nature
On a drizzly San Francisco afternoon, Clarissa and Khadijah met me at the top of San Francisco to take these dreamy engagement photos. When the drizzle stopped, the diffusion of sun through the clouds brought these Sophia-Coppola-Marie-Antoinette vibes to life. A wonderful way to celebrate love with dear friends!
Sabrina asked me if she could gift her mom a photo session for Christmas; how could I say no?! I think this was such a sweet, sentimental, life-long gift. In addition to the session itself, Sabrina and her mom spent time together picking coordinating outfits and brainstorming for the session. Hopefully one of these makes it on the wall at the McGraw’s new house!
#WithMoralSupportFromSabrinaMcGraw
Obviously, I took my own holiday card photos. Fernando and I recently moved to San Jose, and we wanted to take our photos here to highlight the life change. While jogging one day, I came across San Jose’s rose garden and knew this would be the place. We came around 8:30 a.m. on picture day, and I’m glad we did because around 9:00 a.m. the garden started filling with other families taking holiday photos. Looks like we picked the spot! The morning fog provided the a nice hazy background and the softest morning light. In 30 minutes we had enough selection for the holidays, and beyond!
When Fernando’s niece asked me to take her senior portraits, my first reaction was “I am cool enough for Gen Z!!” We planned our date around the holidays and got to work. The Claremont colleges served as our backdrop, and they put in work providing beautiful old architecture and maintained greenery for the photos. Mayra came in the cutest preppy outfit that paired nicely with her surroundings. And I have to say, she started out a little camera shy, but after an hour she was hitting poses like it was no one’s business! I am honored to have had a little part in her celebration of this milestone (and I am really looking forward to coming back to this campus to take more photos)!
It is always fun when my lawyering and photography worlds collide. In this case, one of my mentors reached out to me to take some family photos. Apparently many other families had the location in mind because there were at least four other sessions happening at the same time. Luckily, that gave us more time to catch up. And, oh my goodness, when I tell you that her daughter was one of the most special people I’ve ever met, I mean it. I hope to continue to capture her family over time!
A full circle moment! Ryan was one of the first senior portrait sessions I ever did, and this year I had the honor of taking photos for his little sister. She loved the idea of going to the same park and recreating some of the looks we did for Ryan. I love watching my work evolve over time. But more importantly, I love watching my relationships with clients involve into genuine friendships!
Okkk yellow! One of my most fun discoveries this season is that I had virtually no outfit color repeats. And Emma in the yellow just makes sense. And can we talk about how she brought a Berkeley themed trolls doll to photographer with her? A riot! Thank you for the belly laughs and dance moves!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. Maya’s a model. Look at the angles, look at the face, look at the limb control. Truly an honor to capture these!
No better way to celebrate daylight savings than with a long drive to a morning maternity session. That sounds like a complaint, but the overcast skies presented the perfect backdrop for these moody, cool toned family portraits. Can you say colors on point?
This past weekend was my little sister’s birthday. Obviously, we did a session to celebrate the big occasion. Looking at these pictures threw me my start in photography when she served as one my first models. Through my photos you can see her hair evolution, fashion evolution, and confidence evolution. I love seeing folks bloom behind the camera, and no subject more special than this baby.
Also, this shoot was a test of the Canon 35mm f/2. I loved the focal length, but definitely missed my low aperture. My Sigma 35mm f/1.4 should be coming in soon, so stay tuned to see those sample shots!
Fernando is notoriously camera shy, but he graced me with his presence in front of the camera because after months of bar studying I was itching to take some portraits. We headed to Indian Rock Park in Berkeley to get the rocky, bright light backdrop I was looking for. We also found some beautiful plants near by so we had to take advantage of those, too.
When Sarah asked me to take her photos I was honored. She is objectively one of the kindest, most compassionate people I’ve ever met. Her warm heart comes through in these photos through her sweet smile! Sarah was excited to try anything I suggested, so we took advantage of the fully blooming nature around us. And, of course, how could I take evening photos without taking full advantage of some back lighting!
Who knew that one friend’s referral would turn into such a cute session?! Working with Ruben & Kevin was such a pleasure. Their love was obvious from every interaction that I witnessed and they were pleasures to work with. It is not everyday that you meet a couple that is so open to trying new things and holding uncomfortable poses. I am so excited for these guys to get married! What a beautiful pair!
I met Prince when I started working at Peet’s five years ago. I met Vern when Prince shared his Salmon burger recipe with me a few months later. Now, two of my favorite people are getting married and I could not be more excited. And, obviously, I was going to take their engagement photos.
Prince was going for a Beyonce & Jay Z On The Run-feel, so it had to be black and white. We chose Joaquin Miller Park to emulate the big empty fields in the original. And, of course, the outfits were on point.
I love how sweet these photos turned out and I am counting down the days until the wedding.
This is Candice. She is my idol.
Sabrina and I argued in the Ninth Circuit last weekend and then celebrated by trying to visit the Conservatory of Flowers. We messed up and ended up on Treasure Island. We decided to cut our losses and go to Fort Mason and it was great!
I had been looking forward to taking photos here since I first visited last year and saw the beautiful blue water, red bridge, and green grass!
Hung out with my bud over break!
It took so much effort to get Eli to get out of the house and let me take some photos but I am so glad he did. These are some of my favorite portraits of him that I have ever taken! All it took was a prime lens and golden hour! I love how warm these are and the beautiful ring of light around his hair!
Also, in case you are wondering I rediscovered my VSCO presets and this is the Film series.
Every New Year's Day my family hosts a hike in Joaquin Miller Park. There are some folks who come every year and others who we may or may not see.
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