I have a serious addiction to crawling through dusty attics, salvage yards, and old bookstores to find treasures. I love imagining the stories attached to these rusty,damaged cast-offs.

And, because of my desperate need to investigate every amazingly created organic life form, (enthusiastically as I breathe in every detail and hopefully get photographs) I sometimes venture out to witness the glory of God’s fingerprints on the world around us.

Alone.

Here in southern California I find the most unexpected, unrehearsed gorgeous moments are sometimes found right off the beaten trail. No model releases needed here… just simple organic moments, caught on the side of the road. Here I find real treasure.

Welcome to spring in California…

I want to share with you our state poppies!

and down the road a little further….   I am not alone soaking up the golden sun, blue skies, and tangerine poppies

I found this abandoned,rumpled trenchcoat here among the wildflowers and practiced awhile with the shadows.

I watched a tiny ladybug crawl its way over the hills of the “left behind” mound I created. Can you find him? I imagined him to say,

“Excuse me… did you drop your coat?”

catching shadows…

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

becca J

I cannot define her, she is just precious… hence, my silly new word “preciousity“.

Becca has two older sisters (one is away at school becoming a scientist, or a doctor without borders or something else amazingly brilliant.  The other a student, vocalist, artist, saving the world and at home helping with Becca) Her parents are to be admired, and should be sought after to write the book “how to raise a normal, happy, active and truly thankful family”. Amazing folks to hang out with and shoot even though this particular session was about BECCA… I just couldn’t help myself, I had to capture a few unrehearsed moments!

Love them… all of them.

Big sister Jessica was a huge help to me ( and her Mom) this afternoon. I  always appreciate a little assistance when shooting two year olds  Thanks Jessie!

and then there’s this MAGICAL case… it belongs to Becca’s grandmother…….inside it contains wonder, amazement,  and spectacularness?!

“…we open now… please?”

Can you tell me what is kept in this enchanted case???

Betcha you can’t…. nope, I am not giving any clues… not one.

stun me with your guesses… (you can write to me in the comments below)

AGAIN… too many cute  images to show you, I am giving these out to you for a little nibble, while I go place my favorites in my”updatewebsite” folder.

Those will reveal the contents!

I think I need to enlarge this and place it over my desk with the quote: “YOU can do it, don’t give up, keep your head up high, and when all else fails, sometimes you just gotta SING!”

big squeezy hugs to you Miss Preciousity…

” becca J.”

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

Photography does not define me… but it is one of my favorite ways to express the thousands of daydreams inside me. I love to create stories from the images I capture without altering them too artificially. Heathery hues, saturated in textures in a contrasting environment. I get giddy just thinking about where my next session might be and what I will get to encounter!   Lucky me when I get a client like Eran that needs very little coaxing, because they are wonderfully blessed with “the look”. The photogenic one that whatever they do comes naturally, feeling comfortable in front of the lens as well as behind it.

So….finally, after a dozen or so emails, I got to meet Eran for the first time,(up close and in person) the day of her session. Graduating seniors have enough stress determining the path they decide to create their lives around for their next four years so I am happy to give them a little break from reality and go have some FUN!

We had a little chat while the sunlight softened, the air chilled, and the wild geese found their way back to their nesting places at the lake. ( Ask me when you see me about the “little gifts” on the ground  they left for us..:) Probably why we didn’t get those gymnastic shots we were going to take on the grassy lakefronts?)

One of the first details I noticed about Eran, was the the colour of her eyes. They twinkled and  morphed from a deep indigo, to green depending on the direction of the sunlight. THIS is one of those “giggly inside” moments.. when you know you going to catch some great face shots.  I was right, and she has zillions of expressions to go with those amazing eyes and a sweet, genuine smile.

She becomes more herself  with a camera  in her hand, and so we caught some shots of her doing her thing. Eran… please tell me you deleted any shots you might have inadvertently caught of  the photographer??

Ahem…thank you

She dreams about becoming a couture photographer and I wish her the best!

great faces…there are too many to choose…these are some of MY random favorites from her session.

Thanks Eran, let’s get our cameras together and just go out and find some stuff to shoot….some place with gorgeous sunlight, and possibly with only a few migratory ducks and

territorial wild geese.

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

Here’s a few tiny kisses from one of my most wonderfully amazing families…I wanna jump right into this group hug and bring them back to sunny California with me!

I have wheelbarrows full of amazing senior graduation portraits, family captures, and random fun stuff to edit and process when I return….

here’s a little peek from today’s session that caught my heart……………

Thank you to the Julin Family for allowing me to show this “straight outta the camera”...I wanted to share more… but you’ll have to “wait for it”!

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

I can become easily distracted by all those twinkling lights, shimmering ribbons and the sugary aromas of Christmas,

but there is only one very wonderful and perfect reason I celebrate this season.

Let’s remember together…

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

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

I am a transplanted Southerner. I long for a change in the seasons. Here in my little SoCal world of an arid, dusty climate with warm winds,(and pollen swollen eyes) I hunt for those deeply saturated hues of russet,amber,caramel, and chartreuse. I have an insatiable need to drown myself in the gingerbread tones of this season. I LOVE peeling paint, and rusted iron, and decaying wood, and wildly overgrown thickets of tall grasses and the adventure of finding little treasures in the average day. So, I am in my little oasis of God’s paintbox right now. I was so thankful for the few days of rain we had which allowed the colours to become even more incredible.

Here are a few of my favorite things….

( please feel free to hum “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music with a British accent if the mood strikes you while perusing… I would love that too!

The weekend begins with continuing the hunt, scouring the canyons and valleys for signs of crimson. Look for me in my favorite “shooting” boots,my rolled up jeans, and a BIG bag of chili flavored dried papaya, (seriously?… I mean maybe a small bag of chocolate something)and my Canon, just trying to blend into the landscape.

I will be the one masquerading as a native Californian.(with a grin from here… to there)

Yeah, autumn!

.another hunt for red october.

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

I believe there’s a little spark of prairie cowgirl in all of us girls…especially with the right attitude for the wilderness and of course it helps to have the perfect broken- in boots!

“oh, how I love me some boots”……………

This is my favorite time of year to pounce in a mound of the last green twigs, newly turned amber leaves, and the plentiful thicket of pine grass to have a great beginning to Autumn!

Thank you to Amanda K for coming with me to chase the sunlight and drink in this season’s yummy colours……………here’s a sneak at our session together…

…rapturephotoart…

.chasing sunlight.

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

…YOU are SO patient, thank you! Just sitting there waiting on something to appear.

I know you have been waiting for the next parade of images…but (sigh) no streamers or balloons, tickertape, or big marching bands show up. Just a few bubbles…I apologize.

I am selfishly holding back the fun. I am still behind the scenes updating my website, and learning new things about this industry. I would let you peek, but I want to have some surprises left for you to see that will keep you smiling and maybe recalling these events in your life.

Here are my new secret weapons, newlyweds…. they make me grin quite ridiculously.

We will call them “J” and “A”. We shot this session weeks ago, but they are so in love they haven’t had the time to get back to me to choose their favorites from their proofs. Soon, they will be LARGER on my website galleries and I will “introduce” you. Unless they become so famous by then they won’t even need introductions!

May you have a wonderful end to your summer, and congratulations to all of the couples who became “Mr. and Mrs.” in these past months. Somewhere in the world it will be autumn soon…are you ready?

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

Computer + digital photography = mousetrap

It’s more time consuming and alluring than I imagined, this tiny mousetrap. I love giving you updates and insights to my fun, but it’s really difficult to juggle my ideas and spin all these plates as I get lured into this technicolor world of over saturated images . I think I am artistically sidetracked most of my day. I have become addicted to the instant gratification.

You too?

Recently I have been asked to create  invitations, business cards, and advertising layouts for various clients,  because I love PAPER, and I ADORE fabric! I am finding ways to combine my addictions, and hopefully make some people happy in the process! Here’s a little test sample I ended up rejecting from my files …………..

His eyes haunt me with that colour and expression!  So irresistible, it  keeps me up at night remembering about how he smelled of vanilla wafers and chlorine.   CUTE!  Sometimes I only get about 15 minutes with a toddler, then they are done… this little guy wanted to hold my camera,( good taste) he even drooled a little when I told him he could help me “push the button”… and he did! CUTE again!

Hypnotized to this screen, I watch the magic appear processing the images…I look forward to this weekend when I am actually out shooting sessions again in the great outdoors where there is plenty of fresh air and sunshine. I DO love these long summer days… and plenty of  late evening light to shoot in! Hooray for Daylight Savings Time… can’t we just stay here?

p.s.(disclaimer: NO! the above test ad is not intended to be politically or socially incorrect…I just used that remark as a test…  when I was little I used to think the words summer blonde were “some are blonde” LOL!)

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

She sparkles like golden sunshine through stained glass windows, and her laugh lassos everyone in around her….

meet “MK” …aka Megan!

Megan you ARE amazing! Congratulations on graduating high school, and medical training ! You will be a wonderful nurse, and friend to all you meet in your future endeavors.

I totally enjoyed our senior grad session … I smiled so hard my eyes hurt!!!

I also appreciated your talent of wardrobe changing so quickly in the front seat of your mom’s truck! Now that you could put on your resume….

“works well under time restraints, compliant, super-positive attitude”…and has gobs of cute stuff to wear! LOL!

Thank you again to your mom, Melissa, and of course your boyfriend George for coming along to watch me “catch the light” so I could paint it into your images! So sparkly, so sweet, so FUN!

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