Nadine + Jose, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA.

November is always my favorite month of the year, fall is in full swing, the fall color is gorgeous, we can wear layers and sweaters and my birthday just happens to be in November! 

My wonderful cousin, Nadine, and I had planned back in the springtime to take a trip to Monterey/Carmel for a combined celebration of our birthdays (her's is just a week before mine in October) and we planned to do a nice weekend getaway with my husband, Arnaldo and her boyfriend Jose.  We had such a great time, full of relaxation, enjoyed the ocean breeze, wine tasting, incredible food and just spending time together.  It was just a really great time and we both realized that this was truly special because we had grown up together, grew apart for a short time and now are closer than ever, we are more like sisters now and I wouldn't trade our time together for anything!

Arnaldo and I really got to know Jose during our weekend together and we can definitely see the love and how much he adores Nadine, which is really sweet and makes me very happy because she truly deserves nothing but the best.  He is a fabulous guy and only wants Nadine to be happy and I love that he mentioned "...just being with her makes me the happiest, we don't have to do anything as long as we're together." 

Awww, how sweet is that ladies??

So...while in Carmel, we did a wonderful session of Jose and Nadine just because.  There wasn't a reason, I had a camera, they were willing to have a great time and we got some great images from the time we did the shoot.

Enjoy my favorites.

Holiday Session, The Gomez Family

We are just 3 days from Christmas and I am very excited to celebrate over the next few days with family and friends, enjoying great food, great chats and of course celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It truly is such a special time of year for me and for so many around the world.

In November I began my holiday portrait sessions and I am finally sharing them, it's been a fabulously busy time and I couldn't ask for better clients and great times as a photographer!

Our first holiday session features The Gomez Family, aka my brother-in-law Jorge, sister-in-law Amanda and their daughter (my adorable niece) Teagan. Teagan was 10 months at the time of our shoot, she has grown so much since we did her 6 month session, time is flyin! She will be one in just a few weeks, can't wait!

We got together on a gorgeous Sunday evening to do their very first family session, we had a great time prepping for the shoot. It was fun for me because Amanda and I went shopping, picked out a few outfits for her to decide on for the shoot and we also did hair her and makeup. It's always fun to be behind the scenes, great times.

Thank you so much Amanda, Jorge and Teagan, I loved your session, love you 3 so much and can't wait for your next session!

Roshni, Indian Bridal

I am so excited to finally post this session! I have been quite busy with the holiday season, photographing beautiful families and growing as a photographer, what a blessing!

In November I teamed up with my friend, hair/makeup stylist Happy Bassi, in Modesto to photograph a beautiful bride as she prepped for her wedding day. I am very new to the culture of Indian weddings, but from what I have been a part of I love them! It's so different from the American weddings we see yet the theme remains the same, love and marriage. I love weddings, it's just something wonderful about two people who come together in love and share their union with those closest to them.

This was my very first shoot with an Indian bride and I was bubbling over with excitement, I wanted to cover this shoot with excellence!

Meet Roshni. She was very kind and welcomed me with excitement that I would be photographing her bridal preparation because she was certain she would have no pictures to look back on, other than those from her ceremony from a different photographer. While I was there for a few hours, I asked her all about her future husband and how they met and where she was from. Roshni was from New Zealand, loved her accent I could listen to her speak all day. She met her future husband through her cousin (whose house we were at, prepping for her ceremony) and they had been together for about a year. She told me how she was excited but nervous, which is normal,how she spent months adding crystals to her wedding gown and wanted her dress to be modern in purple (rather than the traditional ornate red and gold) and how she was sad her parents couldn't be here to watch her get married. Luckily her Aunt, her mom's sister, would be by her side in place of her mom and dad. She took pictures with a camera she planned to send back to her parents in New Zealand so they could have memories of her special day. It was bittersweet and I was very touched.

My favorite part of the bride getting ready for her wedding is the transformation she undergoes, from simple hair and little to no makeup, to an even more gorgeous version of who she is. And with Indian brides, their transformation is even more dramatic and colorful, their gowns are gorgeous, jewelry so sparkly, the mehendi (henna) so intricate and unique, it's an incredibly awesome process.

Enjoy Roshni's transformation from beautiful to a gorgeous bride, it's fabulous!


 This is the dress she wore for her reception the following day, how gorgeous are those colors? I love it!  I love how every member of the family dresses up in beautiful,vibrant colors, each unique and so beautiful.  Love her hair piece, how sparkly and fun!  Absolutely beautiful!  I showed her some of the images while we were together and she kept saying "Wow, how stunning! I love them!" I was speechless.  This is my favorite shot from the session, right before she headed out the door to her wedding, simply stunning.