Michelle + Don Wedding

michelle and don got married a couple weeks ago at fort mason in san francisco. by the time i met with them they had the site picked and knew they wanted to have a fabulous party for their wedding. they couldn't have picked a better place... the view from fort mason was amazing! not to mention the weather was clear so you could see all the lights at the wharf and across the bay. it was a beautiful setting.

before the wedding began i meet with don and his guys to get photos. we took advantage of the light but only had a small window before the sun set. after we were done michelle arrived and the wedding was ready to begin. the ceremony was short, sweet and intimate. the rest of the night was filled with cocktails, great food and dancing.

flowers were done by kristin dunn at le pavot rouge and they were lovely. michelle's bouquet was made of peonies which smelled so sweet. the delicious food was provided by englund's catering. for cake they had 14 small cakes from blissful bites put on each table which was a fantastic idea. the cake was so good!

i had a great time mingling with michelle & don along with thier family and friends capturing their special day!

Oh Joy!

I hope everyone has a joyful holiday. We'll be spending time with our family in San Francisco on the eve and then Sacramento. It's been an interesting year and it's almost over. I hope Santa brings you what you want.

Merry Christmas!

TTV & Graffiti

i've been experimenting with some TTV (through the viewfinder) shooting techniques. alec and i have a good collection of older large format cameras plus super 8mm & 16mm cameras. most of them still work and a few don't. going through the collection once again i stumbled upon alec's argus 75 large format camera. score!

last week i went out to shoot some graffiti along some railroad tracks. this is the first time i've tried shooting TTV so there was some trial and error for sure. my set up was using my DSLR, 24-70mm lens, the argus 75 and a black blanket cover. after i loaded the files onto the computer and did a little color post processing. i love the results!!

our christmas tree.

Happy Birthday Mom

loving. fun. strong. emotional. supportive. brave. caring. hilarious. creative. my friend. and so many other words to describe my mom. our trip to NYC was to celebrate her birthday. it's been awhile since we both had a chance to travel together, i'm glad we made the trip.

happy birthday mom! i love you.

i love this photo of my mom as a little girl.

Secret Santa

it's time to get creative. each year at work they do secret santa for the holidays. this is strictly voluntary. the rules are you can't buy anything, the gift has to be "handmade". working with so many creative people you can imagine all the cool & amazing gifts i've seen. this only adds to the pressure. each year i tell myself i'm not going to do it. that doesn't work. october rolls around and i'm feeling creative ready to take on the challenge so i sign up. now i'm less than a week away from the exchange and i don't have a solid idea. time to think fast.

last year i made a set of photo magnets of a car. this guy loves his scout international! i took photos of differnt parts of his car, painted wood panels, decoupaged the images onto the wood and added a magnet back. for packaging i sewed a denim draw string pouch which would hold the entire magnet collection. he loved it!! i think he was more shocked at how i was able to take close ups of the "hood" lever and the stick shift knob. i got sneaky and got the keys to his car but he thought someone broke in. it was very covert.

i have a few ideas for this year... i just need to finalize the plan. it does involve some "photography". i'm off to shoot some of my ideas. i'll be sure to post the final product.

happy holidays!

Mill Valley | at home

this family has a lot of personality. noah could hardly sit still, he's so full of boy energy. notice his batman cape? he was tough to keep up with. josie was shy but she finally came around to like the camera. mom & dad have their hands full... in a good way.

we shot inside the house, outside on the lawn, on the trampoline and down the redwood path beind their house. mom wanted to get some family photos for holiday gifts. i think we got some good ones.

Back from NYC

my mom and i got back last night from new york... we had an awesome time! even though it got pretty cold we still walked around taking in the sites. i can't believe that i really thought i could leave the hotel wearing my scarf and hoody. my mom went back in to get my jacket. mom knows best.

it was a fun filled, action packed weekend. jfk. times square. thai food. comedy show. taxis. statue of liberty. tony & tina. cannolis. vodka bar. subway. vanilla lattes. cheap shots. hotel 17. warm nuts. central park. pizza. christmas lights. snow.

a pretty tree in central park.

me & mom