Event: Christmas + Graduation Party

Last month I photographed a fabulous Holiday/Graduation bash at my parents-in-law's house! It was a very fun night with friends, family, and midnight lasagna!

Congratulations Megann on earning your Bachelor's degree! We're all very proud of you! =)

I love the gazebo lighting above the dj! DJ Whitey White kept the party dancing all night!

I adore capturing special moments between friends!
Dancing is about movement, and when you take a picture with a quick shutter speed, the movement is lost. I enjoy experimenting with shutter speeds with I photograph people dancing. It's about the essence of the moment, not the details.

View Proofs

Merry Christmas!

"Oh, hello friend" winter giveaway

"Oh, hello friend" is doing a winter giveaway with really cute & crafty prizes. The giveaway goes through 12/17/08 at 9pm PST. Click the image below for details on entering! Enjoy!

Oh Christmas Tree!

One of my favorite parts about Christmas is the tree. I love everything about it. The smell. The decorating. The way it brings Christmas cheer even when there are not yet any gifts under it. Our Christmas tree arrived as a surprise last night (Thanks Lyss!!!). After retrieving my boxes of ornaments from my parents' attic today (where they kindly let me store them!), I got down to business.

I'm not the kind of person with a pristine, color-coordinated Christmas tree. Coordinated, sort of. I have a few dozen jewel-toned bulbs and a wide gold ribbon encircling the tree. Sentimental, definitely. I love the mismatch of life on my Christmas tree. I have ornaments from friends, ornaments from family, ornaments I made myself. I was surprised how sentimental I became when decorating the tree. I always want to celebrate life with my beautiful mismatched tree.

My baby's first Christmas ornament is almost 30 years old.
My cousin and her daughter make different ornaments for the family every year. I have about 8 of them on my tree, and they make me smile.
This pretzel ornament is so kitchy, but I love it. I remember the day my mom took this picture. We were in the back yard and I DID NOT want to open my eyes. I don't know how my mom every got me to cooperate! The photograph is old and faded, and the prezels have cracked, but it's perfect. Simply perfect.
My mother-in-law brought this cool ornament back from China!
Help! There's a monkey in our tree!
This little guy doesn't have a story. He's just cute. That's it. =)Happy decorating!

KD Bracelets & More

Let me tell you a little about KD Bracelets & More...

I met Kim & Debbie (the "KD" in KD Bracelets) back in November 2007, when we were neighbors at the El Toro "Bulltique." We spent two days chatting across the sides of our booths, checking out each others' merchandise, and getting to know each other. The "Bulltique" was one of the last craft shows I did, and I'm glad I was there. Since November 2007, we have built a wonderful friendship & business relationship.

Kim is the jewelry designer of the mother-daughter duo. She creates beautiful one-of-a-kind jewelry, and often incorporates Swarovski crystals & semi-precious stones. She does all of her own wire wrapping, and the higher end the pieces even have a custom "KD" tag which distinguishes them from other jewelry designers. KD Bracelets & More keeps up on the current trends, and is up-to-date without being trendy. I photograph all of their jewelry, so I have the privledge of seeing the entire collection up close, and it is gorgeous!

Two collections, "Beach Chic" and the "Bridal Collection" are featured on the website. If you're interested in purchasing anything, you can reach them through the Contact page of their website.

Kim designs some wonderful chunky pieces:
And there are plenty of delicate pieces, as well:
Beach Chic!
Last but not least, here are Debbie & Kim:


www.KDBraceletsAndMore.com

Palasik + Barr families: Anytime Session

Recently, one of my favorite couples brought together both sides of their family for an Anytime Session. It was a great opportunity to photograph each side of the family individually, and get some of the whole family together ... parents, siblings, "other halves" ... the whole clan!

Here's "his" side of the family. I love playing with sun flare!
And "her" side of the family...
I've always said that I love photographing people laughing, people truly being themselves. I have a new not-so-top-secret way of doing this. I just love the way these next 2 images turned out. They're totally natural and relaxed.

The Dorsey Girls: Anytime Session

I recently had a wonderful Anytime Session with the Dorsey girls. The sisters were absolutely darling in their matching white dresses. They looked downright pixyish, especially in the woodsy setting. Sisters have such a special bond, and I truly enjoyed being able to photograph the girls together, and include their big brother in a few photographs, too!
No, I didn't totally miss that there is some guy sitting in the background. It's the girls' big brother! I don't think he knew that he was in my frame, but I loved having him there. I think it makes the picture even more interesting!

Friends Thanksgiving

I just wanted to share a few images from Friends Thanksgiving, a day after Thanksgiving celebration that our friends have been having for several years. It was fun to spend time with new & old friends, and enjoy all the delicious food!

Here are some of the girls, before dinner:
After dinner we played a (mostly) friendly game of Left-Right-Center.
Bob won the second round of Left-Right-Center. Here he is counting our winnings ... none of which (hint-hint) made its way to my wallet! ;-)