Sam & Ian Engagement

Sam and Ian are getting married in the beautiful Livermore wine country this summer.
After spending a couple of hours with them, I could not be more excited! Not only are they super cool and laid back, but my camera happens to love them! It is so much fun when a couple will relax and play a little in front of the camera. These two were amazing!

We decided to shoot their engagement photos in the hills of San Ramon. The tall grass, yellow mustard flowers, and unbelievable light worked in our favor and we got gorgeous shots...check 'em out!

New Year's Resolution Part One - Beautiful Girl

2009 was such a crazy year! I was really busy and spent a lot of time photographing people I barely knew. It became apparent to me that I had not taken very many pictures of my own family when I sat down to make our annual calendar. Usually it is a HUGE challenge to choose which pictures will make the cut and find their way onto one of the twelve pages. This year, however, was different. Shawn and I had to scrape together pictures from the year. It was at that moment that I came up with my New Year's resolution. Take more pictures of my family.

So here I am almost halfway through February and just getting around to doing what I resolved to do in 2010. But isn't my Lucie beautiful?

Out in the Open

As I mentioned a few days ago, I am working on a fundraiser at my son's preschool. It has been such an amazing experience! The children are really fun to photograph. Their natural curiosity provides so many opportunities for learning and growing which makes them perfect subjects!

I just made the images of the children available to the families in an online gallery. They can order prints to help support the school. This all sounds wonderful but I have been feeling a little vulnerable and it just occurred to me why. This is the first time that my work as a photographer has been on display for a large number of people to see. It makes me feel excited and nervous (you know that dream where you are standing on a stage in front of a crowd naked?) at the same time.

So far, the fundraiser is doing well. Parents are placing orders and I am getting some wonderful feedback. Fun stuff!

Here are some more images from the fundraiser...

The Joy of Learning

When the director of my son's preschool propositioned me about photographing the students for a fundraiser, she recalled a photograph of her sister standing at an easel when she was a child. I knew right away what she envisioned. The images would be candid, capturing the children at "work" and would be black and white, giving them a timeless quality. The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. I know how fleeting childhood is. My youngest will be off to kindergarten in the fall and I can hardly believe how fast his first four and a half years have gone by. I still think of him as my baby but then I see his body stretch three quarters of the way down his bed and realize that he is growing faster than I would like. Right now he is like a sponge, absorbing every new experience with pure joy and wonder. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to give the families of these children an image that they can treasure forever, a glimpse into the world of their preschooler.

These are just a handful of the images I captured while spending time with these amazing kids.

Somsel Maternity Session

Larisa is a close friend of mine. We spent an hour or so photographing her just a few weeks before she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (pictures to come!). Congratulations Somsels!

Pettty Family

My time with the Petty Family was short but sweet:-) Baby Julia was not interested in having her picture taken but we still snuck in a few good ones before she completely crashed on Mom's lap. I could see the disappointment in her parents' eyes when Julia fell asleep. But I am THRILLED that she did. The pictures of a sleeping Julia and her doting Mom and Dad are precious and I feel lucky that the session worked out the way that it did! My favorite picture of the day is of Julia sleeping on her Dad's shoulder...her sweet, chubby, baby face all squished. Too cute for words!

By the way, the Pettys are just another example of the kindness I spoke of in my last post. I was late to their session because my 4-year old locked us out of my car when I dropped him off at school (keys, phone, planner with phone numbers, etc. all locked in!). I pulled off a miracle (with the help of complete stranger and the most efficient AAA tow truck driver ever!) and still made it in time to photograph the Pettys at their home. When I got there, they were all smiles and completely understanding. I LOVE my clients!

I'm back!

Hello friends! I know it may seem as though I disappeared off the face of our planet...and in a way I kind of did there for a while! The last couple of months have been a whirlwind of activity. Between TONS of work and my family's move (from our home in Danville to one in Pleasanton), I've been more than a little overwhelmed. But the end is in sight...as the holidays rapidly approach, work has slowed down a bit (at least enough for me to catch my breath!) and I decided to sit down and do a little blogging.

I will not blog about each session that I have done since my last post as that would take all night! I will, however, put together a group of some of my favorites so that you can see what I have been up to.

Oh, and one last thing...I just have to say that I have been RAVING about all the absolutely wonderful people that I have had the honor of working with lately. My clients have been a blessing to my life and have enriched my experience as a photographer more than they could ever know! THANK YOU!

I have to include one of my little ones on Halloween...so dang cute!