Hooray!

I am massively excited to share with you all my new portfolio. There are lots of new galleries, fresh images & new content. Head over there & check it out!

You will also notice that there is a new layout for the blog! A simpler design (although I may update it again), and larger images. Yay!

Lots of new & exciting changes are happening around here. Stay tuned for lots of new images to hit the blog soon.

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with some of my favorite people in the entire world. i love these girls.

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Mamiya 645
Kodak Portra 160 & 400

It is a well-known fact that I love trees. Especially Redwoods. Let it be known that I love them with a passion. So of course, being able to photograph a wedding in the redwoods is one of the best things ever for me!

I have known Monica for a long time (since high school), so it was such a pleasure & joy to photograph this amazing day in Woodside, CA. There were faux mustaches, vintage couches (that Roger totally found and lugged to the location!), woodcut signs & GoPro cameras everywhere! The air was filled with love, joy, & lots of crazy dancing! Of course, I had to join in on the dancing too!

(I also need to post their engagement session, which was pretty epic, but of course, blogging has bested me again! I’ll probably have to go backwards on that one. ;))

My darling friend Nikki (you might remember her baby shower) gave birth to her beautiful daughter Immi (short for Imogen), over a month ago, and I finally got a chance to meet the little one! & I am in LOVE! Of course, I brought along my film cameras to play with, and we ended up making the visit into a fun little mini photo shoot!

I LOVE how these came out, I only shot two rolls (about 50 images total), and I am beyond thrilled. I am loving shooting film more and more — it just allows me to totally focus in the moment — instead of worrying what the images are looking like on the back of the camera! Plus it just feels truer to my heart. :) Prepare for various more film images to come!

text design by the wonderful jasmine fitzwilliam, photo & quote by me

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything really personal on here. This past year has been a bit of a blur, and it has been amazing, but I am so looking forward 2013, because I know that there are big things in the horizon for me.

2012 was a great one, most notably that I worked heavily on my movement from within project. On top of that, I got published in a magazine for one of my dance photos, auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance (I’m serious — never did get a chance to blog about that!), had my first showing for my dance photos, camped solo for the first time ever & got lost in the snow, sky dived, went to Yosemite multiple times (can you believe it was my first time there only a year ago??), helped a friend open a dance studio, photographed & navigated my way through my very first big commercial project & the biggest step of all for me — I launched my personal portfolio.

I have big dreams for 2013, two of which I will briefly share here.

Firstly, I have been thinking the last few months that I would really like to take my movement from within sessions outside of Southern California. I know there are so many people out there who I could reach out to, I just need to get to them! So I have begun brainstorming a project, one that involves Kickstarter, that will allow me to reach all those dancers outside of the Southern California radius. I don’t know if this crazy idea will even work, but I have to at least give it a try. There are so many people’s lives I know I can reach, if I can just get to them!

Secondly, film has been inching its way back into my life. I have been shooting film on and off for the past few years — & before that, it hadn’t been since college. But over the last few months, I have been feeling an overwhelming need to shoot film again. A lot. There is something with film that I don’t get with digital — it’s not just the results, but the process for me. It’s so easy to shoot off a hundred frames in digital without a second thought, but I realized that when I do that, I’m not truly paying attention to what I’m shooting cause I have multiple frames to fall back on. With film, I am literally paying per image, so I have to be more conscious of what I am framing. In other words, I am totally paying attention to what’s in front of me. On top of that, I don’t  have a screen on the back of the camera, making me obsess with the results of the image, like I do with digital. Instead, shooting film gives me the freedom of not worrying about the outcome, and instead, I focus all my attention on what’s in front of me, and just the process of creating.

Both of these dreams, if anything, is an experiment. I don’t know what the outcome will truly be with either one, but I know that my heart is pulling me in that direction, so I must follow. And I must get out there. My quote above feels very fitting for all this too, because in many ways, I am leaping. The whole of 2013 feels like one big leap for me. Into more film, into my dance project, into all the other big dreams I have tucked in my little pocket. :)

I hope the same for you too, friends. I have always been about adventure in life, as well as getting out there. Life is too short to not follow your dreams, to not go where your heart tugs. No one has ever said that they regretted following their hearts. Sure, it can be rough, it can be a lot of work. But the feeling of joy one gets from it, is second to none. Maybe falling in love. ;) But following your heart is very much like falling in love, I think. Instead of falling in love with someone else though, you fall in love with yourself — and the world. <3

So here’s to 2013, may it be filled with dreams, adventures & getting out there — whatever that may be for you. :)

As per usual, I had the most charming time with the Farias family, capturing the photos for their Christmas cards! I meant to post these on Christmas day, but better late than never! Plus, it’s all so adorable, you just can’t help yourself but swoon over the darling-ness of the family, plus little miss Rylie all wrapped up in lights!

Here’s to a beautiful holiday season to you all!