I love being the leader of the local Pictage photographers group here in San Jose, aka the “PUG”. Our crowd is a blast and I’m sure you may recognize some of them. Some of them may even be shooting your wedding. Scary thought I know!

But like they say in the movie Dodgeball ” If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” And that is what we did. We went to Sky High Sports in Santa Clara and played dodgeball on trampolines for about an hour. I’m glad we had someone with us who knew CPR. Some of these photographers spend to much time in front of their computer. I heard a lot of wheezing, and grabbing of chest, but there was a ton of laughter. The best thing during the holidays. A great workout and fun. This would be a blast for a duo bachelor/bachelorette party.

View their slideshow by clicking here.

Julie and Ryan’s engagement session was by far one of the most fun sessions I’ve done in a long time. We had talked about the concept for a while and I thought it came out wonderful. The best part about the shoot was that it was the day they were taking down the pumpkin patch so we had it all to ourselves except for the workers. In fact, when were taking pictures of them in the corn a few rows over they were chopping it down. By the time we got there and started shooting some of the locations we saw when we arrived were already gone. Missing hay bails, corn cut down, pumpkins moved etc. Then to top it off the rain clouds came in. It was like the game “Beat the Clock.” Julie and Ryan were so cool that we finished the Cinderella part of the shoot in the rain.

Just had to share with you a look behind one of my favorite sessions. The day started off fine. The weather said that it was suppose to just be cloudy. Well, like usual the weatherman lied. But Ryan and Julie were fantastic, great sports and a lot of fun. From the photos you can tell we got a little dirty. I just wished we had a photo of me with the bag over the camera. None of us had an umbrella in the car. We already made the effort and the pumpkin patch wouldn’t be there tomorrow. So we made the best of it, and we love them.

You can tell from this photo what a great sense of humor they have.

I told Tia that wouldn’t help start the car. But it sure helped Tia create a beautiful look for Julie for a couple of minutes before the rain came. I love our reflector umbrella. It helped for like 3 minutes but we were so positive the rain would pass over us.

OK so we were a little dirty when we were done but it was all worth it! I love these photos.

Here we are Kristy Behrs, Tanja Lippert, Me (jilljohnson) and Karen Rusten the Fab 4 photographers of Tanja Lippert Photographers. The best group of gals around. I wish the entire team would of been there at the same time because we have a fabulous crew (and we need a picture of all of us). But it was a spectacular night.

We officially had the Grand Opening of Artique and Tanja Lippert Photographers this past Friday in Los Gatos. It was a great night and festive as the city of Los Gatos started the evening out with the lighting of the Christmas tree. I just wanted to thank everyone who made it out to wish us the best in our new endeavor. Many of you were missed but I so enjoyed the e-mails you sent with Congratulations. We couldn’t of done it with out the help of the following people. Nicole DeAmbra wedding consultant extrodanaire who helped plan the evening, Kelly Kodak Clifford of Precious and Blooming who supplied the flowers, Dan and Cassie of Los Gatos DJ’s who created a very festive playlist for eveyones listening pleasure, Sara of Tululabay catering for the yummy food, ( what about those cinnamon roll cookies :), and to Ceil of A Memorable Event for staffing. They were the best. We stayed to clean up afterwords (around 1a.m) and they had already done it all. It was just better then expected. But of course to Ryan and Tanja Lippert and the staff at Artique for helping pull this thing together.

I wish I would of taken more pictures of everyone there but I was just having such a great time I just wanted to talk with them all. In fact, many of the pictures are courtesy of David Ethridge of A Video Reflection and Stacie Tamaki of a Flirty Guide. It has been fun to see what photos people are sending us. As you can see Flamingo had a great time. He came prepared with mistle toe tied on him so that he could get kisses from all the girls. It worked out great for me too if you can tell from the photos. If you had a chance to attend tell me what you thought. I hope you had a great time. If you didn’t get a chance to stop by please do. We’re open Tuesday-Saturday 10-6pm. We’re looking forward to seeing you.

Jasmine and Peter exchanged their vows outside on the patio of the Ruby Hills Golf Club. It was my first time to photograph an event there and it was a beautiful venue for the wedding. The staff was great. Jasmine did such a great job on all the details that pulled the entire thing together. There was so many things to tell you I”m not sure where to start.

First of all Jasmine had a lot of preperation through out the day. For starters she had three different dresses that she changed in to. I’m not sure how she decided which dress to wear when. They were all just incredible and she looked breathtaking in all of them.

The ceremony was beautiful and full of some great traditions. Beautiful music provided by Elegant Touch of Strings filled the air in anticipation as guest were being seated. There was also some great moments in the ceremony officiated by Michael Selic. These are two of my favorite. I love the symbolism of the veil, cord, and coins. This picture just touched me. I love how their sponsor is tenderly touching peter’s shoulder. The second one hit home to me because I did the same thing during my ceremony. Jasmine tried to put the ring on the wrong hand. I couldn’t help but giggle because I remember thinking why won’t this thing go on til my husband gave me his other hand and said this is the left one. I haven’t had a chance to ask Jasmine what was racing thru her mind. I can’t wait to find out.

They also had a really fun reception. It was lit beautifully by Elle and Co. and the flowers, gold chargers, and chairs were provided by Lynne’s wedding Services. This shot cracked me up. It reminded me of a runway at a movie premier. They just needed the red carpet as they entered the reception. I don’t think I had ever seen so many cameras at a wedding before. Jasmine and Peter had an array of paparazzi’s.

They also had all kinds of little things that had the guest really interacting. There was so much laughter coming from the giant ballroom. They played this game with a spoon that was like musical chairs or hot potato. If you were holding the spoon when the music stopped you had to sit down. The last person at the table won the centerpiece. It was hard to capture this in still but I’m sure their videographer Mark Shepherd caught all the laughs and comments. Their guest really had a great time. They also had a photo booth courtesy of Party Booths, they had signature drinks, and a candy buffet for the guest. One of the cutest things was the MC for the night had them play basically the newlywed game. They had to stand back to back with one of the brides shoes and one of the grooms shoes. Then they were asked questions. If they thought it was Jasmine they had to hold up the brides shoe and vice versa if the answer was for Peter. This was so fun to see their reactions and their guesses. From the majority of the answers it looks like they know each other really well and I’m wishing them the best in their new adventure together. Below are some of my favorite moments from their day. I would love to hear some of your comments about their day and photos below by clicking leave a comment. We love to hear from you. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THEIR SLIDESHOW.

Some of her other vendors that helped her pull of her beautiful day.

Stuart Rental Company

Ace Limo

Styles by Ann

Primrose Bakery

Digital in Motion DJ’s

Tuxedo Boutique

Henson Bridal

House of Fashion Bridal

Just recieved this image from Flamingo this morning.  He’s been out and about again and wanted me to know that he was ok and headed home.  Its been a while since we’ve seen Flamingo.  I thought he flew the coop.  Here he is this morning spending some quality tea time with his friend Dave Luebke of Couture books.  One of the our exciting new album lines we’ll be carrying in the 09 season.

He also sent me this image.  He’s been to Orlando visting the Holyland literally with Dave’s brother.  The Holyland Experience is a place where you go back in time 2000 years to the streets of Ancient Israel.  You get to experience and learn as you walk the streets and experience the culture of biblical times.  It is a great place where the bible comes to life.   You can visit the Wildnerness Tablernacle, see re-enactments of the life of Jesus Christ here on earth and eat a turkey leg.  The kids and I went here last Spring and Flamingo told me  he was so fascinated at what we told him that he needed to go and experience it himself.  It was a great reminder for him to remember what the Christmas season was all about.   Can’t wait to hear about all of his experiences.  Could Flamingo be mellowing out?

Hey everyone one of my goals in the next 2 months is to get a new blog up and running.  Something that goes with the new site.  So, I’d love to hear some input from all of you who read this or read blogs in general.  What are some features you like?  Do you like everything on the sidebar for easy navigation or would you like to see it with header tabs like a website on top? Big pictures or small?  A lot or just a couple of photos with a link to more?  Slideshows no slideshows?  What about content, what do you want to know?  What do you like about your favorite blogs and who are they?  Do you know how to make a comment on the blog, what would get you to leave a comment?  Do you want an easy link to link to and from? Does it bother you when you have to keep scrolling to see the entire post?   What else there is so much but I’m not even sure what all to ask, so if you think of something that you like or hate on blogs please let me know. Is the current blog to simple or not simple enough?  What do you find confusing or don’t like about it.  I want to customize it as much as possible to make it a great experience for those who like to keep up with it.  So I”d love a little feedback.  Looking forward to hearing from you.

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.