Pollock Pines

It was great to get out with Erika and Ella (and mama’s Christine and Natalie) who chose to share a senior session. I love these sessions and especially experiencing how good friends support each other. I’ve known Erika and Ella since they were in kindergarten as they played soccer with my youngest daughter, back in the day. I think my husband was an assistant coach with Erika’s dad. Anyway, it’s amazing that here they are, putting the finishing touches on high school and ready to jump into what is next. I hadn’t seen Erika in many, many years and while…

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The wild thing about having a toddler who is your baby is that all of a sudden she’s not the baby anymore. Just like that, she seems so big, so much older.

This time of year I get asked about mini sessions. My version of a mini session is a 30-minute session, with the digital files included in the cost. For me, trying to squeeze in a line of families every 15-20 minutes, back to back, doesn’t allow me the time to allow something unique to happen. We can get alot done in 30 minutes…and I still feel like I’m moving quickly. Basically, I’ll take the connection with my customers any old day versus rushing people through. It’s the way I prefer to work. This was the second year I have photographed…

  You never know where you’ll find your next wedding couple. As I was headed out to one of my favorite spots at Jenkinson Lake one evening with a family I was photographing, I came upon a couple and a few of their friends doing a quick rehearsal for a ceremony they had planned for the next day. We exchanged some small talk and I said, “I hope you have a photographer for this magnificent spot”, and they looked at their friends with iPhones and said that they did. As I was leaving I passed by their camping spot and…

Where does the time go? Jarrett was just 4 years old when I captured this image of him(below) at Emigrant Trail pre school, where my oldest daughter also attended… back in the day. These kids all grew up together and now they’re finishing up high school. The Class of 2020. Wait, it is 2020…..What? Long ago are the Emigrant Trail days. Jarrett is currently a senior at Virtual Academy and loves baseball- he’s been playing since he was 5 years old. Currently he’s a lefty pitcher for the Varsity EDHS team and is “cool, calm and collected” on the mound,…

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…