Happy Halloween Customer Appreciation

Well in the hustle and bustle of the Fall, I love the little break that we get called Halloween--a time to reflect on how my little ones are seeming to be less and less little every year. This year was the hardest yet on choosing a costume for my 10 year old boy. It seems there are aisles and aisles of cute costumes for girls, but when it comes to boys--not so much. Once they are out of the superhero/pirate phase...what then? I practically punched the teenage boy who worked at Party City the other day for calling me out on being a dull mom because I wouldn't let my 10 year old son be a scary monster with guts hanging out. Sorry, guess I'm old fashioned in some ways. I actually told my son at Party City to feel free and "google yourself a new mom when you get home." Ha!

That tangent aside, I am so fortunate to have great professional portraits every year of my kids in their costumes. Lucky for me, my professional photographer travels with me always. So this year, I thought I wish I could do this for all my clients! And so, why not? This year to say thank you, I'm opening up my studio for my clients who have done a Fall session with me this year (or are booked to do one) from 4-5 on Halloween night. It'll be just a quick session each, but at least we can capture a few precious moments that we will remember forever. After Halloween, I will mail 4x6s of the best shots. So, let me know if you'd like to join in the fun. Tell the kids this is the first candy stop of the evening (I'll be sure to have my candy jar stocked!). Happy Haunting (or not if you're as old fashioned as me!)

Purple Mountains Majesty

Well, definitely the most scenic wedding I've ever shot. The first part of September my assistant Stephanie and I had the privilege of driving to Aspen Colorado to shoot my beautiful cousin, Christy's wedding. We decided not to do it the easy way and fly, no we opted to drive an RV out to Colorado. I really wanted my kids to go and meet some family that we don't get to see much, so they went with me. Bakersfield's fun, but as far as scenery goes--it's a little...well...dry. But Aspen Colorado, hello??? Amazing. The RV aspect of it made it just a fun whole week, with lots of photojournalism involved. Actually I gave my 7 year old daughter a camera to photojournal the behind the scenes shots! She got some great stuff and plenty of not-so-great, unflattering shots that I pray you will never see.

The wedding day was due to have thunderstorms off and on and of course if that had happened the mountain top wedding that was planned would have been derailed. It was an amazing day however as we watched the clouds perfectly make their way around the outskirts of Buttermilk mountain--making the wedding dreams a reality. The scenery was majestic, the bride and groom stunning, and to top it off the chair lift with guests covered in red blankets was crazy fun. All in all, it couldn't have been a more picture perfect wedding. Here's a few shots that I'm not even sure do the day justice, but they were some of my favorites. The entire wedding can be seen on my website.

After the wedding we really did ride down the mountain on a ski lift. I actually learned to ski on this actual mountain when I was 12, so that brought back some nice memories for me as I remembered trees on which I nearly cracked my skull. Stephanie was quite the trooper on this lift, as she is a little height phobic, but she rose beyond her fears and I think the high is always a little sweeter when it follows sheer terror.

So, would I love to be a world traveling wedding photographer? Absolutely! How does that one begin that, I have no idea. But for now, I love our humble little town and the people that fill it-- however, I would happily rise to the occasion of escaping our 100 degree town to do more destination weddings. But really, it's all an adventure and I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

No wonder this is so much fun!

Here are three very different weddings, thick with color and characters. They could not be any more different from each other. Stephen and Alaina got married the end of August at Seven Oaks--which never disappoints. Alaina was game for just about anything when it came to posing. She layed on top of the table for a few priceless portraits--even hung upside down in an armchair! The boys, well we won't mention what they wanted to do for their portraits! Check out their entire collection of portraits on my proofing gallery.

Then there was Luis and Brittney who got married at Valley Baptist. The church sanctuary was beautiful, but we really had a blast with this fun car that we got to use as a prop throughout the day. Made for some fun stuff, especially when we went downtown with this awesome couple for a few unique photos. The remainder of their images will be up this weekend!

Lastly, but certainly not least was Shad and Misty's wedding in downtown Bakersfield. Their wedding was on top of a parking garage--no kidding. And it was breathtaking as the sun went down behind the Padre Hotel. It was a warm day in Bakersfield (really unusual I know), but the breeze was so nice. We did all our pictures downtown before heading to the Metro Gallery for the reception. There's a few more images to preview on my website, but the rest will be up in two weeks.

Yeah, I think I have a pretty good life...