Sly Park-Pollock Pines

I just love it when friends and clients refer me to families who are a perfect fit for my personality and photography style! That’s what happened here with this wonderful family of three from Sonoma who were referred to me by a long-term client of more than a decade. Marika, Virgilio, and their young son, Diangio, drove up after a brief camping trip, to play in my neck of the woods at Sly Park Lake. Marika is a part time NICU nurse and high school teacher  which must take some serious emotional energy. Meanwhile Virgilio teaches farming and was quite…

I have known Jacqueline and her family now for some time. Along with her two older sisters, Samantha and Kalene, Jacqueline has baby-sat my daughters over the years. In the early days, when my girls were toddlers and we would go on family camping trips, the even short moments of respite they provided my husband, Jeff, and I were MUCH appreciated. And now it’s Jacqueline’s turn to fly the coop, heading off to Philadelphia to study the science behind textiles. Such an interesting and different major. Jacqueline tells me that many graduates go on to work as consultants for companies like…

Jake graduates from El Dorado High this spring so it was the perfect time to get out to the lake and capture some photographs of him. As an avid wake boarder, the lake was a natural choice for him. I always joke with my senior male clients that the images we take are “not for you” but for “your mom”, so just be yourself so that she loves them. This tends to take off the pressure off this photo shoot being “all about them” and guys are able to relax into it more easily. Jake is a super sweet guy…

Last week I met up with local high school senior Abby and her mom, Alice to capture this life milestone in Abby’s life and talk about the beginning of the next one. Abby and Alice have a wonderful mother/daughter relationship and I enjoyed observing them both take it all in; Abby, clearly excited about what is next and Alice, also excited for her but still preparing to see her youngest leave home. These sessions can be a shared rite of passage and as a mom myself, beautiful to be a part of. With three college acceptances to choose from and graduation only a few short months away, Abby now gets to decide…

You know when you just click with someone? As a photographer, this is pure joy, especially if they are your subject. Nerves go away, trust prevails and that creative flow just happens- where you move from one idea to the next gently and confidently, and maybe a little giddily too. The Gimpel family came referred to me by the Little family(thanks Bob and Kim). Alison, Ross, Ayla(6) and Sage(4) said this was their first “real” family session. So, off we went climbing to through the bear clover to get to the top of the hill overlooking Jenkinson Lake, well, because there…

Ahhh… and thus begins 2014’s engagement season! Engagement sessions are such a fabulous way for me to get to know my couples before their wedding day (and visa versa.) Not only can we become more familiar and at-ease with one another but I can work with them to see how they like to be photographed. It really pays off on the wedding day because all that initial awkwardness is already out of the way. In this case, there was no awkwardness at all since Sallie Grace and I attended the same boarding school, Chatham Hall and so had lots to…

I love it when I get to give back to someone who is usually not on the receiving end of such gifts. That’s the case here with beautiful Victoria, who won this session at an auction for a charity event held by the Diamond Springs community earlier this year to help the family of one of the 19 fallen firefighters from the Arizona blazes, Sean Misner. His wife, Amanda, who has roots in the area from her high school days, was just two months away from delivering their first child, Jax, when he died. The whole community came together on…

A ballerina in the woods = magical. There is just no way to not say “ahhh” when you look at these images of beautiful Rebecca, during our session to celebrate her upcoming graduation next year. Just a couple of short years ago I was photographing her brother, John, as he prepared to join the Marines. Becky is considering the US Coast Guard Academy as well as Geneva college in PA,  Montana State, and Tulane. Her plan is to study chemical engineering and pre-med. High school has been busy for Becky, where she has competed in track-and-field (her specialties being long…

Beautiful Cammy is graduating this spring and heading to California Baptist University in Southern California to study drama. She is currently in the El Dorado High School production of “Cats” and so she is no stranger to the stage. We met up recently to commemorate her graduation at Sly Park Lake, where we talked about her summer plans to run, hike, and camp with friends and family. I loved Cammy’s sweet and playful nature, making goofy faces in the field and splashing in the lake. She definitely has enough personality to light up the stage, the same way she does the camera,…