So you’ve booked your newborn photography session and you’re so excited to have beautiful imagery of your family and your brand new baby… but what are you supposed to do before the shoot?! The good news is, you don’t need to do much. Below are the main ideas I share with my newborn clients on how to best prepare for their newborn lifestyle session. Step One: Figure out your clothing first. I recommend wearing something in which you feel a little polished (no T-shirts with milk spit-up) yet something that is comfortable enough to lie around cuddle your new baby in. Once you’ve figured out your ..read more

I’m so ? over-the-moon ? excited to be debuting my first online course, developed especially for parents! It’s called Artful Parenthood: Create a Photography Practice for Self-Expression, Connection, and Memory-Making. That’s a mouthful, I know so I’m just calling it Artful Parenthood. ? So why did I create this course? As parents, our lives are filled with multi-tasking, context-switching, and a general sense of time scarcity. It's so hard to work against that default way of operating. Sometimes it feels like a luxury to pause and ask yourself "What is most important to me? How can I fin ..read more

I always find it amusing that the behaviors that many parents fear most when hiring a professional family photographer - that their kids will act like wild animals, that their kids will have meltdowns, that their kids will wipeout in their nice clothing - are the very things that make sessions “edge of your seat” interesting. I’d argue they’re the behaviors that create the magic of family sessions. Can you tell I like a little tension in my creative practice? ? All jokes aside, I get it. I’ve been on the other side of the lens plenty of times and my kids have always thrown curve balls that I d ..read more

I’m excited to share that I’ll be offering be offering a select number of mini-sessions this November. They’ll be happening at the gorgeous, light-filled Clove + Whole studio in Emeryville. The sessions will have a minimal, earth-toned, natural-light vibe - so they won’t have your typical “studio photography” look to them. These sessions are open to families, couples, and individuals. These can be your holiday card photos, your dating profile portraits, or just some cool and creative images you want to have of yourself (no special reason needed!) Here’s a peek of the studio! ?? ALL THE DETAILS ..read more

This session is hot off the press and I couldn’t wait to share it. I’ve said many, many, many, many, many times about how much I love photographing other artists. It always feels like a true creative collaboration to make the images. Plus I love being in another artist’s space, observing their process and seeing the things they make. It’s so good for inspiration! This session was with interior designer Jacqueline Norrise, who designs gorgeous, muted palette rooms filled with natural materials and heirloom pieces. Her style is impeccable and tightly curated and she works with her clients to hel ..read more

This is you at eleven. You love rollerblading and bouldering and that concludes the list of anything sporty you’re willing to participate in. You make moody keyboard compositions with strong influences of Phillip Glass. One of your favorite ways to chill is to rock in the hammock in our backyard, sometimes with a book but mostly with an iPad. The new Legend of Zelda (TOTK if you’re in the know) has been your game obsession of the year. You are growing into a true Virgo with high standards, a strong moral compass, and a keen discernment when others are doing it wrong. You love all animals and c ..read more

After 12 years in business and well over 1000 family sessions, I am shocked to realize that I have never made a blog post dedicated to addressing this question - ha! I guess I’ve preferred to tell families individually? At any rate, I’m putting these pearls of wisdom here so that I can reference it later AND to give you a sense of what the outdoor photo session scene looks like. Rule #1: Keep it minimal. In other words, the less we have to schlep around, the more we lend ourselves to organically and spontaneously moving around in an environment. Before bringing something, ask yourself if it’s ..read more

In June, my family and I traveled to the beautiful island of Bali for two weeks of R&R. While it wasn’t quite R&R (is it ever when you’re traveling with kids?), it was an adventure and one in which we made some core family memories. A highlight for me included the lovely Balinese culture - with it’s twice daily offerings to the gods (cigarettes and candy to the evil spirits in the morning, rice and flowers and coins to the merciful spirits in the evenings) and the rituals imbued in everyday life. For my kiddos, it was the animals: monkeys, sacred cows, wild cats, giant koi, baby chicke ..read more

Earlier this year, when talking with some other photographers about what a dream family photography session looks like, I was able to articulate that I love photographing families when are doing something they love. After some reflection and some dreaming. Family Adventure Sessions were born! Family Adventure Sessions are activity-based photography sessions that are a bit longer than my standard family sessions - 2 hours vs 1 hour. They leave plenty of time to capture connected portraits, dynamic action shots on-the-go, and the candid, spontaneous, and often hilarious things that happen along ..read more

One question I often get asked this time of year: what happens if the fog comes in? The quick answer is that we resign ourselves to nature’s whims (and I do a secret little dance of happiness). Sorry to all of those families that have a hard time believing that fog can be a good thing. Let me explain… We’ve all seen those big, white soft boxes depicting a studio photo shoot in movies or TV shows. That big white box is called a diffuser and it softens the light coming from the flash. Fog (or any kind of cloud, really) does the same thing to the sun. It softens its harshness and evens out areas ..read more