I had posted this image way back in March from Becky and Jason's wedding. I thought it was a very cute photo of the flower girl. Well, apparently others find it just as compelling. I just found out that it won first place in the WPJA summer contest in the getting ready category. This is super exciting news because it was an international competition for some of the best wedding photographers in the world!! You should take a minute to visit the WPJA web site to view all of the winning entries.

I had the most incredible weekend at Lake Almanor photographing the wedding of Melissa and Pat. One of the great things about it was that we went out early the next morning to this awesome meadow overlooked by Mt. Lassen for a photo session. Here are some photos of Ryan and I hard at work. Ryan's got two cameras, two camera bags, the reflector, and of course the essential sunglasses. I've got two cameras, one camera bag, the bride's hat and her veil. We had a terrific time and I can't wait to sort through our 3,000+ images!

I had the opportunity to assist Lori Paladino of Lori Paladino Photography at a wedding at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 20. Lori was terrific to work with and the entire wedding party was very relaxed and funny. I put together a quick web page with my favorite photos of the day. Click **here** to view the page.

The weather was perfect and the location was a dream - I love outdoor weddings! I had a chance to reflect on what a perfect job have, while I was savoring the pan seared California Rock Cod on the outside terrace overlooking the golf course at sunset. Can you think of a better way to end a weekend? Anyways, it really made me feel grateful that I am able to share in these special moments of life that bring friends and family together.

This is an image of the ceremony site from the terrace.

I had the chance to photograph a wedding with my friend, Barton, of Barton Brown Photography in Sacramento, back in July. It was great to run into my favorite makeup artist, Cynthia Uranga, doing the bride's makeup that day. I put together a collage of images showcasing Cynthia's work. If you are looking for professional makeup for your wedding day, you should definitely contact Cynthia at cynthiauranga@aol.com, or 916-300-1601.
Her website is www.eyfordetailartistry.com.

I photographed the wedding of Jennifer and Jason at the Point Bonita Lighthouse, which overlooks San Francisco Bay, on Friday, August 11, 2006. We went to dinner in Sausalito immediately following the ceremony so we had time to take some incredible shots there. The reception was held on Saturday, August 12 at a private residence in Winters. There was nice little lake at the reception site and I even got the two of them into a kayak for some photos. Their **slideshow** is a little long, but definitely worth watching.

I also want to make sure I send a special thanks out to my assistant, Ryan, for doing such an awesome job at this wedding. So, mucho gracias! Ryan, you're the best.

The 12 Steps of Brides Anonymous

Exciting new opportunity for me.....I recently received a voice mail from a woman identifying herself as Dr. Bride. Yep, just like you I went, "huh?, this I gotta hear". It turns that Kristina Bryan, or Dr. Bride, is an Emotional Issues Consultant. Now, if you can't understand why any bride would have the need for an emotional consultant, you have (1) never been married, (2) never been to a wedding, and (3) are probably a man. -ha, ha, had to throw that in.

Anyways, Kristina is one of the neatest and most interesting persons I have ever met. She has just authored and is in the process of publishing a book titled The 12 Steps of Brides Anonymous. I've only had the pleasure of reading a chapter excerpt, but can tell you that I see a best seller here. What a perfect handbook for every bride!

Kristina and I are collaborating on a couple of different projects, but one that I am very excited about is shooting the cover photo for her book! We have a very interesting idea and I can't wait to get started on making it a reality.

In the meantime, if you want to contact the Dr., her phone number is 707-450-9865 and her email is dr_bridehere4u@yahoo.com.

Awards of Achievement

I am proud to announce that I won two awards of achievement last night for images I entered in the print competition at the Professional Photographers of Sacramento (PPSV) meeting. I scored an 80 on both images which means that they ranked in the outstanding category. :)

The first one is called Comfort Zone and features Madisyn and McKenna Kolb of Dixon.

The second one is titled Mesmer-eye-zed and features K-La Duncan of Dixon.

Thanks girls, for being such great models!!

Heather and Brian are getting married on July 7, 2007. We took a long drive to Murphys to do their engagement session. I had never been there before and really enjoyed the quaint charm of the town. We had a lot of fun doing the session, we even took a nice break from the heat and had ice cream in the cutest little shop. I'm posting my favorite image of the session, but there are plenty more great ones in the **slideshow**.

This is my new all-time favorite wedding photograph. Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE every wedding that I get to do and the opportunity to capture these moments for future generations. However, there is just something that speaks to me here. It is such a romantic and loving photograph! It was taken on August 5, at Mary and Tom's wedding. There were many other awesome photos from the day - you can check them out on their **slideshow**.

I was really excited to get to photograph Hannah Hoffmann again. I did her first portrait session about a year ago. This time her mom, grandma, grandpa, and great grandma joined in. I designed another album from her session because I thought it turned out so great. See Hannah's slideshow **here**.

I photographed the wedding of Kurt and Alma in Yuba City on July 29. This day was so unique for several reasons. The bride and groom got ready together in the same house, they rode together to the ceremony, the reception was at the bride's sister's hibachi restaurant where everyone was entertained by the awesome chefs, there was a dragon dance, and the couple exited the reception under an arch of sparklers. Needless to say, this made for some incredible photographs. By the way, the entire event was put together in about two months by the groom's mother, Cathy. I think it turned out terrific! View their slideshow **here**.

I wanted to share another image I really liked from Jennifer and Jason's engagement session. I liked it so much I entered it in a WPJA contest. Cross your fingers for me - I should find out within the next week if it placed or not.

Jennifer and Jason are getting married on August 11 at the Point Bonita lighthouse so we wanted to go to San Francisco for their engagement session. We went during the extreme heat spell we were having and the 70 degree-ish breezy weather felt incredible. We walked around for a couple hours and found a lot of cool places for photos. The owner of a new shoe store near Fisherman's Wharf let us in to use his cool red wall for some photos. If you have a chance to get there, make sure you check out Shoe Envy - neat stuff and very nice staff! Here is a collage I made of the urban style images from the day. Check out the slideshow **here**.

I photographed the Kolb family on July 14 at the Davis Arboretum. We had a great time and the girls were terrific little models. I designed a 7x7 album from the images because it turned out so well. View a slideshow of the album **here**.