Denise is a class of 2020 senior that attends Desert Hot Springs high school.  She was the winner of our big senior portrait session giveaway we did earlier this year.  Denise plays volleyball and is planning on attending college after her high school senior year.  

When Denise came in she was a bit shy but quickly warmed up.  Denise’s session was lots of fun taking her senior portraits.  We especially had fun taking the diving pictures.  We had to do it a few times to get it right.  Denise’s mom was helping to throw the volleyball towards her so that she could dive and hit it before it hit the ground.  For a while, the ball hit her face, neck and every area except her hands J.  The outtakes from her senior portraits are hilarious!  We were all laughing and having a great time! 

Denise was able to borrow a volleyball from her school which is awesome because the schools usually have custom balls made with the school logo and or school colors.  This helps to make for some unique senior portraits.  We always recommend adding anything that helps personalize your senior portraits which is why we have all of our seniors complete our senior questionnaire. 

One thing to note about Denise’s senior portraits that may help others schedule their session.  We are sometimes at the mercy of the team.  We wanted to do the senior portraits earlier in the year but we had to wait for the season to start so that Denise could get her jerseys.  That being said, if you plan on taking senior portraits with a school uniform you may have to talk to the coach about letting us borrow the team jerseys. 

Lisandro Rivera Photography

The post Winner of Our Free Senior Portrait Session first appeared on Wedding Photography Quinceanera.

 Senior Picture Testimonial

Jaden and Mandy shared this about his senior pictures,

 “It was an extreme pleasure, Mr. Rivera is a professional.  I look forward to working with him and even got my friends excited about working with him for their senior pictures.  We came in and felt extremely comfortable and fired up about the shoot and were extremely pleased with the way they came out!  I feel that he captures me perfectly as a football player.  I strongly recommend him for senior pictures.”

Mandy (Jaden’s Mom):

“I love the way my son and his sport is captured in these amazing photographs.  The creativity, quality, and eye for detail is unmatched!”

 Jaden is the starting running back for his high school football team and was recently voted as the week two high school player of the week for his performance against Banning where he had 27 carries for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns on offense and 10 tackles, a sack and 3 quarterback hurries.  The Shadow Hills Knights beat Banning 44-6. 

Jaden is a senior at Shadow Hills high schools and has aspirations of playing college football.  I can’t wait to see what is in store for Jaden.  He is a great kid on and off the field. 

Lisandro Rivera

The post Jaden’s Football Senior Pictures first appeared on Wedding Photography Quinceanera.

High School Senior year is an excited, nerve wracking, and joyful year rolled into one. This year signifies the end and the beginning of different chapters in yours and your seniors lives.   This is the year son/daughter will decide if they will go straight to a 4-year college, community college, take a gap year or study a trade.  Don’t let the stress of their senior year make you lose focus on the most important thing, spending quality time with them before they leave.  This is may also be the last year they may play sports, be in band or any other school activity.  Sadly, this may also be the last year they will be home for all the holidays, birthdays and family celebrations.  That is why it’s important to celebrate their Senior year. 

I am going to cover some important testing information as well as a timeline that should help you navigate your seniors last year. 

High School Senior Testing

 As recent news has shown us, the college application process is nerve wracking for students and parents alike.  For most of your high school seniors, they probably started testing last year with the Pre-SAT’s and maybe their first actual SAT.  

Kahn Academy

Kahn academy is a program that most local schools have contracted with to provide free SAT help free of charge.  It is a program that can improve your son/daughters score by up to 150 points. 

Important Dates to Know

Universities of California

Application dates: November 1-November 30

Website to apply: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply

One Online application will work for all campuses.

Four personal insight essays (350 words each) are mandatory when submitting the application.

UC’s do not accept letters of recommendation.  UC Berkeley may ask for one in January.

SAT/ACT Must be taken by December of your senior year.

You must send your official transcripts in June once grades are posted

Get transcripts at www.parchment.com

Checklist for UC:

1.  Application
2.  Essay
3.  Payment

California State Universities

Application dates:  October 1- November 30.

Website to apply: www.csumentor.edu

Non-impacted schools or programs may accept students after the deadline

No essay required

No letters of recommendation

SAT/ACT Must be taken by December of your senior year.

You must send your official transcripts in June once grades are posted

Get transcripts at www.parchment.com

Checklist for CSU:

1. Application
2.  Payment

Private and or out of state schools

Please review each school’s website for their requirements as each school can vary. 

Community Colleges

Apply in the Spring (usually opens registrations in March) www.collegeofthedesert.edu

They do not require SAT or ACT testing

Pledge/Edge program offers free tuition for all students that graduate from a school within the Coachella valley (see if offered in 2020. Information releases in September).

Other Important information

FAFSA & DREAM act

www.fafsa.gov or www.dream.csac.ca.gov

Applications must be submitted from October 1-March 2 2020 to qualify for Cal Grants or Pell grants. 

Scholarships

Please see your counselor for packets to scholarships and look online for scholarships and deadlines.

Important Note

All of these services are FREE, if you find someone charging for these services DO NOT USE THEM!

Disclosure

These dates are accurate to the best of my ability, however, I recommend you talk with your son/daughters counselor to verify this information and make sure they don’t miss any deadlines.  Please speak with your high school seniors school counselor to confirm these dates. 

High School Senior Pictures

Don’t forget to schedule your son/daughters Senior Pictures.  This is an important milestone and you want to make sure you capture this special moment.  The schools contract with a high volume national company, I suggest you look at the work on my website www.leeriveraphotography.com .  We do lifestyle senior shoots and we specialize in sports photography senior pictures as well.  I suggest you schedule your high school senior session as early as possible so that we can plan out the details and make sure we make your pictures as personal as possible. 

Lisandro Rivera

The post How to Navigate Your High School Senior Year first appeared on Wedding Photography Quinceanera.

If you haven’t don’t worry, I hadn’t either.  When Jeremy and Jessica approached me about photographing their surprise wedding I was confused.  I was asking for clarification, so is it a baby shower or a wedding?  When they said it was both and how it was going to be a surprise pop up wedding I got excited!!

So here is how I saw this pop up wedding unfold.  All the guests arrived dressed up and fully expecting a baby shower and nothing more.  All the décor screamed baby shower.  They had games, cakes, center pieces and even a slideshow prepped for the baby shower. 

At some point in the day, Jeremy played a slideshow and video that captured the 9 months of the pregnancy as well as some hilarious videos they captured when they announced their pregnancy to different members of their family.  Jeremy, Jessica and the wedding party sneaked out during the video, got dressed into their wedding attire andwhen the video ended they all made a grand entrance!

The reactions on people faces were priceless!! As a photographer I was joyfully overwhelmed, I had SO many different and awesome reactions that I couldn’t possible capture them all.  People were in shock and disbelief.  I could hear several people including the father of the bride saying, “Wow, I almost didn’t come”.

After the wedding you can see so many mixed emotions, everyone was happy, however, you could see some were still in shock and otherswere still confused. 

I truly hope this is not my last pop up wedding because it was SO much fun!!  Congratulations to Jessica and Jeremy on the wedding and now on becoming parents.  On 10/29/2018 little Jazelle Kalea was bornto two loving people! 

On a side note, Jessica was a TROOPER!! She was 8 months pregnant when the wedding happened!! She was out taking pictures, greeting guests, coordinating and participating in an AWESOME first dance on a very hot 105-degree day. 

Thanks again Jeremy and Jessica for allowing me to be your baby shower, surprise pop up wedding photographer!

Pictures by Palm Springs Wedding Photographer, Lisandro Rivera

The post What, Huh, Really…. It’s a Wedding?!! first appeared on Wedding Photography Quinceanera.

March, 11^th 2017

Jill and Sam live in Northern California but they wanted to get married in the location they had first met. They started planning their dream Palm Springs destination wedding a few months before their wedding day. They really didn’t anticipate having a big wedding but with the help of their parents they were able to put together a beautiful desert wedding.

Jill and Sam’s wedding was a much anticipated event because they had been dating for several years. They had friends and family fly in from across the country for their wedding.

It was an honor to have been your wedding photographer! I love the emotion you guys displayed for each other in your wedding pictures.

Event: Palm Springs Destination Wedding

Palm Springs Wedding Dress: My Little Bridal Boutique

Palm Desert Wedding Venue: The Living Desert

Palm Springs wedding Flowers: David Rohr Floral Studio

Palm Springs wedding Photographer: Lisandro Rivera

Lisandro Rivera Photography

www.leeriveraphotography.com

(310) 629-5575

The post Jill and Sam’s Palm Springs Destination Wedding first appeared on Wedding Photography Quinceanera.

Palm Springs Photographer: Lisandro Rivera Photography

Location:  Palm Springs Windmills

We started this shoot at the Tahquitz Indian Canyons however we were promptly kicked out by the ranger.  Luckily I always plan ahead and we moved on to plan B.  Plan B was to take the engagement pictures by the Palm Springs Windmills.  Gustavo and Elizabeth had planned for a vintage Palm Springs wedding and wanted their engagement session to reflect that.  They brought with them a beautiful 1947 Plymouth that was fixed up really well.  All photos are by Palm Springs Photographer Lisandro Rivera.

The post Gustavo and Elizabeth’s Engagement Pictures by Palm Springs Photographer Lisandro Rivera first appeared on Wedding Photography Quinceanera.