southern california sessions available!

i will be taking session at the end of may, and the end of june in southern california. anyone who is interested, please contact me through the "contact me" tab on my website, and we'll get something set up! i am offering a discounted package, so email me as soon as possible as slots tend to fill up quickly!

jess and nik

now this was a marathon engagement shoot! but it had to be because this is my first sister to get married!!! i'm so excited! jess and nik came up for their engagement shoot, and we definitely made the most of the time they had. they really have fun together, which is obvious in their portraits!

the first day, it was SO WINDY and absolutely FREEZING, so it was pretty miserable for all of us. we got some great shots, but we were definitely limited because of the weather!



































the second day, we went to a different location and the weather was much nicer! it was still a little chilly, but jess just pretended she was a swimsuit model shooting a catalog during the winter ;)























of course, i will be shooting wedding portraits for them too, so look for those in the future!

first pictures

i'm sure some of my clients have been wondering why i've been turning down sessions or weddings in the summer and early fall - well, here she is! we will have another little girl at the beginning of august (or earlier if i have anything to say about it!) so i'll be shooting my last wedding at the end of june and then taking some time off. but don't worry - come fall, i'll be back! and i'm sure there will be plenty of posts of my new little one once she gets here!

birthday girl!

we celebrated tyler's birthday with a fun trip to the city this year! i had the living room decorated in the morning when she woke up. i was attempting to be a cute mom this year, and i have to say that i know now that my talents lie elsewhere!





we are trying to break the thumb habit - and the best part is most of the time she's got her thumb in her mouth and her finger resting in her nose! she doesn't pick it, so i don't know why its more comfortable that way, but it sure looks great in pictures doesn't it???











why do we use ribbon on presents? its always the most frustrating part for kids!





she got a princess dress and shoes so of course we had to put it on right away. i loved the little toes peeking out!








my two boys waiting patiently for their food at lunch :) this shot cracked me up!





the servers brought tyler a dessert and sang to her. she was talking to everyone before that, but as soon as she got all the attention - she wasn't a fan! but isn't this the coolest dessert ever? it was VERY messy!








we went to the national park near the city later in the day, and the kids loved hiking around and running through tunnels.











i saved the cake for the end of the day, and she was SO EXCITED about it! it turned out okay, but NOTHING like the picture, and had it not been for my patient husband who helped me put it together, i would have been tempted to dispense with the cake altogether. this was by far the hardest part of my "cute mom" idea! :)











the day was hard for us parents, but the kids had a blast, so it was all worth it!

gotta love boys!

this was just too funny not to post! i still cringe when i leave my daughter home with my husband to think of what her hair will look like if he has to take her out in public! obviously men learn their "hair-fixing" talents at a young age - my son helped his sister with her hair this morning.














of course she loved it and thought she was beautiful with all the colors!

jenn and abel's slideshow

okay, its up! here is the slideshow from jenn and abel's wedding!

jenn and abel

here it is! this is the wedding i did last weekend with heather from amorology weddings. like i said before, it was a dream day - beautiful weather, small intimate ceremony, super-sweet bride and groom, gorgeous decor.... i could go on and on! jenn and abel really wanted to capture the candid moments of their family and friends, and the day was so relaxing that everyone really enjoyed their time together!








this is abel and his daughter - you can tell they have a very special relationship!




















i loved all the detail - from the gorgeous plates and goblets to the beautiful tent.























unfortunately, my main computer is still broken, so i'm not able to post the slideshow until after i get it back, but i wanted to post some of my favorite pictures from the day. i will add the slideshow soon (cross your fingers for me - they say tomorrow, although they also said today!)

updates are here!

i know i've been talking about updates forever, but i'm finally getting them up! i added some cute newborn and engagement shots, but my favorite section that i've updated so far is the family "together" section. i left a few of my favorites, and switched out the rest. what i've got now completely defines the type of family work i LOVE to do. the candid, imperfect, beautiful relationships are what i really strive to capture with each family shoot. here are a couple of my favorites, but make sure to check out all the new stuff on my website!

















as soon as i get my computer back, "little ones", "older ones", and "weddings" will be updated as well!

NIGHTMARE WEEK!

list of fun things that made life fun last week...

1 - my poor powerbook froze on me and then wouldn't even start up! i went to bed after a couple hours of looking online for some solution on our pc. after an early morning apple store appointment, it was all taken care of. don't worry - its just the motherboard, and will take a week to fix even though i had a wedding two days later. (sarcasm)

2 - tried and failed to download a new printer driver on my hubby's pc three times (each download taking over an hour). new printers do come with CDs with the drivers on them, but mine got stuck in my powerbook when it froze, and i couldn't get it out

3 - i decided that whatever internet service i chose was just plain too slow. they told me dsl was slower than cable, but this was ridiculous! decided i would pay anything to upgrade because i just couldn't handle it anymore!

4 - after two hour phone call to my internet service, we found out my dsl was testing below dial-up speeds (i'm glad it was my internet and not just my lack of patience!)

5 - my plane was delayed over an hour, and the passengers consisted of myself, one other business traveler, and a class full of 11 and 12 year olds on a "discovery learning tour". you can use your imagination on the details of waiting in the airport and the flight.

6 - because my plane was delayed, shuttles to the rental cars were few and far between and i waited half an hour at midnight on the curb. then the rental agency i had my car reservation with was closed.

BUT....

i had an AWESOME wedding on saturday that i will be posting as soon as i get my computer back. the bride and groom were SO NICE, and it was a beautiful day in san diego. it was a small intimate ceremony, and the whole day was very relaxed and calm. i worked with heather from amorology weddings again, and was not disappointed with all the little details as usual!