Pollock Pines

9.20.14: the wedding day of Jamie and Roman, and the infamous King Fire started just one week before. If you were getting married that weekend in the Pollock Pines area, you weren’t really sure where your wedding would be. After several days of thick smoke-filled skies, a bit of blue emerged through the billows for Jamie and Roman’s wedding at Sierra Banquet Center. Although the King Fire had pushed northeast settling our nerves down a bit locally, everyone’s knee-jerk reaction was to look up when they heard planes flying overhead to see what kind of aircraft it was; a jet dropping fire retardant,…

Mike and Leslie are our neighbors. Lucky me, they are so wonderful and kind. Mike is the guy who you can rely on to be at the end of the road in every snow storm, shrinking the burm from the plow with his shovel while Leslie is the kind neighbor who would drop anything for anyone at any time. They both helped us out on several occasions when our girls were younger and, when my assistant Jerri (who was also their daughter’s best friend) faced leaving her friends behind because her family was moving to Montana in her Senior year,…

Getting a family of five together in one place as children head into their teens – and beyond – can be a tough task. It can be even harder to get that dedicated, relaxed family time without the stress and distractions of daily life. Which is why it was a privilege to be able to capture the Butler family at-play and just enjoying one another’s company recently at Sly Park Lake. Eldest son, Josh, was heading off to Air Force boot camp not long after our session and so his mom, Tracie, was especially emotional at having all her” babies”…

Headed over to Gold Ridge on a sunny Christmas eve to capture the Ganno family all in from out of town. This year little Hayes from Colorado was the new addition to the family- just 5 months old. We had planned the shoot for the 23rd but the weather was rainy and I thought it would be best to postpone for sunny Christmas eve. I even had my husband assist me on this one:) A family affair! I think it’s cool when a family who comes together from many locations and generations decides to make this happen. Life is so…

I’ve been running into Matt alot on the “wedding circuit”.  First at Matt and Gretchen’s Fausel Ranch Wedding and then at Elisha and John’s Fausel Ranch Wedding. In fact, at Elisha and John’s wedding, he met Alex, who was a bridesmaid for Elisha. I remember taking a photograph of her looking at Elisha’s dress…. I know it is hard to keep up with but at the end of June I will get to photograph their wedding at Fausel Ranch(one of my favorite spots) while 2 of my past brides(Gretchen and Elisha- who will also both be very pregnant) stand by…

John claimed he doesn’t smile very often, but with the amount he was smiling during this session, I have a bit of trouble believing him. Shortly after graduation this year John’s heading off to boot camp to start his career with the Marines. As a Track and Field enthusiast I’m sure he’ll have no trouble at all doing all of those long-distance runs and push-ups that boot camp is famous for. Congratulations John and thanks to the Monsma family for trusting me to capture these transitions for you!

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…