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…

What a privilege it was to capture my first Bar Mitzvah earlier this month in Hollywood, CA at the Temple Israel of Hollywood. Shelly, an old college friend and Allan her husband, invited family and friends from afar to witness and participate in this coming of age ceremony for their son, Simon. With over a year of preparation, a rehearsal, a family dinner, a Shabbat service (my favorite), a Bar Mitzvah service, a hora and luncheon, and then a big ol’ bash with “This Is Fun”, Simon’s band performing to a fan filled audience….Simon was officially a Bar Mitzvah. What a…

Ok, I sit here in awe that I have been photographing this wonderful family for so many years now…and then just as struck that I can’t exactly remember how many years that it has been. Sigh. (Negar says 13 years- I trust her). I feel like the luckiest person when I get to move through the years with families like the Jamalis’. A very special welcome this year to their newest family member, Charlie, a big ball of curly Labradoodle. As a photographer, it is both the trust in the people you are capturing, and their trust in you, that…

A self proclaimed “fall, winter” person, Jordan, who graduates from Charter University Prep this spring wanted WINTER in her senior photographs so off we went to Echo Lake. Highway 50 was clear but I was glad to have AWD once we turned towards Echo Lake. It sure is beautiful out there. Jordan’s super kind-hearted boyfriend, Conner came along and I got to capture a few of their nurturing relationship, too. Once she graduates, Jordan plans to attend Folsom Lake College this fall for a couple years and then transfer with Conner to UCLA to study orthodontics. Both Jordan and Conner…

and what better time to take some time to capture this exciting time in life. I’ve known Chase’s mom, Jen for a long time now. We used to exercise together “back in the day”. I’m not sure why we don’t any longer because she has always been such a positive and motivating force to be around…really, she even made exercising FUN…hmmm…Ok, another time 🙂 I was so happy when she contacted me to photograph her son Chase, during this time of transition….somewhere between childhood and adulthood. Having an 8th grader myself, I know just how it is. Chase will complete…

I’ve known Michelle and Tim since their engagement in 2010. Since then I have photographed various versions of their growing family seven times, I think. I added the links below to some of these blog posts because it is fun to look back, and to remember. Life gets busy when you add a wedding, a new home, the birth of a first daughter in 2015 and all the firsts that go along with that. It was time to get out to the Mathewson home and capture some family photographs as we all welcomed Paige Marie, and especially big sister Madelyn.…