Pollock Pines

Written by Kim Little, Principal of Pinewood Elementary Last spring, the Pinewood Elementary Parent Teacher Club set out a find an artist willing to brighten the Pollock Pines campus with a custom painted agility trail.  One parent quickly connected the school with Debra Power. Power, a retired science teacher from the El Dorado High School District now spends much of her energy on her passion of art and painting. To the schools delight, Debra agreed to make the group’s vision a reality, plus much more.  After a first walkthrough and meeting, Debra proposed more ideas to beautify the small school…

“It’s so us.” Three words that are like sonic gold to any lifestyle photographer’s ear!  When Cheree called me about doing a workday session at their property, I was instantly intrigued.  I have had the good fortune to photograph this family on many occasions, from anniversaries to graduations and holidays to all of those happy milestones in between.  And here was yet another milestone in their lives: some good ol’ DIY construction.  You see, when a cedar tree falls on the Haffner property, they don’t make lemonade, they saw that sucker down and build an addition on to their happy home.  Getting…

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…

I think the Little Family were the first folks we met when we moved to Pollock Pines in 2000. Bob and my husband Jeff have worked together as foresters since then. If am not mistaken, at that time Jack was an infant, my daughter Jaz, just a future thought, and Kim was driving school buses for the district while studying for her masters. I could have gotten the timeline completely wrong, which sadly, wouldn’t surprise me at all. I love when I get the opportunity to photograph the Littles, who, by the way, aren’t so little anymore. Well, Bob and Kim, yes, but Jack and Macy? Fast forward 14 years:…

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,…

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…

Another beautiful Sly-Park Lake session, this time to celebrate the engagement of Amber and Aric. I shot Amber’s brother’s wedding back in 2009 and was excited to get the call from Amber to photograph her marriage to Aric, which will be held in September at the Serrano Country Club. In addition to watching the happy couple kiss, dance, and piggy-back ride around the lake, I also got to photograph their two dogs, Rocky and Princess Gizmo – neither of which will actually be in the wedding but both of whom took this opportunity to dress up for the occasion in a…