A-SESSION LOCATIONS- Mountains

Punctuation.  A simple dash or dot can begin, interrupt, link, end, interrogate, or energize.  Without punctuation, life is just a bunch of garbled words with no structure or form, one run-on sentence with no emotion or intensity.  Punctuation is the pulse. Ally has a favorite punctuation mark.  So favorite that it is indelibly marked on her wrist so that she always knows it’s there, always recalls its meaning.  It’s a semi-colon (;).  Which may seem semi-strange for a teenager to choose as a tattoo, but that’s because we haven’t read what came before the semi-colon.  The story of a beautiful young woman…

Given their marathon running experience, Jennifer and Tim had no problem navigating snow and ice for their January engagement session.  Our lakeside plans had to be scrapped when we encountered a locked entrance gate, but the snow and light was actually better just around the corner.  Jennifer and Tim had no problem trudging through the deep snow, and with all the slipping and sliding there were pretty of opportunities for genuine smiles and happy laughter!  Jennifer has one of those smiles that just lights up the world, and luckily Tim gives her plenty of opportunities to make good use of…

What a difference four years makes!  It was a pleasure to reconnect with the McCann Family this fall at one of my favorite places, Sly Park Lake, and see how much this gorgeous family has grown.  I always say one of the greatest rewards of my career is that I get to work with families many times over the years and in a sense, grow with them!  In 2012 when I photographed the McCann Family at Boeger Winery, youngest daughter Ellie was just a baby and big sister Hailee a smiling tot.  Today they are two beautiful little girls with an…

When longterm clients become longtime friends, I know that my business is exactly everything I’d hoped it to be.  That’s what it is like with the Anderson family.  I met them when their youngest child Ryan was still an infant and have been blessed to watch them grow and evolve as a family ever since.  Even with their busy schedules (full-time jobs for both mom and dad, plus part-time soccer coaching, along with soccer playing for the kids) they still are able to find time for annual family photography.  Even if that means a sunset arrival for their afternoon session!  Doesn’t matter; when…

It was one of those sunny, golden fall afternoons that make me pinch myself: not only do I get to live in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains, but I also get to follow happy families around while they enjoy the outdoors, trading jokes and snapping photos.  (And I call this “work?”  Ha!)  With the loving, energetic, incredibly photogenic Jen family as my clients and a bright blue sky overhead, it was a great day at the office for sure. The Jen sisters are close in age and also very close to each other.  Watching them goof around was so much fun and…

It’s not easy as you might think it would be to get many generations of family together in order to capture this moment in time. It can take some planning, some coordinating and some flexibility but it’s generally never regretted. Kudos to my friend Carol who did just that this summer while her family was in town for a visit. In fact, we did this several years ago over the Christmas holiday too. Living close to Goldridge club, we were able to utilize the playground which always keeps the kids engaged. Lots of smiles and lots of grandkids (ok, and a few…

When Kevin approached me to create a photo montage of the Pollock Pines schools in his district – Pinewood, Sierra Ridge, and Silver Fork – I knew this was going to be a special and very meaningful job.  You see, for 6 years Kevin has been my kids’ school Superintendent, and our community has gotten many good opportunities to get to know him.  Always approachable, he would stand outside the school entrance at drop off to socialize with the students and their parents.  Everybody knew Mr. Monsma!  This hands-on approach has always been something I really admired about him.  This summer he moved on to a…

The Bartolo Family- With their youngest in Philadelphia embarking on the first year of her college adventure, Jim and Tammy decided that it is finally time to downsize and sell their beautiful home in Pollock Pines, that Jim actually built. There’s a lot of love in that home. And, with all of the girls and grandma Josephine in town and available over the holidays, it was a perfect time to capture them all in their home, the home they all grew up in (even Jim…ehhh, maybe not- likely still working on it). And I can say that because I’ve known the Bartolo’s for awhile so…

You may remember the Orlino family from their newest addition, Eloise’s, birth back in August. It was my first time meeting Rebecca and Elmo and I only managed to capture a glimpse of their 4 year old twins, Sam and Oliver, via Skype. So I was excited to capture everyone together during a recent family session at Sly Park Lake up here in Pollock Pines. Sam and Oliver are typical 4 year old boys who can’t stand in one place for longer than a few seconds. They walked up “mountains” of rock beside the lake and down the mountains of…