A-SESSION LOCATIONS- Mountains

You know when you just click with someone? As a photographer, this is pure joy, especially if they are your subject. Nerves go away, trust prevails and that creative flow just happens- where you move from one idea to the next gently and confidently, and maybe a little giddily too. The Gimpel family came referred to me by the Little family(thanks Bob and Kim). Alison, Ross, Ayla(6) and Sage(4) said this was their first “real” family session. So, off we went climbing to through the bear clover to get to the top of the hill overlooking Jenkinson Lake, well, because there…

9.20.14: the wedding day of Jamie and Roman, and the infamous King Fire started just one week before. If you were getting married that weekend in the Pollock Pines area, you weren’t really sure where your wedding would be. After several days of thick smoke-filled skies, a bit of blue emerged through the billows for Jamie and Roman’s wedding at Sierra Banquet Center. Although the King Fire had pushed northeast settling our nerves down a bit locally, everyone’s knee-jerk reaction was to look up when they heard planes flying overhead to see what kind of aircraft it was; a jet dropping fire retardant,…

10 years ago, Chuck was listed as one of the top 10 most eligible bachelors in Sacramento Magazine (as was mentioned quietly to me when I inquired how they met). Then Chuck met Julie. On a perfect, breezy day on the North Shore, Chuck and Julie had a sweet, quaint wedding at the gorgeous backdrop of Christy Hill Resturant in Tahoe City. Fun-loving, light-hearted, they gathered their friends and family with lots of good food and joking around. What a great way to commemorate starting married life together! Julie and Chuck are active and like to bike and run together. They share a…

What a beautiful day, down at the river’s edge at Alder Creek Tract, just up Highway 50. The Bonzo family won an auction item of a free session that my business donated for a local fundraiser. As most sessions go, there is a period of warming up to each other, and of course, the kids, wondering…What have Mom and Dad gotten us into?! Well, I don’t want to put words in their mouths–but while those feelings may have existed–any worries soon subsided into a really fun and laid-back session. Lisa and Ed have raised completely delightful children: David, Emma, and…

Nikki will soon be brightening the campus of University of Reno/Nevada with her dimpled smile and blue eyes. She’s just finishing up her senior year at El Dorado High. I spent the end of a lovely day with her at the High Sierra Iris Gardens in Camino—the natural background of vibrant flowers is the perfect complement to Nikki’s glowing beauty, especially since she has a strong interest in the healing properties of plants and foods. She’ll be studying nutrition in the fall. Joining us for the shoot was Nikki’s Dad, Ben. He watched and admired his grown daughter through the…

Ahhh… and thus begins 2014’s engagement season! Engagement sessions are such a fabulous way for me to get to know my couples before their wedding day (and visa versa.) Not only can we become more familiar and at-ease with one another but I can work with them to see how they like to be photographed. It really pays off on the wedding day because all that initial awkwardness is already out of the way. In this case, there was no awkwardness at all since Sallie Grace and I attended the same boarding school, Chatham Hall and so had lots to…

Mike and Leslie are our neighbors. Lucky me, they are so wonderful and kind. Mike is the guy who you can rely on to be at the end of the road in every snow storm, shrinking the burm from the plow with his shovel while Leslie is the kind neighbor who would drop anything for anyone at any time. They both helped us out on several occasions when our girls were younger and, when my assistant Jerri (who was also their daughter’s best friend) faced leaving her friends behind because her family was moving to Montana in her Senior year,…