Life

My extended family has a beautiful farm up on the Umpqua River in Oregon. We don’t get up there as much as we’d like mostly due to the amount of travel time it takes to get there and back. I wish it was about 4 hours away instead of 8-10 hours- we’d go up all the time! My uncles Tommy and Chris and their wives Cherry and Michelle live on the farm and take care of it on a day to day basis. In order to get to it you have to cross the Umpqua River (best not to arrive…

This summer Jeff and I asked the Andrew Heringer Band to play an end of summer party at our home (see here). These guys are as talented as they are fun to hang out with, so when Andrew called and asked if I would shoot their new promo shots, I was excited. Music has always been a part of my life. I was a band manager in college (while studying for a BS in photography) for an eclectic, popular and up and coming band, Dogtalk. My photo professor kept encouraging me to find things to photograph other than bands, instruments…

Let’s face it…it is just nice to get away and break up the day to day routine a bit! We were originally scheduled to go to La Ventana about 4 days earlier than we did but Hurricane Rick was approaching the tip of Baja fast. We were able to rearrange our trip and accommodations to provide the week of sunshine and warm weather I so craved after a very busy wedding season. La Ventana is a small family fishing town on the Sea of Cortez. We chose it because Isla Cerralvo (right off shore) protects the beaches while providing some…

At the end of September I had the opportunity to take a workshop from David Beckstead locally in the Sacramento area. Where I also enjoy workshops that get your mind flowing with new business ideas, this was not what I went into this one for. David is a master in the art of composition and I was looking forward to working with him and letting my creative juices flow artistically. Caroline and Dan of Tinywater hosted the workshop and were awesome to finally meet too. Actually, everyone in the workshop was fun to learn from and trade ideas with. David’s…

My little Ember bug graduated from pre-school. I can hardly believe that I now will have 2 school aged children at the same school! I asked Ember if she was a little scared about going to a new school and kindergarden and she said, “no I am ready!”…and she really is! Gotta love that “go get ’em” attitude! She is very excited to be at the same school as her big sister Jazzie! We will truly miss Pinetop Montessori which has been such a fantastic, safe and calm(and local) learning environment for her. The teachers there are fabulous and really…

Most of the time, I meet all my couples prior to their booking me for their wedding. Because they live in San Francisco, I had not met Melissa and Ryan until we landed in the parking lot at Baker Beach to start their engagement session. It didn’t matter- We all had a great time getting to know each other while taking advantage of the amazing light on the Golden Gate Bridge. My friend and fellow photographer from the city, Amy Carr helped me on this shoot and got a few of her own great images too. Thanks Amy! Melissa and…