When I was really young, my mother and I would take weekly trips to Venice beach and walk north towards the Santa Monica pier. The Santa Monica Pier happens to tie for first in my “favorite place in the world” contest; I love to people watch and ride the ferris wheel after a good helping of cookie dough Dippin’ Dots. Upon our arrival at Venice beach, I would always hold my mothers hand and greet the sea by putting my toes right where the highest wave could barely reach them. I would inch closer and closer until I was knee deep and then make the decision to jump in or stay put. More often than not, I would leap into the frigid waters of the Pacific and dive under waves until my teeth chattered so much that I couldn’t speak. 

I always wondered why my mom never stopped me from leaping into the ice cold water- I suppose it’s because she wanted me to learn to make decisions and learn from my mistakes (or triumphs). I would realize that it was probably a mistake to get in the water just after I got back into my clothes and had to walk four miles in wet jeans. Ugh, wet jeans- no bueno. 

Today was my first visit back to a California beach since I moved back to LA from San Diego. It was wonderful to put my toes at the waters’ edge and take in the crisp ocean air. I was at the beach to photograph a new friend, Chelsey, who is an amazing yoga instructor in Los Angeles. Our afternoon portrait session turned into a real California adventure and I loved it! I had the opportunity to hear all about Chelsey’s life in LA and what she’s been up to. Let me tell you something- this girl has had more jobs than anyone I have even known. She is fascinated by so much, and tries it all. I admire that she has learned from all her experience and realized at a really young age, what she was meant to do. She is an absolutely lovely soul who is so brave to pursue a career that she is truly passionate about! Go check out her website and sign up for some of her classes, you won’t regret it. 

Oh, by the way- I chose not to jump in today, I was wearing jeans. 

Chelsey- thank you so much for trusting me to photograph you. You are amazing and beautiful and a snack goddess! I am blessed to know you! You totally could be a model if you wanted to! Look at this last one, it could totally be an ad!

Stay tuned for the second part of Chelsey’s portrait session, we have got some amazing yoga poses in store for you!

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 3:12 am and is filed under portrait. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.