a long distance relationship commuting from Seattle to San Diego and San Diego to Seattle.  They are both sports buffs so most of their time together was and is spent riding bikes, running, hiking or swimming.  They are a very "fit" couple.  There's no question about it.

When Chris decided to pop the question, he waited for the perfect rainy, windy day and took Sarah for a trail run in the bluffs along the coast in her hometown of Bodega Bay.  As they reached the top of the trail, they were soaked.  Sarah huddled behind a rock to take shelter while Chris got down on one knee.  I love this story!  Straight out of a movie.

I didn't have the opportunity to see Chris and Sarah together often while we were neighbors, but I will say it was beautiful to witness the love and appreciation they had for each other on their wedding day. 

Thank you for waiting F-O-R-E-V-E-R to see your Wedding Day sneak peek.  It was a blessing to be there to capture your special day.  Thanks for having Jamie and me.  xo

And without further Ado... Mr. & Mrs. London.

 

ISO 3200 2.0 1/25

Congratulations Chris & Sarah

Adam + Brooke :: Engaged

A little beach shoot after the rain never hurt anybody. 

The weather, although a bit cold and windy, was pleasantly sunny.  Brooke let me know she wasn't fond of the wind and especially the effects it might have on her hair in the pictures.

After all, we were at Windandsea beach so it might have been strange if there wasn't any wind.  We did manage to find a few alcoves to shoot in which made us both happy. 

Adam and Brooke were in town from Colorado for a little visit with the family.  Adam is from Southern California so he was keen on doing their engagement shoot on the beach.  Can you blame him? 

These two lovely people met on eHarmony.  I found that interesting.  I suppose the way things are nowdays it can be difficult to find a really good quality person without all the great resources now available.  Kudos to them for finding each other because together they make a really fun couple.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding Adam and Brooke!!  Thank you for coming out to play on the beach. 

P.S.- Brooke you have the most amazing smile!!!  :)

The chalkboard was Brooke's idea. 

These are for Adam from Brooke.

This is for Brooke from Adam. 

Jonathan + Lissa :: Married

I've been thinking about this for awhile now... what to say about Jonathan and Lissa.  I suppose it's best to start with Lissa.  We met when she was about 6 month's old in her mother's tummy.  I felt her kicks and got excited with her mom about her arrival.  I had plans to be one of the first to meet her when she made her big debut, but true to her personality, she arrived with great enthusiasm and rather quickly. 

I think of Lissa as the little sister I never had.  She is kind and sweet and has a killer sense of humor. 

On wedding day, I had the honor of driving her to the park for bridal and group shots.  We did this prior to the wedding and due to some unplanned circumstances, we were "fashionably late for the wedding.  HER wedding.  As we drove, semi-calmly to the church Lissa said, "it's ok if I"m late, I'm mean, who's most important today anyway, me, right?"  "I mean, what are the people going to do, leave?"  Hilarious.

Uh, Jonathan, we practically just met so all I can say is take good care of our Lissa.  It's obvious that you both adore each other. 

I can't wait another minute to share a few of my favorites.  Here goes!

Love you Lissa and Jonathan!!  Congratulations on becoming Mr. and Mrs. Elliott.  xo

The First Look.

Lissa designed her dress and had it made.  Her bouquet was made of antique rings.  Lovely and original.

Sometimes I let my 6 year-old choose which images I should blog.  He liked this one.  And... at one time he thought Lissa was to be his future wife.  Young love.  Priceless.

Are they cute or what?!

I love how Lissa is anticipating the ring exchange.

A New Favorite.

This image caught my eye last night while editing.  Tara Whitney www.tarawhitney.com is one of my favorite photographers.  Her motto is "perfectly imperfect" photography.  I love that.  It's genius.  She calls images like this "in betweens."  I ususally don't get too many "in betweens," that I like, but this one is a new favorite.  It's abstract art, right?

 

Kevin & Breanna plus Jake and the bump

Here they are a again. The cutest couple E-V-E-R.  Last year, we did a fun urban style shoot in Downtown San Diego.  It was one of my favorites shoots of all time. You can see it by clicking on "relationships."  It's posted under February 2009.  If I were savvy enough to figure out how to include the link, trust me, I would.

Moving right along.  Quite literally.  Baby Zoey will be making her debut this month.  Can't wait to meet her!  She will have the best, most funnest (I don't care if it's not proper english) parents ever! 

Can't forget to mention Jake.  He is one sweet dog.  And very laid back too.  When we did this first shot of all of them running on the beach, I kept waiting for him to take off and really run, but that never happened.  He was perfectly happy just trotting along.  Maybe he was taking it easy on his pregnant mother.  Very considerate, don't you think?

Oh and how gorgeous is Breanna?!  Just stunning.  She's a natural in front of the camera.

Kevon and Breanna, this was great fun.  I'm so glad to be a part of your lives and I hope Zoey hurries up and gets here so I can take some pictures of her too.  xo

Tom and Meredith sitting in a tree...

So Meredith and I worked together at a financial firm in Connecticut about 6 years ago.  At the time I was just starting my photography business and was primarily shooting weddings.  Those were the days when I shot film, so often times I'd bring my wedding images into work in the form of prints and share them with my co-workers. 

Now several years later Meredith and I have managed to keep in touch via Facebook and I'm so glad we have because I adore Meredith's fun, outgoing and sweet personality.  And... after all these years and miles between us, I had the opportunity to photograph this gorgeous, spunky and fun lady with her man.  How lucky was I? 

We'll call this a "pre" engagement shoot.  The ring has been bought, the date, almost set and the only thing missing is the actual proposal.  While Tom was holding out for a future date to pop the question, we went ahead and did and unofficial engagement shoot during my recent trip to New York. 

I happen to love Playland Park in Rye, New York.  It is a very old amusement park with a nostalgic feel.  I told Meredith that I was secretly hoping to do a shoot there and to my surprise she agreed.  Of course with the excitement came nerves as I was imagining the zillion people who would be there at the same time and how I'd manage to get great images in the midst of the crowd.  On top of that, add a little humidity, (a lot) and the threat of thunderstorms and geez I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew. 

Thankfully, Tom and Meredith are really cool people.  Poor Meredith had her hair and make up done which lasted all of 10 minutes and then she began to melt.  Literally.  After she melted, we had a bit of rain and one would wonder if we got any good images at all.  Guess what, we did!

OK, I'm finally finished rambling about Meredith, the weather, my history as a photographer etc.  Here they are!!

 

I love Meredith's sparkly eyes and perfect smile.  Tom, you're not too bad either.  ;)

  Yowza!  

The number eleven may have some significance in their future together...

Two Lovely People

It was a celebration of their new beginning together.  They needed to document this special time in their lives as a new husband and wife.

Her boys picked the dress and when she put it on, it fit perfectly.  I suppose they saw their mother as a fairytale princess.  Maybe a modern day fairytale princess, but a beautiful one none the less.

 
 

 

Thank you for coming out to play Barnard & Michellene.  You guys look amazing.