I <3 Faces Adult Entry

I Heart Faces is a photography blog that runs a contest every week on a specific theme. I decided to throw myself out there for the first time this week for their Beach theme! Click the button below to check out the other contest entries!

This image was shot just a couple weekends ago at Alisa & David's oceanside ceremony in Pacific Grove, California. They were sitting near the water, and I was getting some nice waves in the background when suddenly this BIG wave came rushing at us. I started screaming, "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" like a maniac, and Alisa and David made a run for it! I wasn't looking through the viewfinder, (because I was running in terror with my equipment lol) but I did pureposely point the camera at them and held down the button to sneak some pics of the fiasco!Did some vintage processing here. The image was a little soft, since I wasn't able to fucus and run, but I just went with it, and VOILA! Not too bad. :)

Simply Off-Topic

Shabby Apple is a REALLY CUTE online store for kids clothes, and they are now making "big girl" dresses for you and me! My very favorite non-photography blog (actually my favortie blog, period) The Meanest Mom is doing a giveaway with Shabby Apple for a free dress! You can hop on over to the contest post HERE!

And yes, this post is selfishly motivated because I now get TWO entries in the contest for posting this on my blog. (Wicked smile.) >:)

Nicole & Justin are MARRIED!

Nicole and Justin married on a family farm in Walnut Grove surrounded by wheat fields, and orchards. Don't forget to turn up the volume so you can listen to Nicole and Justin's first dance song, by Alicia Keys.

Enjoy!

http://www.nicoleandjustin.shutterfly.com/





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Gayle's Bakery

I had a WONDERFUL new review sent to me this morning from one of my brides, and when I was reading it, started reading another one posted way back in 2007 by absolutely one of my favorite brides ever- Karen Cotton. Karen and Steve got married under a cathedral of trees at the Felton Guild; it was one of the most peaceful and beautiful weddings I have ever been to. The trees there just make everything soft, and quiet. It makes every word spoken all the more significant. It was truly lovely.

Anyway, reminiscing about that brought me to other memories... of CAKE.



The cake at that wedding was probably the best cake I have ever had in my life. It was awesome. I eat cake just about every weekend, and I can STILL remember how GOOD that cake was. I wanted to give a bit of a rave and shout-out to Gayle's Bakery in Capitola. They made a beautiful product and it tasted AMAZING.



I also really adored this cake because an almost exact duplicate graced the cover of Martha Stewart Weddings in the late 90's and is a design I just loved as well- not to mention it was topped with hydrangeas- my favorite flower!



But really this cake was all about the taste! It was a carrot cake (which I have only eaten like twice in my entire life, and wasn't really sure I liked anyway) with a cream cheese based frosting, and it was FANTASTIC. If you are ever out there on the coast, go get a slice! I have never been able to make it there since, but I will someday. The memory of that cake was just tooo GOOD!

Alisa & David

HA HA! You two are still at your reception and look what I have been doing over here! LOL

Alisa was teasing me when I got here that she had checked my blog this morning and saw that I had been up blogging at 2am. She was all, "Why weren't you in bed! You're supposed to be asleep!" LOL

Beautiful wedding today folks! :) I'm not sleeping now either Alisa. LOL Work, work, WORK! It's never done!!

Wozniak Family Portraits

The Wozniak's and I started off early one morning in Old Town Sacramento. I arrived and, upon seeing no one at the Firehouse, where we had agreed to meet, plopped myself down on a bench and waited. And waited. And called a girlfriend for a minute to look up the family's number since I had left it behind. So I called to check in after about 10-15 minutes, and Alyson answered, and told me they were right there in front of the Firehouse. (Pause) I look to my left (Pause) I look to my right (Pause). "But I don't see you!" (Are you wearing a Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak?) Going back and forth we realized we were on opposite sides of the building. Alyson and her poor family had been standing at the alley entrace and I had been around on the street side! LOL I felt so bad- it was all cold and sprinkly and they were standing in an alley! It is funny and sad all at once!

lol We got past that part and then we were on a roll! these guys were very friendly and happy and easy to work with. They did great!

http://www.coryandalyson.shutterfly.com/

Before we hop into the post, I have to make a comment about the music. I was torn between "Lollypop" and "I want candy"... Obviously I had to do something cando oriented since we spend the last 10 minutes or so of the sesison inside the Candy Barrel getting these giant lollypops and candy necklaces.. Ultimately I had to go with "I want candy" but only because the song makes me crack up so bad.

My sister's kids adopted pet rats several years ago from a resue/breeder called CandiRats, and on Candi's web page, "I want candy" is played in this odd monotone music. LOL I love it, but it makes me crack up so bad!! You see, when I first put music on my website, my sister was trying to listen to it and check it out and she kept emailing me and telling me about how awful the music was, that there was all of this horrible squeaking and banging in the classical music and really I needed to change it. I am listening to it on my end, and I am thinking, Have you been sniffing white out or something? Because it sounds perfect on my end. Finally, probably after a couple of DAYS I figured out she had my website and CadiRat's website open at the same time and was hearing both musical pieces played at the same time. Bad combo. LOL

If you're in the market for a pet rat, you should check her out! She's great from what I have heard, and my niece and nephew loved their babies as long as they lived!

Enjoy the music! LOL

CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!

Naughty girl!

Of course, she is probably think HA! MY LOLLYPOP! Suckers!!!!!!!!! lol :)

I really like this one. :)

RUN!

I think this one is pretty sweet too! Families are forever! All because two people fell in love! :)

I ADORE this one. It's my favorite of the whole family.

Joseph Harrison Peterson

Is here!



Joseph was born on Monday to my Utah clients Jason & Kristin. Isn't he the cutest thing ever?
Joseph is the fourth child of Jason & Kristin, joined by big sister Lydia and twins Luke & Lacey!


:) I so wish I could have been there, but I am hoping to at least see him some point this year!



You'll remember Kristin and family from her trash the dress, children & family and maternity sessions. :) (You can click on any of those links to check out their previous sessions!

Congratulations to the Peterson's!

My 150th Post!

I feel like I should throw party or write something special or something, but I can't think of anything clever in memorium of this special occasion. Ideas, anyone?

Well, I'll just go with the original plan... Story time! Gather 'round pretty ladies!

The story is called, "How My Photographer Became the Priority Mail Nazi*."

(* I am genetically German so I feel completely comfortable usng this term. Although, my family was gone before that ever happened, but still. You know. I'm German!)

Isn't that a nice title? LOL

Every single one of you who has actually booked with me should know this story from our consultation in person, or from our long distance consultation email and/or phone call. But, some of you haven't heard it, or aren't a bridal client, or are just another photographer whom I feel the need to tell a scary bedtime story to!

When I first started out, I booked alot of people in the first meeting (I booked like 100% of the people I met with for something like the first 2 years...) and never had to deal with that whole mail thing. Then I started getting clients who lived further away- too far to meet with, or clients with lives as busy as mine, or far busier and who did not have time to meet, or of course those gals who just always felt comfortable right from the start and didn't bother with meetings.

This was the begining of the MAIL NIGHTMARE.

Somehow, over a period of year and a half or so, I had a total of 15-ish payments/contracts, etc., stolen or lost. There were a whole series of checks which were sent, and never made it here, and were never returned to the client. They just POOF! disappeared. I have a locked mailbox, so that just made it all the more odd. Clients were forced to deal with stop check charges, or even worse... checks cashed by theives. Each time it happened, it was an absolute nightmare, not only for them (how awful!) but for me as well. I felt horribly guilty, and visited my local post office and the local mail hub repeatedly to find out what was happening, and to complain. I also had long conversations with my mailman/lady each time I was expecting something, and hyperventilating from the moment the client dropped it in the mail. (I've still never recovered from that anxiety. I often say I am just like Charlie Brown, sitting under the mailbox, waiting for a Valentine from the Little Red Haired girl. Except, I'm, you know, hyperventilating.)

Because of that whole fiasco, I became very firm that you guys can't send me anything important through the regular mail. Use a currier or Priority Mail or something, please!

Enter ye next issue... My complex is gated and the UPS/DHL/Fed-Ex drivers won't get out of their trucks, walk through the pedestrian gate, and deliver the packages. They just write "gate closed/locked" every day and then return it to sender. I even went so far as to stand out in front of my complex on the phone with Fed-Ex customer service trying to hook up with the delivery guy. Yeah, didn't work. This also means, BTW that I can't buy anything cool online and have it shipped to myself. :(

So, the major currier companies got banned and got put on my... naughty list. (I would use the appropriate curse word there, but I don't want to end up on your OWN naughty lists!)

Next we moved to Priority Mail. But because of all the drama, alot of people put delivery conirmation, tracking, signature delivery, etc. on their correspondence with me. But guess who was never home to meet the postman? That's right, ME. Between law school, errands, consultations, shooting and working off-site, I was never home to sign for anything during Post Office hours. If I wasn't around to sign for it, it got shipped back to the sender.

So here we are. Priority Mail, and nothing else, and no extra tracking/delivery confirmation/signature delivery allowed. Priority Mail envelopes can still be somewhat tracked by the post office by tracing which hubs they traveled through. One of my December brides, Christine and I got to prove this point when her envelope didn't show up after a week of waiting. With PM, if you're in the same area, it gets delivered the next day. If you live somewhere else, it comes in 3-5 days, max. She whipped out the receipt, and we tracked it to Lousiana, where it was apparently shipped for some reason. Who knows why that happened, but it came back and was delivered to me. Late, but it made it safe and sound. That's the only problem I've had since I started doing the plain, PM thing.

Throughout this whole period my little courtesy invoice emails were created, and began being automatically emailed to you guys at an appropriate time before you payment is due. I started having some issues with some people disregarding the directions and the scary mail issues continuing. Over time, I have added more details to explain and answer the general questions I commonly get, as well as putting some parts into larger sizes and making it bold. It is absolutely no reflection on your ability to pay, nor am I trying to be mean or anything, but I just have to make sure nothing bad is going to happen while your stuff is in the hands of the Post Office, or another currier company. Each of those bad experiences I have had with clients has been AWFUL. I don't want anyone to experience that. I probably don't actually need to send reminders at all, as you should have your due dates marked, but I know things get crazy when you are under stress and planning all of these ( fun, yet sometimes frustrating!) events, so I do. And I want you to be safe, so I'm firm. Maybe simply telling you all this story will elimate the need for me to be the Priority Mail Nazi! Here's to hopin'! :)

One last thing, also a reminder. I charge an extra fee for PayPal because they charge me 4.5% to receive money. It is just deducted off whatever you send. Since I do PP as a courtesy so you can use a credit card, I ask you guys to help pick up that fee. You should all know that too, but just in case! I have a two month sprint of weddings almost every weekend so I'm just doing some general reminders. :)

Kristen & Dave got married today in the non-denominational chapel at(in?) the Presido in San Francisco. Here's an untouched negative from the day- this was Kristen's idea and request! It's a living totem pole!!

Getting Ready..!

As all of you know, I have been attempting to "retire" from photography for quite a while now! I of, COURSE will continue to take care of all of my past and current clients and do whatever your little hearts desire from me, and take referrals from you as well. I love all of you guys, and I am notting letting you go! (Unless you want to, then RUN! Or I might catch you and hold you captive! lol)

2008 was supposed to be my final year shooting, but I have been applying for "traditional" jobs in the private sector since last December, without really a nibble. With some encouragement with some friends, and actually, some brides who work for the state (Rene! Love ya! :) ) I have finally begun submitting applications to the State of California. I had hesitated before because of the budget issues and instability right now, as well as the intense competition from inviduals on the SROA list (laid off employees :( ) but... for some reason it felt right and I have been giving it a try this time. I've got this gut feeling it is finally going to work out and I will be able to be out in the real world, instead of home with the cats by myself working! Yay for Emily! :)

The subscription on my official website will be up in October, and will be expensive to renew. I am hoping (it's almost a goal) to be back "out there" by then, and have decided that if I am back working in my actual field of interest (law, government, children and families, law enforcement, etc.) that I will not be renewing my website. At least, I am hoping! Of course I am going to take screen shots of the entire thing to memorialized it- I am so proud of my site! I love it! I will miss it dearly, but, Emily is moving forward! (Or hoping to!) When that happens (cross fingers, knock on wood)I will switch over entirely to my blog in terms of displaying photos and providing information to clients. I don't want to worry you! I will still be here for everybody, and I have have every intention of keeping this blog going with my "for fun" work for as long as it lasts, but I am giving you a warning so it's not a surpise in the fall if it happens!

Send me the good vibes and a little prayer! You all know how badly I have wanted this!

:)

PS: I really will still be here for ALL of you, forever!

Lacie & Ken are married!

It's 130am, and I am shooting Kristen's wedding at the Presidio in SF tomorrow, so forgive me for being brief!

These two cuties married at a golf course/country club called Alta Sierra in Grass Valley. They were so gorgeous, and so committed to each other and just absolutely natural at being photographed! It is so great when a couple is so relaxed and at ease and trusting that they just let you take care of them. You two rocked! Especially for laying down on the green! lol

The masses have spoken!

All 25 of you who voted, LOL, thank you VERY much!

And the winner is.... AMANDA & JOSH! You got it people, I will continue to glorify Amanda & Josh up on the front page of the website!

:)