dec 4: a month of charitable giving -- toys for tots | sf bay area photographer

 

in honor of james, whose birthday is today, we are featuring toys for tots, a fantastic organization that you surely have come across in years past.  the toys for tots program was started by the marines and is another organization that is super responsibly run.  we love that most of the money donated goes directly to the children to buy toys and gifts.  

you can donate by clicking here, and make a child's christmas super happy this year. 

and today's photo is another one of our san diego family, at another one of our favorite places, old poway park.  love, love, love, especially the cute little puppy...

happy holidays,

dani + james

dec 3: a month of charitable giving -- USO | sf bay area photographer

as many of you know, james is a former marine, so military-focused charities have a special place in our hearts.  for years, we have been donating to the USO, which provides care packages, entertainment and support to our troops overseas. 

it is amazing how little you can donate and still make a tremendous difference in the lives of the soliders who are away from their families for months at a time.  from phone cards to magazines to basic toiletries to snack foods, the USO provides it all.  and if you want to get more involved, you can volunteer with the USO and provide much needed help welcoming our soldiers back home or assisting in putting together care packages.  you can also check out their facebook page here.

for today's holiday photo, we are sharing a session from balboa park in san diego, one of our favorite locations EVER.  this little guy is so personable, and loves to rock it out with the camera.  thanks holden for being such a little rockstar!

happy holidays,

dani & james

dec 2: a month of charitable giving -- Second Harvest | sf bay area photographer

 

when we look for charities to support, we love finding ones that have a big role in the local community.  so when we moved to the bay area, we found second harvest food bank, which provides food and meals to people who are down on their luck.  we also like that they have a high score for fiscal responsibility, meaning that the majority of our donation goes right to buying food and goods. this month, you can donate a turkey to help a needy family or you can volunteer at a local food bank. 

and for today's holiday photo, one of our favorite families in san diego, taken at crystal pier in pacific beach. 

happy holidays,

dani & james

dec 1: a month of charitable giving -- GLIDE SF | sf bay area photographer

every year james and i skip the christmas presents for everyone except the kids and instead donate to our favorite charities.  this year, we are stepping it up and donating to a different charity every day in december.  and we are excited to donate part of our holiday photo proceeds, so thank you to all our fabulous clients for helping us make someone's christmas a little brighter.

 

to start off december, we are donating to GLIDE, a fantastic organization in SF that helps break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.  one of the things we liked most about GLIDE is how involved they are in the local community, you can really see the effects of your donations firsthand, and you can volunteer in so many different ways.

this first post is part of our bay area family and are so much fun.  we did photos at the pulgas water temple, which is super amazing but really hard to get into on the weekends.  make sure you check park times for all the details.

happy holidays!

dani and james

happy halloween | san diego newborn photographer

well it has been pretty busy around here, as you can tell from my severe lack of posts. maybe i'll try and get ahead one of these days, but for now, enjoy this cute little (and i mean little) newborn.  congrats ang and josh!

lisa and tim +1 | san diego maternity photographer | old poway park maternity session

it is always such an honor when our clients welcome us back into their lives, and we were thrilled to hear that lisa and tim were expecting.  they wanted a bit more rustic look, so we headed out to old poway park for a relaxed maternity session.

lisa looked amazing (as always), with a perfect glow and tim was so excited to meet his little baby girl.  here are my faves from the shoot...

congrats lisa and tim, we'll look forward to seeing baby audrey next time on the blog!

the perfect treat: arlequin pretzel croissant | sf photographer

i thought it had to be too good to be true when i first heard of this treat -- 1/2 pretzel, 1/2 croissant -- fresh baked daily in a little cafe in sf.  yesterday afternoon i dragged james and foxy up to hayes valley where we visited arlequin cafe and sampled this delicious treat.  it was amazing, flaky like a croissant and salty like a pretzel.  not too rich, perfect with the very fancy cafe mocha i drank or the glass of wine james had. 

after our afternoon snack, we headed over to noir lounge to grab a glass of wine and it is a super cool place.  not only are they super dog-friendly, but the wines are good, the ambiance is chill and its in the newly hip hayes valley.  i highly recommend both these places if you are in the neighborhood!