We're having a baby ~

Gorgeous fall leaves were in full splendor for this couple.

Happened across this colorful backdrop on the way to the original location.

Sisters and best friends

I woke from a dream and later in the day fragments from it started to come back to me. These images were a recreation of that.

These are some images I shot a few weeks ago in Los Angeles on Pico Boulevard. I wanted to create some still shots for a movie I wrote called Racing to the Altar. This is the lead actress Rebecca Finer playing the role of "Gina". The story takes place in 1965 and is about a group of kids who have to get from California to Las Vegas and get married by midnight in order to avoid the Vietnam draft.

San Diego Locals

I am lucky enough to live in southern California where the weather is deliciously gorgeous nearly 365 days of the year. Today I thought I would share some of the locations I love to shoot. This first image was taken near the downtown train station. I caught the light at just the right time of day. It makes me want to take off my shoes and go stomping around like "Singing in the Rain".



This next image was shot late in the day at the Imperial Beach pier. It's a very quiet, lackadaisical beach. For some reason I think of Harry Potter's brooms when I look at this image.



About once a year I drive an hour east up to the mountains into the city of Julian. It's a quaint, and cozy little town that has the best apple pies! I happened upon this image as I was making my way there.



Ahhh, the famous Hotel Del Coronado. Need I say more?



The boulevard in the rain. I love the way the sidewalk glows.



This is a shot of the San Diego Trolly as it was making it's way towards San Ysidro. The conductor sent the train police after me. Lol. I got away.



The Coronado bridge at dusk. I love the eerie light glowing in the fog.

Christmas in California~

Those of us lucky enough to live in Southern California get to experience the holiday season with the best weather in the country. It's nearly November and the temperature in the last few days has been a delicious 71 degrees. It's true we don't get to see the seasons change, but we also don't have to scrape snow from the windshield or sprinkle salt on our walkways.

We really are fortunate to enjoy such fantastic year-round weather. There's not too many places in the world where you can run to the beach in the fall and see this. These pictures were taken at one of my favorite locations - the Sunset Cliffs near Ocean Beach, CA.

Andrea and Patrick were a fun, amiable couple and we a great time exploiting our picturesque location. We talked about family portraits and how some of the images would be used for a Christmas card. If I received a card with an image like this, while I was in the middle of a snow storm, I'd pack my bags and get on the next bus out of town.

Baby on Board ~

One thing I really love about doing maternity shoots is how creative I get to be. It's always a fun challenge to come up with a fresh and artistic approach. The idea for this particular portrait session came to me after speaking with my client Claire and getting a feel for what she was looking for. Right away she was receptive to all my ideas and that made for a very exciting session. I love the beauty of pregnancy and the feelings of love that shines through these images.
I found this garden path unexpectedly. It was tucked away from the park where we were shooting and couldn't have been a better blessing. Sometimes the unexpected can turn out to be even better than anything you could have planned.
Luckily for us it had rained a few days before our shoot, which made everything look so fresh and colorful. It was also an overcast day which gave us soft and gentle light.
Sometimes all you need is a tiny piece of fabric to create some magical images.

This is my favorite image of the day. I used my 35 mm lens which blurred out the background nicely.
This is a fun photo shop action I discovered called Patina. It just creates a whole different hippie-type vibe which I adore. I love discovering new ways to make beautiful images. I used to do it by trying out all different kinds of films. Now it's done in photoshop. You never know what you're going to come up with which makes taking photographs a continually evolving and exciting art form.

California Dreaming ~ Kelsey and Joe's Engagement Photos

Meet Kelsey and Joe - an adorable couple I had the pleasure of photographing a few weeks ago. Besides being the best of friends, they have an easy familiarity between them that translates onto film. Talk about a photographer's dream!

When they mentioned they wanted their pictures shot by the water - I immediately thought of Sunset Cliffs which offers such a variety of places to shoot. We had such a great time joking around while we were working together, it was hard to pick between all the great shots we got.

A neat thing I learned about Kelsey and Joe is how they met. In high school! The very high school I graduated from myself! They even went to prom together. Isn't that terrific? They are both in graduate school now and about to transition into the next phase of their lives. How much more inspiring can they be?

This black and white image is one of my favorites. I was shooting into the sun as it was setting and had no idea if the shot would work. I just knew I wanted to try to get a silhouette and hooray, it worked. It kind of reminds me of something you'd see on a movie poster.

This is a path of flowers that leads down to the cliffs and to the shore below. It feels a little like the east coast. Like something you might see on Long Island or perhaps Nantucket. I love it.

One of the things I try to do when I am shooting is to joke around with my subjects to get them to relax and be their true selves. If I can do that, I can capture their spirit -- if only for an instant. I think I was successful - and for that I am grateful.