Knowing who I am is important to me. Knowing who I want to be is also important. I’m constantly striving to grow and adapt and improve so that the former becomes the latter- and that constant drive for personal growth is what truly inspires me on a daily basis in all aspects of my life. My experience during these past few days at WPPI have truly helped me to more fully embrace that philosophy and not only allow, but encourage it to spill over into my work. I have learned to embrace the change in myself that I feel daily and let that manifest visually in my photographs… and I feel very good about that.

To all the photographers I was able to reconnect with and meet over the past three days: This year at WPPI was phenomenal for me because of you. I am coming home this year feeling extra lucky that I am part of such a great industry where socializing with one another is such a fun, interesting, educational and inspiring experience! That is pretty unique to our industry, and my gratitude for that grows everyday. At the risk of sounding sappy, if I was given the opportunity to talk to you for even a few minutes in Vegas, you helped to shape my experience there and for that I am grateful because it was exceptionally positive. For those of you I spent more time with, I am especially grateful for you for the conversation, the insight, the inspiration, and most importantly the friendship. I look forward to these relationships continuing to build over the next weeks, months and years.

I cannot wait for next year to do it all over again!

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Note: I will be traveling for the next week and will have limited Internet and email access. I so appreciate your patience in waiting for a response should you try to contact me while I am away!

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of driving up to Santa Rosa for Liz and Chris’ engagement session and to visit with friends. I knew the shoot was going to be so great because Chris is a photographer himself and had a great concept for the shooting locations. Photographing another photographer is honestly a bit intimidating, but Chris was so awesome and his trust in me to photograph his engagement session (and soon his wedding!) is so great. We had so much fun experimenting with different spots in and around Santa Rosa and I’m so happy with the photos we were able to get!

We started in an area of Santa Rosa called Railroad Square, which I loved! Liz and Chris knew they wanted a shoot that was part rustic industrial, part natural, and this was the perfect place to capture the more rustic, industrial imagery.

The exposed brick was everywhere and so much fun to shoot against.

Then to the railroad tracks. I just love this shot.

This one is out of focus… and sometimes that just feels good.

Then the three of us set out on an adventure to find the perfect field of mustard flowers before we lost too much light. We drove and drove down a winding country road through some of the most beautiful hills covered in vineyards, but kept passing them by because we just didn’t feel they were perfect… We almost settled for a less perfect place just to shoot before we lost even more light, but we continued down the road determined to find an even better place. Chris and Liz’s shared sentiment about not being okay with settling was so inspiring and motivated me to want to find that perfect field even more. Lo and behold, just around that corner, there it was… the perfect hilly field of mustard flowers over looking the Rochioli vineyards, which just happen to be Chris’ favorite. As anyone who knows Chris will tell you, he is particular about his wine, and has more than once told me that Rochioli produces the finest Pinot Noir. Was this location just meant to be? I think so…

A definite favorite…

Is this place gorgeous or what?

Their dog Blue came along for this portion of the shoot. He was a little more interested in exploring than being photographed, but I did get this slightly cheesy family portrait of the three of them. I just love Blue’s expression and that he is looking directly at the camera! This moment was very short-lived… and seconds later he was off to explore some more.

A cute moment.

Another favorite.

Once we thought we took advantage of all the light we had to use, we hopped in the car and continued down the road on our way back home. We came across this old barn that Chris had seen before and absolutely loved, so we stopped for a few more shots post-sunset. This was the barn Chris originally wanted to shoot in front of earlier in the day, but I think this lighting makes it especially cool. Again, meant to be…

Love…

Liz and Chris- thank you so much for your trust and making that afternoon so fun and effortless! I cannot wait for your fabulous wedding next year! xo

I love modern and simple logos contrasted with fun colors and fun imagery– I think this look feels like me. That’s my goal; to create my own little space on the World Wide Web that looks and feels like me so that people who visit, including everyone from fellow photographers and blog perusers to potential clients, get a glimpse of who I am in addition to the work I do.

I designed the logo and created the visual concept for the blog. A very talented and awesome programmer named Pete Medina made my visual concept a functional reality. He is super fantastic, so great to work with, and I highly recommend him to anyone who wants a custom blog. Contact him for more information.

I used Showit to design my main site- and love it for the fact that I can create a site on my own and change  and update it whenever I want. I want the control and I also want the freedom of not feeling locked in to a certain design or layout. There are still some minor changes that will be made, and because I’m one that likes to continually improve and change little by little, I think that will always be the case. I hope you like what you see here, and I truly hope that you can better see who I am.

In other news, one of the biggest events of the entire year for international wedding and portrait photographers is about to commence in Vegas! WPPI is a mixed experience of photography education (for both creative and business aspects) and a huge social extravaganza. This will be my 4th time attending the convention, and each time I have come home inspired, exhausted, and with many new friends. If you’re a photographer, I really encourage you to attend for yourself! It is an experience for people in our industry like no other… I’m not sure I’m mentally prepared for it yet since I’ve been so busy, but I’m so excited for the experience this year!

If you are a photographer attending WPPI this year and you’re reading this, it would be fun to get together as I always love meeting new people! You can email me, leave a comment here, or just find me on Twitter. Or, maybe I’ll just run into you on the tradeshow floor or at one of the many parties that will be happening. Make sure to say hi if you see me around!

Finally, I have a great engagement session to post very soon. Until I post the full session, here’s a Sneak Peek…

Happy Thursday, everyone!

We knew it was going to be cold, and a few days before we left we had a pretty good idea that it was going to be snowing the day of the session. Though we knew it would be a challenge, we were so up for it! I was especially excited for the completely new experience and knew that the images we would get would be so fun and so different from anything that could ever be shot in LA.

We met Jessica & Brett at The Jane Hotel, which had this super cute cafe! The color, the decor, everything was amazing. Wish we could have spent just a little more time there..

In the lobby, through a window.

Then it was outside into the wintry, snowy, magical city.

Meg working it out from under an umbrella.

One of my favorites from the Sneak Peek.

I love both of these- their happy expressions- such troopers in the snow! Jessica and Brett- you were truly a pleasure to work with!

Jessica- you’re a beauty!

It was just a short walk to the meat-packing district.

I don’t know who put these here, or why, but I love them for it.

Life is wonderful.

Right outside Pop Burger where we stopped for lunch after our session and ran into the guy who sat right behind Meg and me on the plane from LA to NYC. Seriously? He was a makeup/hair stylist in town for Fashion Week and running into him there was just so random. Sometimes the universe works in weird ways…

In other news- I’ve got updated looks for the blog and Website coming very soon! Hope to have both of those by the end of next week.

Happy Friday, everyone!!

Our first day of exploring the city, it was snowing- the whole day. What an awesome way to experience New York for the first time! I loved it! And Meg loved it, too…. until the snow started soaking into her leather boots.

One of two photos we have of the both of us the whole trip. But, we have lots of photos of each other.

We ducked into a cafe for a latte and quick breakfast…

Spent a lot of time on the subway trying to navigate the city… I’m so proud of how well we did! (Random story: I randomly ran into a great high school friend of mine on the subway on our last day! What a small, small world!)

We started day two by heading down to see the Brooklyn Bridge.

Then we headed to Soho to grab lunch with Punam Bean, a wonderful New York photographer. Special thanks to her for taking the photo on the left! The second photo Meg and I have of both of us.

Then we headed uptown to see Grand Central Station and all the other sights up that way.

It happened to be New York Fashion Week the week we were there, so we headed to Bryant Park to check out what was going on. There was really nothing going on at that moment, but I did get this cute photo of Meg before we left for Central Park.

We passed Saks 5th Avenue on the way…

Central Park- covered in snow… magical.

The last day in New York, we went down to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty… she looked so small. I asked Meg to grab a photo of me with my camera- because I was a tourist, afterall! She got this and I just love the feel of it.

I had such a great time, and am really looking forward to go back there soon!

Some people would try to reschedule… we totally embraced every second of it! As we sit here in this Manhattan apartment, drying off and warming up after being out in the snow navigating the city all day, we are both editing these photos. Here is a stand-out favorite of mine so far. MANY more to follow… and be sure to check out Meg’s blog for her shots as well!

Can’t wait to explore more of the city tomorrow!

Ryan met Elena while they were both working at this school in San Diego. We thought it would be fun to start the day there…

Ryan is from SoCal and Elena is from Wyoming.

Ryan was lookin’ very handsome.

A favorite!

Hello, gorgeous.

Then we headed to downtown Del Mar after a change of clothes and a change of hair. Elena has alopecia, a disorder that causes people to lose their hair, so she wears a variety of wigs and wanted different hair for each outfit. Loved it!

I’ve never seen Ryan happier.

Thennnn… down to the beach! The evening was just perfect here… Check out those clouds! Another favorite.

I’m pretty sure these next two images are my favorite of the day- maybe even two of my favorite ever. I just love the feeling of them and what they represent of their relationship. I have just met Elena, but I feel like I know her when I look at these two images side by side… such a strong, beautiful, genuine, positive and fun spirit.

And a quick shot of us just before we left the beach for dinner. Such a fun day! So glad I got to see you guys!

For more information on alopecia, visit the site for the National Alopecia Foundation. I didn’t know much about it before and found this Website really helpful in understanding what it’s all about.