Devan Bobbitt's Senior Portrait Session

I have known Lynn, Devan's mom, for about five years now through the Dixon Chamber. Lynn has been talking to me about doing Devan's senior portraits for about three of those five years. Well, it was finally time; Devan is graduating Dixon High School this year. We had a great time in the studio and at Northwest Park. We'll be designing some great graduation announcements with the images. Some of my favorites......









Devan's slideshow:

Keylee Jacob's Senior Session at The Ranch in Dixon

Hello!!! my name is D.J. and I am Rose's Husband (I can not say better half, for those of you who know Rose, she is a tough act to top!) I went to this session with Rose out on a farm - If you want to remember how America was built - spend some time on a farm with people who know how to work it!!! It was a beautiful day and as we drove down the dirt road to the location - we were surrounded with beautiful trees and pastures full of livestock on one side and a field being prepared for planting on the other, the sights and sounds reminded me of home. After we got to the location Rose was drawn to the horses as she has owned some in the past and absolutely LOVES Animals!!!!!!

We were greeted by the family and I could not help but notice our subject to be photographed (Keylee) was working on her steer calf. We started the shoot discussing the lighting and backgrounds and Rose getting her plan of attack ...... soon we were heading down the road ....calf in hand..... shooting away!

The entire shoot went amazing as this entire family is a hard working American family and we were in there realm. I have had the pleasure of meeting Kevin and Becky before and both of there girls Keylee and Kassie are strong and beautiful people. about 1/2 way through the shoot Kevin asks Rose if she wants to ride one of the horses.... that was a question even a newbie like myself could have answered for her.... YES! and away they went.... then Kevin puts Rose on his other Horse and a few moments later from behind the barn I hear Rose calling for me.... SO EXCITED!!!!! she wants to show me a trick Kevin showed her on his horse..... so she gallops in a circle and picks up some speed.... then .... pulls back on the bit and the horse skids to a stop!!!! it was awesome..... it had been some time since she had last ridden but she looked so at home up there in the saddle...then she decides to try again....... builds up speed....pulls back and .... OOOOOPS her foot slips out of the stirrup and she is sliding off the horse.... BUT!!!!! the horse stops.... she gets a little help to put her foot back in and she is good to go!

As we concluded the session everyone is getting hungry so we decided to go to Chevy's resteraunt for some cold drinks and great food with a great group of friends. Thank you Kevin and family for dinner and a great time, as you can see your session turned out amazing!!!

March of Dimes March for Babies Sacramento 2009

There’s a place for everyone at March for Babies! I was invited to help photograph the yearly March for Babies event in Sacramento on April 25. DJ and I are going to be 'roaming' photographers, there to capture the essence of the event to share with all the teams and other participants.

Teams will be walking for six miles, starting and ending at the State Capitol. Family Teams are made up of friends and family who want to honor babies – babies born prematurely or with a birth defect; babies who didn’t survive, or healthy, full-term babies. Premature birth touches half a million babies and their families every year. Babies born too soon are more likely to die or have disabilities. Birth defects pose another serious threat – taking the lives of many babies and cause lifelong disabilities for thousands more. So it’s important for us to help the March of Dimes help moms have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies.

No one is working harder than the March of Dimes to understand the causes of prematurity and birth defects.

If you aren't attending this event or sponsoring a team and would like to make a contribution to this cause you can go to www.clicktosavebabies.org. Every dollar makes a difference!

Teaser from Gina and Michael's Engagement Session in St. Helena

The weather held-out on Monday so we were able to have an amazing engagement session for Gina and Michael in St. Helena. I couldn't wait to share one of our favorite images with Michael's Harley.

This pose was DJ's idea and we all loved it!



The slideshow:

Melissa and Colby: We Will June 6, 2009.

Mother Nature always has a say in anything a photographer does. Rain, Sun, Cloudy, Snowy, Windy, anything. For Melissa and Colby's engagement session we were scared of them being blown away by the major gusts of wind! Us photographers, naturally with all the camera gear we carry, would be weighed down. Okay let's be serious...We weren't really scared of them being blown away. Instead we saw what the wind was doing outside and wondered if it would be good weather conditions to shoot the session down in Old Sacramento. We decided to go for it and this is what turned out. :)













Melissa and Colby had a theme of "1940's" for their session which I thought was a really cool idea. Can't wait for your wedding!

Check out the slideshow:

Dixon Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting for PJ Design

Today was a ribbon cutting and KUIC Coffee Break held at the Dixon Chamber Office for PJ Design. Pamela Chesser is the owner and she does event design. One of the things Pamela loves most about her job is that she is a certified balloon artist. I can attest to the fact that her balloon designs are incredible and like nothing I have ever seen before.

Pamela with some of her creations.


We always enjoy some great coffee and pastries courtesy of KUIC 95.3 at their Ultimate Coffee Breaks.

Pamela being interviewed for the radio broadcast.

Barbara from KUIC doing her thing, cheerful as always.

Cher Besneatte (Curves-Dixon), Pamela, Susan Motley (Motley Real Estate), and Dan Ayala (DDBA) reviewing Pamela's portfolio.

Cookie Powell (Dixon Family Services) posing with her sixth grade teacher!

You can visit Pamela's website at www.pjdesign.biz. Her number is 707.678.2926 or she can be contacted via email at celeb8tion@earthlink.net.

Miller's Professional Imaging Baby & Child Portrait Contest

Capture each little moment of your child's life

Let us help document your child's ever-changing stages with priceless portraits that will be with you for a lifetime. Schedule an appointment with us from now until June 21st, and your child's portrait will also be entered into the Miller's Professional Imaging Baby and Child Portrait Contest. A range of prizes will be awarded from $500 - $5,000 in cash!

Contest Rules - children, infant to age twelve, are eligible. Images must be taken between January 1st and June 21st, 2009.

Janelle and Tim's Engagement

I get a text from Rose at 4:30AM. "Hi Ry, R u up?" I reply back, "Two, just got up." I don't remember the last time I was up that early and have no recollection of that text message. So she calls me and I quickly snap out of it and wake up. I drive over to Rose's still half asleep and her, DJ, and I make our way to Baker Beach to meet up with Janelle and Tim for their engagement session. We've never had this early of an engagement session but getting up that early for this one was totally worth it. I had so much fun and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too.











Be sure to check out the slideshow:




Janelle and Tim we had so much fun and can't wait for May 30th!

National Charity Model Search

Thank you for your support of my participation in the National Charity Model Search. I've enjoyed submitting many wonderful portraits of our community's beautiful children to the contest, and I'm proud that by working together we've raised over $94,000 for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.

The date to enter portrait submissions has passed, but there's still time to rally the final vote and raise more money for charity, as well as voting to keep your model in the standings. If you've been putting off placing your vote, please do so now. Also, please urge your family and friends to vote. The contest selects America's Cutest Kid, and the winning child receives great prizes, including a $5,000 US Savings Bond and a Canon PowerShot G10 digital camera. Remember, each dollar generated by votes goes toward providing infant bereavement photography to parents who have lost a child.

Interested in casting your vote? Click here. This link goes directly to the Sacramento region voting gallery where I have several entries posted for the following children: Lola Bernhardt, Natalie Sarley, Andrew Tomczak, Alex Wacker, and Aaron Wacker. You can search for each photograph by the child's last name. Lola's photo is currently in third place and Andrew's photo is currently in sixth place. Voting ends at midnight on April 2, 2009.

If you didn't participate in this year's contest, I hope you'll join in the fun next year.

Thanks again for your support and your vote!

New Virtual Background Scene Machine

So, I have gotten way behind on the blogging again. I received my new Virtual Backgrounds Scene Machine and was busy trying to get it all set up so I could play. I was very excited that it was finally here as I ordered it when I was in Las Vegas at WPPI (Weddings and Portrait Photographers International) convention. Then I managed to catch strep throat yet again so I was down for about a week. Now I am playing catch-up on everything.

I had a chance to do some work on it over the past week so this is going to be a long post with most of the first images I captured. There are a few more that I will add in the next couple of days. (Beth, don't worry, yours will be posted soon!)

Without further ado, here are some of the incredible people I photographed on the VB Scene Machine recently:

Emily, all the way from Oregon:






Little Lola, such a sweet angel. This image is entered it the National Charity Model Search benefitting the NILMDTS (nowilaymedowntosleep.org) foundation. If you would like to donate to a wonderful cause and vote for Lola to win, please click *here* to link to the voting site.


The lovely Shannon, my office manager:




Miss Natalie as a fairy and a ballerina: