I met Mariah, Charlie and their son Wyatt over a year ago at a coffee shop in Camino. I really enjoyed them because they were real. I know that sounds trite but honesty and joy that shines through is so refreshing and so much fun to capture as a photographer. They were down to earth and excited about spending the rest of their lives together and being Wyatt’s parents.  That day we decided it would be fun to work together so we made it official 🙂 A few months before their wedding, Mariah asked me if we could do a boudoir…

The class of 2018 and 2019 getting ready to begin the Lantern Ceremony   Hello to the Chatham Hall community, Thank you for another great time on campus. I am working to get all of your photographs uploaded and online sometime early next week. Until then, the slideshow from graduation is now ready for viewing. After 33 years, I still get emotional putting together these graduation-weekend reflections. I move in and out of feeling like a student again,  a parent,  an artist and then sometimes all at once. I truly hope you enjoy it, too. A big shout out of…

Helen and Bob found each other on Eharmony and when they were ready, they chose to marry poolside in Carmichael, California. The landscape consisted of children, grandchildren and extended family and friends. Right in the middle of this mid-day ceremony, Bob and Helen broke into a spontaneous and romantic slow dance as a family friend played a beautiful piece of music for the bride and groom. It literally took my breath away and surely all those in attendance. Their happiness is an inspiration to me. It just goes to show you that it really doesn’t matter how old you are…

Emma and Marcus, born on the same date, and graduating from Ponderosa High School on the same date too! What a treat to not only get to capture the personalities of each of these dynamic, personable and intelligent kids but also their personalities and connection, together, as bother and sister, as twins. They have a lovely nurturing relationship and my camera had a great time and I did too…and we all enjoyed the gorgeous evening light down by the river. We started at Home Depot, all hopping into my car and driving down to Coloma together where I asked them…

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.  ~Confucius And so it goes…later this month Paige will grab her royal blue cap and gown and gracefully cross the stage at El Dorado High School as she retrieves her diploma. Wow. 16 years later. Our families have been friends since 2002 when Jaci, Paige’s mom had a daycare center that our children attended for years. In fact, back in the day, Jaci also used to work for me and I have always valued her as a worker, caregiver and friend. What a treat to get to photograph her oldest daughter- such a…

I think it went something like this… Kaydence, Amber’s oldest, performed at Rockin’ on the Ridge, a broad showcase of musical talent from the guitar club. “Little” Kaydence wasn’t so little anymore and all of us who saw her live or on social media the next day, saw it too. I remember thinking to myself, “Is that really Kaydence?” Amber must have thought to herself, as many of us are thinking in these end-of -the-school-year days, “Omg, what the heck happened?” Shortly thereafter, I received an email from Amber asking if we could go out and capture some images of…

Lily decided that 40 weeks was an insurmountable amount of time in order to meet her family. At about 34 weeks Kailey started having contractions and was put on bed rest. About a week after that, I got the call at 11pm that she was checked into Marshall and was ready to roll. I too rolled, but out of bed, grabbed my gear and a cup of hot tea and off I went to Marshall. Kailey and I giggled as her Tahoe maternity session quickly turned into a Marshall Hospital bed, maternity session/birth.  You just never know. Lily arrived at…

Melanie and Wai are planning an elopement on a beach in Kauai this summer. Sounds miserable, doesn’t it? With four young children and a family already living as one for awhile now, their “get away” will be all about them. And it sounds absolutely perfect. Melanie wanted some professional photographs of the the two of them since they had never had them done before. From my website , they chose El Dorado Hills Town Center as the backdrop for their engagement images. After a couple of emails back and forth to talk about wardrobe, she suggested to me that Wai might…

Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that when I posted a few of Jack’s senior photographs to Facebook, they were auto-tagged using Bob(Jack’s dad) in the face recognition. They do look quite a bit alike. Actually, I see alot of Kim(Jack’s mom) in there too, in his eyes. I tell you, what does surprise me is that this 3 month old baby I first met over seventeen years ago when we moved to Pollock Pines, is ready to walk across the El Dorado High School stage donning his royal blue cap and gown, and on his way to Montana State University…

I’ve known the McVey’s since we moved here about seventeen years ago. I’ve photographed their kids on and off since then. We are almost neighbors as we reside on the same side of Hwy 50. That’s mountain talk. Their son Keegan went off to college a few years ago and I got to capture that milestone for them. This year it was Caitlin’s turn. Eclectic, artistic and an introvert, I enjoyed playing in the light with her and her funky style. She was kind and gracious and allowed me the honor of getting to know her adult self a little…

Sierra and Cory were married on a beautiful May day in a small ceremony at the stunning Eden Vale Inn. The wildflowers were in bloom, the bright blue sky full of puffy white clouds and a small group of close family and friends were gathered in attendance. There were lots of unique touches created by Cory for this day like the lovely, handcrafted ring box and the wagon for their flower girl. Camino Flower Shop created the bouquet that literally brought Sierra to tears. While Sierra was getting ready, Cory and and his best man were hard at work getting…

Getting out in the field, literally, with Emma was enjoyable for me. She came to me referred by some of her other really cool friends, so I knew I was in for a great session. The field and rock formations behind her home made for a great backdrop with her ukelele, her birks, her doggie and her beautiful smile. As you can see in the way that she holds herself with such grace and a peaceful strength, Emma is a dancer. In fact, we had to squeeze her senior session in between her daytime Charter University Prep classes and her…