A-SESSION LOCATIONS- Mountains

I remember the call I got from Negar, a prospective client about 7 years ago. They had recently moved to the area and were looking for a photographer to capture their family memories. I remember I was cruising the back country roads on a gorgeous spring day between Chapel Hill, NC and Chatham, VA on my way to a shoot. I put my headset on and had a wonderful conversation getting to know the Jamali Family and what was important to them. I remember being a little surprised when she called back and hired me-I guess that is a natural…

I’ve had the honor of photographing the preschoolers at Pinetop Montessori here in town for the past few years. It’s a job that despite the challenge of photographing 20 or so children 4 and under, I love doing. My good friend and photographer Kristi, has been a big help on these shoots, spending the morning going hoarse coaxing these cuties into laughter, craziness and sometimes contemplation. This year was no exception. This allows me the freedom to concentrate on capturing! Miss Dottie of Camino Flower Shop was kind enough to let us use a fence of hers, along with the…

The Calitri’s were the lucky winners of a session for Intel’s big annual fundraiser for charity. The whole family seemed to love getting outdoors, and the boys didn’t mind that there was a seemingly endless amount of rocks to throw. Thank you Calitri family- enjoy your blog teaser- all of your proofs will be up by tomorrow!

Hard to believe it but Miss Madison will graduate next year. When I first met Madison and her parents, she was about the age of my oldest daughter, Jaz. In fact she even babysat my kids for awhile there! Poof- now a senior in high school-gosh that happens fast! Getting out with her for her senior photographs was an honor. The images blend innocence and youth with absolutely lovely and gorgeous young lady- inside and out! A warm smile- a friendly heart- I wish for you all the love and happiness the world has to offer- go get ’em Miss…

Tom and Bethany may very well be one of the kindest couples I know. We’ve only spent a few occasions together- a meeting or two, an engagement session, their wedding and then shared a lovely winter dinner last year at Cafe Luna in Placerville. So I guess one could surmise that I really don’t know them that well. How could you after only a few times? That’s the funny thing about my job. Weddings are of course, very personal. Spending a day with a couple on one of the most important days of their lives, meeting family and friends and…

Got to meet up with Julie and Brian who were married in 2008 up here in Pollock Pines. I remember that day- not only how easy going and fun their wedding was but how my commute was about two minutes. Not many wedding commutes like that:)  Julie and Brian are now the proud parents of Juno and Kona who spent the day at the groomer getting spiffy for the shoot. The fall colors are just starting to emerge up here and it was great to catch up AND capture them in my lens!

The Haffners’ are one of those families that everyone seems to know here in the Pollock/Camino area. I had the pleasure of both meeting them and photographing them a few years ago for their 20th wedding anniversary, and this time it was not only time for another family session, but also Colby’s senior session. We met up at Sly Park Lake on what turned out to be a burn day (that’s mountain talk for smokey), but we used it to our advantage and got some awesome shots of Colby emerging from the smoke and sun flare on his bike. It…

I have a bunch of techniques that I use to get people to loosen up a bit and smile, but during this shoot Jeff, my husband, who was assisting me on this Tahoe shoot, utilized one that had honestly never crossed my mind before. Fortunately the camera was facing the direction of the clients or my white balance would have been really off….see if you can tell which image it is! I only instructed him to be witty and charming- I swear! We had a great family weekend with the Little’s getting away to Squaw- hiking, eating, tubbing and the…

One of my favorite parts about doing extended family sessions is getting to watch and capture how the whole family interacts. Cousins hanging out, grandparents interacting with their grandchildren, parents “working” their young children for natural expressions….and knowing that I am capturing a moment in time for this family that will be forever a part of their family history. I met up with the Tyack family for their extended family session at Sly Park Lake. The air was crisp, the light was beautiful and I couldn’t have asked for a better evening for this session. The kids and adults skipped…