Working with a couple through their engagement is one of the things I like best about wedding photography!  You get to know the couple so much better when you have those extra few months of chatting, photographing, planning, and just shooting the breeze.  Jessi and Peter booked me to photograph their wedding at Windwalker Vineyards this fall, but before that we snuck in a sweet little engagement session to get these two some pre-wedding practice (and a gallery of great images to include in their wedding, too).  With smiles like Jessi and Peter have, it was no struggle teasing out some great…

Everyone knows that one of my favorite parts about living in Pollock Pines is the proximity to some amazing outdoor adventures.  With Sierra at Tahoe so close, I enjoy skiing bluebird days on the mountain, zigging and zagging through the fresh, warm and sunny air with friends and family. So what could be better than that?  Having the opportunity to photograph a family who shares the same love for the mountain energy and snow as I do! Emily and Nick are avid snowboarders who may have found love in each other, but chose a place they both love to make their promise towards forever: the 360…

Punctuation.  A simple dash or dot can begin, interrupt, link, end, interrogate, or energize.  Without punctuation, life is just a bunch of garbled words with no structure or form, one run-on sentence with no emotion or intensity.  Punctuation is the pulse. Ally has a favorite punctuation mark.  So favorite that it is indelibly marked on her wrist so that she always knows it’s there, always recalls its meaning.  It’s a semi-colon (;).  Which may seem semi-strange for a teenager to choose as a tattoo, but that’s because we haven’t read what came before the semi-colon.  The story of a beautiful young woman…

Ellee and Jonathan – what a couple!  This was not our first wedding with a full-scale Jenga set, but it definitely was the first where the Jenga did double-duty as a guest book!  It was so cool to see how these two incorporated their love of games and good times into their wedding, giving their guests an opportunity to leave a lasting memory on each of the wooden blocks.  But the individual touches didn’t stop there: hand-wrapped car cans with sentimental sayings hung in the lounge, a birch tree bedecked with Marvel Comic heroes directed guests to their seats in the ball room, and…

Senior Photographs, Spring 2017 High school graduation: that incomparably magical time of life when one story ends and another begins. When the known security of childhood is still large in the rear mirror and yet the unknown but exciting future of adulthood is within grasp. That time when you’re so full of energy and life and hope and plans and dreams… and it’s all bursting through your very seams. There’s no way around it, this is a milestone that comes around only once. And, like all of life’s important moments, you’ll want to press pause for a moment to capture…

On January 21 I participated in the #WomensMarch in #Sacramento. I volunteered my time to the Women’s March organizers to document this event after my good friend and colleague, Michelle McDaid offered up our services. There were no individual stars in this event like the many brides and grooms that I photograph every weekend capturing weddings. This event was about all of our collective voices joining together, and choosing together not to remain silent or compliant. Like those that have paved the way for my own rights, I felt compelled to continue to pave the way for my daughter’s rights…

Given their marathon running experience, Jennifer and Tim had no problem navigating snow and ice for their January engagement session.  Our lakeside plans had to be scrapped when we encountered a locked entrance gate, but the snow and light was actually better just around the corner.  Jennifer and Tim had no problem trudging through the deep snow, and with all the slipping and sliding there were pretty of opportunities for genuine smiles and happy laughter!  Jennifer has one of those smiles that just lights up the world, and luckily Tim gives her plenty of opportunities to make good use of…

What a difference four years makes!  It was a pleasure to reconnect with the McCann Family this fall at one of my favorite places, Sly Park Lake, and see how much this gorgeous family has grown.  I always say one of the greatest rewards of my career is that I get to work with families many times over the years and in a sense, grow with them!  In 2012 when I photographed the McCann Family at Boeger Winery, youngest daughter Ellie was just a baby and big sister Hailee a smiling tot.  Today they are two beautiful little girls with an…

When longterm clients become longtime friends, I know that my business is exactly everything I’d hoped it to be.  That’s what it is like with the Anderson family.  I met them when their youngest child Ryan was still an infant and have been blessed to watch them grow and evolve as a family ever since.  Even with their busy schedules (full-time jobs for both mom and dad, plus part-time soccer coaching, along with soccer playing for the kids) they still are able to find time for annual family photography.  Even if that means a sunset arrival for their afternoon session!  Doesn’t matter; when…

It’s no secret that fall in the Placerville mountains is breathtaking.  No wonder Megan and Brandon chose a crisp November afternoon for their engagement session!  I got acquainted with these two when they booked their wedding for Wedgewood David Girard Vineyards.  Sunflower Field, a sister company, is privileged to be a preferred vendor for this gorgeous wine country venue, and even more flattered that Megan and Brandon chose us to document their special day.  Megan said they really connected with the emotion in our work, and if their engagement session is any indication, their wedding will definitely have all the feels. 🙂 Self-professed…

It was one of those sunny, golden fall afternoons that make me pinch myself: not only do I get to live in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains, but I also get to follow happy families around while they enjoy the outdoors, trading jokes and snapping photos.  (And I call this “work?”  Ha!)  With the loving, energetic, incredibly photogenic Jen family as my clients and a bright blue sky overhead, it was a great day at the office for sure. The Jen sisters are close in age and also very close to each other.  Watching them goof around was so much fun and…

A marriage 20 years in the making… Linda and Kelly celebrated the lifelong commitment they made to each other over two decades ago at a beautiful wine country wedding filled with family and friends.  From the outside, you might think they had just fallen in love!  You can see their strong bond in every look and every move: the way Linda gazes at Kelly, emotion in her eyes and a shy hint of a smile…the way that Kelly clutches Linda’s hand in hers, bursting with excited energy and enthusiasm.  There’s no question that these two were meant for each other. I first met Linda…