Terrific Two!

Jack will be turning the big 2 this weekend so we did a photo shoot to mark this special occasion. He is one really happy little boy, so full of fun, spunk, and a love for trains. He also has a very spiffy chair that I'm totally jealous of. It's just so comfy looking!

Davon's Photo shoot.

It was a bee-utiful day for a photo shoot in San Francisco. There were friendly cotton candy clouds in the sky and most importantly--- no rain! Perfect for a 9:00 am photo shoot with Miss Davon. Well it was more towards 10ish because of a long line at a certain Star coffee place and Davon was stuck on the Bay Bridge in traffic but after that the city was ours for the frolicking!

Two things I learn on this shoot.

One: I CAN climb narrow metal stairs and do a shoot on top of a roof (even with my fear of heights) (Hooray for not falling over).

Two: I need knee pads. My jeans do not protect me against gravel, pavement, or bird poo.

:)

Cheers!

Megs

Love Day(s)

Valentine's day has always been a celebration of love for me. Either love for my family or love for that special someone. A long time ago someone once told me that I was a hopeless romantic and that I wasn't just wanting to be 'in love' but that I was in fact in love with being in love. For all intents and purposes they were actually right. I was in love with being in love.

Why wouldn't someone want to take on the adventure of 'in loveness'? How exciting and mysterious it can be. I have always been one to want to write my own love story and see it unfold. When I love, I love intensely and fiercely. I know it is the Cancer in me that drives me to be that way (whether I can help it or not).

When I shoot couples I'm always searching for that same excitement. Whether it be a quiet private smile or the "I'm so in love with you I want the whole world to see it" look, it all speaks to me. (I'll end my rant now or I'll keep going on and on and on.)

So this year, whether you are in love, married, or love a cat or dog (or any other animal) I hope you celebrate one of the beautiful things that life has to give us; and that is love.

Not just for the day it's set aside to be celebrated for, but every day.

Cheers to Love!

Megs

Run Away With Me...

So I know the year has just started but there is always a good time to run away to an exotic place for a few days right? So when Mitch’s company decided it was time to spend a few days in the sun in Kauai I did not hesitate. My bags were packed and I was standing in the middle of our living room floor with my shorts and flip flops even though it was the middle of winter. Lucky for me we were having a heat wave here in the San Francisco bay (in the upper 50s!) that weekend so I didn’t freeze to death while waiting for our flight.

I think the difference between this year’s trip ( as opposed to last year’s trip ) was the increased number of dSLR users in the company. I’d like to think I started the trend by running around at last year’s trip with my shiny new 40D and scaring people with the size of it. (Even if I didn't start it just let me think I did so I can be all happy sunshine and lollipops about it.)

I'm really excited that others have picked up their cameras (either for the first time or getting back to it). It is always fun shooting with others and I'm always delighted to inspire others (my uncle Ralph comes to mind).

In fact I had so much fun that I shoved 4 guys in to the Subaru that I rented and went to shoot Waimea canyon while we were there. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun running around a canyon before.

Now that I'm back all tanned and and goddess like I'm ready to get into the swing of things. We have a lot of exciting and new things planned for 2009 and I can't wait to share it with everyone.







I lured Cedric into a photo shoot near the beach. Does he not look tubular?


Cheers (and suntan lotion),

Megs

Happy Pi Mai! (New Year)

Christmas Snow, Yosemite National Park

This past year has been one of the busiest but most exciting year so far in my photography journey. I was blessed to have been able to travel and shoot so many different places.

My love and gratefulness to my wonderful and amazing husband Mitch, for being my second shooter and my tech nerd hero.

I would also like to thank those who gave me the opportunity to share and shoot the wonderful moments of their lives. I'm looking forward to many more photography adventures in the year to come!

Cheers to the New Year!

Meg

Winter Resting

Waking up to fog this Thanksgiving weekend I decided to go shooting in a rather unusual place. The local cemetery. I'm sure there was a reason to my madness for getting up at 7:30 A.M. on a holiday weekend let alone go to a foggy, wet, damp, and at sometimes, eerie cemetery. I think a lot of people avoid the cemetery because it's an ever fixated symbol of death and the end of life, something that one does not like to be reminded. I, on the other hand, enjoy the sometimes mysterious, ominous, and artistic side of the cemetery. There is history and lives that makes you wonder what it was like back in the old days. I'm not saying that I schedule on a regular basis to go shooting in grave yards but I do stop to admire and wonder about lives that have come and gone.

Mike and Lina's Wedding

Shooting through the lens with Love

Even before I seriously dove into photography Mitch had been my favorite subject to take (much to his protest). I can't explain it. Even at weddings, such as the below, I find ways of getting my Mitch shot in. Maybe because it’s just the two of us (most of the time) that he’s become my favorite main focus.

Other people have their children or pets to follow around and I have a Mitch. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s married to me (bwa ha ha), he’d probably think I was some crazed fan obsessed with him. Instead I’m just his nutty wife with a camera.

Now that he has a camera of his own though, it has turned into a camera-off. We’ll see how this pans out.

Cheers!

Megs

One Love

I had the honor of attending the wedding of Lindsay and Lisa, two very beautiful souls. It was a small garden wedding on a gorgeous Saturday in San Diego.

No matter one's view is on marriage; love is love and it is beautiful.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved. -William Shakespeare

Little Munchkin

We traveled all the way up to British Columbia, Canada for this photo shoot. Granted that it was for my wonderful cousin who just had her first baby boy Tristan. He was such sweetie!

We actually shot him while traveling around Victoria Island and Vancouver (sightseeing hehe). Although he was asleep for most of the day trip to Victoria Island we were able to shoot these on the long ferry ride home.

He is two months here and it will be another year until we see him again.

Little ones grow up so fast but I'm glad we were able to shoot him while he was still a little munchkin.

Z(oom) Z(oom)

The Z enjoying a lovely sunset on top of Mt. Tamalpais.

A friend of ours had just gotten a new Z and wanted some nice photos of it so we took him (and the Z) up to Mt. Tamalpais for a lovely sunset photoshoot.

We had alot of fun doing this shoot and got some really nice shots for him. This is a really sexy car and I was thrilled to have had the chance to shoot it (and such a cooperative model too).

Cheers!

Megs

A Painter and the Moon

It's been rather hot here in the Bay area and there was finally some relief yesterday to the heat when the fog rolled in. Rather than basking in the coolness we grabbed the cameras and headed north, as in up Mount Tamalpais. It was just spectacular looking down on to the San Francisco coast line and seeing everything engulfed in fog.




An Artist painting the sunset on top of Mt. Tamalpais under a faint moon.

Flashback: Eastcoast Sunrise

Living on the west coast and near the ocean I normally take a lot of sunset pictures. While in Florida though, the other month, we woke up early to catch the sunrise over the ocean (different ocean but it's almost the same right?).

After walking two blocks down from the house we ran into this:



We had some hope that the gloomy looking rain to the right would have missed us, but of course it didn't ^_^. Thankfully we were able to run underneath one of the walk down piers for cover. There were huge rocks underneath but we manuvered ourselves in. The camera equipment stayed dry but some how I managed to get my entire back wet. We laughed so hard at our situation; caught in the storm and stuck between a rock and a wet place.

The storm lasted for a bit but afterwards it was pretty shiny.



It was pretty exciting to be caught up in a heavy storm like that on the beach. It rarely happens here in the San Francisco area.

Cheers!

Megs

Frosting!

While strolling in downtown Mill Valley this afternoon we found this wonderful little cupcake shop called Frosting that had just opened.

With it's bright colors of pink and orange (with polka dots) we just had to peek in.

It was cupcake heaven!



We bought a Cookies and Cream one to take home (seen above) and oh my god is it delicious! So delicious that I only got to take one bite (I turned around for a second and Mitch had already finished it and was in sugar heaven haha).

If you're in or around Mill Valley this shop is definitely worth stopping by.

Cheers!

Meg

Mill Valley Sunset

We had a lovely sunset here in Mill Valley tonight. We actually were out at the Marin Headlands shooting the sunset near and around the Golden Gate Bridge when we decided to take a few shots close to home.

If you squint hard enough you can see our place just across the water (just kidding! we actually had our lights off *chuckles*).

It's been a rather busy summer so far and we have just barely gotten started! We still have a trip to Disneyland in a couple of weeks, two weddings, Seattle, and Canada before the summer is out.

I could really use that 2nd DSLR body about now :)

Megs

Coit Tower at Dusk, San Francisco

Below and Behind the famous tower.

After living just outside of San Francisco for the last few years we finally decided to catch the tower at dusk tonight. It was pretty clear in Marin when we left the house but the minute we emerged through the tunnel it was nothing but fog. You have to love summers in San Francisco.

I remember the last time we visited the tower parking was pretty prime and it was no different this time. Thanks to Mitch's SF parking skills we squeezed into a space right below the tower and took the little hike up. Even around 8:30 pm the place was still busy.


The statue of Columbus over looking Alcatraz on this foggy evening.

Fourth of July Sparkle

I think Sparkle Writing is a tough art form (or at least you need to practice to get good at it).

This year we spent the holiday with my family who happened to live in a county that allows fireworks (this was our first year not spending it in San Francisco ). Although fireworks aren't as cool as they use to be many years ago, we still had a lot of fun lighting things on fire.

My favorite moment was watching my Dad run around with a sparkler in his hand trying to write something.

It was priceless!

Bolt of Lightning Very Very Frighting!

Flagler Beach, Florida during a thunderstorm over the inter coastal waterway.


Canon EOS 40D


I didn't realize capturing lightning was so difficult. I was lucky to get this shot only after half a dozen tries (but then spent the next 10 minutes trying for another one before I gave up from the extreme humidity and heat). Although I miss the nice warm Atlantic Ocean I could live without the heat and humidity.

A funny story related to the intercoastal waterway. Due to an accident on the boat we were on my lens hood is sleeping with the fishies. It was funny but at the same time a pain to replace ($32.00 plastic ring I know).

Fern Canyon/Redwood National Park

Mitch and I took a 700 mile road trip to go see the Redwood National Park this past weekend. It was a long trip but we came back with a lot of good memories.

With the price of gas rising like it is we're not sure how often we'll be able to do these sporadic road trips. Here are some of the pictures I took over the weekend. Enjoy!

(Click to view larger.)



Mitch and a tree ^_^


Below the Giant Redwoods


Fern Canyon


A purple lupine.


Elk among the Lupine


Trees in motion down the Avenue of the Giants.

Having fun on a hot foggy morning here in San Francisco. The shadows were unavoidable but I love how if you look real close you can see his eyelashes.