Calvin and Violet

Talk about cute kids! This is an adorable brother and sister I had the pleasure of photographing last weekend. We met for an early am session and even though it was a bit chilly we had a great time. Little Violet wasn't too sure about the whole photo session thing at first but as you can see, she got into the swing of it and was so cute with all her expressions (check out the homepage to see more).

Bad Blogger

I have so neglected my blog! To be honest, I still need to get into the swing of this whole blogging thing. :) I have a bunch of sessions to post and tons of editing still to do so this is just a brief update to say I hope everyone is having a great month and enjoying the holidays!

Goin' Old School with the Kings Breakers

The Breakers posing with Jordan.

Our set 'crew' - from left: John (the man with the cool car), Jordan, Dillan, Tommy (and not shown, Robin and Ella who were keeping warm in the car!).

Last Sunday I had another awesome experience photographing the King's Breakers in downtown Sacramento. Cold seems to be a theme in my posts lately (!) but seriously, at 45 odd degrees, you gotta hand it to these guys for gearing up and not only showing us some of their awesome (or 'tight' :)) moves but for doing it with such a great attitude. We used an alley I found in downtown Sac for a very low-down, old school vibe. And man, did we have fun with our 'tools' - the car and boombox. A BIG thank you to the Breakers - I would sit and watch you guys break any day of the week - you are amazing! and to Tommy for hooking us up with John and his family who drove from Napa on a Sunday morning to share his beautiful car with us (that, I might add, he built from ground up!) and to Ella, my assistant who hates the cold and still managed to have a good time. To see more Breaker photos, go to Slideshows and scroll to the bottom!

LeClaire Family Session

At another one of my favorite places - the barn! A BIG thank you to it's owner - Ms Betty and her husband - for being so generous in sharing this beautiful piece of property with us. And a big thank you to this beautiful family for playing along with all my ideas and being game for anything! As you can see, we had some fun with fall leaves!

Hello Bella!

I can't think of a more appropriate name for this 12 year old superstar! I think you'll be seeing her again...as in WNBA! We met for an early a.m. shoot and had a great time capturing Bella as her spunky, fun self. Check out the homepage for more shots of this beautiful girl!

Busy, busy, busy...

So much blogging to do and so little time! Well, this is one of the busiest times of the year and this year is no exception. And, of course, I'm having a blast - this is also one of the most beautiful times of the year to photograph. Fall leaves are lingering, colors are crisp and bright and everyone is great holiday spirits. I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving! Now on to blogging about some recent sessions...

Burr!!!

Last Wednesday I had the greatest senior session with Shelby (our homepage cover model this week). :) We met in (yeah, you know it!) one of my favorite spots - Nevada City. Staying true to her real style - which I LOVE - Shelby sported a couple of sundresses for our session (and gets huge points for being such a trooper considering the chilly weather!). For a real behind-the-scenes look, check out the photo below. :)

Staying warm between takes...I loved the fur trim on this hat so we ended up working this coat into her session which worked out well for her too I think because she got to stay warm!

Just a fun creation from our shoot.

King's Crew, Arco Arena

Last Friday I had the fun experience of photographing the King's Crew at Arco Arena. They were the most charismatic, spontaneous group of people! I see why these guys are so good at their job. You can check them out in the Slideshow area or on the homepage.
And a big thank you to all the Crew rockstars! You guys were a blast!

National Photo Awards Winner!

I just found out that one of the photos I submitted to the National Photo Awards, titled "Gabriella", won First Place and Category Winner for the month of October with a cash prize of $500! Looks like someone is having a good Christmas! Click here to view "Gabriella."

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday I trailed along with my daughter's school to take photos when they went on a field trip in their Halloween costumes. I quickly took this photo right before they boarded the bus. So many fun personalities - I have such a great time with these kiddos! I'm looking forward to next week when I'll be photographing them for Picture Day!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Senior Session with Laurel

(I would post a few sneak peek photos here but blogger is having some issues so I put them on my homepage.)
I met with Laurel and her mom earlier this month for a pre-session in-person consultation (I highly recommend this for all senior sessions!) It gave us a chance to get to know one another, look over pictures together and talk about different poses, backdrops and the general feel we were after for her session.
We met in Nevada City - one of my very favorite places to shoot - on Sunday morning (since afternoons can be pretty busy and crowded). Our session was for 9am so we could capture the best morning light. It was slightly overcast which is my absolute favorite weather to shoot in - it's like the sky is one huge softbox. I was in heaven. Her parents, Susie and John, came and helped carry equipment and hold reflectors - a big, big thank you to them! Her dad was even nice enough to wade into the creek - boots and all (our last setup) - to hand Laurel a bunch of flowers I wanted her to hold! And Laurel was game enough to take off her shoes and wade in the cold water with me! It was icy but worth it - we got some beautiful shots of her in the water (coming soon).
I like to think photo shoots are a collaborative effort and this session was a great example of that. One of my favorite photos from this session was taken by a berch tree with an awesome array of fall colors behind it that Susie, Laurel's mom spotted. Another photo I love from this session was by a white fence that Laurel liked. And everyone had ideas for posing while we were working which was great. It's that collaborative effort that makes sessions a blast and helps bring out and reveal the true personality and beauty in the subject(s).

New York, New York!

"City Reflections"

Candy, Julie and Megan striking a pose for me on the streets of New York.

I can’t think of a better way to kick off my blog than by talking about my weekend in New York where I met up with a group of friends who’s talent and creativity are a constant source of inspiration. Flying in from all parts of the country, we met up for one of the greatest photo events of the year – the PDN PhotoPlus International Conference and Expo 2007. This is a huge conference that showcases some of the best products and most innovative technology available in the photographic community. For us photography nuts it was, to say the least, pure heaven.

You can see a few photos taken at the conference below. Since my luggage was misplaced and is still MIA, I’m easy to spot as the most bedraggled and unkept blond in all black!

From left: Me, Megan, Julie, Denise, Allison, and Candy.

Striking a pose with Kevin Kubota, our "rock star" photographer.