I can not believe how much time as past since my last blog post! It is time to knock the dust of this blog!! And no better occasion to do the dusting than to blog about my latest workshop adventure: the IN-CAMERA Workshop by renowned Nashville photographers Zach & Jody Gray.

The adorable twosome started off the workshop by reviewing none other than the star of photography itself: LIGHT. Different qualities of light, lighting the scene, lighting styles, how to look for it, how to control it, how to make it work for you. They then moved on to the goodness, the Zack & Jody goodness: Their step-by-step process for getting great images IN CAMERA thus freeing the photographer from endless hours of post processing. Sweet!! Some of the critical points to achieving the "Zach & Jody goodness" were...

1) Custom white balancing to get great in-camera color (did you know your camera only understands 18% gray???).
2) Shooting in manual to expose for beautiful skin tones.
3) The histogram is the best judge of proper exposure. Learn it. Live it. Love it.

So basically, I learned to make the adjustments I typically spend hours doing in Photoshop in the camera...when I take the photo. DUH!! WHAT A CONCEPT! And it's that simple. See for your self. Check out my "In Camera" images vs. some minor post processing below. The photos with "Me" in them are from Zach and Jody's IN-CAMERA Workshop blog post. ;) Day Two images following shortly.

P.S. A special thanks to the lovely and talented Carmen Salazar and Beth Baugher who graciously hosted the workshop at their super cool studio.

Sneek peek... more to come. :)

Sneak peek! :)

I am a bit late in getting this blog post up. I am hoping Anna and Chris find it worth the wait. :)

So... Where do I begin? I absolutely adore, adore, adore Chris and Anna!!! Their wedding day was exemplary: beautiful bride, handsome groom, wonderful family, happiness, and love. They were married at the Peninsula Bible Church in Cupertino, followed by a gorgeous reception at Fiorillo's in Santa Clara. Between the ceremony and reception, the couple and I took some time to make these amazing photos at Baylands Park. It was a bit windy and unusually cool for June, but Anna and Chris never complained. They were so happy, so perfect... and so in love. I felt very lucky that they chose me to document their perfect day.

Anna and Chris - I hope you are enjoying your time away. There are so many great images and I can't wait to share them all with you.

P.S. Check out Anna's gorgeous bouquet. Anna's mother did an amazing job designing the flowers for the event.

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I hadn't actually met Teresa and Ryan in person until their wedding day. The couple live in San Diego and planned their Napa destination wedding from afar so we never had the chance to meet face to face. I must admit, I am always a little worried when I do not meet my clients before the wedding day. My fear is that they will not like me when they meet me and they will have to spend their whole wedding day being photographed by someone who gives them the "Ooogs!". Well, hopefully I didn't give them the "Ooogs!" because I really enjoyed spending their wedding day with them. Teresa and Ryan were very warm and inviting, as were their friends and family. Their relaxed and well planned wedding event took place at the beautiful Harvest Inn in Napa, CA. Although the threat of rain loomed, there were only a few drops. And the overcast sky made for some gorgeous "soft box" lighting for portraits. Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

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Congratulations Teresa and Ryan!! Hope you have a relaxing time in Hawaii and Maui!!

Special thanks to my new friends from Platinum Entertainment Group and Snapshots Photobooth. It was great working with you all!!

The first time I met Nicole and Garrett at a Starbuck in January I thought: Wow! What a gorgeous couple!! I was so, so excited when they booked me for their July wedding and I couldn't wait to get them in front of my camera. The wait was over this past Sunday when I met them in beautiful Folsom for their engagement photo session. They were just as gorgeous and I remembered. and so easy to photograph. Yay!! :) We had such a great time! I just hope they had as much fun as I did. Don't you just love Nicole's shoes??? Too cute! I can't wait to photograph their wedding day in July at the Flower Farm in Loomis, CA. Check out my favorite images from the shoot.

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I photographed an amazing couple last night: Claudia and Jeff. Claudia and I had chatted over the phone prior to meeting and she expressed a deep phobia of being photographed. After seeing the results of this engagement session I'm not quite sure what she was afraid of. She looked absolutely fierce! And Jeff was an excellent subject - so cool, clam, and down for whatever. They really made my job easy. I am very much looking forward to photographing their May wedding at The Villa at Arden Hills Country Club.

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I am always amazed at how much cool stuff there is out there to make a better photography product. My latest find are these cool fully customizable CD cases from WHCC. I have been looking for an alternative to the sticker CD label and tin packages I'd been using for years. I was so thrilled when WHCC introduced their new line of customized boxes. They are quite a bit more expensive than CD labels but my fabulous clients are worth it. Oh! And I still love their press printed products for announcements and thank you cards.