Rachael & Ryan's Snowy Engagement Session at Boreal Resort

Now is the time to introduce Rachael and Ryan. Rachael is an old friend from my home town, Truckee Ca. When I saw that ring on her finger I was so happy knowing my old friend had found the person she was choosing to be with the rest of her life. I had not met Ryan yet, but I knew I was going to like him.

After talking for a long time about engagement pictures we finally decided on a date: March 4th. Destination: Truckee Ca. Because both Rachael and Ryan work at Boreal and spend so much of their time there, we thought it would be a perfect place to start our snowy engagement photo session.

We loaded up my Subaru with the camera and snow gear. I was so excited to finally get the chance to photograph a couple in the snow. I had so many different ideas running around in my mind. Luckily, Rachael and Ryan were so much fun! It wasn't snowing, but there was plenty of fresh powder from the heavy amount of snow that fell the day before. For a few shots, we threw snow up in the air to create the look of falling snow. A few times, the couple even hiked halfway up the bunny hill, strapped on their skis and snowboard and rode through the powder snow to get a few action shots. After that, we had to have a snowball fight!



















After exhausting all of the easy to get to spots at Boreal Resort, we decided to make our way into town. Being that Rachael and I are both from Truckee we both have a special attachment to a certain bridge - Rainbow Bridge on Old Hwy 40 that overlooks Donner Lake. Personally, every time I see that bridge and the amazing view of the lake below, a vast collection of memories flood my mind. Taking photos on the bridge, which is not equipped with a human-sized walkway, is a bit like playing live-action Frogger - dangerous, but so much fun!









After the bridge, we headed down the highway to Loch Leven Lodge where Rachael's Mom had dock access for us on Donner Lake. We photographed here for only a little bit because the day was getting long and our tummy's were starting to grumble.





Rachael and Ryan treated us to Burgers at a new (to me) joint called Burger Me. They have an eclectic menu with somewhat decent prices. They made their own veggie burger patties in-house and their sweet potato fries are addictive. Thank you two so much for such an amazing engagement session. I am looking forward to photographing your wedding in October. Also, thanks to my wonderful second shooter Don Campbell and my assistant, Sean, for carrying everything and throwing beautiful light.

Chico, Ca. Portrait Photographer- Regan and Drew have a Tea Party!

My friend Kathy and I had been talking about having a tea party photo session with her two kids since before Christmas of last year. Kathy is an amazing cake decorator so we thought it would be a lot of fun to have some cupcakes and a cake on the table, as well as the tea pot and tea cups, so she would be able to use these photos for her own business website and portfolio. We discussed outfits and props before hand and we decided that the kids would be adorable in classic or formal style clothing. Kathy hit up the thrift stores around Chico and Orland and found a few things to add to her already large collection of costume outfits.

We decided before photographing that we would eat lunch and hang out. This way the kids would be slightly more comfortable with me rather then jumping right into the session. Once we were done eating the kids were excited for their cupcakes, Mom had been working on them all morning. She made a simple two tier white cake with a yellow flower on it, around a dozen assorted sizes of white and red roses and I must not forget to mention the white cake with fluffy white frosting and delicious freeze dried pineapple (Yummy!) Yes, Kathy sent us home with an assortment and they were delicious!

After lunch we were ready to start our tea party, we brewed the tea and loaded the cupcakes up to carry out to the field where we decided to have our tea party. We placed a table and two benches under a bare tree that we placed a Bakery Sign in, something she had in her kitchen. The kids were "at The Bakery, having a tea party" and they couldn't have been more cute and fun to photograph. I felt like a kid again as we were "guzzling the tea", as Drew would say.

Thanks Kathy for getting everything together! I love all the images, but here are a few of my favorites. It was so hard to pick, it went like this, "awwww I like that one, That one is cute, and that one too, and that one....over and over!"

Chico, Ca. Wedding Photograper- Jessica and Benny's Engagement Session

When I initially meet with my clients one of the major goals is to really get an idea of who they are. Doing this helps me come up with unique ideas to bring those traits out in our photo shoot. When I met with Jessica and Benny back in November, I had mentioned how I wanted to photograph a couple at the Honey Run Covered Bridge, in between Chico and Paradise. Jessica got the biggest smile on her face and proceeded to tell me how she and Benny used to take drives up Honey Run Road all the way to Paradise and that it had special meaning to them. With that, the main location was picked out.

After talking to Jessica on the phone a few times we came up with a pretty fun-filled day of engagement photos. Because Jessica is a 49ers fan and Benny is a Cowboy's fan, we had to play a little football. Additionally, I was also very excited for a giraffe umbrella (which turned out to be a tiger) and we needed some "Save The Date" photos so we decided to have some fun with chalk!

The long-anticipated engagement session of Jessica and Benny was so much fun and well worth the wait. Thanks Jessica and Benny, I had so much fun and can't wait to share your wedding day with you.