The JOURNAL

There’s finally a cold nip in the air, the trees are finally turning beautiful shades of yellow and red, and I can almost smell the test run turkeys cooking. Not only is this my favorite time of year, but it’s my favorite time of year for family portraits. I’ve been doing quite a few lately and […]

I spent the afternoon with the McAlpine family recently to take some family portraits before Julia and Sara left for college. John, Susie, Julia, and Sara are one of the cutest families I’ve met in a long time and it was so much fun getting to know them. They all love each other so much, […]

As I sit at my computer my fingers are typing reeeeaaallll slooowww… because it’s finally cold outside and I feel like a Kate-scicle. Southern California weather has been pretty bi-polar this fall and winter, going from 90 degrees to 45 degrees… but FINALLY, it feels like Christmas time. And with that, I wanted to share […]

Some of my favorite pictures from growing up were the ones my dad took of our family decorating the Christmas tree every year. The crisp nature-y smell of a fresh cut tree, the colorful lights that twinkle through the pine needles, that one ornament that inevitably falls and breaks every year… there’s something special about […]

“We are once more at a threshold for we must either step forward into a new and larger room where the old understandings are no longer creative or close our eyes, stuff cotton in our ears and refuse to move. We have grown up in an either-or universe. And we must move into a both-and […]

Falling Leaves. Scarf-wearing weather. Steaming Coffee. My warm bed. Holiday Portraits. Hugs. These are some of the things I love about Autumn in Southern California. I wanted to share a few images from a Holiday Family Portrait I did recently for a family very near and dear to my heart. Family shoots like theirs leave […]

As I’m finally getting myself in some sort of order, I wanted to share some sneak peeks from a bunch of really cool shoots I’ve done lately. I’ll be posting the full posts soon, but for now, just for you… David and Chelsea’s Newport Beach Engagement Shoot… The Good Kids launched their album with an […]

Twas a month before Christmas, and we needed a tree. So we stood in a LONG line, waking up REALLY early. (See “Waiting in Line” Flip-book here.) At 8:30 sharp, we took off running Through the forest so thick, we had to be quite cunning For there were hundreds of people all doing the same […]

So… in the last post you saw the Davidsons and their planes. Well… that’s not all we did at the airfield…. Uncle Dick and Aunt Sandy asked Christopher and I if we would like to go for a quick flight in one of their planes… we looked at each other, and without hesitation we both […]

I got off the phone with my Aunt Sandy and felt two things…. excitement because I was going to get to finally spend some time with her and Dick…. and nervousness because I had never taken pictures of a plane before. But it ended up being a gorgeous late afternoon in Redlands, California and the […]