Deep in the 100 hundred acre wood lived a honey bear and his friends………..

No, that’s another story.

This is a photostory of Marc and Hollis who live in a wonderland of tall pines that sweep the clouds and fragrant magnolia trees with blooms larger than cabbage.  This morning, we squooshed our feet on the carpet of abundant flora and fauna beneath us, and used the canopy of live oaks above us to create the perfect architecture  bowing to the early sunlight.  Here with their amazingly beautiful, curiously sweet, and very down-to-earth FUN daughters… they find release from the stress of the city and all life’s storms. Hidden here, I found the secrets of glorious sunbeams and great clients. I will be back…..even if I have to airbrush six gallons of an organic pesticide on me,  carry a GPS, and pack knee-high hiking boots.

…some early risers …….. the furry-feathery members of the Schultz-Brazier family greet me while I take my lighting check…

…When Marc built their house he constructed a backyard bench swing…I spotted this “heart” in the rusty chain links… …

Hollis with her little dog Lilly…awww… and Hannah’s boots …you know I never miss taking those “shoe” shots…..Love the boots! A few mugs of coffee later… we wipe the sleepiness off our faces and NOW we’re ready!

Hands tell the story….”we always have each other”

I now have a new appreciation for morning sunlight!

And I really appreciated the vibrant saturated colours they wore….gone are the days of “black shirts and khaki pants” family sessions, thank you!

Marc and his daughters Stephanie and Natalie…..and Hollis and daughter Hannah…You guys rock! I love how down to earth you are and SO natural with a camera in your face!

Here’s a peek at some of our “riverbed” shots…………….I’m saving some of the “pillow fight images” for my website, but I couldn’t resist sharing these expressions!

so many great moments and then I captured a favorite………………kisses from Toby.

Ok, girls admit it… even though you had to be dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn for this…. you had fun!

and Kara, thank you for assisting me, YOU ROCK! Love that smiling face! ..funny how  best friends begin to look alike…..

May all my friends and clients continue to be blessed and don’t  forget to encourage one

another …

Merry Christmas everyone!

“my gift is how I see life…my art is telling your story”

There is no such thing as a “typical’ photo session…blazing beams of sunshine, sand between your toes, runny noses, and promises of the perfect candy( smarties are the best!) for little grins without a sand-coated-sticky-chocolate mess… and we have the ingredients of our day with the Robinson family at the beach!

We crawled through ancient ruins (ok, these were only a hundred years old),waddled onto the decking of the marina, climbed forbidden dunes, and oops… tumbled down a couple of steps… but we captured some good stuff. Really great smiles, and sparkly eyes, with hugs and love to last forever.   Tesa, Kami, Ali, Erin and her sons, Declan and Kaden were so sweet and didn’t mind performing a couple of stunts just to get into the right “light” … but I must not show you everything… because I am saving  some of the best for my website.

But I had to share these, now.

I just want to squeeze ‘em…………………….

Who is in charge here? So hysterical… I love looking at this one, the women are beautiful and the boys are precious ….   grandpa and Dad will LOVE this one……..

I don’t know who got more exercise… me or the boys…. naptime anyone?

Awww… we gotta go??……….  but we haven’t covered every inch of us in sand yet!

Thank you Robinson Family (sorry I missed seeing you, Mr. Bill) for another great day at the beach….my camera and I enjoyed watching you.

“my gift is how I see life…my art is telling your story”

…..makes me want to laugh out loud, wrinkle up my nose with a giggly smile, and hope some of the energy she emits can be stored up for my future use!

I cannot help myself , with wide eyes and great anticipation of her next move…. I follow her around. I like to watch her reactions to things through her little -girl- like twinkling eyes, but then you realize she has the maturity, wisdom and soul of a dusty, dog-eared book of knowledge. She is the spitting image of her mom, and has those fierce aqua eyes to prove it. Ally IS that smile she wears……..bright, perfect, daring life to bring her something new, something amazing, a dancing force to be reckoned with…yes, she is a ballerina. A really excellant one…I can tell by the way she almost floats off the ground as she moves.

It’s as if she might be Tinkerbell with her wings clipped……….

LUVVVVVvvvv that copper coloured hair with those aqua eyes!

one of the perks of shooting environmental portraiture for senior portraits… we never lack for natural beauties and possibly being upstaged by the elements

I seem to be a magnet for butterflies, bugs, stray animals, and little thunder showers, which is perfectly fine with me!

…no this is not a rain dance… but it did start to sprinkle… and this dress so perfect for those twirling  moments………

…those eyes…………!

you just cannot help yourself right? Tell me how many seconds it takes you to smile back?

Thank you ALLY,you are precious and I loved shooting your senior portraits… no rush, but can we do this again someday?? Maybe when you get married?  

“my gift is how I see life…my art is telling your story”

…early morning in Sausalito

… a little downtown morning colour…

I absolutely LOVED this destination wedding with Jillian and Rich, it was a gorgeous setting with perfect weather in the historic Sausalito Women’s Club just over the bay from the Golden Gate Bridge. I chose just a few of their favorites to show you, but I will hopefully be placing quite a few others that are more candid on my website later this year.

I get giggly thinking about how they are so in love.  Jillian’s family lives here in Sausalito and she has always dreamed of a wedding here someday. It was perfect. The ceremony took place in a two story bungalow style cottage which was filled with family and friends surrounded by amethyst coloured hydrangeas and huge bouquets of white flowering blooms. I actually teared up as I heard their vows, the words were precious they promised to one another.  It was a privilege to be a part of their event, and this location instantly has become one of my favorites.

I wanted to show you every morsel of the day but here’s just a taste…….

the ambiance pours through the french doors of the “Artist’s Loft” of Casa Madrona in the village

……a few perfectly chosen words in their song……….

first moments  ( a peek before the ceremony… it’s more romantic than seeing each other for the first time with hundreds of guests staring at you!)

awesome view of the San Francisco Bay from the top of this hill

Rich’s oldest daughter Elizabeth was the gorgeous maid of honor…..a great looking family!

…just like you dreamed it Jillian…AHhhh!

Sausalito at twilight… a perfect ending to a beautiful day!

“my gift is how I see life…my art is telling your story”

They met in a restaurant in the village of stunning sunsets and sunburns…Key West. Jennifer was on vacation with her family when she caught Jonah’s attention. She told me she tricked him into dancing with her to the song  “I want you to want me“  by Cheap Trick, and that was the beginning of their falling in love.  SO much in love, that Jonah, who was there visiting from Alabama, decided (after many months of consideration) to give up his life in Alabama and move to Orlando to be with the one girl he calls… sweetheart. Oh they have other names for each other… like smiley britches and handsome pants. Ok, that’s TMI, but I think it’s cute.

Jennifer is a stunning bride-to-be, sweet, and so much FUN! Jonah is a true Southern gentleman and will do anything for Jennifer. He is a little camera shy, but I love when they smile because they both have these amazing dimples and sparkly eyes that make you want to smile with them.  They are going to promise to love each other with all of their heart, January 2010 in a beautiful garden in Orlando and I get to be the one to catch those moments. Can’t wait!

We had a very overcast and thunderstorm threatening day during their session, but they were so accommodating and comfortable with each other, so we ignored the rain and I was able to catch some great moments!! There are too many to share, but these images will give you a peek at their story. Actually I loved that gloomy sky… It gave me a really nice background for their images.  Jonah, I know you would rather have been fishing that day, but if you bring your fishing pole to the wedding, I will do my best to get some shots of your “prized catch” and you fishing. Promise.

I love those boots!! Can you see that tiny ladybug that flew on to Jennifer’s hand? Aren’t they considered long life, and good luck in some cultures?

this is SO them… loving and comfortable with each other

“I’ll shine up my old brown shoes, put on a brand new shirt. I’ll get home early from work if you say that you love me” 

lyrics to their song, “I want you to want me” -Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick

“my gift is how I see life… my art is telling your story”

“to be rich in love, is to be rich in life”

How appropriate for Rich and Jillian! This is an amazingly connected couple. They met at work here in Southern California, and we met through a mutual friend and co-worker. On the day that we shot their engagement session I realized they were so captivated with each other that most of my favorites are of them caught in each others’ eyes.  The trusting, joyful, fulfilling and loving eyes of the one they want to spend the rest of their lives with…their best friend.

Rich has some interesting big boy toys that he brought to our session and I was of course a HUGE fan of his 1960 Corvette… how lucky am I to get to capture these images of them. He brought his Harley too, so you’ll get to see that also as you scroll through…

I have hundreds of great images to show you, but I had too many favorites… so I will just give you a peek at a few of the ones they chose to place into their storybook album. Their laughter and smiles are contagious!  And thank you so much Jillian for becoming my new friend and my most organized and exuberant client, I cannot wait to show your images from your wedding in Sausalito soon…….

“my gift is how I see life, my art is telling your story”

collide: verb

to come into usually forceful contact with something , to come together with solid or direct impact; to be of harmony or agreement

In physics, it states that in a perfect elastic impact, none of the kinetic energy is lost in response to the collision.

This isn’t rocket science, this love thing…. it’s a decision, and a gift.

I absolutely adore engagement sessions! I am drawn to each couple’s joy as I get to really know them. I believe the energy between them and the forceful impact that it has on those around them allows me to be drawn into their gravity and I am hovering on happiness times ten for weeks.  I enjoy following them, ok, stalking them to prove the harmony theory………..

You remember Becca?  Now you get to meet her fiance, Dan, and hear their favorite song…

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“collide”…music by Howie Day

slideshow created by my sometimes invisible, but very (technogeekishly wonderful)  amazing husband, Greg. I am the creative one, he hooks me up technologically. We are a great team.

“my gift is how I see life..my art is telling your story”

Do you ever feel like one of those thoroughbred horses waiting for the bell to bring you out of the gate? SO much in front of you, anxious, with eyes on the prize, but hurdles to get there? I have been SO busy…! I know you are waiting for some updates. I thought I should just check in and give you some words…. yes, some visible evidence I am here.

I have been working on three engagement sessions, a destination wedding, a teen model session and a session with a newborn baby. Really busy, and LOVE the images I have captured…. but for some reason the laundry fairies and the Photoshop woodland-nymphs didn’t show up to help me on this Monday morning again so…. I am trudging along pushing past the time consuming part of my work to get these images to you soon!

Life here in SoCal is beautiful and full of gifts…. give one to yourself today… hug a child, smile at someone in the check out line, and breathe deep into a pitcher of lemonade with mint, and then relax… for me. I will return…..I am just waiting for the bell, and in the meantime I will be at this screen… creating your life stories in perfect dreamy technicolor!

BTW… I am SO thankful that I haven’t needed to visit a laundromat for light years, except of course to shoot this session!

“my gift is how I see life…my art is telling your story”

I was thinking the other day about a photograph that was taken when I was about three years old of my dad and me. My family says I couldn’t possibly remember that moment, because I was way too young, but I do. I remember the way he knelt down in the grass next to me to kiss me on the cheek while I was swinging from a homemade swing in my Nana’s backyard. As he whispered in my ear, his breath tickled my cheek, and his scent was unmistakable… Old Spice aftershave with lime. I thought all dads smelled like that, that all dads carried a handkerchief in their pockets just for their children’s runny noses and salty tears, and that all fathers seemed to have hands as big as baseball mitts. My dad was my superhero. He could make the boogeyman get out from under my bed, run faster than my bike without the training wheels, and see through watermelon to determine it’s ripeness.  He taught me that all roads lead home, it’s easier to tell the truth than remember the lies, and that if I didn’t wash behind my ears, I could possibly grow potatoes there.

I would give anything to find that photograph. Trust me, I’ve looked in every box in my attic and garage, …hopefully it will turn up somewhere …until then, I have other more recent photos. I just wish I had that one.

I realized in putting this slide show together, that I have a “dad” deficit in my client files. The women usually coerce the men into the photographs and promise them special treats for showing up for the shoot. Smiling and pretending they are not “missing the big game on TV”, the dads tend to be the referee for the gang  (or in the background hiding from the spotlight). I made a promise to myself to change this. I want to pay better attention to the fathers in the events I shoot, and make sure that I can capture them at their best. I want to give those families those significant moments…the ones that define and illustrate the man in their lives… the one they call…Dad.

“For My Father“  music by Andy McKee

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Sometimes I am the photo-ninja.  You have an idea I am nearby, but you are not exactly sure when I might appear behind a door or, in this case, an infant swing. In its proper operation (swinging, filled with a sleeping baby), I find it difficult to catch a crisp focus while it’s in motion.  My client/friend Jenn and her baby Lily were my victims, ahem… models this day. SO sweeeeet! I love the natural (no flash), raw unpredictability of this type of shooting. Babies are always in control. They mesmerize, hypnotize and basically turn on their cuteness stun guns. I cannot stop staring and shooting and smiling and yes… getting nothing done but baby ogling, watching the miracle before me just breathe! At some point I am the one captured, not the subject. Those little toes, the amazingly perfect lips and eyelashes, and their itty-bitty hands… and then, their eyes open and you’re hooked. Maybe, just maybe, if someone harnessed the tractor-beam force behind the eyes of a child that sees the world in awe and splendor without prejudice or great fear, we would be nicer folk to one another. I think they call it unconditional love. Yes, unconditional. Thank you, I’ll take two of those please……

Here she is… that sleeping snuggle of smoochey goodness waiting to be held and loved by her family……… Lily Ann

And Jenn may hunt me down for using these images of her without make-up or wardrobe change… but I couldn’t resist the unrehearsed moments here.  I just had to share them with you. Beautiful and real…here are a few of those moments.

Ahhhh, she’s awake! Precious…..

“my gift is how I see life, my art is telling your story”