Well, first thing’s first, let’s just get all the Blackjack photos out of the way. I’m also really heavy on the Instagram photos this week, apologies, apologies. Here’s lots of cute bunny. Do not be alarmed, the pose on the left here may look like a dead bunny – this flop terrifies rabbit owners. James likes to say every time he finds Blackjack like this, he immediately starts thinking, “Oh God, he’s dead. How do I get rid of the body before Natalie sees???” Also, bonus bunny feet. He likes to sleep at my feet and I like to bother him with iPhone flashing.
Exploratory bunny! I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning and moving around boxes this month. He would very much prefer everything stay the same all the time, thank you. Not happening, bud. When I finish all the decluttering, I’m coming for your hay pile in the hall.
I wish I really had the proper words to describe Fi and Robb’s Monarch Cove Inn wedding. The photos will really tell you about the Crazy (in a good way!), so I hope they’ll be able to properly express, first, their Indian wedding put together by Fi’s parents, and then, the next day, Fi and Robb’s “weddang,” as all the programs proclaimed. They weren’t big on portraits either, and you see that reflected here in a wedding that’s almost entirely photojournalistic! This is always an exciting departure for me, since I spend so much time normally stressing about the portraits. I love portraits, don’t get me wrong, I want that big portrait to hang on my wall forever, but photojournalistic weddings are something truly special because of the kinds of personalities it attracts. I don’t know how to quite express what I’m trying to say, but this weddang has a special place in my heart because of the insistence on less portraits, more people.
Special thanks to Annie at Annie Hall Photography for acting as my second photographer. If you ever want a completely photojournalistic, Annie is your girl. She’s amazing at capturing those little moments and is constantly pushing her photography higher and higher with daily experimentation of all kinds! I’d also like to send a huge shout out to Aimee Claire Events (link to her facebook page – she has a website, but it’s not active!). Without her at the reins, I’m not sure everything would have come together to reflect Fi and Robb’s amazing attention to detail. Like me as well, Aimee is a great lover of all things nature-mama, and we had a small bonding moment over bone broth. š
These photos reflect two days worth of photos, so don’t get overwhelmed!
It’s engagement season (or so all the wedding websites out there like to tell me), so let’s talk a little bit about how to prepare for your engagement session. First, check out this article I saw on Offbeat Bride on Monday, The “Less-Than-Photogenic” Couples’ Guide to Engagement Pictures. I see these sorts of articles every once in awhile, but I’ve actually never met a couple that thought of themselves as particularly photogenic, which is why I’m choosing to link this one. It really speaks to my philosophy when I’m taking your photos!
Today’s post is a Baker Beach engagement session with Lori & Will. 2014 was a great year, because I finally started getting clients that really mesh with my personality, and Lori and Will are a great example. They won an engagement session from me after seeing me on Offbeat Bride, and I was so happy to provide. Not many of my clients opt for the engagement session these days, so I’m always excited to do them as well! Baker Beach is an old favorite for me, as well, and I’m actually looking to go back there again this year to try and find new perspectives, so engaged couples who want beach photos, be sure to inquire!
I ended up photographing Lori and Will’s Doctor Who/Steampunk wedding as well, but the great thing about Lori is that she’s just about the sweetest woman in the world, humoring me when I kept coming up with “just one more photo!” and even being a good sport when some jerk cop ticketed her car for practically no reason! This session also includes some of the portraits I’m most proud of from 2014. While I’m typically happy to let my couples be natural, there are points where I stop you and ask you to do something that’s uncomfortable and pose-y, and the reason is all reflected in this post – to take your fantastic self, and upgrade you to bombshell!
In short, I love Lori and Will (and I’ll be saying similar words about all my upcoming blog couples, too, such a good year!).
I thought I’d open this week with some mail – a wrap up on our holidays cards this year! Someday, James and I will be grown ups, and also send out cards, but I’m always grateful to receive them. If you squint, you’ll even see some of my photos, though their blog post won’t be for a few months yet. š I also absolutely love this card on the right, too, from a client – I have some awesome clients and they send me the most awesome things. I think it’s pretty clear that Kanani understands my totally lame sense of humor…
No post would be complete with one of my dear little Blackjack. This was nail clipping time. If you are looking into owning a rabbit, incidentally, do not do this. Studies show that rabbits have intense stress when flipped on their back (any sense of peace is actually more like “extreme fear”), but after talking with my vet, we do this about every month for his nails because he just doesn’t tolerate the nail clipping otherwise. Actually almost tore off a nail once! Sigh. Blackjack, please.
We also have my new set of headphones. I’m a bit of an audiophile, since my father taught me as a kid how to read the backs of headphone packages to get the most dynamic range. Anyway, I’d broken my last pair of Audio Technica earbuds and wanted an upgrade. These IEMs are DUNU DN-1000s, which are so far very similar to the ATH-M50s, and I’m not sure I need more than that out of my IEMs… Now, my closed over the ear headphones are a different story.
I also took that selfie in my continuing bid to Be Taylor Swift. Ladies, I’m not that thin. The 3/4s turn is real.
My obsession with coffee is hopefully well known – I’m so so so lucky to live in the Bay Area with some of the best known third wave coffee in the country. This week, I finally started brewing some cold brew. So far, it’s been a complete disaster. Anyone have any tips?
As for the wine, two of our (James and mine) friends in the area are a winemaking family – Denise sent us a case of their latest releases, and we tried this a few nights ago. It was DELICIOUS. They are opening a new tasting room in the Soquel/Santa Cruz area, so look them up! Wargin Wines!
Just a couple artsy things. I found this pine cone/rose on one of my morning walks and I was so unbelievably touched by this sky peeking over the apartment building tops when I opened my eyes after a post-yoga meditation the other day. Clouds!
I am actually quite a DIY/crafts person, particularly with yarn and paper. I don’t get the chance to knit much anymore, but with winter actually being a bit chilly these days, and me losing my fingerless gloves over the years through wear and tear, I decided to knit up a new pair with some of my stash yarn… This is the first glove, #2 hopefully coming soon!
Finally, you’ll have to wait to see some more photos, but I’m in the process of building my booth for the bridal fairs this year. I’m using my friends’ garage/power tools, but I love building things and I’m just waiting for the day when I can have my own shop again. Sigh!
And that’s it from my life this week! š I hope everyone is having a fabulous new year so far!
This is a drive by post to finally tell you all about a bridal shower tea party collaboration I did with Beau-Coup, a Mountain View based wedding favors company. They do regular features on their blog, collaborating with local vendors in order to provide inspiration for their audience. Think The Knot, but you know, much smaller, and less terrible (sorry, I just don’t like those big wedding websites!). I think Beau-Coup sums up this shoot perfectly themselves, so as it says over at the collaboration post proper:
“We achieved this pretty look by combining vintage crockery, antique inspired favors, and bohemian styled flowers to create the beautiful tea party tablescape you see before you. Let this look inspire your very own bridal shower tea party. This theme can be easily fashioned to highlight either a casual or elegant affair for an equally beautiful finished result.”
Working with My English Tea Party and One Click Flower, they set up a beautiful tea table in the middle on a Mountain View park, and I had the privilege of spending a lazy afternoon photographing the beautiful details! Holy collaboration, Batman! š High five, fellow vendors!
Liliana at My English Tea Party made the biggest impression on me – she guarded her china carefully, she was full of laughter, and she made all of the tea sandwiches and scones you see in this bridal shower tea party. Nom nom nom (okay, not for me, I’m one of those low-carbers š )! If you’re ever in the market for a tea party, definitely let her provide! She’s amazing! Likewise, I really have to thank the One Click Flower girls. I took home one of those bouquets and it kept my kitchen cheery for the next week! <3 Their attention to detail really helped the shoot move forward.
Make sure to visit Beau-Coup for all the stunning details, as well as the Behind The Scenes post for more fun! I had a blast! Thanks everyone for your hard work, everyone!
Today’s wedding is a late season Bancroft Hotel wedding with Eric and Laura. You may remember them from their adorable engagement session! There was nothing not to love about this super sweet couple – they even planned for meticulous photo timing and were on schedule! I was one happy photographer as we spent 45 minutes wandering around for their portraits. The Bancroft Hotel is a little hotel right across the street from part of the Berkeley campus, and I knew I loved them when I read on their website about their green-conscious attitude. Plus, their beautiful windows are the perfect backdrop for great photos!
Eric and Laura incorporated a heavy book-nerd theme in their wedding, and it was fabulous. Be sure to check out their details! Also, how cool are her boots? I’m not going to say I wish every bride would trade in her Jimmy Choos for Doc Martens, but I probably wouldn’t mind if a few more brides went this route. Plus, remember that skull necklace from the engagement session? It’s the same as the one she wears here! I just loved everything!
With the year winding down, weāre all on the countdown to 2015! Woohoo! For me, 2014 was a year about turning (even further) inward. Iām one of the most introverted people youāll ever meet. This has nothing to do with shouting over people on your wedding day to get everyone in line for photos. Thatās actually not hard! But me, going outside of my apartment, for fun? Youāre talking crazy. Iāve always been very much wrapped up in my own world, and I donāt really have a problem with that. For most of my life, Iāve carried a book (and now my kindle!) with me everywhere, ājust in case,ā and boy, when I discovered the isolating power of headphones in high school, we reached new levels of introversion! Needless to say, Iāve always been a bit inward focused, and I spent a lot of 2014 re-assessing this and trying to figure out exactly where my life is heading.
Iām hoping 2015 will be more outward, and it all starts with a couple of bridal shows this year. I was always kind of wishy washy about bridal shows because of my introvertedness and because I couldnāt imagine myself going to one. If I canāt imagine myself there, why would my potential clients be there? But, this year, Iāll be at two (not lame and totally awesome) bridal shows in the next couple months, Toasted SF on January 25th, and Lovesick Expo on February 22nd. These two shows convinced me they were more my speed, and I’m super excited to be going! Iāll post a few reminders on Facebook as well, but if youāve been wanting to meet me, drop by and have a chat! Iām going to be putting my introvert best out there!
And on a completely different topic, happy 3rd birthday, Blackjack! I think youāre officially out of your bunny adolescent times at three! One disadvantage of having to travel every Christmas is that Iām never home for this cutieās birthday, though obviously, Iām entirely projecting feeling of loneliness. Momās sorry that sheās traveling, but Iām sure Tina the pet sitter is taking good care of you and gave you a special fruit treat for your special day! Momās also sorry for this early ābirthdayā photo shoot, where she taped a crown to your head and you freaked out. <3 u, Blackjack! See you soon, baby boy!
We jump ahead a few weddings to Brian and Jennifer’s the Winery SF wedding on Treasure Island. If you’ve never been here, go! It’s absolutely gorgeous! Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Brian and Jen are friends with Reese and Ryan, but this wedding ran late as well! So late, in fact, that we basically chucked family photos to the wind (you can imagine, I was mildly disturbed), and later, they even decided to drop all the events from the reception and just have a dance party! I doubt anyone else even noticed, but at one point a huge group of high schoolers came through the back door and joined in, it was pretty crazy!
Still, it worked for them, and this elegant wedding was the result. All the family photos we missed during the day, we took, club photography style, during the dances, and Jen’s grey-purple styling was beyond reproach. At our first meeting, Jen introduced herself as an event planner and even though she doesn’t plan weddings normally, I knew she was going to apply her planning knowledge to her own wedding. Awesome props again to Nicole Cross at 43rd Ave. Photography for being my second photographer.
I’ve been wanting to add more personal flair to this blog for years, and I’ve done that in the past, but in depressing ways. Don’t get me wrong – I love sad things in a very morbid way, because they test us, they show us our failings, and point us, should we choose, towards a better future. But the only really personal things I’ve revealed are depressing, and if you follow the weddings I post at all, it’s pretty clear that my life isn’t all doom and gloom. I’m hoping this will be a more regular, monthly (or bi-weekly in the “every 2 weeks” sense) post, that shows my life is actually 100% bunny rabbit.
My intention, and I’ll probably restate this in every post, is not to showcase any of my photography – when I’m snapping with my iPhone, it’s for snippets I want to remember for myself and about the speed of pulling out my phone. So these aren’t the sorts of photos you’ll get from your wedding, but pictures, taken mostly for facebook and instagram, that basically record my obsession with Blackjack, my bunny rabbit. š
So, aside from the usual Blackjack antics, and my love of the sun first thing in the morning (taken the morning after the big storm this week!), I like to take photos of books that catch my eye in bookstores. I’m not a rabid feminist, but I was caught by the mansplaining title, anyway. She starts out with an anecdote about a book she’d written and how a man, at a cocktail party, was describing this fascinating book he’d read recently… which was, of course, her own book. Not high on my reading list, but I’m a voracious reader, and if there’s kindle version available, I can see giving it a few hours.
We also have a photo of my SO, James, who likes to conduct science in our apartment. This is actually not as ridiculous as it seems – it’s just his bad luck that his experiments, while making complete sense, often look very silly! And I like to let that impression continue. š
The non-Blackjack photo here is of a friend’s cat, Ramses. King Ramses had just arrived from the East Coast the day before and was still checking out his new digs (including an alphabet mat that his owners had gotten for him, you know, to teach him to spell). This part of the night was post-dinner, and we were about to start a game of Munchkin, so naturally, we were just laying everything we could find on top of the cat to annoy him. As kind people do.
Speaking of Munchkin, I have a small confession – I love playing games, but I almost never do. I get scared when I don’t know the rules initially, like anxiety attack scared, and often avoid them altogether because of this. I’ve gotten so much better since meeting James, because he can teach them to me in the privacy of our apartment before I venture out into the real world. So, if I turn down a gaming night with you, it’s probably because I don’t know how to play the game yet. I’m working on it!
Last, we have a complete failure of gingerbread cookies. They might look good, but my first impression upon biting into them was, “Mmm, cardboard!” They weren’t that bad, but these chewy blocks just weren’t sweet enough to really justify all the chewing that was going on. The problem? Well, I’m one of those low-carb people – I’ll occasionally sneak a treat in, here and there, but largely, I try to stay away from starches, gluten, sugar, etc. So, I was attempting to make this recipe with 1/3rd the sugar and…well. Bad idea. Bad bad idea. I’m going to make another attempt later in the week with, at least, the proper amount of molasses, but I suspect that the maple syrup is actually key to the recipe…
And that’s all I’ve got for you this week. You’ll see another post from me next week for Brian and Jen’s wedding (we’re skipping a few weddings in between, sorry!)!
