Happy Halloween!

On her way to work, I snapped these shots of my wife this morning.   I told her she looks cute, but when she peered up at me with fake freckles and that oversized hat flopping over her eyes, she became twice as cute.      While I'm thankful for her every day, it is days like these, when she shares the energy of excited 9-year-olds across the planet,  when I realize just how thankful I am for her.  

As the grapes go golden

Sundays are made to rest, but life is too good to sleep all day. 

My sweet Natalie and I are falling into the understanding that the essence of my business wraps around the weekends, and when I don't have a Sunday scheduled, we're off to do something fun.   

As fall makes the grapes go golden around here, a journey up the gorgeous Napa Valley is well worth the exploration.    This is what we did yesterday, without a plan, which is sometimes the best plan.   

This Sunday, her plan was to see the valley as it graduated into the Alexander Valley, and my plan was to photograph it.   Our plans were skewed as we were driving up valley by a surprise winery , as I asked her to turn around to park near the delicious rolling vines in the setting sun.    While I watched the light butter up the rows of vines, she read the "Castella" sign and suggested that this might be the driveway to the Castle people were talking about.     At this moment, our unplan changed.   Until this point, I dismissed "the Castle" I'd been hearing about near Calistoga as a large stone building a few miles down the highway 29 road to be a wanna-be castle, but as we decided to explore what was up the driveway before I photographed, we crested this inconspicuous road, and my jaw dropped.    Yep.   While the dominating presence of Greystone along the road may kinda look like one, there is no mistaking the hidden Castella Di Amoroso for anything but a castle, with a moat, drawbridge, and an atmosphere that makes me want to carry around a turkey drumstick while wearing some chainmail.    

A photographer's dream, fully authentic and with a simple background everywhere, this place just opened up in 2007 after 13 years of building, and is ripe for an AWESOME shoot in the near future.    Here are just a few shots of mine, without much effort, doodling without subjects, with some of the fun lines within.   While this place has more of a disneyland "WOW" factor in the building rather their wine, it gains my do not miss recommendation for you tourists in planning.   

And finally, a teaser of what our grapes around here can look like when the big heater makes them go golden.

First comes love, then comes marriage...

the comes the baby in the little tin- bucket-thingy-ma-bob.    
Enjoy !
 

Janelle and Katharine tie the knot!!!

Katharine and Janelle tied the knot a few weeks ago, and were bubbling with wonderful energy throughout their day.  These two ladies were toasted all evening by friends and family, and in the oak laden hills of Sonoma, some of the laughter and celebration is still ringing.    Congrats!  These photos below are examples of some of my favorites of their day, selected because they're also my favorite moments to photograph.   The first shot of their rings is something I wish I could do all day.    The next is a prime example of the anticipation that is so fun to witness with my camera.  When nervous and giddy come together, they make for great shots.     That kiss is what I like to call "the real one," when couples walk down that aisle to find a safe spot to smooch... off stage and unprompted.    These portraits, always relaxed, make for wonderful photos, and give the couple a moment to digest their fresh union.

The last shot is a prime example of the best posed shots... just seconds before or after the "say cheese" moment.   

Take me out to the ballpark!!!

Karena and David have scored a home run with each other, and invited me for a session in McAfee Coliseum.   I hope it is apparent just how much fun we had!

be Present (preview)

Nora and Cliff were a perfect match, incredibly present to each other and their guests, invited only those who were keen to celebrate their union, and then brought all together at a fantastic location to see, hear, feel, eat, and party late into the night. With all these components, this wedding left me floating for days.   I'm now finishing the edit, and floating again.   Keep an eye out on my site for more pics soon, including the result of what happens with that cake photo.  

Be Connected

    

Having nearly 30 weddings as a photographer (and dozens more as a deejay) under my belt, I've seen PLENTY of marriages happen.  As some get caught up in the stigma of how it is "supposed" to be, I've been blessed to witness a few and growing number who do it differently,  with cutting a cake or tossing a garter not even in the equation.   Chris and Tony chose to take the road less traveled, uniting their lives with just two witnesses (the officiant and me) and very few of the traditions our parents followed.     With a fun warmup walk around the incredible property of the Post Ranch Inn,  these two adventured, in their full attire with me on a walk of their favorite spots nearby.   As the afternoon changed to evening, and the officiant arrived at their awning, Chris and Tony took plenty (and I mean plenty) of time to say their vows while the sun slipped into the ocean smashing below them.    Nearly as perfect as it could get, they eloped and shared a moment (in both mine and theirs) that goes down as ABSOLUTELY TIMELESS wedding history.   Silence and the sweet savoring of moments prevailed as these two tied the knot in one of the most depthful ceremonies I've ever seen.    A big thanks to these two for keeping it deep, slow, and real!  Do check my "freshly squeezed shots" tab and "be Connected" to see 50 more photos that can almost describe their passion and day of union.

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be Connected (preview)

It is incredibly tough to use just one word to describe a photo, and even harder to describe an entire photoshoot  If I had two, I could come up with paragraphs about Chris and Tony, two newlyweds currently living in Texas, it would be... connected.    These photos, taken a few days after their union may conjure up fun and light experiences.  However, their wedding was one of the most depthful I've been to, where connections to each other, spirit, and the motion of marriage were very deep.  

  

Balloons Above the Valley

My wonderful wife Natalie surprised me with a pair of tickets to fly in a hot air balloon above our home here in Napa.    Having never gone ballooning before, and wondering if the wicker baskets were for real, we climbed aboard during sunrise a few weekends ago.   On a one hour, mostly quiet cruise just a few thousand feet above the vines, my extra wide lens chowed down on the views.  Wow.  This was a spectacular adventure that I have been dreaming of my entire life and the best part, as you can imagine (and what made this flight an adventure), was landing. I thought you'd like to enjoy a few photos, of which the last one is where we landed.