Tag Archive: parties

Rich Happy & Hot

Marie Forleo doesn’t mince words – her email to me a couple months back just read: I have a crazy fun idea… involves you. Let me know. I was already traveling, bound for Italy, and before I could even reply, she called me up and revealed her idea. But let me back up… if you don’t know Marie Forleo, you’ll want to check her out! As best-selling author, speaker, Nike Athlete, fitness personality, entrepreneur and all around AMAZING super woman, Marie is dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs through her Rich Happy & Hot brand. I got to know Marie better during her Rich Happy Hot Business School last fall, which was incredible! We felt an immediate kinship that can only come from being born and bred in Jersey  – those are bonds that don’t break 🙂

Back to the scheming: Marie wanted to surprise her Adventure Mastermind ladies (all 22 of them) with a sexy and fun photo shoot during their retreat in LA. That’s right, she wanted it to be a surprise, meaning the girls would have NO IDEA what they were in for when they showed up at the Presidential Suite of the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica. Now how could I turn down an exciting challenge like that?  I’m always up for a spontaneous photo shoot, and I love demonstrating to women (myself included!) that the planets don’t need to be aligned to jump into something, and that trust goes a looooong way!  To add to the excitement, I would be given a total of 4 hours of shooting time, so about 10 minutes per girl, give or take. I was so freakin’ excited and jumping up and down ready for the fun and to see how we would all pull it off…

Well I’ll tell you more about how it went down in the next installation, but suffice it to say, I had THE BEST team on the shoot with me – Robin Hultgren and Hannah Skye are both regular attendees at my photography workshops and now have become indespensible to me as assistants, confidantes and friends. Add to that my power house right hand man, David Glenn, and of course the shoot want smooth like butter.  But most of all, I have to give credit to the 22 brilliant women of Marie’s Adventure Mastermind – these girls had the strength to be vulnerable, the sense of humor to take it all lightly, and the cojones to go for it! Each woman and her shoot were so different, but all were a total blast!

Here are some of my favorite photos of the first four of the Rich Happy Hot women, and they’re not called Rich Happy and Hot for nothing – wow! I’ll be blogging lots more of them in the coming weeks 🙂

Location: The Huntley Hotel’s Presidential Suite, Santa Monica CA
Hair & Make-up: the girls’ own handiwork
Photo Assistants: Robin Hultgren, Hannah Skye, David Glenn

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We had a studio set-up in the master bath for when the sun went down… this one is one of my favorites – so raw, so honest…

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More rich happy hotness on the way… I’ll break down the process for those interested in doing Boudoir Marathon shoots like this 🙂

x. Christa

More Madison Madness

People get addicted to shooting with me – what can I say :)))  Many of my boudoir women are on their second and third shoots, but none came back as quickly as Madison… who you’ll no doubt remember from last week’s Room Service boudoir sessions Part 1 and 2 at the Biltmore Hotel.  Those pictures brought my little ol’ blog here to record high traffic numbers… and it has stayed up :))  wink wink.

This time we hit the studio and the talented Mr. Jeff Siegel did a phenomenal job with make-up.

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Ah, the fun you can have in a chair….

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These pics were more about Madison’s love of jewerly and being comfortable in her own skin, relaxed and happy and barely covered.  Whereas the Room Service pics were more hot hotel mistress and part fashion shoot…  Which ones do you prefer?  Anything else you’d like to see… Let me know!

Actually, you will be seeing more – this weekend I’ll be shooting some fine art nudes 🙂  stayed tuned!

xoxo,

Christa

The Casey Family, Photo Party! Pt. 2 of 3

I want to be adopted by the Casey family.  They were the host family at my recent Photo Party in Greenwich, CT.  I am blown away by how amazing this family is… both as a unit and individually.  I’m not one to gush, truly I’m not, but I’ve been known to throw around passion and enthusiasm with abandon when I genuinely love/admire/respect/etc someone.  So when I tell you that I *heart* the Casey Family – that’s an understatement.  To be surrounded by such kindness, humor, brilliance and cuteness is addictive.  And the Casey family – Jack, BJ, Charlotte, and twins James & Will – has all that and more, in spades.  Take a peek…  

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Six year old Charlotte is a smart girl and loving big sister.  She promised not to pout during photos in exchange for a new webkinz – a fair trade.

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Suddenly a pick up game broke out, and this serious slugger came to the plate…

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She knows she’s good.

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The twins each had his own pitching style…  

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Team Photo and celebration! 

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Now let’s huddle up and spin!!

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What has eight legs and four heads?

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So not only are these adorable 4 year olds riding bikes with no training wheels, they are also learning Chinese.  And they are just so cute – I can’t handle it! 

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There is so much that I love about these two pics – don’t even get me started!

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…aaaaand Good Night!    Are you as exhausted as I am after this shoot?!

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So this is what happens when your family hosts a Photo Party with me.  My first edit of the Casey family’s photo shoot yielded 435 images that I loved! 

I’m just sayin.

xo,

Christa

Photo Party! Pt. 1 of 3

I’ve been traveling all over the country doing “Photo Parties” for about 4 or so years now, and they are always a huge success! in terms of families having fun, parents loving the photos, and me feeling like I ran a marathon.   A Photo Party isn’t really a party per se – there is no beer, as one father asked me – lol!!  I wish!  But it’s a day of photo shoots hosted by one family for a number of guest families (usually 12 to 20) at a pre-determined location (either the host’s home, a nearby park, beach, etc.).

This most recent party took place in Greenwich, CT, hosted by the lovely and hysterical Casey Family (their session will be on the blog in the next few days). And even though it poured rain that day, the families were still game for playing outside.  We had so much fun, captured beautiful images and I managed not to get my camera too wet!

Here are a few of my favorite moments…  when we cracked up… 

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Ran through the drizzling rain…

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Took our first steps…

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Tickled each other…

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Took time for close-ups…

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(I love it when you see the silliness and maturity of a child just moments apart.)

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We also adored and squeeeeezed one another…

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Raised the roof and were amused by each other…

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We ran in the rain…

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And, lastly, my favorite shot… we cuddled on the covered porch with the rain pouring down just outside…

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Ahhhh! so much fun, and this was my favorite photo party yet…  More pics to come as I blog myself silly this week catching up on posting all of the sessions over the past few weeks: beach shoots, my recent trip to New York City, photographing the new family living in my old childhood home in NJ, and much more!…

Thank you for visiting!

xoxo,

Christa