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I had the honor of shooting a sweet elopement at the Kenwood Inn this week. This beautiful couple was visiting from Ohio and designed a private ceremony that was down-to-the-detail perfect.  The Kenwood Inn is the perfect location for the intimate ceremony and honeymoon combined. The grounds and rooms are romantic and secluded and even with many guests, it felt like we had the entire inn to ourselves.

The day was bright and warm and sunny , I couldn’t have imagined a better day to show off the wine country! After their ceremony we explored the grounds of the beautiful Kenwood Inn, making some beautiful portraits of the stunning couple. After a few portraits their town car arrived and whisked them off to their 1st wine tasting at Chateau St. Jean.  I love this idea of taking a private tour of the wineries as the “reception” and SO fun to have a driver, so you can enjoy the wine and views responsibly, and get wine tasting tips from someone in the know.  After their wine tasting,  I let them enjoy the rest of their day as they trotted off to their next winery for another tasting and a picnic lunch.

I’m really proud of these images (due in no small part to the gorgeous models and location) and I really hope they help the couple remember their special time in the Sonoma Wine Country.

I had the good fortune to photograph this sweet little girl the other day. She’s just about the same age as my little guy and so sweet and adorable. Newborns usually get a little less agreeable after the first few weeks, but she was so calm and posed very lady-like for all the photos.

Look at those sweet little pouty lips!   I hope that you are relishing your time with your new little girl, Enjoy your sneak peek and the rest of your images will be ready soon!

my, friends I am so sorry to have been so lax in my blogging duties, but I have a story for you.   Last Sunday I corralled my hubby into taking a few more maternity photos of me since I was feeling very big and round. He’s learning to take direction really well and even thinks up a few ideas on his own.

So any how, last Sunday I looked like this

yup. pretty much big and round. I didn’t get many photos of myself during my first pregnancy, so I was pleased to be able to fully document this one as it will be my last.

Well, a mere 24 hours later I got the distinct impression that my pregnant time was to be shorter than expected.  yikes!

And here we are, my little family.  So I ask for your patience in getting back to you about bookings and orders. Although I have mostly finished any standing orders, I might need to take a little extra time to get them out. (baby brain- it is real!) I will answer any emails as quickly as possible, but my phone will probably go through to voicemail. (please leave me a message, especially if it is an urgent matter)

Besides, who wouldn’t want to stay home and snuggle this adorable little bug and his beautiful (and silly) big brother???

Oh goodness I’ve been remiss in posting this wedding and it was my favorite this year!  And not only because the groom is an old college friend and roomate of Nathan’s, and their stellar celebration was held in our very own backyard! The food was wonderful, the people outstanding and I manged to work the entire wedding without going into labor!!

Now, normally I gush about how awesome the venue is and how I think you should book the place for yourselves… I don’t think I’ll be doing much of that, but I will say how pleased I was that it turned out so well, and how lovely it was to host so many out-of-towners to our beautiful little part of the world. The Sonoma County folks nod their heads in agreement when I talk about the number of folks blown away by our beautiful little county.

Jonny and Amy signed a Ketubah before their ceremony which is the Jewish marriage contract.  The immediate family and witnesses gather for a brief ceremony and sign the document. I think it’s a lovely quiet moment between just a few people that really puts the couple into the wedding mood before slamming full on into the wedding and reception.

Aren’t they a cute little family? Despite my best attempts to dislike their little dog Knuckles, she won me over. Also the fact that mr. sarcasm up there has this little doggie voice that he uses to talk to her… keeps me laughing.

This spring  has just been terribly unpredictable but the weather cooperated so nicely, three days before the wedding we had hail and thunderstorms. The next day was overcast and windy. Day of the ceremony? Sunny and clear, no wind! Doesn’t it look like the perfect spring Sonoma County Day?

Amy and Jonny had a scotch bar with maybe 10 different kinds of scotch. This one up here is my favorite. Amy surprised Jonny by singing him a song accompanied by one of Jonny’s groomsmen. She has a great voice and it was so sweet to watch Jonny just stare at her with love and admiration. In lieu of a traditional cake,  The couple had a dessert tray of assorted pastries, cookies, creme puffs, and individual tiramisus. Fiorini bakery in Sonoma provided all the desserts and they were really quite good. In fact that creme puff photo up there is just about killing me…

I think you can tell that this couple has a great sense of humor and is truly meant for each other. I was so honored to be both their photographer, their hostess and their guest at the wedding. Good job guys!

I want to give a shout-out to Rosso Pizzeria. Such delicious food, such nice staff and a really fun catering idea for parties and such. Go eat there! Hire them! YUM.

I also want to acknowledge my AMAZING second photographer Noelle Gaberman. She is not only a good friend but an amazing photographer and we have developed a really good working relationship. Her help was invaluable when I couldn’t get my pregnant body down to the ground for low shots or when I had to grab a quick rest off my feet. She’s my first choice for assistants, so if you like her work be sure to request her when booking!!

I swear I’m doing other things than maternity photos! It just happens to be that time of year… pretty soon, there will be an influx of these itty bitty little babies showing up.

This was such a fun session! Mama was so happy and beautiful, and it was obvious how excited both mom and dad are to meet their little one. The couple and I had so much in common (some even almost creepy coincidences) It was easy to connect and capture their personalities.

We were also blessed with some beautiful light and and weather in between these insane spring weather patterns we’ve been having.

I hope you guys like them, the rest will be on their way soon!

Now, I know I say this a lot, but I really do have the greatest clients – yea!

Well, it must be spring, what with all the bellies around me!  This is also my 2nd to last session before I head off into maternity land myself. This beautiful mama was from last week and I’m really happy with how they turned out. I love it when my clients bring their own scarves and items for sessions – it really makes the images that much more personal.

I had a great little family session this weekend with these two adorable little boys. How cute are they? They basically had me cracking up from the moment I walked in the door.

Brothers are really something, aren’t they?  There’s no faking this kind of love!

I had a lovely maternity and newborn session this last month. It makes me really happy to be able to capture these last days of a beautiful pregnancy and the first days of a new little life. I never shared these sneaks from this maternity session, so I thought it would be fun to share them along with the newborn photos.

Little guy here is only 5 days old, and was perfectly sleepy and snuggly for his big session.

Dad is home on leave for just a few weeks, so it was really special to be able to capture a few really meaningful images for him. Enjoy your sneak peek! I’ll be in touch with the rest soon…

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful senior girl! We were looking for some simple photos to compliment the standard yearbook poses the school uses. Lindsay is so bright and confident, it was really a pleasure getting to know her!