Boys will be boys {sonoma county photographer, children's photographer, country photography}

When I first moved up here I wanted to get my name out there so I ran a few mini sessions last fall and Tara was one of the first to book! ........and of course, it rained! But they were such troopers they hung in there with out a second thought when I had a set up all ready in my garage!
Beau and Jake are cousins but they act more like brothers, they are so cute! I am so thankful that Tara has brought them to me for 3 different sessions now and I hope this trend continues because I always look forward to their sessions! Neither session has more than 6 months in between but yet each time I see them, they've changed so much! This time they came decked out in their wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, and plaid shirts!
They are your typical boys, never sitting still, always running around, when one is sitting ready to smile for the camera the other is off doing his thing, then the other will finally be ready and then the other one has gotten restless.... but we always manage to figure out a way to get them to just be them and capture their true "boy" spirit in every shoot! Tara is not a big fan of having her picture taken (I don't blame her I am the EXACT same way!!!) but I had to include a few of her! I just love her to death and I loved these shots of her so she will have to deal with it! Tara you're a beautiful Mom and Auntie and I'm going to show you off a little bit ;)


I LOVE this one!!! It reminds me of my little one who gets frustrated with her older brother so she will just yell right at him with all her might! When I saw this one of Jake yelling I laughed out loud!! Yes, I LOL'ed

watch out ladies here come Beau and Jake...

Tamayo Sneak Peek {Asti Winery Wedding Photos, Sonoma County Wedding Photographer, Vineyard Wedding}

In the past I've felt that the whole pass down the dress thing was antiquated and I always thought I'd want a dress of my own and supported those who felt the same way. I just assumed that the tradition of passing down the dress was long gone. Well, fortunately for Shannon and her Mother and Grandmother I was shown why this tradition exists and just how special it really is. Shannon's Grandmother wore this dress in 1956, the only difference was the dress then had lace sleeves. In 1981 Shannon's Mother wore the exact same dress. Shannon as a little girl always had dreams of wearing this same dress as she married her High School sweetheart.
When I entered the hotel room where Shannon and all the ladies were getting ready I saw the dress hanging in front of the balcony sliding glass door. It was so beautiful. I lifted the dress off of the hanger so her Mother could put a nicer hanger on it for the photos. Just the feeling of the tool the laid across the bust of the dress was amazing. You could feel it's age yet feel it's strength. I really don't know how else to describe the feeling of the dress, the physical feeling as you touched this dress was like no other dress I've ever felt. And as if the dress couldn't get any more beautiful, Shannon stepped into it. As the ladies all worked to button her up and fluff out the skirt she turned to me and I was speechless, she was a vision of beauty!
Here are just a few pictures from yesterday, there will be many more to come later!




Three generations of women who wore this beautiful dress...









A big thank you to Ananda Shorey from Bliss Photography for second shooting the day with me and a big big thank you to Ayrjia my beautiful and always amazing assistant!

Mika + Justin Sneak Peek! {Petaluma Engagement Photographer, vineyard engagement photos, downtown engagement photos}

I really wanted to post up tons of images from Mika and Justin's session but once again I have run out of hours in the day and I've yelled to my Husband that I'd be there in 5 minutes 8 times now! So I am just posting theses 3 for now and I will post up many more next week! I love this couple! I had so so so much fun with them last night and I can't wait for their wedding in April! I know it will be a blast!!!

The Hutchins Family {Sonoma County Family Photographer, Family photos, rustic family photos}

So I mentioned our group of friends in the last post. Well this family is the family that started it all. Pat and Laura were the first to get married and have kids so in a way they have led the way for us. I "joined" the group when Sophia was just over a year old and Laura was pregnant with Audrey! I was at the hospital when Audrey was born. It was the first time I'd ever been at a birth. Although I lasted about 60 seconds and quickly bailed to the hallway where I resumed my job of setting up the photo printer and getting the video camera and camera ready to go! It was hands down one of the most incredible moments in my life to be apart of the first moments of a child's life. To watch the reactions of the Grandma's, Aunts, friends, and especially her now big sister, Sophia. At one point shortly after Audrey was born and well after she had perfected "the Audrey eyes" I moved in with them while I was in between apartments. I always knew I wanted to have a family life just like theirs. Lots of love and daily celebration for each other. It has been such an amazing experience to be apart of their family and to watch those girls grow up! As I went through these images I had to pick my jaw up off the floor just looking at Sophia and Audrey and how much they have matured and grown! I feel like it was just yesterday when I woke up on Easter morning to a red head with a binkie asking for Doo-ra and watching them enjoy their Easter basket treats. Now I get to watch them as they bond with my children (who are now close to the same ages as the girls were when I lived with them) It's simply surreal. I almost feel like I am living the life I envisioned for myself back then. And 5 short months ago, (yes that TANK of a child is only 5 months well 4 months when I took these pictures) Harley joined the Hutchins Clan to help restore balance to the pink glitter, baby doll, justin beiber loving, barbie infested household!! We never thought it would happen, we always thought Pat was destined to be the Father of all girls as some sort of divine pay back but he got his boy! and boy did he! Harley is 22lbs at 5 months old! but he is as cute as can be!!! Well I just have to end by saying my life and my children's childhood memories would never be as amazing as they are because of the Hutchins Family. We're truly grateful to have them in our lives.

here's Harley! I love the one on the top right, he is at that age where he lets out these coos that just melt your heart! If you know what coo I'm talking about you can see it in his face that he was making those adorable little coos when I snapped that shot!

The Clark Family {Sonoma County Family Photographer, rustic family photos}

5 years ago if someone would have told me that I'd be photographing family photos of Bud, Melinda, and their 3 kids I would have invented the term LMAO! If you would have told me that Ben and I would have a 3 year old and a 1 year old I would have died from laughter! But it just goes to show you that some of the best things in life can't be planned. Things do happen for a reason. And in the end all that really matters is good friends, family, and good health! I normally write a little story about the people in the photographs I've taken and tell you a little about them and how I know them, etc. There isn't enough space in one blog for that! The Clark Family is nothing short of our family's best friends. I have not clue how to even word that correctly. There are a few family's that we all hang out with. Together we have 10 children and one more on the way! They are all a huge part of why we moved back to Sonoma County. There is nothing better than calling up your friends and inviting them over for dinner and while you sit and enjoy the company of your best friends you get to watch all of your children play together. We have a long, complicated, reality tv show worthy history and we would do absolutely anything for each other. I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world!
We decided to do a little "pre mini session" with the Clark Family and the Hutchins Family so here are a few of my favorites from the Clark's portion of the session! Doesn't Carolyn just remind you of Cindy Lou Hoo from the Grinch?? She is sooo cute!!!

Katie and Chad's Sneak Peek {Sonoma County Wedding Photographer, Cornerstone Gardens Wedding Photos}

Katie and Chad had such a gorgeous wedding yesterday! I am drooling over all the gorgeous details and all the hard work that must have been put in just to pull that all off! I haven't even completely gone through all of the images and I haven't even collected the images from my wonderful and talented second photographer, Jihan Cerda. But I was able to go through and pick out the ones I remembered liking (while shooting through out the day) and pulled them out to put into a quick little sneak peek!
Sometimes I feel like the more gorgeous the wedding the dirtier and more jacked up my outfits get by the end of the night! I think I layed in gravel, dirt, bark, grass, and possibly someone's spilled drink on the floor! Oh and I popped a button off my shirt! But Katie and Chad were worth every bit of it!
In my full post I will be sure to show you guys all the wonderful details that were so creatively planned out and executed with such class and precision! But for the sake of this 24 hour post wedding sneak peek I just wanted to show everyone a few of my favorites (and ones that didn't need much (if any) touching up)

this one was too funny, the girls got ready at a friend's house, Lino, who happens to live nearby the beautiful wedding venue (Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma) so as the girls were walking out, dress' in hand, "Katie's Ladies" shirts on, we wanted to take a quick picture. But this picture wasn't complete with out the "honorary bridesmaid" of the morning so someone slapped a dress over him and poof....our 9th bridesmaid!




this one is a sort of "behind the scenes" photo. I'm sure I look like a crack fiend looking for a fix as I'm feverishly searching for the perfect spot to take the bridal pictures in the short window of time that I have. I must have especially looked crazy when I peered at the massive aluminum table underneath this tent in the far corner of the parking lot and pointed and shook my head yes at Katie as if I just found destiny! And sure as the day is long Katie and her Ladies with out a single hesitation happily welcomed this fun idea! So the hoisted her up there, amazing dress and all! Then getting her down was the fun part! It inspired an entirely new "Broadway" idea that we decided to save until later and then sadly forgot about! (Mrs. Katrina we still need to do this....I'm holding you to your promise!)







sometimes I just can't decide!

ok if you don't have kids or aren't around kids then you won't get this so just move on past this little paragraph but if you do, you will soooo relate! Katie and Chad have 2 kids, a 4 year old boy and a 13 month old girl! wooo! aren't you already tired for them!?! Neither had napped and it was a big exciting day outside of the normal routine so by 5pm family photos they were let's just say less than their cheery selves! (yes 1 and 4 year olds have cheery selves! ...sometimes) so we just went with it and captured them at their 5pm best and let the bride and groom enjoy their day in the background! Katie and Chad, thanks for being such good sports and letting me attempt to get some good pics of you 4 together!


and I had to throw this on in cuz I'm a sucker for a good Father and Daughter love...



A big thanks to Katie and Chad, their family, and their amazing bridal party for such a fun and exciting day! I hope these hold you over while I finish up the rest!!

A Sneak Peek to the much better sneak peek later this week....

I saw these and HAD to share them even before I shared the normal "sneak peek" Katie is nothing short of stunning! She is absolutely beautiful and once you get to know her you realize she is one of those women who is strong, confident and I don't think there isn't anything this woman could handle or conquer! But there is something about a woman who is no longer just that strong, confident woman but a Mother. There is a strength that can only be momentarily broken by the sheer love for your child. It's the most beautiful love, the love between a mother an her child. When Katie's son, Sean saw his Mom for the first time in that gorgeous dress he stopped right in his tracks and lit up brighter than the sun! And if you know Sean, him stopping in his tracks takes something powerful!!! (energetic little guy!) I have no clue how I caught this picture because I cried the second I saw Sean's face!! Just had to share them....