Life

Chip called me a few weeks ago- it seems his old friend and new sweetheart was going to be in town and it was important to him to capture the beginnings of their relationship. Chip and Shannon met at Chico State years ago and were instant friends. Both were involved in other relationships at the time but they confided in each other alot and gave each other advice. Well, they have kept in touch and now are both free explore a deeper friendship. Oh, did I mention that Chip is a photographer and that it is a bit intimidating to…

We met up with some truly wonderful old friends at Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondaks in upstate New York this month while visiting Jeff’s parents. Randi and Philippe joined us from Martha’s Vineyard with their family, Miles, Elie and Leo(the doggie), and Henry, Shawn and their one year old, Hugh made the drive up from Ithaca. We spent the weekend, kayaking, party barging down the lake, fishing, running, wake boarding, cooking great food, swimming, reading, and catching up with each other with long late night discussions and other general hoopla. Truly enjoyable! I went to Syracuse University with Randi,…

I had the chance to meet up with Sandi and Terry Friday night at Larsens Park in Camino. Sandi was Jaz’s second grade teacher. Jaz loved her- and so did we. We gave this session to her as an end of the year thank you gift. The light was beautiful, and so were these two! Thank you Sandi for making Jaz’s year in second grade such a fantastic one!

Meet Juno and Kona! Julie and Brian got married back in 2008 – and now they have twins! Jaz and Ember met their babies last month and we are due for another visit soon!

My friend Judy, from David Girard asked me to come on out and shoot their annual Grape Stomp for their wine club members, so Ember and I made a day of it. Here she is with her camera ready to shoot some photographs… Not sure why I did not include the pocket book(fashion statement)…it was very sparkly! Ember had a blast getting to stomp the grapes. This is Mari their fabulous winemaker! Serious business! Gotta have a kid stomp! And what would a grape stomp be without a costume contest? Judy with the winners of the costume contest- pretty awesome,…

I had a chance to support the Sugarloaf Fine Arts Camp this year by setting up a photo booth for their 8th annual fundraiser at Smith Flat House in Placerville last weekend. This year also marked the 50th anniversary of Sugarloaf. Sugarloaf is a summer fine arts camp in Pollock Pines that provides classes for 6th grade through high school students in Concert Bands, Visual Arts, Theater Arts, Creative Arts, Photography, and Jazz Bands to name a few. The fundraiser helped to provide scholarships for students who might not otherwise be able to attend. Attendees to the fundraiser had the chance…

When you called me earlier this year to cancel your wedding, I tried to comfort you by letting you know that “you have all the time in the world to get married”. I had no idea that this was not true. Rest in peace Amy. We will all miss your free spirit and beautiful smile.

As if having one blog to maintain isn’t enough….When my travel planner friend Melissa from high school asked me to be a guest blogger on her blog, I laughed! I told her, “I have enough trouble keeping up with my own blog.” She however assured me that it would be easy and that I just needed to answer some basic questions about photography. So I did and here is the link to some basic photography tips. Check out Melissa to help you with planning your next vacation!

David has been home schooled his whole life along with his older sister and brother Michelle & Daniel. David is the last of the Carlson kids that I get to photograph senior pictures for. He just graduated this year and plans on going to Folsom Lake for a couple of terms to figure out what he’d like to do in life. I like the way kids use college these days to sort stuff out rather than feel like they have to know what they will do for the rest of their life at eighteen years old. David writes historical fiction…