Developments of Life 

So recently a good friend of mine had a kiddo who was turning one. Of course she asked me if I would take photos. And of course, I said absolutely! She sent me a bunch of cute "pinspiration" pics of epically staged cake smashes. And then she told me we could take them at the birthday party. Hold up! I hate to break it to all you first time mommas out here, but those adorable cake smash photos you see all over the internet, were not, in fact, taken during the child's birthday

When I was about to get married, I was probably like most young brides – doing my best to stay afloat financially. I was in grad school and my husband-to-be was in the Navy. We were able to support ourselves without borrowing money from Mom and Dad, but we didn’t exactly have a lot of extra cash at our command. Also, like most young couples planning to get married, neither of us came from a very wealthy family. Our parents were by no means poor, but they also weren’t able to

As a photographer, the subject of "RAW" images comes up fairly often. Sometimes it has come from clients fearing that there may have been some special image left out of their gallery. Also, I've had many potential clients request a discounted rate in exchange for accepting my RAW files instead of completed, edited images, making the argument that if I am doing half the work, I can charge them half the price. No matter the reason behind the question, the answer to this from mo

Historically, a child's first birthday has always been a big moment of celebration. For years, families have held parties where all the guests stand around, waiting and watching to see how the baby reacts to their birthday cake. Everyone is oohing and ahhing, hoping to catch a great photo to be used as blackmail upon the child's future first date or high school graduation. While it's ideal to schedule a cake-smash photo session a couple weeks after the momentous occasion in o

Recently, a dear friend and client of mine, Autumn, reached out to me with a question. Autumn is an awesome friend who always has your back, and an amazing mom with a wonderful family. One of my favorite side benefits of being an all-service photographer is the opportunity that it gives me to help support organizations within my own community. So when Autumn asked if I was willing to donate a session to help support a program that her daughter Natalie participates in at Murri

With the exception of a beautiful wedding, Senior Portraits are one of my absolutely favorite types of sessions. There is just something so special to me about them. It's about so much more than the pictures themselves - it's about reveling in those fleeting moments of childhood, while celebrating the new adventures ahead. Brandee's parents contacted me at the beginning of the school year to schedule her Senior photos. They explained to me that Brandee had spent her first 2 y

Finally!! The social media gag order has been lifted and I am free to share these images. But first, the story behind them. This may be one of the most special sessions I have been blessed to be a part of. Don't get me wrong - all my sessions are special in some way. But this one....well, read on and you will get it. I have known Anna since I was a little girl. Growing up, she was a fellow St. Bruno Tiger and one of the best friends of my favorite baby-sitter, Kim (for more o

This is my friend Kim with her two beautiful daughters Sophia and Gillian, and I have had the privilege of taking family pictures for them for the past 5 holiday seasons. The funny thing is that I have actually known Kim since she was the age Sophia was when we first took photos because she was the first person my parents trusted to babysit my little sister and I after she was born (we're 7 years apart). Kim has been a huge influence in my life, both as a child and an adult.

There are a lot of things about photography that bring me joy, but if I had to choose just one, it would be the ability it gives me to share in the lives of families within my community. The gift of repeat clients not only confirms a belief in my talents, it allows me to form relationships, to watch romances bloom, families grow, children blossom into their own unique people. Over the next few blogs, I am going to highlight some of my clients, families - some of who I knew pr

I met this beautiful couple at the Bride's retirement party a few years ago and have been blessed to photograph their grand babies numerous times since. I remember at the retirement party overhearing that Glenn had proposed to Kathy, and was hoping that when the time came, the might call me to capture their special day. When I got the call from Kathy, I was so very excited. They had planned a beautiful intimate wedding to be held at Stone Brewing in Escondido. It was a true f

For those of you have been following my pictures for the past few years, you are probably pretty familiar with this little girl's big brothers, Reade and Remy. Their mom and dad are some of my closest friends, and I am so blessed to be their honorary Auntie. In February, about a week before my birthday, I got the best gift ever, when Sara had sweet little Secilia and we finally got a little girl to spoil along with her big brothers. #orangecountyfamilyphotographer #menifeepho

I first met this family a few years ago when these kiddos' beautiful grandmother Kathy retired and her daughter Alyssia threw her one heck of a retirement party. When I arrived to take the pictures, the youngest granddaughter Addy walked up to me, grabbed my hand, and proudly announced "I 'da Baby." Right away, I could tell she had an incredibly spunky spirit, and that if the rest of her family was like her, I hoped to be taking their photos for years to come. Luckily for me,

Last weekend my "baby" cousin Eric got married to his beautiful bride Natalie. It was such a nice change to be attending the wedding as a guest, rather than having to work, but of course, I had to take along my camera and at least one lens to capture a few photos for the family Christmas calendar. Natalie is from a traditional Vietnamese family, and as part of the reception, shared the tradition of the Tea Ceremony with us. I had never seen this performed, and it was a beauti

Yesterday morning (very early) I got the pleasure of capturing some senior photos for Seth. I met Seth a couple years ago, after helping his mom Amy convince Seth and his two brothers that they really did want to take family pictures with mom. If you have ever dealt with teenage boys, you know this was no small feat, but the young men were troopers. Seth is now graduating high school, and has very much grown into a polite, strong young man. The first time I met him, I was str

It was a crazy busy summer and time got away from me. But the experience of taking these photos was so special that I had to share it now, even if Miss Allie is already off on her East Coast adventure at Wentworth Institute of Technology. A few weeks, before Rosie (Allie’s mom) called me, I saw these pictures done by another photographer of a softball player in her prom dress. I thought the concept was so rad and it gave me all kinds of ideas, but I knew that I needed just th

So for the past three days, I have been trying to find the words to go with these pictures. I have literally been sitting here and erasing and sitting here and erasing. The girl in these photos is a dear friend of mine from high school. Chris was a year ahead of me and we met thru Frosh-Soph basketball. She was the point guard and could buzz around the floor, so cute, tiny, and full of love and spirit - I quickly nicknamed her "Little Bug" and it stuck. For the next 3 years (