The party was held at the Whitson’s enormous backyard! I loved all the colorful details Sandy picked out to create a great summer theme. The gumball machines as favors, delicious grilled cheese sandwiches, sliders, korean beef, love blossom seeds, the Salsa band, umbrellas, popcorn, snow-cones and what not! It was a beautiful celebration for Jackie and Drew. Jackie is super sweet, she is funny and loves to laugh. I’m so glad that I got to know her a bit that day. She was fun to talk with and she played along so well the whole time with her 8-month baby-belly! This is an exciting time for the Whitson family and I wish Drew and Jackie the very best.

Beautiful Jackie.

The details and decores of the day -

The family -

I had the opportunity to photograph M&T’s beautiful wedding at Tahoe not too long ago. And now with baby Liam on the way, I had the opportunity to photograph her maternity session. It was a super cold day. One of those Sac winter days when we can’t expect much but rain and wind. Luckily, we started a bit early, so were able to get back home before the rain started. We went down to my favorite neighborhood park. The park looks wild right now, so lush and green. It was brave of Michelle to climb up and down the slope to get to the nicer parts of the park. I don’t know how she did it, but the pictures came out great for sure Trevor is always quite an entertainer. I have always enjoyed shooting with him, he made my job that much easier by making it so much fun.

Trevor and Michelle – I’m so happy for you guys! I’m thrilled that I have this opportunity of capturing your moments and sharing this incredible ride with you. Thank you so much for having me there. I hope to share many more years of journey with you.

Lifestyle sessions are fun. It allows people to capture the real moments that will remind them of their golden days forever. I highly recommend families having lifestyle portrait sessions every year if situation permits. My benefit as a photographer is that I get to capture the casual moments of a family and tell their stories through my images. At the same time I get to know everybody to a point where I feel I’m a part of them. This surely is a benefit for a people person llike me. I have gotten to know Gagan and her family in the similar way. Little Kashni is a year old now, and Jaap is growing into becoming a beautiful young girl. Last year I had the pleasure to shoot their family session for the first time. I was ecstatic when Gagan emailed this year to take their family photos one more time. I LOVE how the photos turned out. I hope you guys enjoy them as well.

Last week Melanie and Madyline cruised down to Roseville to shoot with me. We drove to a near by Golf Course area to capture their fun moments. The time of the day turned out to be perfect. The light was beautiful (if you don’t know, I’m all about using natural light). I loved the look of dry grass and tall trees. Madyline was super excited to show off her cat ears and acrobats she did with mommy since she was a little girl. We were able to capture a few of those moves as well.

I was a little nervous going into this shoot having Melanie as my subject. But, it was gone right away. She is absolutely gorgeous in front of the camera. Thank you so much, Melanie and Madyline, for coming down all the way, taking the pain of walking through the itchy dry grass and letting me take these wonderful shots of you! Now enjoy the images …

I had the honor to capture this beautiful ceremony for little Lili. I can’t believe she is already so big! She is now crawling all over and trying to say words like mama-baba. Watching her grow so closely has been awesome for me. I LOVE this little girl; I wish her the very best in every step of her journey. Congratulations Lili Ana, may you be blessed with all the happiness in life.

Watch the slideshow here.

I have come a looong way since then. But I still remember the day I was at their house capturing Mary Anne’s surprised moments(it was a surprise party). So when I got the call from Tanya, I couldn’t be any happier. Yes, returns clients are awesome!!!

Meet Mary Anne’s family See the gazibo behind, Mary Anne’s husband Chuck built it for her.

This is Ms. Meera. Isn’t she a cutie ?

Jonah, the jumping boy, is the newest addition to the family. He was born to Tanya last year.

Here’s Tanya(L) and Sandy(R) with Mary Anne in the middle.

Mary Anne and Chuck – the cute couple

Mary Anne’s son and his lovely wife.

This is Abby, neighbor’s dog. She was the entertainer for the kids

Sandy and her family.

I’m so glad that I was at home on Sunday to receive Tanya’s call. It was really nice to see them again and shoot for them. Last time I only told my husband the stories from Mary Anne’s party. This time he tagged along with me and was able to meet them all Hopefully, I’ll see them again in the near future.