Happy 1st Birthday

Its been an amazing year following my friend Deanne's little girl Sydney grow up. James and I took pictures of Sydney every month for the last year, and last month we celebrated her 1st birthday, which was so much fun. Here are a few of the shots from the party and the photo shoot after at the beach...

we're engaged!!

its the greatest thing in the world, to be engaged. except when you are a wedding photographer and you realize that you can't possibly take your own engagement or wedding photos. it all happened last weekend, at our favorite restaurant, ruth's chris. we were sitting out on the patio, and for those of you who know me, al fresco dining is not always my favorite thing, especially when i am sitting next to a possibly bug-infested tree. james quickly moved us to a romantic table with a view of the harbor and out of the wind tunnel so we could enjoy our meal. after a delicious dinner (which by the way is on special now until the end of summer), james surprised me with the cutest dessert that said "will you marry me?" i am rarely, if ever, surprised, so that made it even more special.


by the time i finished reading the plate, he had the ring out on the table and tears filled my eyes. here we are post-happy tears...


of course i said yes, and we celebrated all night long--or at least for a couple hours because we quickly remembered that we had to drive to la for a wedding the next morning.

as soon as we started telling people, everyone asked if we had a date and wanted to know where we were going to get married. unfortunately, we don't have either, since we have been busy photographing other people's weddings for the past couple weeks and really haven't had much time to even think about what we want. a few things we know we want--friends, family and our favorite foods, which just might include cheeseburgers, mac and cheese, fried chicken and our fave little cookies.


if any of you are wedding photographers and are reading this, please let us know, as we will be looking for you very soon. here's a couple photographerish shots of my amazing ring...

wedding: heather and randall

its so much fun to be a wedding photographer when the couple is as cool as heather and randall. we met them getting busy on the dance floor last year, at heather's sister's kirsten's wedding, and we were psyched when heather called us to do her wedding this year. randall is in the marine corps, and recently returned from a tour overseas, and we were so happy to see him return safely, and in plenty of time for their wedding.

heather and randall got married on a gorgeous saturday afternoon at the marine corps recruiting depot in san diego, and everything was just perfect. heather was a beautiful princess, in an amazing dress...




... and all her bridesmaids were so sassy it was easy to make them look good. check out heather's extremely sassy mom and aunt in this picture






and what can you say about a man in uniform? and ten men in uniform? enough said. james had a lot of fun with randall and his groomsmen, sharing marine stories and passing around the flasks.


randall was obviously psyched to be getting married that day, and heather looked amazing as she walked down the aisle with her father...





after the ceremony, we spent a few minutes with the happy couple, but didn't want to delay getting into the very fun party...









the cake was beautiful, and the dances were so emotional




heather and randall, thank you so much for letting us share your special day with you and your family, we truly feel like we are part of the family now. be on the lookout for wedding invitations to our big bash next year!!!

prices are changing...

no, we can't really blame it on the high gas prices or on the housing market, but our prices are going up in the next few days. if we have already talked with you and sent you a contract, you'll be under the current pricing structure. if not, and you are ready to book with us, please contact us as soon as possible so we can make arrangements and secure your date.

wedding: ari and brad

there are some women who just have that look, its hard to explain, but you know it when you see it. we said this a couple months ago when we did the engagement session for ari and brad, and although i don't think we expected ari to mysteriously lose her allure and come hither look, we also thought it might be impossible for her to look even more amazing. but oh-my-god!!! have you seen a more beautiful bride?

i spent some time with ari and very hot bridesmaids, who were not interested in just looking glam, but also in showing off their ferocious side...

james was hanging out with brad and his groomsmen, who were having fun with some gambling in the park...


ari couldn't stop smiling throughout the ceremony, probably because she knew how lucky she was to have snagged brad...



we spent a bit of time with ari and brad after the ceremony, but made sure we didn't take too much time away from the very fun party they had planned...





we were extremely fortunate to work with this family again (we did ari's brother's wedding last year) because they are absolutely the most loving family we have ever worked with. every detail of the wedding was meticulously planned and executed by some member of the family, which made everything that much more special.

ari spiced up the reception by having her bridal party don some charger jerseys and run a few plays before the bouquet toss...


the ceremony and reception were held at the amazing soledad club in la jolla, and the views are amazing.



congratulations ari and brad on a lifetime of happiness, and thank you for allowing us to be part of your very special day.

The Willis Family

Its strange to meet someone with the same name, I am always wondering what other Danielles are like. So it was great to meet Danielle and Jeff and their family, and do some fun pictures in Balboa Park. Danielle is one of the cutest pregnant moms I have ever seen, she was so energetic and game for anything, I was tired just watching her. We did a few family pics, some of just Danielle and Jeff and some of just the soon-to-be new addition to their family. Here are some of our fave pics from the day, congrats Danielle and Jeff on the new baby!

Two Amazing Women...

Earlier this year, for Mother's Day, Kate's husband bought her a gift certificate for a portrait session, knowing that she wanted to spruce up her website and online image. Kate has an enviable job, she gets to go through peoples' closets and advise them on what works best for them in their wardrobe. According to Kate, its a kinder, gentler "What Not to Wear". Kate's company is called KD Consulting, you can check out her website and give her a call if you need a little fashion consulting.

As if that wasn't cool enough, Kate mentioned that she was transforming her business, combining it with a friend of her's business Room by Room Design, into a new concept called Fusion of Style (coming soon). Fusion of Style combines Kate's fashion-savvy with friend Stephanie's home design expertise, into one super-amazing and very cool personal and home fashion consulting dynamo.

James and I headed over to Stephanie's amazing home in La Jolla for a fun photo shoot, to get some new pictures of them for their online portfolio. Here are some of our faves, check back soon for the launch of their new site.

We were looking for something that said powerful and professional, yet approachable and stylish...I think we hit it perfectly. First Kate...






Then Stephanie...




Finally, Kate had these really cool beaded bracelets, and they looked awesome against this box Stephanie had at home. If this mix is any indication of the fusion of Kate and Stephanie's style, their business is sure to be a success. Congratulations to both, we look forward to helping you make San Diego more stylish and fashionable!