When I logged on to Facebook the morning of Trisha and Justin’s wedding, I couldn’t help but love Trisha’s post for the day: Today I marry my best friend. Their day took place at The Flower Farm in Loomis. The bride got ready in her own suite surrounded by her many bridesmaids, and the groom and groomsmen took over the main house. I love that there are so many cottages and gardens to work with, and it worked out great to be able to just pop in to a cottage for a quick break from all the heat. For their…

I finally got the chance to meet Kristi and Derek just a few days before their wedding. We met up in Lake Tahoe for their engagement session. Just a few days later, I was on my way up to Taylorsville for their big day. Derek’s family owns the mill in Taylorsville, and was also playing host for the wedding. The reception was set up in the front of their property, with the dance floor (surrounded by hay bales) right in front of their barn. And the spot they chose for their ceremony had a beautiful view of the mountains behind…

Deanna, the owner of Fausel Ranch, was kind enough to drive us on the back of her quad so that I could take a few photographs of Michelle and Tim as they left the ceremony on their motorcycle, it made for some awesome images, and what I would give for a few photos of Me, Anna, Deanna, and all our gear bouncing on the back of that quad! Congratulations Tim and Michelle!

I am just getting all the images together from this year’s graduation. That puts my Chatham Hall graduation count to 27, well…28 if you count my own back in 1984. This was a special year for me as my good friend Ann (Dr. Beal), who I have enjoyed visiting and staying with on campus each and every year since my graduation, and who also happened to be my English teacher MY senior year, was retiring after a long career of teaching. Congratulations to the Class of 2011 and thank you to Ann Beal for generously sharing her life’s learned wisdoms…

…I don’t know, maybe about 7 years ago, I was pregnant with my second daughter Ember, while taking care of my 2.5 year old, Jaz. Most moms would agree that this 2nd pregnancy can be challenging due to the fatigue, compared with a first pregnancy, where you could just rest as desired. I had what most pleasantly refer to as first trimester “morning sickness”, only day and night for the duration of both of my pregnancies. Enter, Ruthie Blair, good friend and mom extraordinaire of Rebekah. I remember one particular day waking and feeling very sick fatigued and at the…

To be perfectly honest… I am always a bit nervous when I shoot another photographer (Jason Tanaka), but after hanging out with Sumer and Jason that quickly went away. We met at Baker Beach in San Francisco. It’s an awesome location in the city because it has a bit of everything…the beach, a view of part of the city, an old bunker for a bit of that urban style, and an awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Throughout the session we worked our way down the beach, and managed to beat a night-time photography class to the far end…

Below the slideshow is the article my friend and fabulous mom, Melinda Gray wrote for the local paper about our trip to El Dorado Care Center. I know my daughter Jaz is one of the lucky ones to have Lorrie Hargon for third grade. Many thanks to Mrs. Hargon for understanding that sometimes the best education happens outside of the classroom, and to fabulous moms Beth Higgins and Melissa Opsahl for their huge efforts coordinating this trip. Thanks also to those parents who came along that day and provided assistance. Special thanks to Avelina Presley who is the Activities Director…

You may remember some of Melissa’s maternity session photographs a few weeks back. Well, just over 2 weeks ago, Melissa and Eric welcomed sweet baby Jocelyn into the world.  We had the opportunity to go out to their house and take a few photographs of their new family of 3. Congratulations Melissa and Eric-looking forward to my next visit with your family in a few months!

Todd and Linda were a first for me. They are looking to adopt a newborn to 5 year old in the near future, and needed some fun photographs taken of the two of them to use for their adoption profiles. Linda has grown children of her own, and now after 16 years of marriage, they want to become parents together. We started off at Boeger Winery in Placerville, and then ended the session at their house playing with the puppies that Linda breeds. Thank you Todd and Linda for choosing me to help you on this journey of yours, and…

Usually by the time an engagement session happens the wedding planning is well under way, and more often than not the couple has been engaged for several months. This was not the case with Nicole and Jeff. Nicole wanted some photographs of the two of them as a newly engaged couple, and I was more than happy to hang out with them for the afternoon. They’ve been together 6 years and just recently became engaged. Tank, their bulldog, came along for part of the session. He did a great job sitting in front of the camera, and became fast friends…

Kate and Evan are from Pollock Pines or at least have lived here for a long time. They met at Sly Park Lake working together. Their wedding gave a lot of local vendors a chance to get together and help to make their big day shine. Kate and Evan chose a first look at Bella Vista Bed and Breakfast, where they got ready. After their first look, they had the whole day to spend with each other. After many photographs in the wild flowers fields in Coloma, we headed to Sierra Banquet Center in Camino. Sue does such a fabulous…

Elle is following in her parents footsteps and heading off to the University of Redlands in the fall. She plans on studying performing arts, and very confidently told me that she wants to become an actress. Her most recent appearance was in the stage production of High School Musical 2, and I am quite sure there will be many more productions to follow. Elle has a great smile and beautiful green eyes and a ton of energy to go with it- Watch out for Elle- she’s coming to a theater near you!