Christine not only designed and created all the invitations and save the dates, she also made the most amazing gift bags for her guests that had all the beach day essentials you could ever want! Such a wonderful and thoughtful idea!Look at these fabulous Badgley Mischka heels!Christine is a makeup/hair artist for brides all year long, so it was really nice for her to be able to sit back and relax on her wedding day while someone pampered her!I’m pretty sure this is one the best favors ideas I’ve ever seen at a wedding. Perfect idea for a beach wedding!I loved how happy these 2 were after the ceremony! They were all smiles.The resort had a giant chess board by one of the pools. We could not pass up taking some photos with the pieces.After some one on one photo time, it was time for a sunset cocktail hour on the lagoon.After the sun went down, it was time for an amazing dinner.These pictures do not do the menu justice. It was such an outstanding meal. I was so honored that they gave me a seat at the table and I got to experience all the amazing food with everyone. Last photo of the night before everyone headed upstairs. Perfect ending to the night.

Janet is head of the Chanel makeup counter in San Jose and obviously loves what she does so I tried to incorporate what she loves into her detail shots.This photo was so special to me. It was right after Janet’s bridesmaids zipped her dress up and Janet just took a deep breath and smiled. She finally knew it was really her big day!
Janet and Matthew decided to do a 1st look before the ceremony. Matthew was so nervous before seeing her, but as soon as he did, you could see all his nerves just disappear. It was so awesome to capture such a special moment.Janet was just absolutely stunning in her wedding dress. Not to mention, she was so excited to take photos not only with Matthew, but by herself. Such a natural beauty!Matthew works at the perfume department at Nordstroms and collected a TON of sample bottles for over a year so they could be the favors to their guests! Such a fun and unique idea for favors!Galletto’s food not only looked beautiful, but tasted beyond amazing! Everyone could not stop talking about how delicious everything was.Matthew decided to show off his dance moves before retrieving the garter.As usual, DJ jason from Sounds in Motion got the crowd moving like crazy out on the dance floor!
As usual, I kidnapped the couple for a few minutes while their guests kept dancing to get some night shots.The end of the night was perfect. There were only a few guests left and Janet and Matthew got back on the dance floor while their guest showered them in confetti and bubbles. Perfect end to the night!

The contest will be all day this Sunday and it will be an Easter Egg Hunt! I will be hiding 3 golden eggs at 3 different locations in and around Modesto. You find an egg, you win a free Portrait session/Family Portrait Session!

Here are the rules:

I will be giving clues as to where you can find each egg all day via Facebook and Twitter…..

…BUT **(AND THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT)**  If you follow me on Instagram, you will get photo hints and you will have the upper hand! So if you have an Instagram or know of someone who has one, make sure you follow me so you can get some extra clues to find the eggs faster!

When and if you find the egg, YOU MUST TAKE A PHOTO OF YOURSELF HOLDING THE EGG AT THE LOCATION YOU FOUND IT! You can post it on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, but you when you do, you must tag me so I know you found it.

I will start posting clues early Sunday all the way until the early evening before sunset. So follow the clues and may the best easter egg hunter win!

After that 1st year working with me, me and Lindsay started to kinda part ways.We both kept in contact through Facebook and texting but the days of weekly photoshoots came to an end. I started doing more weddings and began to process of working on my business while Lindsay started working on her acting/theater career. Lindsay ended up being part of a lil TV show called the Glee Project and eventually landed a told on Glee. She ended up leaving Modesto and pursuing her career in L.A. and has been nothing but successful since. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to see her follow her dream and succeed. There were many times in that 1st year when we were shooting together we would talk about our goals and aspirations. It’s been so awesome to see both of our goals become a reality. Lindsay recently visited Modesto and asked if I was free to catch up. I was and I said we could meet up under one condition, we do a small little portrait session, like old times. Without hesitation, she said “Yes!’ and we met up and did a little session at a local park. No fancy makeup, no stylist. Just me, my camera, and her just like our 1st shoot. It was insane how our old dynamic came back almost instantaneous as I started photographing her. We had so much fun catching up and shooting. Here are a few of my favorite images from our little reunion. Enjoy!

So many of you on Facebook and who follow me on instagram saw that I was in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I was there with about 16,000 other photographers from all over the country (and the world) to listen to a ton of talented photographers speak at WPPI 2013. What is WPPI? It stands for Wedding & Portrait Photographers International  and it is an amazing conference where all us photographers learn new techniques, listen to amazing photographers share their knowledge and inspire us all, shop for new products, and of course party(I mean it is Vegas)!

This year I had the privilege of going to the conference with an amazing photographer named Nikki. She has 2nd shot for me several times and this was her 1st time experiencing WPPI. We went to classes together, talked about our goals for the year, talked about what inspired us from the classes, walked down the strip until our feet ached, danced the night away at the coolest party of the year: Airplane and Blazers, and even took photos of each other! Here are some photos as proof of our fun! Enjoy!

This picture pretty much sums up the end of the night. I was exhausted, but so happy