One of those days...

Loooong. Things were a little rough for me today; but I guess I was in need of a jolt of reality. I had someone get very mad at me today for something that I don't feel like I did. This person and I don't understand each other and never have, so I guess it's not to be unexpected. Even so- I'm a very easygoing person and it hurts me and makes me feel sick when someone doesn't like me or refuses to see where I'm coming from. Oh well, I guess it's the bumps in life that make it interesting. :)

I should have some of Anita and Ralph's engagement pictures up by tomorrow evening. But that's all I'm going to say about them right now because they definitely deserve a post all of their own! :)

But here are a couple pictures I took of my sister (I'm adopted for anyone that didn't know. LOL) and her nine-month-old baby today.

Babies move FAST. My shutter wasn't fast enough. LOL

My beeeautiful sister Emily.

Molly and Matt

February.

The weather should have been cold and damp, people bundled up in coats or sweaters. Instead, it was warm. Balmy, breezy, 85 degrees warm. The sidewalks were packed with people. Eating, shopping, chatting. The air was abuzz with high spirits. It couldn't have been any other way. She is a red-head with a heart shaped face. She has the undefinable air of a movie star actress. Easygoing, hilarious, sweet. He is a tall guy with brown hair. The way he stood next to her, held her elbow as they walked across the street, and smiled down at her during their shoot melted my heart. He had an sense of humor; his wit was like the weather, unexpected but completely appreciated by everyone. I've shot a lot of couples at this point, but this one was just special. He 'leaned' towards her. She held his hand closely. Stuck out her tongue. Giggled. He tried to keep from cracking up. Everything about these two was easygoing; their humor, their style, their personalities. It couldn't have been a better day in the middle of February.

How much does Matt look like a model from a cologne ad? :) Or just plain HOT!

Kissing in front of the pretty door

Kisses and Feet :)

There's just a palpable feeling of passion in this shot. The way he's holding her...
(photo courtesy of Emily Anderson)


Did I not tell you that Molly looks like a movie star?


Just a sweet moment.

Possibly my favorite shot of the day.


Take a closer look at the sign...

Sitting at a booth in the Catalyst. I just love the warmth of this shot.


How romantic is this? I love the slightly metallic wall behind them.


I love how her face is illuminated.


Love the wine glasses in the background


And looky!! There's me! :)


Many thanks to my sister Emily Anderson (who is an insane portrait photographer!)
for coming out and lending me a hand. :)

Two Posts and No Pictures!

So here are a few random pictures; just to break up the monotony of black and white text. :)

Motorsports
(what I do when I am not at a wedding)
*that's my husband to the far left*

Pretty car picture!

Last summer at my grandparent's farm
(the little girls ignored the huge pool to the unseen left of the shot)

My adorable baby niece.
( she was diagnosed with bilateral cataracts, hence the glasses.)

The boot that has been in my grandparent's barn for as long as I can remember.

And those are my random, miscellaneous pictures for today! Hopefully tomorrow I will have a couple good teasers up from the engagement session. :)

The Day Before the Weekend...

Okay. I'm going to exhibit my true dorkiness for one quick second.

**JASMINE STAR just left a comment on my blog.**

There are a couple photographer's whose blogs I check on a daily basis. [b]ecker, Jessica Claire, Jennifer Skog, Mike Colon, David Jay, and Jasmine Star's. So excuse me for doing a momentary "happy dance" (a la Chandler Bing). Eeeeps!! I am such a dork that I actually called my husband to squeak wildly. He didn't understand my garbled squawks of excitement.

"Honey, I can't understand you. Who did what and where?"

"JASMINE STAR! BLOG! ME! OHMY!"

"Is she a photographer?"

*dead silence on my end for a moment as I tried to think of a way to let my husband know what it meant.*

"Imagine that Michael Shumacher (F1 fame) emailed you. It's kind of like that." [note: Husband is a racecar driver]

"Oooooooooooooh...."

After reading over this, I have the feeling I look like an absolute dork. My apologies. But it's always an amazing thing when someone who you admire takes a moment out to say something to you. Especially if it's encouraging. :) So thank you Jasmine Star, you made my day.

BACK TO REALITY. (What I was originally going to post about...)


It seems that most of my blogs begin with the BEEP of my alarm clock. Probably because that is how my days begin. This morning, the inevitable happened, and I wailed into my pillow as I banged the offending clock off the dresser. My husband had already gone running and I could hear him cheerily singing through the warm haze of the bathroom. I am *not* a morning person. Only if I am going to Disneyland or leaving for a wonderful trip will I willingly wake up at an early hour. Today was not such a day. I contemplated howling across the hallway to my husband to be quiet so that I could pretend that today was tomorrow. He sounded so happy singing songs from Rent that I didn't. I just oozled my way back into my comforter and bemoaned my sad fate.

"Oooof!" My husband had jumped onto the bed and hugged me tightly. I somehow had dozed back to sleep and was prepared to pop him in the noggin for waking me back up.
"I love you." He whispered into my hair, nuzzling his scruffy face close to me. "I love you so much."

I mumbled something back and buried my face in my pillows to hide my ridiculously wide, leprechaun grin. He bounded down the stairs and out the door on his way to work and I left for work this morning smiling like none other.

I love my husband.


Now. I just realized that I went on a tangent. That's not what this post was supposed to be about. LOL. This is so typical me. I try to keep myself on course, but I veer wildly in conversations/emails, etc. So let me state quickly what I am excited about this weekend.

1) It is a three day weekend. Hooray for our President's!

2) I have two engagement sessions this weekend, so lots of new pictures later on! Both couples seem like such wonderful people, I really can't wait to meet them.

3) My sister is in town from LA and might be assisting me tomorrow.

4) Jasmine Star left a comment and my husband rocks!

I love everyone today! :)

Joy!

My alarm rang wildly in the darkness at 7:30am. It couldn't be time to get up. It just couldn't. It was still so dark. I banged the snooze button and sank back into warm, cozy oblivion. Half an hour later the BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP (you know what I'm talking about!) drove me from my warm sleep and sitting bolt upright in bed. I harbor an irrational fear of getting to places late. I've never actually been late due to my alarm clock, but there's always a first. I stumbled out of bed, banging my toe against a big photography book next to my bed. I'm very good at sleepwalking apparently. It took me ten minutes of splashing water on my face, brushing my teeth and looking for a clean shirt before I was awake enough to start moving and actually open my eyes. :)

This week has gone by very quickly. Maybe it's due to the glorious weather that we're having. I love it when it is rainy and misty. There's something about it. Hot chocolate and feather comforters just have my name on them. These are the kind of days that I just feel thankful. On nice days I feel busy and harried; like "The sun is out! I have to complete my tasks!" but when it is wet and dark out I feel a sense of peace. Everything is slower.

I have tallied up my photography schedule for the next few months and I have eight weddings that I will either be primary or secondary shooter for this year! And that's not even assisting. A couple amazing photographers have said that they would love to have me assist, something that I am very excited about. I also have a couple engagement shoots and portrait sessions in the middle of that. I can't believe how lucky I am. Something that I am really passionate about is moving forward. It's one of those feelings of suspended disbelief. My brain is constantly saying, "Are you serious? I am actually doing this? AWESOME!"

This weekend my husband and sister and I are off to go see Legally Blonde, the musical. It is having its world premiere in San Francisco before it heads off to Broadway. In case you didn't know, I am a huge musical theater buff. Three things I love; my husband, photography, musical theater.

I am actually at work right now, so I should sign off and go do something productive. :)

Saturday

Today I did lots of stuff. Or more descriptively, I kicked ass! :) I cleaned our apartment from top to bottom (and became a sneezing mess in the process), edited two sets of pictures (my brain is now mush) and burned two CDs for clients. Oh yeah. I rock! :) I will write up a longer post on the engagement session probably either later on tonight or tomorrow, but I wanted to post two quick pictures. One of an invitation, and one of the session. :)

This was pretty much the whole session. :)

One of the gorgeous invitations I had the pleasure of shooting

(Note: Written earlier this year, but when my blog transferred, a couple posts didn't go with it... here are a couple earlier ones that didn't make it over. :) )


Mandy was actually one of the first knotties to contact me but fate seemed to keep stepping in the way. For two or three months we emailed back and forth trying to set up a date to meet. Finally we settled on a date. The morning of the long awaited day arrived... it was pouring down rain. Poor Mandy and Jef were already in Santa Cruz at this point. I called them and asked if they wanted to try to do it in the rain or to reschedule. We rescheduled.

Take Two.

The weather cooperated. I was so excited to finally meet this couple! I knew them from far away because of Mandy's awesome hair. Most gals couldn't pull it off, but Mandy does and I love how the pictures turned out with the added color! Both she and Jef look gorgeous in all of the shots; and that wasn't my doing at all. :) Take a look!





For those that have never taken engagement shots before; you may think that everything is romance and soft light during the session. I have some pictures that show you it most definitely is *not*!

I asked Mandy and Jef to stand under the wharf for me and noticed Jef kept on glancing upwards...




I swung my camera up to see what he was looking at...





Too funny. But I'll just post a couple more pictures of the more "traditional" engagement shots. :) Mandy and Jef were without a doubt one of the nicest, sweetest couples I've had the pleasure of shooting.










Thanks Mandy and Jef for being such a great couple and helping a gal out! :)