Matt + Ali {Shell Beach, CA}

If Matt and Ali were a chocolate truffle they would have a gooey center consisting of awesome-sauce. They were such a joy to be around and photograph on their wedding day.

They got married at The Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach which is just down the 101 from my house. Matt and Ali chose The Cliffs because they wanted to have a destination wedding. Their guests came from L.A. and as far as the east coast. They went to great lengths to create an atmosphere of comfort and enjoyment for all of the people invited and involved. Because Ali is an actress all of the esthetic details were of the utmost importance to her. She really put her heart and soul into making sure her wedding looked and felt beautiful. She wanted people to come for the weekend, celebrate in style, and leave feeling refreshed by the Central Coast love. Matt and Ali, you pulled it off amazingly! Way to throw a party!

In other related and exciting news, Ali Hillis is an amazing actress who has been doing wonderful work in the world of Hollywood. She was in a beautiful movie called The Ultimate Gift and has appeared over the years on the occasional T.V. show. She had a part in one of my favorite RDJ movies, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and she is in the upcoming Disney feature, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. A national magazine really wants to feature Ali’s wedding in their celebrity weddings section. Stay tuned to find out who publishes Matt and Alis beautiful love story.

Adorments brought the floral beauty. A Santa Maria Mariachi band kept the guests happy during the cocktail hour and The San Luis Jazz Band had everybody dancing into the night. It was such a classy yet cozy wedding celebration.





















Check out their engagement pictures that I took in a junk yard.

Patrick + Christine {Woodside, CA}

Patrick and Christine are simply delightful people! They have an energy that is like a contagious spark when you are around them. You can’t help but get excited about the daily adventures of living life!

They got married at The Mountain Terrace, which is up in the hills from Redwood City where I spent a few years of my childhood and many summers vacations. Just the smell of the ocean breeze mixed with the towering musty redwoods made me nostalgic and miss my grandparents.

I met Patrick and Christine at a wedding a couple of summers ago. They saw my work on a slideshow and I think Patricks life changed forever. Okay, maybe I am being dramatic, but in that moment he decided that he loved photography, which is a pretty big deal in my book. They also decided that when they were ready to get married that they would call me!

Since then Patrick has been walking the road to becoming a photographer. He has purchased some camera gear and is soaking up any information he can. Before the wedding Patrick and Christine took Anna and I out to lunch so that I could share photography secrets. I gave him a few nuggets and on the walk back we stopped by a wall and I made him photograph Anna and I. He did great! Stop by his blog and give him a shout-out.














I just thought this looked amazing!

Day After Shoot ;) + Holga Love {Marty + Sarah}

This is the old Mill where we did Marty and Sarahs trash the dress session. I brought my Holga camera and to add to the artistic feel of the shoot. Film is an old friend to me, a really old friend. Its about time we get reacquainted.

Marty and Sarah were down for anything. We tromped through piles of sawdust and I risked my life balancing on sketchy plywood to get the shots. I think I got more dirty than them. ;)









Julian wanted to come along. So we put him in a few shots. This one was my favorite.

Marty + Sarah {Port Angeles, WA}

This wedding was incredibly special to me because Marty and Sarah are not only freaking awesome people, but they are also my family. Its a long story so I wont get into it right now because this about their wedding, not me! ;)

Marty and Sarah got married at this amazing outdoor art museum. Its basically 5 acres of forest with random art pieces blending into the natural setting. A hillside covered in starched kid sweaters, a path sprinkled with shards of glass, a random mirror cradled in the limbs of a tree, a grove of trees dressed in tutus, a labyrinth of rocks in a grass meadow are just a few of the things that brought character to Marty and Sarahs already unique wedding.

Years ago Sarahs friend (who was also one of her bridesmaids) decided it was a good idea to hook up Sarah and Marty. Through much effort, prodding and pushing she got them to talk on the phone. Much to both of their surprise they hit it off from 2 states away. Marty decided this girl was worth a flight to San Diego to meet in person. That trip sealed their fate and after Marty returned home, he sent this straight-to-the-point love note. Sarah sent it back to him knowing that someday she would have the note to keep as a reminder of just the beginning of their lifelong love story.





Sarah has an obsession with pink flamingos. So much so that she could tell you the entire history of the pink flamingo cult that came out of the 60s. Seriously, don’t get her going about it. ;) But, if you are a sucker for cool lesser-known facts then by all means ask away. Their wedding was surrounded by flocks of these plastic birds. This flamingo was the outcast who let people know where the smoking section was located.


Martys 3 sons were his groomsmen. Julian, the youngest loved the camera.








I had such an amazing time meeting family from the Ingalls side for the first and second time. I felt so at home and cant wait to go back to visit. The following day Marty and Sarah took me to an old mill for a trash the dress shoot. I will post those images next. Stay tuned!

Lake Shasta Vacation

I just got done with the busiest couple of weeks of my summer! In 2 weeks I shot 2 weddings in Washington, turned 29, spent 5 days on a house boat at Lake Shasta with my family, and shot 3 more weddings across California. And I feel AWESOME!

I have so many weddings to blog that you just have to wait on those. For now, I thought I would share a bit of our sweet Shasta wakeboarding photos. It was fun pretending to be a wakeboard photographer.

We packed 17 people on this 3 story floating mobile home. Brother Joel found this cozy little cove for us to make our headquarters. The lake water is decreasing so quickly that every day we had to physically push it off shore and re-park so that we wouldnt end up high and dry. Then us men stood on either shore pulling ropes connected to the bow and staking them so that the wind wouldn’t push the boat into the rocks at night. There were some hilarious moments when my brothers and I played tug-of-war with a 1 ton boat separating us. We were dragged into the water at times when the wind pulled the boat away from us.

Joel had the best moves. Here is his buttery back flip.



Joels wife Morgan is my inspiration. She is a track-jock like Joel and Anna and mother to my sweet little barrel-chested nephew Ethan, so I figure if she can do it, I had better.

Anna took me on my first ever wakeboard family vacation 3 years ago when we were {just friends}. I was so nervous to wakeboard because Ive never really been athletic. I tried it out that year and didnt like it much, but figured if I was going to possibly date and then marry this chick then I better swallow my fear and just learn to love the sport.


Well here I am trying my best to not faceplant and drink-up whats left of the lake water. I played it real safe this year considering I had 2 weddings to shoot the weekend after the trip. I focused on getting comfortable with my footing and making small jumps.




Overall the vacation was refreshing and relaxing. Im ready to edit like crazy and shoot a dozen more weddings before the year is out!