Thursday, August 30, 2012

"Name That Photo" Contest

Good Morning!

I decided to put together a little contest for some fun.  I am going to post 3 detail images of something that I photographed. The images were taken at the same location and the same night.  You have to guess what the thing is in the image and where the thing is located. The person who guesses correctly will win an 8x10 print of your choice from a selection of my work.  Best of luck to you!! And thank you!

Name That Photo

Where in California were these images taken??
What is it? Where is it?









Thursday, August 23, 2012

Domingues Family Vacation

Hi Again!
I finished going through our pictures from our family vacation. Jerick was able to get some time off from work and we were able to go on a long vacation together as a family.
Jerick had August 11 through the 20th off from work, unheard of during fire season!!  Our first part of our trip we headed up to Salinas to visit with Jerick's parents. Jerick and I had planned to go to San Francisco just the two of us Sunday and Monday. J's folks watched the kids for us. It is a rarity for me to be away from my kids, especially if it's not for a wedding. I have only been away from my kids overnight a few times, it's difficult to be away from them since I'm always with my babies, but oh it was so nice!!!  On our way up to Salinas, right after we drove through King City, our car sputtered and the car lost power on the 101. I felt so lucky that Jerick was with me, I do so much traveling alone with our kids. We immediately signaled our hazard lights and cruised in the shoulder to a safe spot. I called AAA as quick as I could and we had a 45 minute wait for the next available tow truck. Darn. We had plenty of food and cold drinks so that was a plus. A Highway Patrol stopped behind us and kept a careful watch for our safety. James was so excited when the tow truck arrived, "Look, it's Tow Mater!" We got a ride in "Tow Mater" to the Nissan dealership in Salinas. Jerick's dad picked us up and we continued with making plan B for our transportation. Jerick's mother offer to let us drive her car to San Francisco for our visit the following day...a hardtop convertible Volvo. We had so much fun cruising in San Francisco with the top down. I was able to get some sweet pictures driving across the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. We stayed in a hotel by Fisherman's Wharf. I love the North Beach side of SF.  We had a late sushi lunch in North Beach and got loads of chocolate at Ghirardelli Square. We walked up and down Columbus Avenue, another one of my favorites. We bought some coffee at CaffĂ© Trieste and walked by my favorite building in SF, the Transamerica Pyramid, such a cool building. We were on the lookout for a tasty Italian restaurant on Columbus Avenue and decided we would go to Trattoria Pinocchio. It was delicious!! The following day we grabbed breakfast at the Boudin Bakery and we bought our kids bread shaped as turtles and a loaf of bread shaped as a crab for Jerick's parents. We drove on the Golden Gate with the top down and pulled over to the Vista Point. We then went to the Presidio and spent almost 3 hours in The Walt Disney Family Museum. It was amazing learning about Walt's early life and seeing his early cartooning and his ideas for Disneyland. I got teary-eyed walking through the galley about Walt's sudden death and the drawings of his beloved characters mourning his death. We then hopped back into the car and drove past the Painted Ladies houses and I think the theme song to "Full House" stayed in our heads for the rest of the day. We headed over to Union Square and dashed into Tiffany & Co. and looked at all the gorgeous jewelry. So sparkly!! We had a late lunch/early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Macy's. Then walked down Market to Yerba Buena Gardens and snapped some pictures there and of the MOMA. It was getting late so we decided to head back to Salinas. I couldn't wait to give my kids a big bear hug. I really missed them!!
We decided to hang out an extra day in Salinas, with hopes that the Nissan dealership would have our car ready in time.  They had promised us it was going to be ready on Wednesday. We relaxed as a family the next day and walked around the pier in Monterey and took the kids to the Dennis the Menace park there. Wednesday morning we had our bags packed and thought we could continue out trip...Nissan called and told us the car wouldn't be ready until Friday. Crap!!!  Jerick's dad let us continue to borrow his truck and we drove it home to Buellton. We washed our clothes and repacked the bags for our next leg of our trip. On Thursday we headed down the Santa Monica in my good ol' Honda Civic. Good ol' reliable!! We cruised down HWY 1, Lily wanted to see what Malibu looked like. She was awestruck with all the homes built practically on the beach. We drove to Santa Monica and arrived at our hotel with little traffic surprisingly. We drove down to the Santa Monica pier and ate an early dinner at Bubba Gump's. James was excited to see the name "Bubba" everywhere, as that is our nickname for him. After a yummy dinner we ran around on the beach till sunset and then walked over to where all the fun rides are. Jerick and the kids had a blast going on the rides. The kids had the biggest smiles on their faces. The next day we proceeded to drive down to San Diego to visit my brother and his wife. We took a dip in the pool when we arrived at our hotel, we want to relax after sitting in too much traffic. We met up with my brother and his wife in Old Town and had dinner at Fred's Mexican Cafe and had ice cream for dessert. On Saturday we woke up early stuffed our faces with breakfast and rushed over to La Jolla Shores. Jerick, Lily, Dave and Michelle had reservations to go on a kayak tour. James isn't old enough yet, so we played on the beach and in the water while they went kayaking. Lily loved it! They saw fish swimming next to their kayak and seals and she saw dolphins too! Lily loved going into the cave. The tour guide had a game for his tourists: to stand on the edge of their kayak and stay up for 10 counts. Lily volunteered first and balanced beyond 10 counts. She was the only one in the group who was able to do it! That's my girl!!  James and I played in the water and collected seashells. When their kayak adventure ended, they grabbed some sandwiches and met up with us. It was so nice slurping down an ice cold drink. Did I mention how hot it was?!? We cooled off as much as we could in the water, but by 3:30 (having spent 6 hours there) we were done. Luckily the kids didn't get sunburned, I kept loading them up with sunscreen. But all of us got so sun burned! Ouch! My legs are still a little pink!! We went back to our hotel and showered and rested then went back to my brother and his wife's home for a BBQ. We did a small early birthday celebration for my brother with cupcakes we bought at the store. We were all beat, so we called decided to call it an early night. The next morning, Sunday, we had breakfast at DZ Akin's. So yummy!! Then we rushed off to Disneyland. Luckily we didn't hit too much traffic. But Disneyland/California Disney was so packed!! We spent most of the day in Cars Land, James's favorite place. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, then went back to Cars Land to see all the amazing neon lights. We dashed over to Disneyland after the fireworks ended and hit so many rides after the crowds thinned. It truly is one of the best times to be at Disneyland, right after the fireworks all the way till closing. Our kids are total troopers! James fell fast asleep on our walk back to our hotel room. The next morning we went to Disneyland. We were shocked how quiet it was in the morning. But soon after lunch, the craziness and crowds began to grow. We left Disneyland around 7 to head home and we zoomed through LA. No traffic, yippie!! We made it home in good time. Got the kids in bed and passed out as well. Whew!! That was our amazing and very packed family trip. Never a dull moment :)  Here are some pictures from our awesome vacation. Enjoy!! :)















Beth and Luis's Wedding

Good Morning!

It is a foggy Thursday morning here in Buellton, the fog will surely burn off soon to the heat.  My family and I were away on our vacation before our daughter began school. Jerick was able to get sometime off from work and we were able to enjoy sometime together as a family. With that, I had to put my work on pause.

I wanted to post these images from Beth and Luis's wedding. Beth and Luis had a very sweet and intimate wedding ceremony at The Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos. They were married on a warm and beautiful Saturday afternoon in mid June. Beth's best friend's husband happens to work with my husband. (There's always a fire connection somewhere :) ) They referred us to Beth and she contacted me about her wedding. I was very honored that she contacted me, and I was excited about the opportunity to photograph at Firestone Vineyard. I drove over there to do some location scouting. What a beautiful location for a wedding!!  Beautiful landscape draped in rolling hills of golden grass, coated in oak trees and lined with rows of bright green grape leaves, it's simply breathtaking.

Beth and her best friend Molly had arrived and decorated the ceremony site, which was located underneath a huge oak tree in a grassy mesa over looking the hills and vineyard. Red, yellow and white rose petals were scattered along the aisle. Beth and Luis's immediate family arrived to share their wedding day with a few very close friends as well. Beth wore a sweet and summery short wedding dress adorned with a black and red ribbon around her waist with flowers pinned in her elegant hair. She wore sparkling jewelry (I just love sparkles) and rocked some killer red heels. I loved her red heels!!  Luis looked calm and excited to marry his love of his life. Looking ever-so stylish in his red tie, black shirt and white vest and slacks. Beth's father walked her down the aisle, they were so sweet together. Their ceremony took place underneath the large oak tree. There was a wine barrel by the ceremony site with two wine glasses and a bottle of Firestone Sauvignon Blanc. They shared a glass together during their ceremony. Beth and Luis presented a rose to each other's mother's, a very sweet and endearing moment during their wedding ceremony. Beth and Luis wrote their own wedding vows to each other. I love weddings like this that have so many personal touches. After their first kiss and their stroll down the aisle together we gathered everyone up for photos. Then I proceeded with Beth and Luis's portraits. We went all around the vineyard. We took some portraits underneath the big oak tree, in the vineyard, around the gate to the tasting room and then down by the entrance to Firestone Vineyard. They had some playful props with them, a Giants flag as they are huge SF Giants fans, and a cute Thank You sign for their thank you cards later on. Their wedding reception was held at The Custom House in Avila Beach. I met them there and photographed a few hours of their reception.

Beth and Luis are genuine and sweet and they were extremely easy to photograph. It was an honor being their photographer. I just love intimate weddings such as this, so many personal touches and so much love and support from their close family and friends. And the best part is they had the time to really visit with their guests during their wedding. They had asked for a petite wedding package of images and a slideshow. I designed this album for my studio copy and to leave one at Firestone Vineyard for promotion. I wanted to share these images of Beth and Luis's beautiful and sweet wedding day. Enjoy!!













Sunday, August 5, 2012

Precious Baby Annie

Hello,
I wanted to post these image from the portrait session I did of sweet baby Annie back in May. These images are from Annie's 6 month baby portrait session.
Annie's mom, Misty, and Dad, Jeremy are both firefighters. Misty works for Cal Fire, and Jeremy works on the same crew with my husband with the US Forest Service. I had the great joy of being their wedding photographer a few years back. Misty and Jeremy had even come to see my senior project exhibition while I was attending Cal Poly back in spring of 2006. Misty had told me then in 2006, that she knew she wanted me to be her wedding photographer. I guess when you know, you know :) I was giddy to hear that. When Misty and Jeremy became engaged, they had contacted us and we arranged an engagement photo session in summer of 2009. We photographed in around Montana de Oro outside of Los Osos. Gorgeous spot for engagement photos. We had a great time together, and I actually had my baby boy strapped to me in my Baby Bjorn while I took their portraits, you could say he was a great assistant!! I had designed a guestbook for them from their engagement photos and a save-the-date postcard as well. Their wedding was in early April 2010 at Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles. What an amazing winery!! My husband and I were very excited about being their photographers, and at such a beautiful place too. Misty and Jeremy's wedding and engagement photos can be viewed on my website, as well as their wedding book I designed for my studio.
Well, as the song says, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage..."  Jeremy and Misty had a sweet baby girl 9 months ago. And when we moved back to the Central Coast, Misty and Jeremy asked if I could take Annie's 6 month baby portraits. We photographed these portraits back in May (I'm a bit behind in posting these on my blog, however, I had posted the images on my facebook account). We photographed in a few locations, starting in front of the flowery gardens by Sycamore Hot Springs near Avila Beach. I love it there!! We took some sweet photos of Annie in a very adorable tu-tu that Misty made for Annie (Misty is very talented, the tu-tu was so amazing!!!). Annie did some costume changes and we even photographed Annie with her Mom's Cal Fire helmet. We went by a gazebo and photographed their family portraits there. Next we drove to SLO with hope we could photograph around Poly Canyon, but unfortunately, since the last time I photographed there was back when I was attending Cal Poly, there was now a gate closing off vehicle access. Bummer. On to plan B... we went to the creek in downtown SLO by the mission. We bought some pink balloons and put them behind Annie in her Bumbo seat.  I grabbed my daughter's bubble blower that morning for the shoot and had some bubbles flying for Annie. We were laughing so much because it was the first time Annie had seen bubbles. She didn't know what to make of it. So precious!!  We snapped a few more of the Blake family portraits and then Annie was definitely over it. We ended the photo shoot and went to have lunch together. It was a great morning together and a great photo shoot. Misty and I are in the works of getting together for Annie's 9 month baby portraits. Yikes, time flies way too fast!! Here are some images from Annie's photo shoot...
Enjoy :)











KISS Wedding Books

Hi All!
I was so happy about this, I wanted to share it on my blog. I had taken a few images the other day of all my wedding products that I have studio copies for. I had sent a "thank you" message to Pro DPI and KISS Wedding Books just to say thanks of course to those printing agencies for their awesome products and amazing service.  Apparently, KISS really liked my images enough to ask me for permission to post the images on their Facebook page. I was totally thrilled. I've received a few "likes" on the images posted on KISS and an image has become their cover image. I am so excited about this! What a huge honor!!  Thank you KISS Wedding Books, I really appreciate the post!!

















Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Becky and Josh's Wedding Images

What a beautifully warm Wednesday we've had here in Buellton!!! Wow!

I wanted to post some images from the wedding of Becky and Josh Hutchison from April 28, 2012.
Jerick had the pleasure of working with Chester Fly Crew summer/fire season of 2011.  He knew most of the guys on the crew anyway, being that the Fly Crew was across the street from his Crew-1 station in Chester, Ca. Jerick worked with Josh on the Fly Crew that summer. And in late December, early January, we heard the wonderful news that Josh proposed to Becky while they were visiting Yosemite.
Josh and Becky came to visit us while we were at the Davis Bridal Show in Davis, Ca. It was great being able to meet up, and they live in Woodland which is very close to Davis. It was wonderful seeing them and the big smiles on their face with their engagement.
Becky and Josh are a truly amazing couple. They camp together, hike, rock climb, go to Disneyland (my favorite), ride bikes, they love their yellow lab puppy dog, CJ, run, and swim and much more! Both of them are strong, genuine, filled with bright smiles, funny, sweet and caring, young-at-heart, and NATURAL athletes. I was in awe of their athleticism.
Throughout the months we kept in touch through emails and texting and phone calls. We figured out the details from afar with their images requests to our travel plans. Their wedding took place at The Chalet Lodge located between Graeagle and Portola, Ca. It was great being back in the pine trees, there's nothing like that sweet fresh smell.
We arrived there on Friday, the day before the wedding. We stayed at the Lodge that night and we were able to catch up with some of our friends and relax and enjoy ourselves. The Lodge was simply beautiful with a luxury modern-rustic decor all tucked away in the pines. Our room was very cozy, it was very relaxing.  The morning of their wedding day, the girls spent some time prepping in the spa and in the salon. The boys went off shooting clay pigeons and played volleyball. Jerick was with the boys photographing the target shooting in action and I was photographing candids of the girls getting pampered. Becky just loves the Disney character, Goofy. So their colors were a tangerine orange and a soft teal blue.  They had a HUGE white tent for their wedding reception with sheer orange drapings in the tent and lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Their wedding cake was of two mountains and a scenic landscape below the mountains. Their wedding gift to their guests were carabiner with their names printed on them.  There was even a frame picture of their Disney trading pins, all with Goofy on them, that spelled out "Hutchison." Amazing personal touches!!
Their wedding ceremony was on the Lodge's green with the gorgeous scenery of the pines behind them.  During their ceremony, the bride and groom mixed a sweet and bitter beer together and drank it, as to represent the sweet and bitter times a marriage may face, but they are together in it all. Loved it!! The bride wore an elegant sheath dress, Becky looked absolutely stunning!! After the ceremony, we snapped their photos, even got some great images with Becky and Josh with their puppy dog, CJ. There was a canoe by the pond area and the boys had a blast get their photos taken in the canoe. Becky and Josh were troopers and got in the canoe as well. We were stoked  to finish our pictures in a timely manner and we were able to get them to their reception right on time. When the DJ announced the arrival of the new Mr and Mrs, they did their sweet first dance.  Dinner was fun buffet and there was even a chocolate fountain! During the early reception, there was a rock climb wall, a bounce house, lawn games, and card game for the guests. When we were done photographing the sunset images with the bride and groom, Becky changed into comfy clothes and she and Josh had their first climb together on the rock wall.  Jerick scaled the rock wall with his camera and snapped photos of them making their way up the rock wall. Jerick got some amazing photos of them and of the view of the grounds. Everyone had a blast at their wedding reception, great music and super fun times!! There were so many guests on the dance floor! What a great celebration!!
Here are some images we used from their wedding album. Becky and Josh had such a fun wedding. We were so glad that we were able to be their photographers!
Enjoy!! :)