Yesterday A Moment Later

Callie and her crew.

2012-01-26T14:13:00.000-08:00

It's been almost 6 months since I last blogged on this site, but I of course have a resolution for this new year :)

Anyway, here we have Miss Callie, a 13 year old incredibly well-loved Yellow Labrador. When she was two, a vet told Paula and Angelo to put her down since she had such bad hips, but these guys took the exact opposite approach- they held her closer! They have done absolutely everything they could have (swim therapy, acupuncture, medicine, you name it!) to give her the best and most pain-free life, and in return she has brought them SO MUCH joy.

We did our shoot at Fort Funston since that's where they take her every. single. day. Really! Or actually, I exaggerated- she doesn't go on Sundays. Anyway, Callie is a little bit like a rock-star there- everyone knows her and everyone loves her!

And I can't forget the second child- this was mainly a shoot for Callie, but we got her lil' sister Lacy in some as well!

Koa is Five

2011-08-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot for these good friends about four years ago when Kalea turned five. And now that her little brother Koa is five, we did the same thing again! These two are so fun- we played game after game- Clue, Chess, Legos, sword fighting, basketball, bubbles, with a little break to refuel at the corner bakery.

I've been so busy doing stuff for Verité this past year or so, this RKP blog is sorta just turning into pictures I do of my friends! That's ok with me though :)

A day with Lisa

2011-06-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

I did this super fun photo shoot with my friend Lisa a few weeks ago. No engagement, no dog- just pictures for the sake of being happy and alive- what a fabulous idea. So we mapped out a whole day-in-the-life-of-Lisa and went to town! We started at the farmers market where we bought a bunch of vegetables. She's been loving her vegan lifestyle lately and we thought it would be great to buy some food, make it, and then invite her boyfriend to go on a picnic and eat it with her :)
Please be forewarned- Lisa has one of the world's most infectious (and best) smiles- I love it!

Delia and Kenya (2.5 years ago!!)

2011-05-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

I know there has been zero rhyme or reason to my blog posts the last 4 months, but whatever, it's my blog, I can do what I want, even if that means posting this shoot from 2 and a half years ago and having it be the first thing I've posted in months :)
Anyway, this is for Delia, one of my sweetest clients ever. I photographed her and her Black Lab-of-a-soulmate Dylan back in my first year of business in 2005. Then in 2008 I was doing this promo video and needed some models. Dylan had since passed on but I knew Delia wanted some pictures with her other baby Kenya, and knowing what an amazing relationship Delia has with her animals, I knew she would be perfect for the shoot. And then, as goes the story of my life, I got busy and put that promo shoot stuff on the back burner, but I recently pulled it out and this is what I found.

Five Fidos

2011-03-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

I also photographed Shane's (the Pops of the last shoot I posted) parent's dogs right before Christmas. They have FIVE dogs and he had me sneak over to their house while they were out of town so he could give them the photos as a Christmas gift.

Shane and Kristen and their clan {Family/Dogs Session}

2011-03-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

It's been MONTHS (and months and months and months) since I've blogged over here- so much to catch up on! Anyway, this is a great place to start:

Two Big People, Two Little People, and Two four-Legged People, the Stent Family are some of my favorite people! I did a session with them a few years ago, but there has since been some additions, so we were due for another.

We started this session by waking up 1-year old blondie Bode from his nap. I watched him and mama play in the sunlight that warms up his nursery, and then we headed downstairs where his older sister Annie had her hair done by papa (a daily ritual). We played with the dogs in the backyard and then went for a little hike. It was perfect.

Berkeley at 3 months . . . sorta.

2010-12-05T00:37:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago when Berkeley turned three months old, I decided to commemorate the event with a fashion show of her in a bunch of her "0-3 month" clothes that she was fast outgrowing. So I took pictures of her everyday that week, but am just now (at closer to 4 months) getting to posting them. But anyway, Happy Quarter-of-a-year to my lil' fashion model.

Sneak peek of The Stent Fam

2010-11-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

I know this is only a third of you guys here (2 more people and 2 more dogs) but I just wanted to give you a tiny peek from our wonderful warm afternoon together last week! Lots more to come soon.

Betsy and Steve and the bump, now known as Charlie {Maternity}

2010-10-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

Back in July when we were both very pregnant, I spent an afternoon with these guys, waddling around, directing Betsy where to waddle.
Since this lil' bump has caused the casa de Santos to take up residence in the East Bay, we thought we'd get some shots of all their hangout places in SF- South Park, their old rooftop, their walk to the bridge . . .

Rebecca's Bridal Shower

2010-10-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

And speaking of showers (the wedding kind, this time), here's another one from this summer. The premise of the whole thing was a science experiment to test the compatibility of Derek and Rebecca. But really we mainly tested foods- cheeses, chocolates, honey, ice cream, root beer, cheetos, etc. We blindly ate a gourmet brand, a common brand, and the generic store brand of tons of different goodies, and then felt low-class when we found out we had chosen Hersheys over Valrhona (not me, of course). So anyway, tons of fun.
I missed Becca and Derek's wedding because Berkeley was 2 weeks late and I just didn't have the courage to take a 10-day old to L.A., but luckily I'd eaten enough cookies and Cheetos at the shower to totally make up for the plate of food I missed out on at the wedding.

My Baby Shower

2010-10-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

A bit out of order, and not a ton of pictures to share since I was busy being the center of attention and didn't have a ton of time to take many, but here are a few shots from my wonderful baby shower back at the end of June. Courtney and Heather, with Liz and Maria, and I'm sure many others, threw me the most fabulous shower. There was lots of flowers and cupcakes and everyone made me one-of-a-kind onesies. I felt so so special!

Holly and Amber visiting from Oregon.

Jamaica is kinda like Tatanka in that she just keeps tilting her head to get cuter.

Crafts are not my mom's strong suit, but she wasn't gonna let that stop her from "making" something for her first and only grandchild. Oh no!

Can you believe how much stuff that girl got?! And she wasn't even born yet! How do people even know if they'll like her?

Berkeley looks like . . .

2010-10-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

This is a completely silly post, but for the last two months, I find myself saying "Berkeley looks just like x" or "y", so I'm sharing some of my observations. . . .

Mostly, it has been a baby monkey I keep seeing in her.

And she's filled out quite a bit now, but in the beginning, her legs were so scrawny

Then when she started wearing cloth diapers, it turned her into a funny pear-shaped Tweedle Dee/Dum. This literally made me laugh out loud every time I picked her up for like a week straight before getting used to it.

Just the other day she had on a seriously stylin' David Brent outfit

And her pinky nail grows suspiciously faster than the rest of her nails resembling that of a certain population . . .

Anyway, clearly a very talented and multi-faceted young lady!

Family bbq

2010-10-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

So much to catch up with on the ol' blog!
Starting with a little family BBQ that Brad and Candice hosted last month to celebrate my and Jack's birthdays. Lots of cute kids at this shin-dig, but I think Berkeley got held and cooed at more than any of them.

Berkeley adjusting to life

2010-09-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Berkeley is 3 weeks old today (although these pictures are mostly from her first two weeks). I keep waiting for something resembling a schedule to unfold, but that hasn't happened as of yet. Basically, our days are some sort of variation of these three activities: eat, sleep, and cry. . . . "eat, cry, eat, eat, sleep, eat, cry, eat, eat". But never in the same order, which makes it really hard to plan anything or get anything done (not really a newsflash to most people, I'm sure). Anyway, every once in a while a forth alternate activity gets thrown in there. While these alternates tend to take up the least amount of our time, they also tend to be the most interesting, so that's what gets photographed:

She took her first bath (which was coupled with the crying activity)

She spends a fair amount of time looking like a monkey (more on this later)

She endures parental-imposed reflexology tests

She practices making faces

She teaches her papa patience as he anxiously awaits her wake-up time.

She wins! She does this stretch like 100 times a day and I adore it every single time; it just looks like she's constantly celebrating a success of some sort.

She hosts visitors from near and far.

And, she poses for me as the cutest baby in the world.

One Week Ago, I had a baby.

2010-08-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

It's not that I was worried I wouldn't like my baby. But I think maybe I was a bit worried that the motherly instincts button would forget to turn on in me or something, and I would never quite get it. . .
I've been very . . . I don't know what the word is, even-tempered maybe, low-key maybe, realistic maybe, I don't know, but I was very something during my entire pregnancy. I was never over-the-top excited about the change that was about to take place in our lives. I mean, I'm not a robot- I was excited, but it was more something I knew, intellectually, that we wanted for our lives; I was never so emotionally excited about having "a baby!" Shawn and I have a great life together and I was worried about messing with that. I have a great business and I was worried about messing with that. It just sorta felt like a huge risk. I think I experienced the entire 9 months with my fingers crossed, hoping it was gonna be the right decision. And actually, I continued to feel this way through the entire labor. Literally, it wasn't until she was in my arms that I truly felt excited. Somehow seeing and holding this little slimy, bloody, poopy, 6lbs of blue baby girl (the very slimy, bloody, poopy mass I was afraid I would think would be too gross for me to want to touch) made me go from that to this. . .

She is mine. I could sit with her for hours, just feeling her breathe on my chest. I do sit with her for hours just feeling her breathe on my chest. I look at her and feel a mess as tears fall from my eyes for no apparent reason. I'm just happy. I love her. Like crazy. I love Shawn even more because of her. I am floored by how quickly my perception of having this person in our lives has changed- from feeling like something of a sacrifice to feeling like something I am indebted to her forever for bringing to us.

At the risk of sounding overly cliché (which I'm sure I've already done and I'll continue do a lot now) the day Berkeley was born was truly one of the best days of my life.
Here are some images of our time at the hospital those first two days with Berkeley.

My birth experience went nothing like it was "supposed to". It seemed like every single thing I wanted to have happen, didn't. And every single thing I wanted to avoid, happened. As such, I thought I would be more disappointed when all was said and done, but oddly enough, even though nothing went as I wanted it to, it went wonderfully. It was really a perfect experience for me and I feel so grateful that things unfolded like they did.

I keep thinking I'm going to write down the entire birth experience so I'll always have it to remember, but it's been over a week now and I still haven't done it. Luckily though, there's Shawn. And he recorded the whole experience here on his blog. So read there for the complete story.

Strangely, I actually got very excited about the actual birth in the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I read a ton about natural birthing, practiced Hypnobirth techniques, went to a Meditation In Labor class, and was feeling really excited about the chance to experience this childbirth thing. I very much wanted to keep it as un-interfered-with an event as possible. I just felt like, "it's a woman having a baby. the same thing that has happened billions of times over throughout time. it's not a medical event. it's childbirth". So yeah, a ton of reading and practice was devoted to prepare for the experience in this way.

But I guess this would be my first lesson in parenthood requiring one to be flexible. Among the many things that didn't go as planned, I started throwing up 24 hours before baby was born and continued to do so the entire time, so I was dehydrated and had to concede to an IV. After several hours and hours of hard labor, I actually regressed and in exhaustion I had to concede to Pitocin, and as I knew would happen, that made the contractions too powerful, and in the end, I had to concede to an Epidural.

I felt defeated and cried a little bit when this happened, but it ended up being just fine. The Epidural didn't get to me until I was at 9 cm, so I was still able to feel like I had the natural chidbirth I wanted for the most part, or at least a natural childlabor. I had been able to experience 20 hours of being loved and supported and encouraged by Shawn, Liesel and my mom, and that was an amazing experience. The three of them were the only reason I was able to get through that time. They let me hang on them, pull on them, squeeze them, blow my nasty day-ol' vomit breath on them. They never left my side. They walked me down the halls, talked me through the pain, got me to rock, bathe, and breathe . . . As much as everything hurt, it was so worth it.

Then when I finally got the epidural, it allowed me to eat a few bites and to sleep for a few hours which gave me the energy and awareness to be a little more present and calm for the actual birth than I would have otherwise been. At this point it was like a completely different experience. I was chatty, and smiley, and even took some pictures.

So I guess I just felt like I got the best of both worlds. And here are some images of our world on that very fine August 12th day.

My team, tired, sweaty, and happy.

I think one of the most lasting images in my head from this day will be of the way baby just stared. I was so surprised at how aware she was. When they put her on my chest in her first few seconds of life, she just stared and me, and she continued to do so later, even through the glass of her little hospital bed.

It was some time before we settled on the name Berkeley. We tried that out for half a day, then tried out Wren for another half a day, and then tried out Clementine for a few hours. To be honest, I was pretty sure she was gonna be Clementine, and if not that, then Wren, but I was thinking that Berkeley was gonna be the least likely of the three on our list. But in the end, about one hour before we left the hospital, we named her Berkeley Lynn Kessler and signed off on it :) And then we bundled her up in clothes that were way too big for her and a hat from Aunt Jeanne and took our baby home.

Baby Necklace

2010-08-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

I have officially cooked my baby 2 full days longer than the recipe suggested, but I'll gladly take the extra days as I'm of course still trying to cram a million things in before I split in two.

And one of those things was to take some pictures of me wearing this necklace (while pregnant), which I can check off as of today! So thank you baby for waiting.

This is just a silly little thing, but I have loved wearing this necklace while being pregnant. I think I would have loved it no matter what, just cause, holy CUTE. But I love it even more because Shawn's mom wore it when she was pregnant with him! And it just feels fun to be a part of something passed on like that.

Hudson {dog photography}

2010-07-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

Now here is some more from the luxury shoe eating dog, Hudson. I was thinking that there's not a lot of dogs that could get away with chewing on a pair of Monolos and still be loved, but that's probably because in order to even have a chance, you'd have to be as cute as this guy, and not a lot of dogs come close.

I mean, Seriously!

After chewing on a sufficient enough number of shoes, it was on to tastier things for Hudson. We left Melanie's apartment and headed over to Ottimista to meet her parents for some wine and a walk around Union Street.

So hard to pick just a few of these! His face looks like that in every single picture!

Justin's Bar Mitzvah

2010-07-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

I love this family! I photographed Chloe's Bat Mitzvah a few years ago and loved them then, and now, just about two months ago I photographed Justin's big day. All of their aunts and uncles gave me big hugs and treated me like an old friend- it was so unexpected and sweet!

Friday evening we did some family photos in their backyard. And as I remember pointing out last time, this family is incapable of creating an average-looking person- they are all GORgeous!!

Their Vogue shot:

And they again had the celebration the following night at the Hotel Valencia on Santana Row, but this time the theme was "Justin's Safari Adventure", decided after a family trip to Africa where Justin fell in love with everything.

(it's good to be the "man of the hour")

*********

And now for the top 3 reasons I LOVE bar mitzvahs:
They make otherwise perfectly mature adults rat their hair like a teen in the 80s, color it purple, play air guitar, and do a million other completely silly things

I get to witness 13-year olds slow dancing (I clearly wasn't the only one amused)

But most of all, the vertical awkwardness of this stage in life is priceless; it gives me such a giddy feeling to see!

Then on Sunday morning I photographed brunch back at their house.

The event was designed and coordinated by the fabulous Ellen Lovelace of Quicksilver Concierge, and videoed by the talented Andy Hirsch of Blue Moon Productions.

Mariana and Shawn before Julian was living on the outside {maternity photography}

2010-06-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

So, posts like this aren't nearly as exciting when the real thing is already among us, and especially when your partner has shown you up and already posted pictures of the real deal! But oh well, here we have some of my favorites from the session I did with Mariana and Shawn back in the beginning of May when Julian was still hanging out on the inside.
We started at their favorite cupcake spot, and then we went and spent the evening with the Red Dragon, the Vespa Mariana rode around town before she got knocked up :) Anyway, I found the prop choice to be absolutely perfect- a little icon for their life pre-baby.

Thank you so much for letting me do these pictures of you guys at this moment in your life. Complete honor.

Melissa and Oggie {Engagement Session}

2010-06-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't yet seen them on our Verité blog, here are a few from Melissa and Oggie's Engagement Session, and I have to say, theirs was one of my most favorite engagement sessions ever- everything was just so pretty!
Be sure to check out the whole post here. Maria and I were pretty pleased with ourselves over this one :)

Mira and Sydney's 2nd Birthday

2010-06-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

So the other week right after Betsy's baby shower, Shawn and I sped down to the South Bay for my 2nd celebration of the day, Mira and Sydney's 2nd Birthday Party, and I did actually remember to bring my camera to this one! (although we missed the first half of it).
They had a Taco and Dinosaur-themed Party, which I think Shawn found quite comforting, as I'm pretty sure half the reason he's excited to have this kid is because of TOYS. He loves toys, but I think is concerned that as we are having a girl, she won't like the "right" toys, so I think seeing these two little girls so into dinosaurs gives him hope.

Sydney seemed to be having some trouble getting started with her cake, but luckily mom was there to show her how it's done.

(don't hate me for sharing this pic, Candice- it's cute!!)

Cameron and Conner, who you may recognize from their recent photo shoot, are good friends of these guys'. Anyway, Conner somehow "won" the prized frosting-volcano topping as his piece of cake and could not have been more pleased! It was pretty darn cute to watch his face.

It turns out I'm a lot less stealthy with my camera than I thought I was. I really wanted a picture of Maddie with all the green frosting all over her face but she wouldn't let me take it, so finally I convinced her to let me "just take a picture of the dinosaur", to which she agreed. So I pretended like that's what I was doing, but actually took a picture of her. I thought my little plan had worked until she then said, "I want to see". Crap! Kids, and digital cameras! So then I had to pretend like it hadn't worked and take one of the dinosaur really quick.

Mira and Sydney were lucky enough to get a surprise visit from a "real" dinosaur ( . . . and spiderman- not really in keeping with the theme, but I suppose you can't really tell one kid they can wear their costume, and not the other). Anyway, the girls were a little unsure about the guest appearance, but the boys were pretty excited about it!

So anyway, the rest of the afternoon was just spent in the warm backyard, relaxing and "swimming" in the water cooler, and hanging out.

Betsy's baby shower

2010-06-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

My good friend Betsy and I are scheduled to have babies on pretty much the same day; we're totally hoping to be hospital roomies! Last weekend was her shower and it was so cute! Liz and the girls did an adorable "wagon" theme.
I forgot to bring my camera (as I do for pretty much any personal event) but I grabbed Steve and Betsy's camera for a bit. Even though it's like an embarrassingly 1/4 of the weight of mine, I swallowed my pride, and snapped some shots :)
(When they got their new camera a while back I was apparently totally rude and held it up with like 2 fingers like a toy camera and exclaimed how light it was. Only after the look on their faces did I realize that was maybe one of my more embarrassingly snobbish moves)

This one doesn't really belong amongst the shower photos, but I couldn't resist throwing this one of Finn getting fed before the shower in here.

Papa-to-be leaving the all-girl premises.

Liz had us play this GREAT game where we took different pictures of Betsy and Steve, and cut and pasted to create an image of what their baby would look like.

Sneak Peek of Hudson {dog photography}

2010-06-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

I know dogs chewing on Manolo Blahnik's shouldn't be cute, but somehow Hudson managed to make it so.

I just did a photo shoot with this little guy tonight and wanted to post a quick peek for his people.

sneak peek of "Meatball" on the way {maternity photography}

2010-05-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick little peek here from my photo shoot with Mariana and Shawn, hanging out on their Vespa, with mystery-gender baby in tow.
So many fun ones from this session- can't wait to share the rest!

Matt and his Guitar

2010-05-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

I have this good friend from Nashville named Matt, and by 'good friend' I mean old boyfriend from about 12 years ago. We met when he was out here going to Stanford and we were both servers at Macaroni Grill. And I was completely in love with him :) Our lives went different ways but every few years or so one of us will reach out and say hi, and on one of these reaches, Matt sent me a cd he'd just recorded. I've been super happy to see that he's following his dream, so when he asked if I'd be willing to help him out with some pictures during a trip to the West Coast to record, I was more than happy to oblige!
I'm sure I'm gonna butcher the explanation of his music, but it's like world/spiritual/life-loving/happy-sounds music. (You can listen/buy here and you will soon be able to check out his website for a more accurate understanding :)) Anyway, I had no clue what I was doing with these pictures because . . . well, I have never really photographed just a person and an inanimate object- my subjects are always with other people or other living things. So I was a little out of my element, but in the end, I still think they turned out great and, it was wonderful to spend the day with him and listen to him sing.

This is my favorite one- it's exactly how I remember him in my head, with his fabulous laugh that I'm surprised doesn't give him whiplash.

And one of the two of us on Stinson Beach.

Cameron and Connor {kids photography}

2010-05-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last month I had the chance to spend the day with these guys down in the South Bay, and had such a great time hanging out with them- we read, played with bubbles, built Legos and even dyed Easter eggs (since it was Easter weekend). Seriously, it was so fun and relaxed, I kinda didn't want to leave after we were all done.
Sometimes people (understandably so) get so worried about the photo shoot and how it's gonna go and what they should be doing and if they are doing it right. . . . It can be hard to just let go, but these guys were so great at just simply hanging out, and to me, that is when we get the best shots, when it's just a little piece of everyday life, and nothing more.

Facing History Benefit dinner, last year.

2010-05-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Also last weekend, Facing History and Ourselves, a nonprofit organization that Shawn and I give to (an amazingly wonderful nonprofit that does fabulous work and you should definitely check out) was having their annual Benefit Dinner. We had every intention of going, but somehow kept forgetting to buy our tickets until it was too late. So anyway, while this is where we were supposed to be last Sunday night after getting back from the Farm, we were not, but I thought this was a good excuse to share something I've been avoiding sharing for the past year. . . .
At last year's dinner, I was actually asked to do "the ask". That's where, in front of 100s of people eating really nice food at The Four Seasons Hotel, and after they have all just heard some really amazing speakers with all sorts of degrees and credentials and influence and experience speak, I get up at the end and ask everyone to consider what they've heard and donate money. Slightly nerve racking . . . a lot nerve racking . . . the nerves were 100% racked.
While I practiced for weeks beforehand, it still didn't do much to make me into a public speaker, and I actually really hate watching the video. In fact, I've only watched it once, and not even all at the same time because the first time I tried to watch it I was so . . . what's the word. . . ehhhk, watching myself, that I couldn't even watch. I look like a bird or something. I have no idea why my mouth makes such funny shapes when I'm nervous.
So I clearly didn't want anyone else to see this, buuuuttttt, at the same time, in all seriousness, this was also one of the moments in my life when I have been the most proud to be involved with something. The work that this group does is truly the work that I feel will make the world a better place. Plus, it's been a year, and I'm way prettier now! And I'm sure I no longer talk like a bird.

Ok, so first, here's a pic from the event

and now, here it goes: Me speaking at the 2009 Facing History Benefit Dinner.

But also, please check out one of the other speakers from the night. Trevor Gardner is just one of Facing History's many dedicated teachers, and I know you don't know him like you know me, but his speech was much more interesting and inspiring than me asking for money, so look at that one too.

The Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down 2010

2010-05-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

Two years ago Shawn and I went up to Orland, Ca. to go to The Farm Sanctuary's annual fundraiser/hoe down event. We had such a great time, as seen here, and were really excited to go back this year. We invited Nate and Court this time so that we could fit in better (they are Vegan) but they totally brought their American flag chair and ruined that plan ;)

Anyway, it was lovely! (except for the part where we got there too late Saturday and left too early Sunday to go see the animals! I was kinda peeved about that. Oh, and the part where I went and bought an air mattress the day before since I suspected that laying on the ground 6 months pregnant wasn't going to be so comfortable, but then didn't pay attention to the part where I bought one that only has an electric pump, thus leaving me to prove my suspicions correct- not so comfortable) But we still got to listen to interesting speakers, eat great food, act like farmers, barn dance, star gaze, read, snuggle, camp, get ticks, do yoga, and pat ourselves on the back for being so moral :)

Craig & Andrea {Engagement Portraits}

2010-05-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

And here is one more little E Session peek, this one from the people who completely stole my heart yesterday (although it was pretty far gone even before then) with the CUPCAKES they had delivered to Maria and I! (we will be posting about that on our blog later today I'm sure).
Anyway, just had to get a little snippet of these kitchen dancers here, but look for the full post over on our Verité blog.

Penny & Dimitri {Engagement Portraits}

2010-05-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

And speaking of our new Verité blog, go there to see the full post of our Engagement Photo Shoot with Penny and Dimitri!

Lindsay and Matt {wedding Photography}

2010-04-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Also last Fall, Maria and I shot Lindsay and Matt's wedding. These two! These two are great. As is usually the case with me and brides, I got such a crush on Lindsay. She shortens all her words, so everything is "perf" or "fab" and I just think it's so cute. I kinda wanted to be her best friend. But anyway, Lindsay and Matt- high school sweethearts, and two peas in a pod. They are 100% perfect for each other!

I'm only posting a few of my favorites here becaaauuusssseee . . . . Maria has actually been working super hard getting our new Verite Blog up and going! We haven't really made any official announcements about it yet, but it's there and slowly but surely Maria is getting it to look perfect. We have a half dozen or so things on it so far and back at the beginning of this year, she posted Lindsay and Matt's wedding as our very first post! So check out much more of the wedding there, and make sure you now add that blog to your reader too, as that is where most of our wedding work will be showing up in the future.

This picture cracks me up because they had both been doing the whole champagne in flutes thing, and then all of the sudden they just broke out the Coors, and were like "we're so not champagne people"!

My fave.

These guys got married at St. Mary's college where Matt went to college and played soccer, so we had to spend a few minutes on his old field.

ok- remember to check out much more from this day on the Verité blog.

Mira and Sydney {children's photography}

2010-04-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

So, going back into my stash of unblogged things, here is a photo shoot I did last Fall for my close family friends Brad and Candice and their two adorable little girls, Sydney and Mira.

(I used to do photo shoots of just Luna, but as you can see, things have changed, and Luna just barely managed to make her way into one of these shots :))

My absense & My feet

2010-04-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

I know I keep apologizing for not being a very good blogger these last five months or so, but then I don't really follow that up with getting any better. . . a bit of an insincere apology I guess . . . . But really, this time, it's gonna be different. I really am back.

Not sure exactly what the problem has been lately- just been a bit crazy and stressed I guess, in part probably because my feet have been disappearing. In case anyone who reads my blog was unaware of this problem, it's true, I have been slowly watching my feet disappear from my field of vision . . .

Turns out that, come July 30th or so, this ever-growing stomach that has been the cause of said hindrance, should give way to Shawn's and my first offspring.

I know that's not really a viable excuse for having disappeared from my blog for the last 5 months (well except for the part when I was too nauseous to do anything but sit), but you should understand that I'm fairly freaked out about this. It is probably not the healthiest attitude to have, and I apologize to Fetus K, but I've sorta been approaching each day with the attitude that I only have X many days left until my life is over, so I have X many things to get done before then, clearly leaving no time to blog.

Buuuuut, now that the initial shock has worn off and I no longer feel the need to spend the majority of each day either over the toilet (Dec-Jan) or trying to check every item on my life's to-do list off (Feb-April), I'm gonna attempt to live a little more sanely and get back into a routine here. I know, I know, I can hear every already-parent laughing their head off as I said that, "get back into a routine!", right as I'm about to have a baby. But whatever, let a pre-mommy have her delusions.

So anyway, yep- baby on the way, and back to blogging. In the next few posts that follow, I'll attempt to bring my blog up-to-date with some of the shoots, weddings, and life's events that have happened over the last half a year or so.

LilyRose {kids photography}

2010-04-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

I know I've been gone from this blog for like years or something, but SO much has been going on (more on that later). For now, I'm happy to finally be making another post, and even happier that it is images of Jonathan and Katie's baby! I photographed Jonathan and Katie's wedding two years ago, so I was obviously super excited when they called to tell me they were gonna be visiting from Boston WITH their new baby!!!
And I know everyone just says this, but seriously. . . . could this baby be any cuter?!

I'm not sure, but I think my assistant Nicole may have actually taken this one, and it's one of my favorites! . . . I'm still hoping it was actually me :)

Ellen and Ted Wedding at Nestldown- continued

2010-01-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, and since I just had too many to fit into one post, here's a few more from Ted and Ellen's Wedding- mostly from the later part of the evening. (And thanks to you guys and all your family for your wonderful, ego-boosting compliments :))

Ellen and Ted Wedding at Nestldown

2010-01-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

I've been so excited to post these pictures (although seeing as how I took a serious break from blogging there for a while, I'm pretty excited to post pretty much anything!) But this wedding in particular is a great one to come back with. Ellen and Ted are beautiful people, with beautiful families and friends, and they got married in the most beautiful place.

And I'll post some of the reception tomorrow. . . .

Fire!

2009-12-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been posting much the last few weeks and that is mainly because I've been incredibly preoccupied with this fire. A lot of you have probably heard by now, but if you hadn't, we had a little fire at Verité about two weeks ago. Everything and everybody is fine- it was super small- but even as small as it was, dealing with the aftermath has been such an ordeal.
It was an electrical fire in the back wall of our space, which is actually the wall that houses Dilek Sezen, who we sublet to. Basically we started smelling something funny one evening and after following our noses around for a while, we found the source. Luckily Tutt was there and knew what to do and what to look for, and when to say, "holy sh*t! Call 911". So 6 fire trucks, 20 firefighters, 2 hours, some sledgehammers, and a chainsaw later, we were left with a giant hole in our back wall, high blood pressure, and a very very grateful attitude.
Here is a little video that one of Dilek's friends took in the middle of the excitement:

So anyway, work was pretty counterproductive for a while since we had to take all our computers home and our studio smelled like a BBQ pit for the past two weeks. Apologies to everyone who is having to wait longer than expected for their pictures or orders- and thank you again for your patience!

This is the piece of plastic the worker put up to "keep the rats out". Ewwe. Pretty sure a rat could figure out to go through the part that wasn't covered all the way, but luckily we haven't seen any of these choice creatures wandering around our studio.

Things are finally on the up and up now, at least as far as our space is concerned. The wall has been patched up, we've employed about 15 air fresheners, and our studio is coming back together. Unfortunately, Dilek's space still needs some work, but hopefully she'll also be ready to reopen soon.

Alyson and Nick at The Palace hotel - part II {wedding photography}

2009-12-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

And here's some shots from the second half of our day with Alyson and Nick. After leaving Nick's Crispy Tacos, we headed back to the Palace Hotel for their beautiful reception with lots of Greek Dancing and 80s Rockin'!

Alyson and Nick at the Greek Orthodox Church {wedding photography}

2009-11-25T23:39:00.000-08:00

Alyson and Nick have a typical "boy meets girl in a NY Kinkos when girl-in-a-hurry asks perfect-stranger-of-a-boy to help her with the printer; boy takes mental note of girl's employer as he sees it on the resume he's helping her print; the next day he GUESSES her email based on the math of her name plus workplace, and asks her to dinner" story. It was quite a chance meeting, but clearly meant to be, as three years later here they are getting married in SF. And Maria and I were the lucky photogs.

Based on their history, we had to do our photo shoot at no place other than Kinkos, of course!

And after that, we were going to head to the bridge for some shots, but the fog was coming in so thick, there would have been no bridge in the pictures. So we decided that the best alternative would obviously be . . . tacos. We went over to Nick's Crispy Tacos on Polk and Broadway, and what a better option that ended up to be! Aside from filling some very empty stomachs with tasty food, Maria and I were stoked when we walked in- the place is amazing, and so unexpected!! And for a couple whose story is anything but typical, this somewhat unconventional spot for wedding photos was perfect!

And there's so much more still to share- I'll post some of their beautiful reception at the Palace Hotel soon!

Golden Biscuit {dog photography}

2009-11-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

This Hunk-O'-Hunk-O'-Burning-Love is Biscuit, and he really is just as lovable and snugglable as he looks. I was smitten from the moment Sandra brought him to our planning session.

Sandra and Gary live downtown by the ball park and that's where they take Biscuit for walks. It's quite appropriate really, as Biscuit is a very focused athlete- when it's game time, he NEVER takes his eye off the ball!

Finn on the way {maternity photography}

2009-11-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

Back in September I asked Liz and Jeremy if I could do a maternity photo shoot of them, so here are some of my faves from what we did back when Liz was (I think) about 30 weeks. Finn was born 5 days ago on November 9th and there are no pictures of the real deal yet, but Shawn and I went to go meet him for the first time a few nights ago and I'm in love. He's a million times better on the outside :)

Ok, back to our shoot: Liz is a runner and she continued to run through her entire pregnancy (seriously, I think she all but ran to the hospital on Monday to deliver), so we thought it would be fun to get some shots of them running. This sight, Liz running with her 8-month prego belly, made so many passers-by offer up huge smiles! I would pass by Liz and Jeremy running sometimes and it was indeed quite an endearing image! (I tried to make that read as if you might think I was out running too, but yeah, in most of these sightings, I was in my car :)). So here they are, Runners McMillan, in the ever-so-beautiful Golden Gate Park.

So one of the big reasons I wanted to do this shoot was because Jeremy is a surfer and I just had this idea, although very vague, in my head of doing something that felt very warm and windy and sandy. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out exactly as I was hoping. I didn't mean I wanted it to actually be that windy and sandy, I just wanted it to feel that way. But the wind and sand showed up with force, and the warmth was nowhere to be found, so we cut the shoot pretty short as it was way way way too cold, even for an over-heated pregnant lady.

Then we headed back to Liz and Jeremy's place and went up to their roof right after dusk to take a few more.

And since I'm here, I figure I'll add these ones of Liz's baby shower a few weeks later.

Becca had us do the baby food taste-testing game, and most people did like Courtney here, with a little dab of food that they barely touched to their tongue. It wasn't until I heard people laughing at me that I realized I was apparently the only one who used the opportunity to get in a late lunch. I guess I was dishing up my samples by pretty big spoonfuls, but whatever- I'm just saying- there's nothing that bad about pureed spinach and plums!

This was a pretty great moment. Emily and other fellow Impalas got Liz this running stroller, which is apparently like the Ferrari of strollers.

Heather made Finn this quilt done in all surf and beach patches- it was quite sweet.

And Betsy and Steve made Finn this onsie with the face of Mark Occhilupo on it.

The boys came later and you can see Jeremy was pretty happy about that.

Anyway, that's all of Liz's belly for a while, but I'm sure I'll have some great ones of Finn here soon.

Rocco {Dog Photography}

2009-10-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

Before I did this photo shoot with Rocco, Christine was telling me how she really just simply "loves looking at his face" and I know this isn't any sort of groundbreaking sentiment, but I just keep thinking about what a great sentiment it is- that we can get so much happiness just from looking at someone's face. That's a pretty nice little gift in life.

Rocco is Christine's baby number One. Baby number Two was on the way when we took these pictures a few months ago.

My favorite shot. I love Dan's look of defeat as he tired of trying to get Rocco to do what they wanted him to do.

Sneak peek for Ellen and Ted {Wedding Photography}

2009-10-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

Ted and Ellen got married two weeks ago at Nestldown and, plain and simple: I heart Ellen and Ted. They are so very nice. And they have impeccable taste in venue sites. And wedding dresses. And spouses.

Maria and Bryan {Wedding Photogaphy} in San Francisco

2009-10-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Two days before the wedding at Beaulieu Gardens I just posted about, Maria and Bryan had a super small ceremony at St. Peter and Paul's here in North Beach with just their immediate family . . . and us :)

Maria and Bryan {Wedding Photography} at Beaulieu Gardens in Rutherford

2009-10-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Maria and I have been so excited to share these photos from Maria and Bryan's wedding up in Rutherford a few months ago. Not only was the location amazing, but it is always a treat when we get to do our job for people we already know and care about. It just feels that much more special to be part of the day!

Love this one of Papa C watching his daughter get ready.

Lots of pretty and yummy things courtesy of Paula LeDuc Fine Catering.

Mr. Castellucci was honoring his wife during his toast and she got a little shy about the whole thing.

Lily and Andrew {wedding photography} in Alexander Valley

2009-10-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not even gonna try to be diplomatic here; I'm just gonna be bold :) Lily and Andrew had the best details of any wedding we've photographed this year! These guys got married at Lily's parent's Ranch and every single friggin' thing was adorable. This blog post doesn't even begin to show a fraction of the degree to which they made everything perfect, matching and gingham.
Horse-drawn hay-rides, a million pieces of letter-pressed collateral, a swimming pond, six different types of lemonade, complimentary flip flops & Pashminas, and probably almost as many flowers as are in the Rose Parade, plus a whole lot of adoring love for one another to top it all off!

Alyson and Nick- sneak peek

2009-10-07T17:59:00.001-07:00

Alyson and Nick's one month Anniversary was on Monday. We're shoulder-deep in getting a million weddings done right now, but I just wanted to post this real quick. These two met at FedEx Kinkos, so what better place to go for pictures on their wedding day- and how perfect was that sign just there in the window waiting for them! Can't wait to share the rest!

Biscuit {dog photography} sneak peek

2009-10-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

I photographed this cuter than cute Golden, Biscuit, last month. Here's a little sneak peek for mom :)

Dana and Todd- Wedding at the Fairmont

2009-09-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time narrowing my selection of images down for Todd and Dana, and I'd like to think that was because I am such an amazing photographer, but I think it was actually just because they and everyone around them are just so darn cute. They have cute nieces and nephews, make cute funny faces, and love each other cute. So here's a small handful of cuteness highlights from their wedding at the Fairmont in June:

This one is my favorite I think. It was near the end of the night and there was lots of other stuff going on but Dana and her dad just had this sweet moment here.

Thanks guys- for the great day, and for all the cute you gave me to work with! :)

Mandy Scott Flowers

2009-09-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Maria & Mariana and I went over to the Flower Mart with our neighbor and flower-arranger, wedding-enhancer, pretty-maker, and friend extraordinaire, Mandy Scott. She wanted some shots for her new brochure and we wanted to take 'em.

Sandra and Derek- Treasure Island Wedding

2009-09-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

I have been a terribly neglectful blogger these last few weeks, but it's only because I have been so busy actually taking pictures, I've just barely had a free minute to share them! But there should be a lot coming soon, starting now with these two . . .

Sandra and Derek- they are a perfect pair. Maria and I photographed their wedding in June on Treasure Island and everything from Sandra's (many) shoes to the giant "Double Happiness" gobos everywhere made me giddy. And Sandra herself made me giddy. She cracks me up, that one.

Sandra and Derek were somehow chosen to be the "sixth chapter" (the wedding chapter) in this Life-in-a-Year special report the San Jose Mercury News is doing this year, so we had a few videos peops with us all day. (You can check out their cute story here.)

Maria and Bryan- sneak peek

2009-08-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

Maria and Bryan just got back from their 3-week honeymoon in Italy! And before I leave for my little vacation to Portland tomorrow (which is practically the same thing as Italy) I promised I'd give them a little sneak peek from their beautiful day in Napa last month.

And this is not my standard choice for a sneak peek shot, but I just love Mr. Castellucci, so here's to daddy-daughter dancing and our great landlords :)

Lacee and Portia

2009-08-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

Ray and Lesley were walking by the studio one day back in February, and due to some health issues that one of their dogs Lacee was having, they decided then and there, just on a whim, to do a photo shoot the next day.

I loved the way this shoot came out! Portia is the pretty white Whippet and Lacee is the adorable unrecognizable mutt. They were fantastic subjects, and serious lickers.

Lacee was not one to be shy with her feelings.

. . . at all.

After hanging out at their place for a while, we headed over to Fort Funston where I always love to go. How can anybody not love to go there though? I mean, it's a beautiful park by the ocean filled with dogs and lovey-dovey hippie graffiti. What's not to love?!

Ok, I'll just say it- I'm pretty damn proud of this shot!

Thanks for the great afternoon guys.

sneak peek- Rocco

2009-08-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad at blogging lately- And what I have blogged has all been my garden and no work :) But here's to me being back on track!

Starting with this one from my shoot with the adorable Rocco on Saturday. Him and his dad play ball at the edge of the water in the evenings. It's quite nice :)

More from Arizona

2009-07-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

I posted those pictures of Frank and Jeanne a while back but am just now getting around to posting a few more from our trip to Arizona two months ago.
Lauren and Brendan were as cute and sassy as ever. We spent our time playing in the tree house, playing jump rope, playing tether ball, making several trips to get ice cream, making ice cream, and eating more ice cream.

Brendan is one-of-a-kind. I mean seriously, just look at that face!
At one point he was leading me somewhere with my eyes closed and I said I didn't trust him, and he just responded completely matter-of-factly, "that's because I lie all the time" :) Shawn and I always compare him to Tatanka- so so naughty, but so so irresistible.

Lauren and I beat Shawn several times at Tether Ball. He claims we cheated, but I think he may just suck at Tether Ball.

The kids were getting ready to get a horse, so we did a fair amount of playing in the new horse trailers.

So that was our trip. It ended with lots of tears, watching the kids say goodbye to their dad as he headed back to Iraq (Man, war is such a lame idea on so many accounts). Anyway, he'll be home soon and we'll go back soon.

Food from our Garden

2009-07-20T12:35:00.001-07:00

Ok, we didn't grow the fish, but it was a nice side-dish to our fabulous red potatoes (with green onions) and red chard (prepared with lemon and chili flakes). This dinner was so so so good.

Some yellow potatoes and peas.

Potato, carrot and cheese quesedilla.

Potato, spinach/chard stir fry with onions and lavender.

And this is Courtney after a trip to the grocery store in our backyard!

Gardening- the 3rd update.

2009-07-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I left off a few days ago with where we were in May, and now here we have what things were looking like last month in mid June. It's totally starting to look like a real backyard! You can see we harvested our potatoes in the back and then finally cleaned up the center area a bit. We're sectioning off the back half of the center area for some new foods yet TBD.

Our squash started taking over the sidewalk by this point. Looking at these amazes me every time. That started as a seed! That's crazy! I know that is a basic life lesson, but still, that was just a SEED.

And our bed of leafy greens was pretty magnificent at this point, if I do say so myself. The smaller stuff in the front is more newly planted Kale.

The blueberries are getting bigger and bluer, and here is a close-up of our nifty hand-made fence. They sell these things pre-made for like $2 more than making it but Nate was set on making a fence. I do have to say, despite a lot more time, and maybe one or two breakdowns concerning Nate's daddy issues, it was a much nicer fence than those other ones :)

On the right hand side, we have the very pretty beginnings of some blackberries, and on the left we the the pretty endings of a shallot that I think we waited too long to harvest.

Ok, and now, finally we get to the present- July. We did a mad rush of getting things "finished" the week before 4th of July so we could host a little bbq, and while there is still lots left to do, it came together quite nicely. I unfortunately forgot to take any pictures during our party, but here's a few of hanging out with my fellow farmers afterward. You can kinda see how we put a little strip of grass in under the hammock and then created a social area with the little pebbled oval.

Tatanka is pretty sure this picture falls under the "life imitating art" side of the argument.

And finally, a little vegetable check-in: squash are growing, and we need to figure out how to get rid of all the bugs eating our lettuces.

The next day I finished up planting some more moss. I love moss; it's so satisfying just to push my hand down on it over and over again.

Courtney and Shawn took control of the squash plant and redirected it from the sidewalk to the fence.

And you can see some of the backyard furniture we bought that day from a lady on craigslist.

And here you can see our garden as of this morning! Unfortunately our grass is allready not looking good due to my precious dogs :( Most of our greens were going to seed so we harvested those, as well as the peas, and, uh. . . I guess that's all for now.

Lily and Andrew- sneak Peek

2009-07-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie from Lily and Andrew a few weekends ago. Can't wait to show the rest!

LOVE this couple!

Gardening- the second installment

2009-07-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

I had intentions of posting about our garden's progress much more often, but you know how those go . . . so we left off with the first six weeks or so back in March.

And here we have what was going on in April- you can see things are really starting to grow, and isn't my hammock dreamy!

Shawn thinks so too.

The squash grew fastest (and biggest, as you'll soon see).

. . . although, the artichokes are a close second. I remember back in April when I thought this was ginormous.

Unfortunately, we read the package wrong and planted them 4 inches apart not 4 feet apart. (Reminds me of the time in college when I took Vivarin wrong- it apparently said 'one every 4-6 hours' not '4 every 6 hours'). Anyway, makes a lot of sense now that we are seeing how big they get

And the potatoes. I feel kinda dumb but I never before realized that they were a green plant. I just thought everything happened under ground. But look at them- they're all green and leafy and above ground! (the red ones blossomed much quicker than the yellow ones)

This is our leafy green bed right as it was starting to grow. Then the right side is our raspberry bush. Lots more leaves than when we first planted it a month earlier!

And our peas.

Our lemon tree lost all it's leaves in a few severe wind storms we had back in the beginning of April, but it still looked promising here, like maybe it would do something, and maybe wasn't completely dead. . . but now is sorta a different story.

We had to put this net-and-gate contraption up to keep Nate out.

The first signs of a blueberry and some of the green onions just starting to mature.

And here we have Farmers Nate, Shawn, and Courtney, not really being all that mature.

By the way, Farmer Shawn, he should probably win the "farmer with the most improved attitude" award. For being the least excited of the group about this project, he has certainly become quite dedicated to the job!

Ok, next. Here is what things looked like in mid May.

The yellow potatoes have now outgrown the red ones.

Strawberry, beet, and squash.

pretty peas.

Look at those artichokes- all the way up to Shawn's waist!

Courtney was super excited to discover these squash blossoms.

The bed of leafy greens starting to fill out.

red chard.

The Green Onions and the Butterhead Lettuce- ready to be eaten!

So this was a very exciting moment- it was the first time we harvested anything from our garden!!

We walked stuff up to the kitchen and made tofu Terriyaki lettuce wraps. And of course commented over and over again about how good the lettuce and green onions were.

I still have 2 more months to bring you up to speed on but this post is getting awfully long, so I'll do it tomorrow.

Maria's eyes

2009-07-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

Several people pointed out to me that in my last post I made this big deal of Maria's eyes, but then didn't even include a picture of them-- well, I suppose you're all right- kinda an odd oversight :)
So here's one now:

see- just like Jasmine:

Maria and Bryan's Engagement Session

2009-07-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

As if Maria and I weren't fortunate enough to have the Castelucci Family for landlords, now they are our clients also! Well, Maria is anyway- Maria Castelucci that is, not Maria Mrasek (deliveries at our building are quite confusing). Anyway, Maria and Bryan are getting married in less than 2 weeks and we're so happy we get to be part of it.

Almost 2 years ago when I met Maria C, back when she first showed me the property, I called Maria M to tell her about it, and I remember saying this, "the landlord has the most beautiful eyes. If we end up getting this spot, we have to photograph her someday; they're like real-life Disney eyes!" And now here we are!

So here are a few of my favorites from our engagement session a few weeks ago. (I'm practicing using our new logo. We don't have a blog for Verité yet so we're still just posting Verité work on our individual blogs until we get that up).

We started out with some cupcakes over in North Beach . . .

And since North Beach is neighbors with some lovely lusty ladies, we had to stop and visit them for a minute too :)

And then we headed downtown to this fun little spot Maria and I discovered a while back.

And finally, we ended the night over at this super swanky bar Gitane where I clumsily bumped into lots of really good-looking people with my big camera bag.

Thanks for the fun day guys- can't wait for the big day!

Todd and Dana's Wedding- sneak peek

2009-06-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

Just one quick one- one of my faves from Todd and Dana at The Fairmont the other week.

Charlie the kitten

2009-06-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

I photographed this mischievous little kitten Charlie a few months ago, and I love how his pictures came out. His people, Kara and Ted, told me all about how incredibly silly he is- as well as what a wino he is- and as soon as I walked in, true to rumor, he started performing.

Charlie has this obsession with the bathtub; it's quite endearing. He takes the toilet china caps and just bats them around in the tub like crazy- it looks a little like a one-man(cat) hockey game.

Frank and Jeanne

2009-06-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago. . . I guess almost 3 weeks ago now, we went to Arizona for the weekend since Frank was home from Iraq for his R&R (that's right, I'm totally down with the military lingo now that I'm in this military family. . . No trips to the PX with an NCO on this trip, by the way ;)) Anyway, I always take tons of pictures of the kids but I thought it would be nice to get a few of just Frank and Jeanne this time. For some reason, I just couldn't stop thinking about how hard it must be for them to be separated. Really, I just dwelt on it the whole time we were there, before we went, after we came back. . . it felt so painful to consider what that would be like (sorta like the way I just can't keep myself from "accidentally" touching lemons when I have a cut on my hand, I guess I like to torture myself, imagining these scenarios in my head). But it's weird, Frank has left before and it has sucked, but this time was just really weighing on me. So anyway, I convinced Jeanne to let me do some pictures even though I know she hates them. I just really wanted them to have some images of them touching.

So Shawn and Frank look absolutely nothing alike, and for the most part they don't act alike. I think if I were a stranger, I would never guess they were related. But every once in a while something happens, and it's so clear that they are brothers. Like, here when we started doing these pictures, Frank just had the exact same completely-nonchalant-yet-hiding-that-he-is-slightly-out-of-his-element slouch and kept saying the exact same sorta ridiculous-and-counter-productive, eye-roll-inducing-yet-charming comments that Shawn does. It was cute.

Unfortunately my battery died after like 10 mins right when I was getting started and I didn't bring my charger. (If you're a future wedding client, please don't worry about this minor oversight. I'm a professional :)) But anyway, we got a few. And I have tons more of the kids and dogs and stuff from before this- I'll post those soon.

Jason finally finishes

2009-06-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, Shawn and I went down to Stanford to watch Jason defend his thesis. I didn't really understand much of anything after the introduction, but in the end it still didn't sound like he'd cured cancer, so I'm really not sure what the big deal was. . . I did make it onto the acknowledgement slide though! And I'm pretty sure that's akin to getting my own PhD.

Anyway, his cake said "Dr." on it, so I guess that makes him the real deal.

People in his lab telling stories about him.

Then we went out to dinner and dessert with the fam.

Jason always complains about how he doesn't like me to take pictures of him, but I'm gonna speculate here that maybe if he'd stop talking for a few seconds, he would take a descent picture and then not dislike it so much, but seriously, yap yap yap- in every shot.

Anyway, good job J. :)

Sandra and Derek- sneak peek

2009-06-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just a super quick peek of Sandra and Derek from last weekend on Treasure Island. These two were ONE HUNDRED PERCENT LOVELY! . . . With perfect taste in shoes to boot.

Union Street at dusk

2009-06-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

Leaving work last night. Pretty.

Quepa and Kirin

2009-06-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's always interesting to me how we generally name our pets before we really know them, yet so often they grow into their name just right. Quepa means "to fit" or "to belong" and that is the perfect name for her. She fits absolutely perfectly into Susan's life, lap, house, hobbies, and heart. And it warmed my heart to spend the afternoon with them. Quepa (the red head) also has a younger sister Kirin (the blue head), but this photo shoot was especially for Quepa since when Susan and Curtis called me back at the beginning of the year, they knew they didn't have much longer with her. The goal for the shoot was just to capture what a true and fitting companion she has been in their life for the past 12 years.

Quepa passed away not long after we did these photos but Susan told me she was 100% her until the very end, just like she was for our shoot- swimming, picnicing, frisbeeing, loving.

Todd and Dana's Engagement Session

2009-06-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Last month I did Dana and Todd's engagement shoot down at the Sutro Baths on what I'm pretty sure was the foggiest day of the year! ( . . . except for maybe that day I got lost on my way to Trader Joes up on Skyline Blvd a few weeks ago- no joke. It was that foggy . . . or I'm that lame). Anyway, in this instance here, the foggy day did not equate with me getting lost, but rather with these super fun engagement pictures.

Todd and Dana are getting married this weekend at the Fairmont and I'm super excited! Just look how cute they are.

My wonderful new assistant Mariana took these two shots and I LOVE them. . . although it kinda makes me think I should get rid of her for showing me up like this.

These two scaled mountains, climbed up rusty old bunkers, balanced on narrow edges- they were great.

They were being so cute and cuddly and giddy here- it kinda made me want to jump in the fun . . . but you know, coulda been awkward.

Beach girls

2009-06-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Back when I took pictures of Mr. Oliver up at their family's house in Tiburon, I had a little 30-minute side session with his two cousins, and these sisters really are as sweet as they look- those poses aren't even staged in the least- they really just genuinely like each other!

Jason's . . . really good at genetics

2009-06-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

When I was working on Charles and Tessa's wedding last week, I found these pictures that Jason took of Shawn and me that day. The light was so pretty at the moment, and I just thought if I did all the settings for him, and told him exactly where to stand, he could get it right. . .

Wrong.

But that's ok; I'm sure he's really good at what he does. . .

:) Ok, they weren't all that bad, and after a little cropping and PS magic, here's a few cute ones.

except, he made my nose look huge. So yeah, his photography still needs some work.

Charles and Tessa

2009-05-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Charles came out here last week for a visit and since it was also the week of his and Tessa's first anniversary, I figured it was about time I got them some of the pictures I took at their wedding last year. I wasn't their real photographer (but you know, I can never resist) so the year lapse isn't quite as lame as it sounds :)

I posted some pictures from the rest of the weekend in Indiana back when it happened (and here), but here are a few from the actual wedding:

Charles and Tessa actually made their own wedding bands!

Tessa's friends found her this oh-so-perfect little clutch!

I love this shot on the right- Tessa and Charles were really into Salsa Dancing (they even bought Shawn and I lessons a few years ago- we kinda sucked but it was way fun!), and I just find their matching ultra-focused, teeth-biting-lip moves absolutely fantastic.

I was about to take some pictures of these three, but before they were all ready Shawn started making moves at the photographer. He's just too cute for me to pass up on posting this little series of him flirting with me. I love that it starts out with Charles and Jason not paying attention at all and then they see him being a regular old Don Juan.

And this series is pretty cute too. Charles and Shawn aren't especially tall boys by any means, but it doesn't take much to be taller than Jason and they decided to give him a moment to be the tall one of the bunch.

And finally, Shawn busted out "What is love" to dedicate to Charles- the emotional moment coulda come straight out of Night at the Roxbury.

Studio Photography spread

2009-05-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Back in March I was featured in Studio Photography Magazine - an industry publication! I had a whole 3 page spread and was feeling all proud. . . and then they went out of business :) This publication's been around for 10 plus years, has a big readership, and I was feeling all big-time, but yeah, that got squashed when I heard the announcement the following month . . . So anyway, a little less impressive of an announcement than it would have been otherwise, but here it is all the same (sorry for the poor scan).

Harris-Boundy Family

2009-05-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

At the end of last year Liesel asked me to do a family photo shoot for them, but I told her that friends really shouldn't hire me- I totally put them at the bottom of the list (like any good friend would) and I take forever to get them their pictures, but she insisted. So here we finally have it; Sol and Sabine are practically in college at this point, but they are done :)

I had such a good time with this shoot! I would love the Harris-Boundy Family regardless of what type of pictures they wanted to do (they are some of the friends we went with when we went canvasing for Obama last October in Nevada) but they made it all the more fun by suggesting we go to the library for our shoot. Liesel is a librarian and Jason is a professor at SFSU so it seemed like a highly appropriate spot for the family.

We broke their photo shoot into two parts and for the second part we went to Ocean Beach. And I know suckers are so last year, but I've had these in my camera bag forever and just couldn't resist.

I think Sol and Sabine could be models for surfer gear- they totally have that look, you know. Although, I've also thought they could pass for Nordic elves at times. . . either way really.

Alex's Bar Mitzvah

2009-05-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Alex was the last Bar Mitzvah I photographed, back at the beginning of the year, and he was number three of the Three Musketeers I've mentioned recently: him, Josh, and Drew.
The theme for Alex's day was The Sharks, and they were seriously devoted to the theme- Sharks-colored Kippots, Hockey Puck save-the-dates, Shark-mask favors . . . The whole event was quite impressive!!

I love this one. Alex, one of the men.

Look, below on the right! That's Ronnie Lott! . . . Actually, it's no big deal really- Ronnie and I go way back. I got his signature when I was like 14. He didn't act like he remembered me, but you know, sometimes stars can be really shy.

The party that night was really so great. I wish I could post every single picture of the details- they just did such a good job with all of them. And I'm telling you- 13-year olds know how to throw a party! I mean, com'on, DDR! There should be DDR at every party.

And here they are, together again. Alex, Drew, and Josh.

I love this one of Ruth as she's watching Alex give his Candle-lighting presentation. I think she just looks so proud and so in love with her son.

Yummy Yummy

2009-05-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

Since I posted a picture of Ella without her own face yesterday, I figured I owe her some pictures with her face in tact.

These are from dinner at Yummy Yummy a few weeks ago.

Betsy and Steve saw how impressed Alex was with Ella's noodle intake and thought that if they did the same, they could get a kiss out of him as well, but unfortunately he wasn't quite as taken with them.

We never really know quite what we're eating at Yummy Yummy, but it's always good!

Bobbleheads

2009-05-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

I always complain that the day goes by too quickly and I never get enough work done. . . . but sometimes, that might be my fault.

We spent like an hour on this "project" the other day :) It just kept getting funnier. See Maria's blog for more.

Puppy Wuppy

2009-05-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago our landlord Angela came downstairs with THIS in her hands!

This is Bagheera. And I want her.

And in case you didn't realize, when you say words like "puppy", you have to add the rhyming "w" word after it.

Little Star

2009-05-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 9th, Golden Gate Park

These pictures don't mean anything to but a few. To those, I love you guys.

Dana and Todd- Engagement sneak peek

2009-05-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night it was suuu-ppper foggy, like thick, can't-see-more-than-50-yards-in-front-of-you, foggy. It wasn't at all what I was hoping for for Todd and Dana's engagement session, but I ended up loving it!
And I of course was loving Todd and Dana too! I know I say people and things are "sooo cute" all the time, but really, Todd and Dana were sooo cute together.

The real post coming soon, but here's a quick peek.

2009-05-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

A week or two ago, Lindsie, who owns Haute Bride down the street from us, had Maria photograph her new "cocktail" line of jewelry. Maria started setting things up just using various little corners and vignettes here in our studio, and I couldn't resist grabbing my camera and joining in the fun. Lindsie's pieces are just so so pretty. . . I don't really have an appreciation for diamonds or fine stones, but man- I love big fake sparkly things! Maria always says I'm like Dory from Finding Nemo- I just get so distracted by anything that sparkles.

Maria did a killer job with this assignment. I totally love her images!!

Sarah and Dustin

2009-05-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, fellow photographer, the ever so amazing Sarah Maren, and hubby came down from Sacramento for an engagement shoot she had scheduled for Saturday with one of her couples. We went to lunch, got hot chocolate, played in the rain, compared photog notes, and had a wonderfully cozy afternoon. They asked Maria and I to take a few pictures of them sine they needed a new profile shot for their upcoming like a million page spread (!!!) in Real Weddings magazine! So here's a few of my faves.

Sarah makes it really hard for people to decide whether it's her talent, or her warmth, or her impeccable sense of humor that makes you like her so much. . . although for me, I think it's the super stylish glasses.

Shawn's Birthday. . . sorta

2009-04-29T23:00:00.001-07:00

Shawn's birthday was almost 2 months ago but we just last week used the gift I gave him so I figure it's an appropriate time to talk about it :)

For starters, Shawn's parents visited last month. Visiting him for his birthday was Chuck's surprise gift to Barb for her birthday. So they came out for that weekend, and the first thing they wanted to do after arriving here was, naturally, go to Target- a well-known favorite San Francisco past time. But the trip was a success as you can see here- Shawn and Chuck in their new Target Top Hats.

We had a great weekend with them- we went to see Teatro Zinnzanni, which I have to say, I wasn't super excited about; I always see advertisements for it when I'm in tourist areas but I've never heard of anyone I know actually going to it. It sorta looked like a less impressive version of Cirque de Soliel, accompanied with what I could only expect to be sub-par food. But from the pictures I thought his parents might like it . . . . and it turns out it was wonderfully entertaining! It was in fact less impressive than Cirque de Soliel :) but it was also quite different- lots more acting involved, and funny. So yeah, that was great!

We also went to dinner with Jason on Shawn's b-day; Jason hates it when I take pictures of him. Occasionally, I respect his wishes, but I just couldn't this day because it was the day after he FINALLY finished his PhD. I think it's been about 13 years or something- clearly a reason for celebratory pictures.

Ok- now fast forward six weeks, I had given Shawn tickets to see John Prine in Carmel for his birthday and last week was the concert. We made a mini vacation out of it and went down to Monterey Wednesday morning to go to the aquarium. I love that aquarium! Sometimes, I wish we lived in Monterey just so we could go there more.

The otters are always my favorite (it's hard to get good pictures of them though). They totally remind me of Tatanka! Seriously, doesn't that just look so much like him?

The special exhibit right now is the seahorses, and they were AMAZING. My pictures don't do it justice at all- you have to go see it for yourself! It was truly beautiful.

So itty bitty.

These were the most fantastic of all- I seriously couldn't believe my eyes! If I were ever to write a fairytale, all the characters would be versions of these guys.

No seahorses in this picture, but Shawn is pretty amazing too :)

The jellies always come in a close second to the otters.

After the aquarium we went to dinner at our favorite little spot in Carmel and then onto the concert. And the concert was so so great. If you add me and Shawn together, our ages would probably equal the age of the average person there- so yeah, we apparently have a really. . . refined taste in music :)
Anyway, I loved John Prine, but the really exciting part was opener Josh Ritter. Heather has always been a huge fan but I never knew anything about him until this night, and now I'm kinda mad at Heather for hoarding him :) . . . Pretty much an instant and shameless crush. I bought 4 albums there and have listened to them almost NON-STOP for the last week, and every other song is "my favorite".
But I think it was this song that stole my heart. If it hadn't of been Shawn's birthday gift, I might have left him that night and tried to latch myself onto Josh's tour bus.

Kash's Birthday

2009-04-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was Kash's 5th birthday, and it was on one of those wonderfully warm days perfect for a backyard bbq and a 5th birthday party!

BTW, I'm not sure why Kash looks like a rabbit here- really he's just a kid turning five.

And here we have just a small sampling of some of Maria's handiwork- a Ho Ho tire for a Car Cake (obviously) and Leah's French braid (also obviously)

Sometimes it's really hard for it to not be your birthday.

Kash was super excited by some of his toys. . .

as was Toby, but Leah remained a bit skeptical.

Blossoms

2009-04-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

We have this beautiful tree out behind our studio and it has honestly the most wonderful blossoms on it in the springtime. Last year, I told myself over and over again to take some pictures of it before they went away- it's not like it's a major undertaking when it's about 9 feet away from where I sit at my desk for 10 hours a day, but somehow they never got taken. So this year, although it took me until the week before they were almost gone, I made the trek to the back of the building to get these shots last week.

Dog Sharing!

2009-04-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting unexpected visit one afternoon last week. Tracy was just walking by my studio, saw the dog focus, and I guess figured, "What the heck!- it's worth a try". So she came in, daughter and dog in tow, and we spent the next hour plus chatting.

This is her cute dog Boeing

And this is her cute daughter Audrey with her cute dog Boeing

Kinda a long story, but basically, Boeing is a wonderful dog, perfectly trained, and a great great companion, but because of some of Audrey's issues, he is making their lives a little too stressful. Boeing is 12 years old and incredibly loved by Tracy but they unfortunately really need to find a part-time home for him. I found my heart quite tugged at hearing her plight, and as usual, I didn't really know what to do or say to be comforting, so I pulled out my camera (When someone is hurting, the best thing to do is take pictures of them, right? yeah- my sensitivity is amazing)

So anyway, I told her that there's only like 3 people who read my blog, but I would post some pictures anyway, and see if anyone knows of anyone who wants a dog part-time, all expenses paid.

So, let me know if you know of any good solutions for Boeing.

(oh, and remember, not an official photo shoot, so pictures not really the best :))

Josh's Bar Mitzvah

2009-04-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

Josh's Bar Mitzvah was last November, in the middle of this fun Mitzvah Photography stint of mine.

You might remember these 3 from the pictures I posted of them at Drew's (here on the right) Bar Mitzvah a few months before this one. Alex, on the left, is what I will be working on next. I just think it's so great how close the 3 of them are! In each of their party slide shows, they all had pictures of the three of them together since the time they were born!

The party that night was a sports fanatic's dream come true- golf and baseball stations, beachball-style football, and of course, virtual "ball" of every kind. Ah- Boys and Video games- could this image be any more telling!?

Tax Day

2009-04-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

I know this is old hat by this point; I first saw this video almost a year ago and loved it (but who wouldn't? You've got to be a total Scrooge to not adore it) but Kimberly just sent it to me today and after being up until almost 4:00am working on my taxes and stressing out about silly things like money, it was the perfect thing to have pop back up in my inbox, reminding me of much more important things, like dancing.

Oliver!

2009-04-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

I love the name Oliver. And Olive. And Olivia. If I have enough kids, I might do one of each.

But anyway, this is Oliver. Back at the end of last year I did this photo shoot with him and parents up in Tiburon. We had all sorts of fun playing at his grandparents beach up there, but he didn't last long (he'd just gotten vaccinated the day before and was having a bit of a rough day) so we added part two to our photo shoot the following week back at his home in SF.

My favorite.

And back in a totally different climate zone just 5 miles away. . .

To the Jerkface who stole my credit card,

2009-04-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Among your several purchases with my card, I noticed that you signed up for not one, not two, but three online dating services. Well, I'm not sure why I'm offering free advice to someone who just tried to steal thousands of dollars from me, but I was just thinking that you might have more luck meeting the right person if you worked on your morals. Luckily you'll be headed toward better morals anyway now that you won't be able to use my credit card to look at porn sites anymore.
Good luck with all that.
Sincerely,
Robyn

Charlie the kitten- sneak preview

2009-04-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

I had a photo shoot with this handsome little devil on Saturday.

and it reminded me how much I wish I wasn't allergic to cats- I want one just like Charlie.

Fubuki and Enju

2009-04-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

Jason and Izumi are in Japan right now, so we had these two at our house last week.

Enju being cute and timid

(btw, all that dirt all over the basement door is just a little effect I added in Photoshop- pretty clever, eh?! Yeah, cause my house is totally not that dirty- that would be gross. . . )

And Mr. Goofy Hubu.

Maria had to take Tatanka for the week because he tries to kill big dogs. I don't think he missed us one bit :(

Amber and Tatanka- one more from last weekend

2009-03-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

Whenever Amber visits, she always acts super excited to see me, but really, it's just my dog she's excited to see. One time when we were visiting them in Portland a few years ago, Amber showed me a photo collage of her family she'd done for sharing time at school- no picture of Aunt Robyn and Uncle Shawn on there, but Tatanka was prominently featured. :)
Anyway, Amber and I went on a long walk on Monday and here's some shots from that.

Back at home, Maddie showed me all about how it is being two

and Nora just was.

FYI

2009-03-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone was dying to buy me something, these did go on sale today.
. . . . Oh, tiny dancer. . . .

beautiful milpitas girls . . .

2009-03-26T18:21:00.001-07:00

hanging out at the edge of the foothills, with the last of Sunday's warm light and cold air.

Amber laughing

2009-03-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

I went down to the motherland- (Milpitas of course)- this weekend because Holly came down from Oregon for spring break. We had such a nice time hanging out. . . I've got lots more pictures to share but I wanted to start with these beautiful ones of Amber, completely and absolutely giddy over hanging out with the girls. I just love how you can hear her excitement here.

April and Eduardo- sneak preview

2009-03-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

I had such a great weekend with April and Eddie- they had a truly intimate and especially meaningful wedding and I was so grateful to be a part of it. There will be a much bigger post on them in a few months after I've had a chance to work on their pictures, but for now I just wanted to give them a little sneak peak. I've only had a chance to just briefly look through things, but it looks like there will be lots and lots of wonderful images guys! (if I do say so myself :))

Thank you, Thank you for including me in your day. You guys have a beautiful thing!

Gardening- the first month

2009-03-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have been loving my new found hobby of gardening. . . although I guess it's not really new. I've tried it a few other times in the past, without much success, but this time I'm all about food, no more pretty lawns and flowering unpronounceable plants; I think I can be much more dedicated to the idea of growing food, and it helps that Courtney and Nate are joining us for this project. Their excitement helps to counter Shawn's lack thereof for this endeavor, although I think now that things are growing, even Shawn is excited. I pointed it out the other day when I caught him all into the sprouts, but he still claims he doesn't like gardening, just science. Still, I think he is liking it just a little. Anyway, I've been taking pictures the last few weeks and here's what we have so far:

The very beginning:
Back in Jan, when it was just all dry weeds and sand.

Week One:
We planted about a dozen things in seed form: collards, onions, green onions, beets, butter lettuce, chard, spinach, squash. . . .

Nate and the lemon tree.

And then there just had to be a bunch of pictures of the dogs mixed in here. They are possibly the worst gardeners ever, but they make for cute garden gnomes.

That "box" there on the right side of the garden was made by Nate the week before we planted anything.

And then we planted a few other things which we bought already started in small containers: garlic, artichokes, shallots, strawberries, the lemon tree and a feijoa tree.

You might start to think that you are seeing a lot of pictures of just Nate working, but really that's not true; he just likes to pose for pictures, that guy.

I think I forgot to take an overall view one of our first week :(

Week Two:
This week we dug out the area for potatoes.

Tatanka did a lot of thoughtful thinking.

We also brought out an old bookshelf and made a planter box out of it over on the left side of the garden. The other image is the area designated, via bricks, for the potatoes after we worked that soil. Also, back in the corner there is where we planted peas in hopes that they will grow up that side fence lattice.

after week two:

And now for a look at how our seeds have been doing. These were just sitting on our kitchen table. Look at them- aren't they magnificent!!

Week Three:
This week the nursery finally had blueberry plants so we were really excited to get those planted. We also planted a raspberry bush and a blackberry one, even though everyone says not to since they completely take over huge areas. But I figured I'll probably kill lots of things so if even just one thing thrives, it at least guarantees me some level of success.

We transplanted some of the little seedling things from their warm and safe home on the kitchen table to the cold and harsh realities of life outside in this box. Unfortunately I'm not sure that some of them handled the move too well, but more on that later.

The squash though, they handled it like champs!

And look at our first strawberry!

After week three: Shawn's parents visited us this week and Chuck made one of my dreams come true. For as long as I can remember I have wanted a hammock in my backyard, and I was telling Chuck about this and he went out and bought me some cement and built me some posts!! I've even had a hammock that I bought in Belize like 5 years ago sitting in the garage waiting for this day- so exciting! So anyway, that's what those new posts are. And you can also see that we built another 3-sided, bottomless box for the left side of the yard.

David's Bar Mitzvah

2009-03-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

I love this family! I photographed David's older sister Ariel's Bat Mitzvah about 3 years ago, so it was so fun to come back all this time later to photograph David's. And their family has just been so nice to me. They've given my name to so many of their friends, sent me a wonderful gift basket as thank-you, and are an all around hoot! Plus, mom's name is Robin so you know they are terrific :)

My favorite shot from the day- Robin helping David get situated.

Grandpa gave this tie tack to David before he passed away last year.

I never knew this place existed, but at the top of the 4th Street Parking Garage in Downtown San Jose, there is this ballroom- it's owned and catered by The Fairmont- and that's where David had his party. The walls of the foyer are all this thick partially opaque Lucite-ish stuff and I loved the light they let in! Made for really fun family photos.

David had a James Bond 007/Casino themed party, complete with a guest painted gold (Gold Finger's date).

Partying with the Jr. High crowd!

Laura and Matt II

2009-03-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

And here's some more of my faves from Matt and Laura's wedding, picking up at the ceremony where I left off in yesterday's post.

This one cracks me up!