I learned from the wedding where the whole idea of Nancy getting married on her parents property came from. A couple of years earlier her parents house had caught on fire. After the fire was out and smoke and ashes filled the air, Nancy and her father were sitting by the pool looking out over the property and he said to her ” I can imagine you getting married here. ” Even though her father is no longer with us, she stuck to the plan and it came out just beautiful. Dave and Nancy exchanged vows overlooking the same place her and her father had talked about. The ceremony was sweet and the runner was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen at a wedding. It was made up of flowers in a swirly design all the way up the aisle. It was a breathtaking detail created by Ingela’s floral design. But the aisle wasn’t the only thing that was just beautiful. From her color scheme to the little birds, every little detail was carefully implemented. She even had the birds on her invitations( again amazing they arrived in their own box) and on the cake. The cake was made by Marina Sousa of Just Cake and had the most amazing realistic flowers I’d ever seen (but they were made of frosting).

The reception was held just down the street at Fernwood Cellars in a beautiful redwood grove. The festivities were great and there was so much fun and laughter. There were many relatives visiting from Germany and there was a lot of “Ziggy, Zaggy, Ziggy, Zaggy, Hoy, Hoy, Hoy!” and beer drinking as if you were at Octoberfest. Plus, I’ve never seen so many people have so much fun with the chicken dance. One of my favorite photos is of the bride standing between her two brother doing the chicken dance. It was just an enjoyable event.

Click here to see their slideshow and below are some of their other vendors:

Bridal Gown purchased at www.gabriellesbridal.com

Catering Cheryl Maritinez with www.cosmocaters.com

Invitations Sheryl Bracken at www.papermoxie.com

Dj www.alanwaltz.com

Videographer Kelly Priest with www.dreamvideo.com

Coordinater Stephanie with www.alloccasionsbydesign.com

Also, here is Flamingo. I didn’t even realize he was there until we were pulling out. I think he had a little too much “ziggy, zaggy, ziggy, zaggy, Hoy, Hoy, Hoy!” He could barely stand up, and he almost got left.

Hey everyone you’ve been asking and I guess it is time to officially introduce everyone to Flamingo.  So everyone this is Flamingo and Flamingo this is everyone.  To make a long story short as you can see from an earlier blog in March that Flamingo and 39 of his pink friends came to live with us.  Little did I know how much Flamingo would become part of our lives or I should say at least mine.  Unlike his other 39 flamingo family and friends who are content to hang out in the yard, sit by the pool, and let the neighborhood kids swing them on to the roof, Flamingo is not a bird that flocks together if you get what I mean.  He has his own personality and it is hard to keep track of him.  In fact, Flamingo has become a litle bit of a renegade and somewhat getting known for his antics. Plus, to my embarrassment he seems to be a little bit of a lady killer.  All the girls want to hang with Flamingo.  Worst of all I think he has definatly been labeled as a party crasher.  So don’t be suprised if he shows up at your event or party.   Maybe it’s neglect but he’s a big bird and I can’t always keep an eye on him.  To officially document the life and adventures of Flamingo below are just some of pictures from his adventures.  Trust me I have more but these are just a warm up for you to see what a social butterfly he is.  The first photo is the very first event he convinced me to take him to.  It was Jamie and Jeremy’s wedding reception.  I think this was the party that convinced him there was a whole other world out there besides the watering hole.  He loved partying with them and from the looks of it they loved him too.  The next photo was shot just last week in Santa Cruz.  He somehow convinced my friend Tanja Lippert to let him escort her to our friend Orbie Pullen’s studio opening.  I’m telling you when those two get together there is always trouble.

I will do my best to keep you updated on him but the bird has a way bigger social life then me.  So don’t be surprised if you don’t see him around town or if he crashes your wedding or event.  I apologize in advance. Stay tuned to find out about his latest adventures.

I promised to get some of the kid sessions up.  Check out Sophia!  She is just beautiful and she was so easy to work with. I love the colors of her entire session.  The blue sweater was just fabulous!

http://www.jilljohnsonphotography.com/slideshow/sophia/

Hey everyone wanted to send this out to all of you.  A friend’s cousin is in need of a bone marrow transplant.  She was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and has 5 weeks to find a donor to save her life.  If you can the family would really appreciate if you could attend one of the following drives and register to see if you could be a match for Michelle.

Registering is quick and easy, just a cotton swab in the mouth and you are done. It is rare if you are a match, but if you are, being a donor is not as painful as people think. It is like giving blood now. Come and bring others, parents, friends, family, etc. We could use the support and you could be saving a life.

http://www.projectmichelle.com/drives.html

Thanks so much and please send prayers for Michelle and her family.

 I love that Shelby and Joe met each other while attending their friends wedding over in England. ( i think)  You just never know where you will find that special someone.  And if your lucky he’ll be willing to move from his homeland of Wales to the United States for you.  I love stories like this and I loved this couple.  They were so much fun to work with and I had a wonderful time photographing their big day.  I love the happiness the orange accents brought to the day, and her flowers and cake were beautiful.  The St. Claire has such a classic charm to it for a wedding.  It has such an intimate feel and I love how Joe and Shelby used the Atrium for both the ceremony and reception.  One of my favorite parts of the day was taking them around San Jose for a mini shoot.  It is so fun to hear everyone congratulate them and to just photograph them playing and enjoying each other.   The last picture is of Joe and his mom.  I love her hat!  She was a sweetheart of a lady and boy could she dance. Shelby and Joe truly enjoyed their day and you couldn’t take the smiles off their faces if you wanted to.  Below are some of their vendors that helped make this such a beautiful event.  To see more of their pictures click on the link below

Shelby and Joe Slideshow 

Vendors

Jen’s Cakes - Anthony Kwapinski
anthony@jenscakes.com

Il Fornaio - Hilary Mercante
hmercante@ilfo.com

Sound In Motion - Matthew Cope
matthew@simdjs.com

Asiel Design - Meg Ethridge
sj@asieldesign.com

Reverand Jane Unland
jeunland@yahoo.com

It rained the night before and a little in the morning but the sun came out just in time for the wedding. It ended up being a beautiful day with beautiful locations.

We started off taking pictures near the Brazilian room in Tisdale Park. The cherry blossom trees only bloom about 1 week out of the year up there and we were lucky to of hit them. They are just amazing trees and created the best setting for Dawn and Kevin to see each other for the first time. The ceremony was held at the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley, This was an amazing church with its ornate wooden beams and large windows. You felt like you were in a chuch in Europe in a different time period. I can see why they decided to exchange their vows there. After the ceremony we headed off to Treasure Island to the Casa de la Vista where the reception was. What a breathtaking view of the city. Dawn and all her vendors did a great job with all the details. Her hot pink and white theme was fabulous. From the lounge area for cocktails, to the cake, to the sweeping floral centerpieces and the food’s presention it all added to a beautiful evening.

Some of their vendors:

707 746-6176 Ann Brooner Wedding Consultant

www.branchingoutcakes.com

www.amieealan.com

www.meganhaneydesigns.net

It was the perfect spot to kick off my new division of Children’s portraits.  I’ve been working on a new portfolio of Children’s Portraiture and having a great time.  These concepts were inspired by my own children and the ads of gap, gymboree and other larger then life images of kids.  My favorite way for these images to be shown our on these beautiful larger then life canvass.  To truly have the impact the images can’t be smaller then a 16×20 and can go as big as you want.  There is just something magical and connecting about the eyes in these images.  I have one of each of my children hanging in my kitchen.  I love seeing them everyday as we eat.  They just make me smile.  What is funny is that people seem to be afraid of the big prints.  They think there going to be to big.  Then I talk them in to it, they get them home and they are loving them.  One of my mom’s just choked up and said ”Look at their faces.” as she teared up.  She said she loved the proofs but it wasn’t until she saw them this way did she really get emotional.  I love that, its one of the reason I do what I do.    There is no way to show them or to show the impact of them til you see them.  They are my favorite product right now.  I’ll post some of the images and slideshow soon but the image below is Cole helping me out at the booth.  He was so proud and had so much fun.  He lined up all the free suckers and loved giving them away.  He cracked me up because I left to take care of something and when I came back he said “Mom I got 4 new customers for you.”  If you know anyone interested in getting a child’s sittings have them give us a call.  We have a great grand opening discount.

Ok so I am so glad that we got this pool. Especially since today my thermometer read a 101 degrees. Right now it is so fantastic out I’m writing this entry outside by the pool. I love nights like this. They remind me of summers growing up in Michigan. Here in the bay the nights sometimes cool down too much for me during the summer. I don’t think I should wear a sweatshirt from May to the end of September. But like I mentioned earlier we got the pool just in the nick of time. It took Swan Pools about 2 months to complete everything. I was impressed since it took 6 months when we installed our pool in Texas. It has been really great! Aidan was the first to be able to officially break the pool in for parties with his 6th birthday. This was one of the easiest birthday parties I’ve pulled off. The kids swam the entire time except to get out and eat. Our good friend and one of my past brides did the cake for me. It was so cool, yummy and a huge hit. She makes the greatest, most fun cakes I know. My kids love it when I tell them Roxy made the cake. Check out the pictures from the party and check out her site http://www.roxysweettreats.com.

Seriously, isn’t this one of the cutest cakes you’ve seen?  There sitting in little donuts that are their innertubes.  Genius!

Check back to find out more…………………..

It is funny how it always happens but I ended up being far more busy then I expected in April with engagement sessions. I did three of them in a couple of days and it was fun to see how each of them were so different. I did a beach, an urban, and a forest setting, all three of the couples were fun to work with.

The first couple was Brandon and Cheryl and we ended up with a beautiful day in Carmel. We took some time to just walk the street and ended up at the beach where Brandon had proposed to Cheryl just a couple of months earlier. Brandon was definatly in to fun, and Cheryl was a little more in to romance. I thought their session came out fantastic it a great blend of the two of them.

Click here for Brandon and Cheryl’s slideshow.

The next couple was Annie and Jon and we headed off for a walk in the woods. Annie just cracked me up. She just kept telling us jokes and it was like having our own comedian for entertainment. I loved it! They were such troopers as they went against the bugs, poison oak, and the mountain cold streams for the perfect shot. I love it when my bride and grooms go the extra mile. This location is one of my new favorites. I did a personal shoot there a couple of weeks ago and can’t wait to share that.

Click here for Annie and Jon’s session.

The last one was of Nancy and Dave at Santana Row. Again, I thought it was spring but old man winter decided that day he needed to hold on a little bit. It was in the 40’s the morning we photographed this session but we still had a great time. I’m so lucky my clients are willing to try different things and freeze to get the shot. I just love the crazy pink wall we found. It is so much fun!

Click here to see Nancy and Dave’s session