Jeff and Melissa ended up with having a beautiful fall day in Carmel for their wedding. The ceremony was beautiful as they overlooked the lake at Quail Meadows to exchange their vows. Surrounded by their closest friends and family you could tell they were really enjoying themselves. I met Melissa last year at a wedding I photographed. She was one of the bridesmaid and I was so honored she asked me to be part of her day. This crowd is a really unique blend of girls that have known each other for years. It is always great to hang out with them all before the wedding. They are really good at keeping whomever is getting married calm.

One of the things that Melissa did that I thought was unique and special was that her ringbearers carried their rings on these giant stones. I thought what a creative idea and it fit so well in the theme of the day. What I found out later just touched my heart. The stones they were carrying were stones she found on the beach they day she learned her dad had passed away. I loved how she included them. The other thing that I thought was different about their ceremony was that they had no adult attendants. They only had the kids which made it a fun day. Some were cousins and other were nieces and nephews. Which leads me up to one of the best stories I overheard at the wedding.

I was in the bathroom and I heard one of the flower girls talking to her mom saying how she was a little embarrased about kissing Jeff (the groom) in front of all the people when she came down the aisle. Then she said,” But I did it anyway because I didn’t want him to cry in front of all those people if I didn’t kiss him.” I thought how cute and so very thoughtful.

Everything about the wedding was just simple and elegant. Even her cake was simple little petits instead of a large cake. They were displayed on huge rocks.

Click Here to view their slideshow.

I love being a wedding photographer here in the bay area. Here are some of the vendors that helped her pull of her day and create some great things for me to photograph.

Kim England Florist

Julienne Chranowski Quail Lodge

Kelly Productions Music

Big Time Video Services

By the end of the night this ringbearer had enough.

Friday I had the honor of attending the Bellarmine’s 54th Annual Fashion Show at the Fairmont San Jose. Every year the show has a different theme and this years was “En Fuego”. They pulled it off beautifully! Every detail from clothes, music, set, and food just wanted to make you get up and salsa. I attended this a couple of years ago, and the one thing in common with the two shows was how much fun the kids have. Some are cool and reserved and others just ham it up and do their best “Zoolander” impressions. Every year the dancers are so cute, I love it when people just let loose and don’t care. This year was really fun for me since one of the models was Cristina, a senior from Presentation High School. Her mother is a good friend of mine and I had the joy this summer to photograph Cristina’s senior pictures. We had a blast shooting that day but it was so fun to see her do the catwalk on stage. Her mom asked me to get some shots of her and her friends. (To see her slideshow from this summer click on her name).

Why do they do the fashion? Its tradition and its a great cause. The fashion show is a fundraiser to help raise financial aid so that young men from diverse backgrounds can experience one of the finest educations in the area. It is a great tradition where the community really pulls together to help with education. The entire thing is done on a volunteer base. One of the things that I like best about Bellarmine is that it just produces well rounded citizens. From the students I’ve met and those I’ve heard about that have graduated from Bellarmine I can only hope my sons get the same kind of encouragement, drive, character building, and education as they grow. It is a great way to help those succeed in a great education.

Click here to see some of the fun they had.

Ok eveyone e-mail is back up and running but I lost several e-mails.  So if you sent me anything recently and didn’t hear back please accept my apology and please resend it.  It looks like I may of lost some e=mails also during the crash.

Thanks for your patience.

Hey everyone just wanted to let you know that I’ve been having trouble with my e-mail.  We currently don’t have it fixed.  I can recieve e-mails but not send them.  So, in all honesty I can’t remember who has gone through and who hasn’t.  So, if you haven’t heard back from hang in there or send me another e-mail.  You can also try and call.

Thanks for your patience!

Finally finished Jana and Gino’s slideshow.  Have a look. I think the session came out really fun. Just click on this link.

Jana and Gino Slideshow

Let me know what you think!

I am so excited to invite anyone who would love to come to our open house of Artique and Tanja Lippert Photographers.  We opened the doors in September but are now officially having the GRAND OPENING.  It will be Friday, December 5 from 5-8pm.  Stop by, stroll the streets and enjoy the many other stores and restaurants in the downtown area.  Plus, be there for the 5 o’clock lighting of the Christmas Tree.  It will be a great night to get you in the mood for the holiday season.  Hope to see you there!  If we’ve never met in person please introduce yourself.

Its been a rough couple of days at the Johnson house.  Our Cat Ranger has been missing for about 5 days.  The kids are officially  worried.  Yesterday they posted about 30 posters and we did follow up to a couple of calls of people who might of seen him.  So far, no luck.  Right now our school district has had a 4 day weekend and many people have left for little adventures.  I told the boys maybe he got trapped in someone’s garage and he”ll get released today.  It is always difficult losing a pet, or worrying about it.  But I think it is more difficult to be the parent of two little boys who miss their pet.  Its one of those things that you just can’t do anything to make the cat reappear.  Hugs, kisses, and prayers help to bandage the pain, and sometimes help to distract for a while but it is so difficult to watch them experience the feelings that go with lost.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  Its only 9am this morning and they are already asking “How come nobody’s calling?”

I love this session and we had such a great time creating these images.  This was my first oppurtunity to work with Tia the fabulous stylist and it was a fantastic experience. For those of you just tuning in Tia is a great stylist that I’ve been so lucky to have been connected with. You might ask what is a stylist?  Well Tia does more then just hair and make up.  She also helps with wardrobe and creating some fabulous looks.  One of the many benefits of Tia is she comes with us changing the look of the couple through out the session.   Best part of all is that you too can have Tia as part of your session.

I photographed Jana and Gino’s wedding a couple of years ago and they were as fun as I remembered.   The day was just awesome and it was great creating so many different looks.  Can’t wait to get the slideshow up so stay tuned. But look at some of the fun we had, and the beautiful images we created.  Working with Tia was such a faboulous experience that I’ve included her in all engagment or couple sessions booked from now on.  If you booked a package earlier you have the option of adding her to your package and it is definatly worth it.  Enjoy!

Why do we vote on a Tuesday… in November?

The short answer: We used to be a nation of farmers.

The long answer: Congress chose November because the harvest was over and the weather wouldn’t be bad enough to prevent people from traveling.

As for Tuesday, people used to have to travel overnight to their polling location. (In 1845, horse was the preferred method of transport.) In an effort to avoid religious days of rest, Congress chose Tuesday, leaving Monday and Wednesday as travel days. Tuesday was voting (and horse-resting) day.

Just finished voting and I had a two minute wait.  I’m so thankful that we live in a country where we have so many freedoms.  We as Americans need to realize that we are a very blessed nation even if we are in a huge crisis at the time.  This is an exciting day in history and I’m so curious to see how it ends up.  Will the predictions be correct?  Will their be a big surprise ending?  Will more people come out to vote for the Presidency then those who voted for their favorite American Idol?  It truly amazes me how many people take for  granted the right that we have to vote and voice our opinion.  So go out and vote and become a part of history.  I can’t wait to see what happens.

We hope everyone had a great Halloween.  We were really fortunate the rain held off for the evening of trick or treating but I loved that it was windy with the threat of a storm.  It felt so much more creepy and like the midwest Halloween’s I remember.  We have such a great time with our neighborhood.  Everyone meets for dinner and then the kids head out to trick or treat together or in groups.

This year was really fun because the boys and I dressed up like The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2.    We had never really done a theme and I can’t believe how many people commented on the boys.  What was interesting was either people really knew about Thing 1 and Thing 2 or they never heard about it.  I was surprised really how many people had never read the Cat in the Hat.  Eric who never dresses up decided he would go as a hockey fan or he could be Billy Ray Cyrus.  I love the mullet!  Watch out girls he’s all mine.