Happy Halloween!

My absolute favorite holiday has arrived! Coming from a small east coast town, where Halloween is prepped months in advance, I find much joy in bringing a small taste of it to this somewhat spiritless town. There, I said it, and that's a challenge now for other South Lake Tahoans to prove me wrong! Just wait for tonight, when the strobe lights and spooky music play bright and loud and the scary silhouettes take over the windows. If you build it, they will come, right? Jeez, I hope so, so I'm not left with too much extra candy...

Last week, Sean and Shylo came back from the pet store with Shylo dressed like this...

Oh, we're ready for our 3+ trick-or-treaters!

Just to show how absolutely sweet our pup is... here is a behind the scenes shot of Sean comforting her into the pose....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Creative Sessions | Boudoir

Beauty and spice and everything nice, Brittni is one of a kind! I've worked with Brittni once before for our Trash the Dress session and it is amazing to see her grow as a model. This week, she came out to shoot with myself and the lovely lady photographers of the area for a boudoir shoot at the Atlantis Resort in Reno. [Read more about our creative sessions below] The results were out of this world and makes me even more excited to work with Brittni in the future! Although, hanging out with her may send me home with a tattoo if my own...her ink is gorgeous!

Here are just a few from the 'Calvin' portion of our session:

Every month, the girls of reno/tahoe organize a creative shoot... an excuse for us all to get together, have fun and do what we love! These sessions are fantastic exercises for us all to learn and grow as photographers and friends. We're so happy to see the group growing! The picture below is just a taste of the fun!

Pictured (clockwise): Myself, Melissa Vossler, Emily Main, Heidi Huber, Eden Thome, Raquel Sullivan, and Kelsey Rosser. Many thanks to our multitalented model Brittni, possible photographer in the making, for taking this photo!

Check it out!

Just because I'm a proud wifey (or...uh... technically soon to be.. wifey that is... not the proud part... I'm already proud...)...

Many people ask what exactly does Sean do? [for those of your new to the blog, Sean's my incredibly talented second half] Sean spent last winter documenting Shaun White's preparation for this year's Olympic Games in Vancouver. This Red Bull project is known as "Project X" and involved a private half pipe in the quiet mountains surrounding Silverton, Colorado.

Click Here to see the intense teaser for the special that will air during the olympics! It's gnarly! Yes, this east coast girl just said gnarly! Watch it!

A big thanks to Adam Moran for grabbing this great shot of Sean dangling from the 22' wall to get his shot...

You can also read about it in the October issue of Transworld Snowboarding:

Christian | Graduating!

I have had such a blast working with seniors this year! I knew Christian and I would have fun... he's a friend of Jose's after all! He was a wealth of historical information when we shot around the Tallac Historic Site, the place he interned with the past few years. I learned so much during our session about the early days of South Lake Tahoe. There's no doubt in my mind Christian is destined for success and I wish him all the best!

Before we meet for the session, I like to ask some questions and get an idea of what the seniors are into to plan the session around their personalities. Christian mentioned his favorite color was orange and I search high and wide for an orange backdrop in South Lake Tahoe, to no avail. So, at the last minute, I remembered this orange chair in my shed! The best part is, it is a chair my fiance has been wanting to trash for a while (our neighbor had a garage sale and I accepted the free offer). Being the total pack-rat that I am, I felt I had to hold onto it a wee bit longer and was thrilled to find use for it here....

Needless to say, I was delighted to rub it in Sean's face that I used the chair:)

Another fun story: I was at the store the week before this session and saw this incredible teal '69 Chevy Truck hanging out in the parking lot. I would purchase this truck in a heartbeat, but settled for drooling over it for a few minutes. I introduced myself to the owner, this really happy, scruffy old guy named Mr. Jolly. (Jolly? Awesome!) I gave him my card since I needed to use his truck for something, if not to be in contact and use the truck in my own wedding pics next year. So, I surprised Christian with this truck and I think it made for some really unique senior portraits!

Last story: Christian's mom was along for our shoot (sweetest lady!) and she was checking out this chair for us to use and found this little creature hanging out...

It's very real... it's also very dead.... but I seriously don't know how she spotted this thing! I didn't even know they existed in the lake! I'm sure they are harmless but my summer swims will have a whole new paranoia now.

What's the point of an engagement session?

I had a meeting with a client this week and this question came up. It's a very good question! If you aren't sending out save-the-dates with your pictures on it, why do it? Maybe you've been together for so many years and everyone already knows that you are engaged? Or possibly you just feel like it's vain to have professional pictures taken of your both outside of your wedding. All valid points, except that last one! Having great pictures of yourselves absolutely never ever means you are vain... you only had some pictures taken, you can't help it if you just happen to be so good looking!

I'll get to what my answer was, but since I am more of a visual learner, I thought it would be most beneficial to be a visual teacher and give this example.

This engagement shoot features the lovely Andy & Andrea from a few months back in Sacramento.

(If it's plays with some hiccups, just let the show fully load and then play)

So what was my answer? The video should say it all! We get to meet and spend an afternoon together getting to know each other and having fun! When else do you have your own personal paparazzi following you around as you just spend time together in love? In just a few hours, I get a great idea of what you are like as a couple... what makes you laugh, how goofy or serious you can be, and simply who you are as people. Likewise, you get to know me and and when I show up on your wedding day, I'm just another friendly face! During the shoot, I throw out a variety of poses for you to try and I test out just how long you'll laugh at my cheezy jokes! It's the perfect warm-up for your wedding if you've never been in front of a professional photographer before. Oh, and you both do lots of kissing.

All in all, it's a personal preference. Clients who have chosen to do the session have never regretted it and in the end you walk away with some fantastic images!

A few recent comments from e-session clients:

"Wow, is all I can say! There are soooo many that I love! Thank you again soo much for making this such a wonderful experience. I am absolutely blown away by the quality and the creativity!" "Wow, that is a lot of pictures! I love the artistic touches, the way you used color and light turned out amazing. I love them! Thank you for taking the time to come all the way to Sacramento and stay longer than expected. We had a really good time and it was great practice for our big day!" "Thank you for everything yesterday! We both could not stop talking about how awesome you are at what you do! You are such a natural, we felt so comfortable."

FYI: These types of sessions are not just for those who are engaged out there! I love it when couples contact me for a 'just because" session! Why not get some fabulous shots of you as you are right now.... just because!

Jose | Graduating!

Seniors Rock!

This fall, I decided to start offering senior sessions in South Lake Tahoe and after working with Jose, I am so happy that I did! We had a great session jumping from location to location around South Lake and his energy was awesome! A total natural in front of the camera, he made my work easy. Jose, you better keep in touch and let me know where your bright future takes you!