When we met Krista for her portrait design consultation and discussed what type of portraits she was hoping for, she suggested we photograph her young family at her mother’s property. After she began explaining the acres of vineyard and orchards where a few years ago she and her husband got married, we were super excited! Not only do we love venturing out to new places, it’s also a treat to photograph a family at a place that’s special to them. When James and I arrived at the location, we were overwhelmed with the litany of awesome places to photograph the Fenske’s. It was especially fun following the kids around and watching them explore their own private wonderland. Meet the fun Fenske family!

We met the Ellis family earlier in the fall (yep, we’re still that behind on blogging…thanks for being patient people! :-). When they came for their design consultation, we knew Miss S was going to be a treat to photograph. She was only about 17 months old and seriously one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen! The day of the session was even more incredible, when S did everything we could have hoped and more. I have never seen a child that young listen so well and not disagree about any of it. James and I could not get over it, and could have kept her here all day! (Okay, mom and dad were awesome, too….even if Miss S did overshadow everyone that day!) We’re so excited for this family as they await the arrival of another sweet baby girl in a few months….good luck to you and we can’t wait to meet the new baby!


Howdy folks! Meet Emily, class of 2010. Now I know I’ve talked about this before but I really have to give some shouts to Emily for doing an outstanding job with her look for her senior portrait session. This is classic matching your look with the environment 101. But let me back up a bit… When Emily came for her design consultation, she described (in great detail) the look she was going for but we didn’t quite have the exact location in mind. Flash forward to just a few days before the session and we got the call. “We found the place and it’s perfect!” I went to check it out and yep, it was perfect. Especially for Emily’s clothing choices! A lovely vineyard, cool rock formations, an unused wine cellar, and some delicious light. Add a wonderful subject and you have the perfect session. Thanks Emily (and Carolyn!) for the adventure, I won’t forget it.

Every year I have a Christmas “moment”. I never know what it will be or when it will come but it always happens. This “moment” is something defining in a day that totally gets me in the mood for the season. This year’s was about a week before Christmas. The girls and I decided to take a nice walk in the cold air and head over to the Boxing Donkey for dunch(late lunch/early dinner) The pub was fairly empty so the Reilly & Miss T got to run around and dance (yes our girls were dancing in bar) like little craziacs and all kinds of fun. Next was a trip to the madness of the mall (which actually wasn’t too mad), and soaked up some more of the Holiday spirit. No agenda, no plans, just a walk in the mall with the fam. We finished with some caramel corn and some holiday movies at home. That was it. Nothing overly special.. but special to me. A great day, and a great “moment”.
Also, Reilly made a really cool portrait of me!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season filled with food, fun and family. Just thought I’d share a few of my favorites from our Toys for Tots Santa portraits. Again, it was a great time and we really appreciate all your participation.
Merry Christmas!

When we first met the Perry’s and they mentioned they had a vision of family portraits having fun in Old Sacramento, we knew we’d be in for a treat. While we watched the weather forecasts with anticipation that it might rain the day of their session, we forged ahead with hopes for decent weather. In the end, the weather was perfect with some awesome cloud cover (a huge rainstorm came through the very next day!). Little Miss A was such a trooper as we traipsed all over old town; she was oft-reminded of the ice-cream cone she was promised. We photographed until it was dark, and even then, we caught a few last shots. We had such a great time with the Perry’s, and all I have to say is bravo to momma for hiking all over cobblestone streets in those snazzy heels!

Meet Kayla, soccer star from Franklin High.
Kayla and I first met when Stef and I photographed her family a few years back. They are a beautiful bunch so it was no surprise when Kayla came for her senior portraits, she just lit it up. Her session was later in the day and we spent most of our time lightchasing around the neighborhood. After a short time, Kayla started seeing some of the same things I was. “Ooohh James, I see some pretty light over there!”…and off we went.
A warm and inviting personality with all looks to match (no surprise with all the lovely women in her family!), it was a wonderful time.
Thanks Kayla, gorgeous job!!

This week we had one of those experiences that we’ll always treasure, as this year marks the last of it’s kind for us–the preschool Christmas program. Teagan attends Adventure Christian pre-school, as did big sis, Reilly. We just love the school and the staff, and they really put on a cute Christmas program with the three and four-year olds. Teagan decided she wanted to wear the black and red pettiskirt from our studio; it’s big and bold, just like her personality! She did a great job and enjoyed the performing in the show, but I think she had more fun running around the courtyard with her friends afterwards. The last image here is with her BFF at school…she and Teagan are like two peas in a pod together. So sweet!

We first met the Hattendorf’s last spring at our Mommy/Me portrait event at the Silver Spoon, and then again when Miss A was only 6 days old at her newborn session. We enjoy this family so much, and were so sad when they told us that they were moving to Seattle in early November. Even though A was early for her second Bebe session, they wanted to squeeze one last session in before their move north. We were thrilled to get to see them again before they moved, and A was just as beautiful, possibly more, than she was before! She’s one of those babies who you just want to squeeze! We feel so fortunate to have met this family, even for a short time, and we look forward to their offer of visiting them in Seattle or meeting up in S. California….hopefully this won’t be the last you (or us) see of the lovely Hattendorf family!

Meet Annie class of 2010. A Dancer/actor/singer(?) , Annie really got into character during her session and it shows. We made photographs around town and the brick & mortar seemed to really work with her look. Really nice Annie, this was fun! P.S. I’m still waiting to hear that singing voice…
Here are some of my faves.


