I visited with my family over the weekend to carve pumpkins and do some general catching up. I only live an hour away, but sometimes we let the distance get the better of us and we realize it's been two months since we last got together. I was looking forward to talking to everybody and eating some of my dad's homemade chili.

As soon as I got through the door, my niece was eagerly twining through my legs, announcing, "Guess what I'm going to be for Halloween? Fairytopia!" My sweet niece, who is the girliest of girly girls was so eager to put on her outfit, she jumped at the chance when her mom said she could try it on. She made her mom come up to help her with her costume and pink lip gloss. Perfect. My SIL decided to get my nephew dressed up as well, figuring it would be a good time to get pictures.

I love, love, love these kids.

I had so much fun with Thom and Jenn during their maternity session, that I was stoked to find out they wanted me to photograph their new son, Cayden, as well. I knew we would have a good time and that they would be up for pretty much anything, which is any photographer's dream come true. In addition to taking pictures, Thom's best friend, Ryan, was in town for a few days. I have known Ryan since my freshman year in high school, although we haven't seen each other in several years. I knew this session was going to be so much fun!

After I arrived at the Hofman home, we tried to get Cayden to drift off to sleep, but with all the people around, there was too much for him to see! It just reminded me that kids and babies aren't always going to do what all the grown-ups envision. So, a week later, I came back and shot a follow-up session. (This is a combination of the two.)

Thanks for your patience and hospitality, guys. I had a great time!

I met Liana in one of my photography classes last semester. Over the course we became friends, bonding over darkroom chemicals and a lack of enlargers at the community college we both attend. At the end of the semester, I handed out business cards to everyone I wanted to stay in contact with and Liana asked if I would be interested in shooting her engagement photos in a couple months. I told her I would love to and to please, please call when they were ready. A few months after the class ended, she called me to tell me they were ready and could they get a few with their dogs too? (That made me smile - she's awesome!) We chose Balboa Park at the beginning of August to take advantage of that beautiful autumn light. And yes, the dogs made a cameo at the beginning of the session. :)

Thanks, Liana and Troy! I had so much fun!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I've known Ciara since I was 16 years old. We met in the summer before our junior year of high school, working at a pet store. A month later, we were surprised to find ourselves in the same English class. And though we are complete opposites (and she didn't like me at first) we soon became friends - the kind of friend you know you're going to have forever. So when she asked me to take family photos, I was delighted. With our history, I knew we were going to have a blast!

This past weekend found me footloose and fancy free... and homeless since the house is being fumigated before being put up for sale. Since Mike and I have had the traveling bug for a bit, I figured a quick vacation was in store. I'm not really a Las Vegas fan, but I haven't been there in a while and figured it would be good fodder for my camera.

The drive went pretty smooth. I love driving on the highway at night, especially during the summer when the air is warm and the windows are down. I crank up the music and sing to my little heart's content while tooling along to my destination. Since we didn't leave until after work, it was already dark when we headed out and I was happy to satiate my night driving cravings.