Wedding Planning Update!

The beau and I spent our weekend in Amador County meeting with potential wedding vendors. Now that the sticker shock of these sort of appointments isn't quite so nauseating, we're beginning to enjoy the process a bit more.

Saturday we met with a few caterers and were reassured that our front runner is definitely still our front runner. We also dropped by our venue to take photos of the grounds and ask catering, rental and DJ related questions of the owner.

 

I haven't gone to any local wedding faires since all the vendors are likely to service only the greater Bay Area, and the faires here are generally too pricy to attend just for the heck of it. When I heard there was going to be a small wedding faire at Preston Castle in Ione while we were in town I couldn't resist!  

The entry was only $5 per person and benefited the Preston Castle restoration project. It certainly wasn't your average wedding faire packed with all sorts of vendors doing raffles and sampling - think small town, haunted castle, local vendors - but that's just what we needed. Our preferred caterer was there, a DJ we're really interested in, and we met a backup photographer just in case our current plans fall through. 

The best part of the faire had to be wandering around the haunted castle! That place is seriously cool... Maybe a happy alternative to a "trash the dress" after the wedding since the mere suggestion of partaking in the photo sesh trend sent my grandmother into cardiac arrest?

Engagement Photos

There is a misconception that photographers know what to do when being photographed because they're used to posing people for portraits. I used to be a photographer, I did it for eight years, and I can tell you this is so not true! I've only been on the opposite side of the lens twice - once for college graduation photos back in 2007 and more recently for an engagement shoot. Both times I found myself feeling incredibly awkward and at a total loss for how to look natural and comfortable. Thank goodness for good photographers who compensate for my awkwardness. My graduation photos were taken by Sarah Linda Gossett Raderman at an old cemetery in Oakland (way less creepy than it sounds - think old stone walls covered in vines) on black and white film, both 35mm and medium format. The beau and I went with a more modern shoot for our engagement sesh, posing all over Baker Beach for Jordan Murphy. I wanted to avoid anything San Francisco-cliche, but considering my fiancé is from the Midwest, thus half of our wedding guests will be from the Midwest, we decided some good ol' Golden Gate magic would be appropriate for our save-the-dates.

Here's a sneak peek!

March Photo-a-day

Last month I continued on with the photo-a-day list by blogger fatmumslim. I posted my daily updates on Facebook and Instagram. Last month my mom joined in on the photo-a-day fun, and this month my dad decided to open a Facebook account and start posting his as well! Oh, what an adorably web-friendly little family I have! In the wake of Fatmumslim's popularity, plenty of other copycat photo-a-day lists have started popping up, but I'm sticking to this one. I've already started slipping on my timeliness, but here's hoping I can stick it out through the rest of the year. Here are some of my favorites from last month.

 

 

 

 

I lie-ca this!

What photographer doesn't want a Leica of their very own? Probably not all those wanna-be portrait photographers who bought their SLR starter kits at Costco and make side cash snapping their friends' graduation photos for $50 a pop... But don't get me started on that. Back to Leica... or, well, in this case, Lie-ca!

Matt Nicholson is basically my hero as of five minutes ago when I discovered his website, where you and I can purchase the ten page .pdf download for assembling a Lie-ca M3 Pinhole Camera! 

*Pause to jump around in your cubicle and shoot 

"you amateurs wouldn't understand" eye darts at your coworkers*

You're welcome, darlings. You're welcome.

February Photo-a-day

I've always liked the idea of doing one of those photo-a-day for a year things, but never could manage to follow through. When I saw fatmumslim's photo-a-day challenge go up on Instagram, I couldn't help but join in the fun. Not only was it only one month, it was the shortest month in the year, and that I was sure I could manage. I posted my daily updates on Facebook and Instagram, but decided to wait until the end to post it on my blog. Here are some of my favorites.

 

 

Updates!

I've been a major blog slacker! My last post was in May! So let's get caught up.

After two years with a major retailer and a year and a half on the broker side of the CPG industry, an opportunity surfaced to move not only to the manufacturer side of the business but also into the highly desirable world of adult beverage. Another huge positive for me was being able to move back to San Francisco, the only place I've ever felt at home!

Anchor Brewers & Distillers

Last Wednesday, I said farewell to my old office and to the dear friends I made there, and first thing Thursday morning I loaded up a U-Haul truck with the help of three friends from Portland. Worth noting: They took an entire day of their road-trip to do that! I don't think I've ever laughed so much in one day, let alone enjoyed a move so much (this was my 20th move, so I can say with certainty that moving is not fun). I'm so glad I gave myself a four-day weekend to move because unpacking was a ton of work! Monday was my first day at the new gig and, as far as I can tell, it's love.

My Oregonian laborers

I am happy. Very, very happy.

Christopher

We'd been scouting out this location for months so it was a huge disappointment when we finally got out there and it poured all day. After killing some time in the shops on 4th Street, we caught a lucky 30-minute break in the weather to snap off a few frames.

Alicia & Girls

You've seen plenty of photos of this little family over the years. Alicia is forever my favorite client and a dear friend. Her daughters are so easy to photograph because even when they're in a stinky mood, like they were this day, all I have to say is "show me your supermodel!" and suddenly they're full of adorable poses.

We'd hoped to shoot in the blooming orchards between Tracy and Modesto, but the sky was so clear and bright that I wasn't getting any good shots (except for that top center one of the girls running, which I'm in love with). Luckily, we stumbled upon an old feed warehouse that made for even lighting and an awesome backdrop.

Jen in Phoenix

The lovely Jen Barney in Phoenix, Arizona!

These photos were a gift for her mom, who had complained that she didn't have any recent photos of Jen to hang in the house. I certainly hope her mom fell in love with these!

Fall Family Photos

I finally discovered a fantastic default location for portraits in Livermore! I took these photos of the Salas/ Dress siblings last week at Sycamore Grove Park. There is a $5 parking fee but it's well worth the scenery. There's a decent sized bridge, countless crawling tree branches and several miles of trail. Except for a few joggers and cyclists, we had the place to ourselves!

If you know these guys, shhhh!

They had these photos done as a birthday treat for their mom ;)