Sarah + David | together again.

November 5, 2009 : Sarah and David were married.

November 7, 2009 : David was shipped off to Afghanistan.

Their first year of marriage was spent thousands of miles apart with only Facebook and late night skype calls to keep in touch.

December 2010, David comes home and we spent a little time together documenting THEM. TOGETHER. AGAIN.

:)

(ps) Sarah just happens to be the little sister of the Texican ;)

Doug + Jess | engaged

Yes, Yes I am way behind on blogging. I still have a bunch of weddings from the fall to share.... one.step.at.a.time, right?
*phew*

Can I be a little honest with you? Engagement sessions make me hecka nervous. I have no fear on a wedding day, but for some reason I shake in my boots over impending engagement sessions. I seem to have it so BACKWARDS, 'eh?

speaking of backwards, I know I have a bunch of weddings to shoot but let me first share a wintry engagement session from this past weekend. Doug (a local Boston Photographer) and his darling fiancee, Jess, trekked on up to Marblehead for a little fun. Despite the frigid temps... and perhaps a little frostbite?, we got some pretty hot photos.

Operation Sniper Proposal #2 | amy + alvaro

Two sniper proposals in one week!
It's such an honor to be a part of such an occasion. I always express how honored I feel to be a part of a couple's wedding celebration but to take that a step further and invite me to the actual proposal makes the entire experience that much more wonderful.

This event took a team of people so someone grabbed a few photos of the crazy outfit I created. I hid in the most awesome fort of dried palm leaves, but to further camouflage I channeled Adam & Eve with the palm dress and crown. Luckily Amy didnt see a thing and was totally surprised when she returned to her parents home and was greeted by a slideshow of the proposal.

Danielle + Erik | engaged

After shooting D and E's actual engagement on Saturday, we went shopping to style their shoot Sunday and drove up to Santa Ynez on Monday in search of the perfect barn I had in my head. It was a little risky setting out for a themed shoot with 'hopes' of finding the right location but it totally worked out. We happened upon this farm and Erik simply went up to the door asking to use their property for the shoot. He did preface it with "I just proposed to my girlfriend..." which would result in almost anyone saying yes - I'm sure. ;)
Apparently Dodge filmed a commercial here recently as well.

Anyway... Danielle is my bestie (that means special treatment!) and I had so much stinkin' fun shooting these that couldn't stop myself from posting a gazillion images. It was way too hard to narrow down. SO you get to see a bunch...AND you get to see a slideshow.

Um, by the way... I have never seen a couple make-out so much during a session (as you will soon see)... but they totally worked it.

:)

.... ***CLICK HERE*** to see the Slideshow.

Surprise Engagement!

I don't do well keeping secrets from my best friend but managed to pull this one off!

Danielle and I have been friends since college and she is the first person I call whenever there is anything exciting to talk about... But when her boyfriend Erik called me to say he was proposing and wanted to fly me out to Napa Valley to sniper shoot the engagement, I squealed a few times and immediately wanted to call her. **sigh**
Her parents picked me up from the airport Friday Night and arranged a car for me to drive to Napa on Saturday. I drove on up, and staked out the perfect spot at their favorite winery.... then I climbed in a bush and waited.



...and waited.

....and sweated.

and then....

They show up!

Then Erik breaks out the guitar and sings THIS SONG to Danielle. (For everyone who knows her knows this is quite possibly the most perfect song he could've chosen

Then they keep kissing. Danielle simply wouldn't let him sing without a 'kiss break' every few chords. He didn't mind - of course - but I was entertained

Then he got down on one knee.

Prior to their arrival I instructed him which direction to face her but I think he just got so caught up in the moment. haha.

I jumped out of the bush and tried to be all stealthy and sneak around through some more bushes.

Welllll, she said YES!....and she didn't see me..... SUCCESS!
I snuck back to the car and headed back to San Fran where Erik arranged a surprise engagement party for her and we had a slideshow of the proposal awaiting her.

the end... (or the beginning.)

Brittany + Zach | engaged

I came back into town last wednesday but this is my first day back at my house. so crazy, I tell ya. Catching my breath in conjunction with catching up.

First up is my play date with Brit and Zach.
I met Brit whilst interning with Mike Colon, she was a model at the first fashion shoot I attended, and has lent her beauty to many a photographer. I think anyone who has worked with or attended Mike’s workshop has a pic of her in their portfolio.
From day one we became fast friends and decided we were so much alike (even down to owning the same red motorcycle jacket that I borrowed in Vegas for this shoot when I forgot mine) that we must’ve been separated at birth...and born a few years apart as well. Medical miracle I tell ya...medical miracle. ;)

Brit was recently engaged and I was so excited to be asked to shoot her and Zach.

Zach is the most lively, over the top young man who is so full of passion and energy. (but only on days that end in ‘y’, right Zach? ;))

Here are a few fun shots from our play date.

Show and Tell... (Elyse + John)

I was the kid in kindergarten who took show and tell VERY seriously.... whether that meant bringing my kid sister doll ( along with her ENTIRE wardrobe) into class, gathering every sea shell I had ever collected and dumping them on my desk, or simply lugging my whole toy box into our share circle, I always loved to share more than required, necessary, or even desired... but much like today, I couldn't help it.
I sit here at my editing perch for hours trying to pick images to share on the blog but each time I do, I feel like I am enduring a form of chinese water torture.
No, I am not being dramatic.... just honest.
With each rejection, saying goodbye to an image is one drip...then another drip and another and another.. for hundreds of images. drip. drip. drip. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think all my images are blog worthy or even that good for that matter... I just want to share my whole experience with each and every one of you EVERY time. I want you to experience everything I experienced and see everything I saw!
I've been told I post too many images, I've been told I need to play a little hard to get and not be so willing to share everything all at once (I think that particular comment was directed at more than my just blog though...hmm?) and I was even told tonight that a good photographer should be able to tell a story in 5 images or less. And yes, I agree with all of them.... but for yesterday, today, and probably for many many posts here-forth, I will continue to post too many images and continue to share more than I need to because I just can't help it.... I don't want to help it. I love life, I love taking pictures of life, and I love sharing life. So cheers to many more hours of chinese water torture and blog posts that are way too long... thank you for being apart of the "share circle" and enduring the full wardrobe display! ;)

[and thank you to all my lovely friends who receive countless emails that say..."which image do you like better, I cant decide?" ;) ]


Now onto John and Elyse...
You all saw the surprise engagement, .... now here is what took place during the day leading up to the moment :)

With Elyse assuming she was just modeling for my portfolio, here are some of the fun images we got.

xoxo!

(ps) special thanks to the Zickell family for granting us access to your lovely cape house to shoot!