Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't believe it's Thanksgiving already! The holidays have really snuck up on me this year. It has been such an amazing and crazy year and I have so much to be thankful for. I have to give thanks to my family and especially my wonderful husband. He has been my main supporter and number one fan in my photography endeavors and I am so grateful to him!

As for the holiday, I will be celebrating this year with Ben's family out of state so I will be out of the office until Monday. Have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday and just because I can't post an entry without at least one photo... here are Ben and I on our recent trip to France. Aren't we cute? :)

Sarah & Tony engaged!

I met up with Sarah and Tony yesterday in downtown Encinitas for their engagement session. Our plan was to walk from a coffee shop to the beach stopping along the way to take some photos, and ending up at the beach right at the "magic hour" before sunset when the light is best. I was planning on spending about an hour with these two but I was having such a great time with them (and they are so photogenic!) that our session lasted almost two hours, we definitely didn't stop shooting until we ran out of light!

Thanks Sarah and Tony for letting me drag you all around (even into the cold water with your bare feet). I had a great time with you two... here are a couple of my favorite images from the afternoon.

Matching vans... how cute!

This one is definitely a favorite!

Tony's in a band and he was talking about how easy it is to get band pictures taken because they just make "scary band face". I couldn't resist having them show me a little bit of the scary face, I think Tony pulls it off a little better. Sarah's just too sweet to look scary :)

When we got down to the beach the light was absolutely gorgeous. There was a ton of fog, which was actually making the light even softer and dreamier than usual. How cute are these two?

And the serious face...

Because of all the fog the sunset didn't quite turn brilliant shades of red or purple, but the yellowy orange was quite nice on its own.

While we were taking this shot....

someone randomly walked up with a bird and insisted that it get to be in one of the photos. So here it is. This is officially my first engagement photo featuring a bird.

And one more image... just for fun...

Thanks Sarah and Tony for being such good sports during your session. I had a great time and I can't wait to photograph your wedding in the spring!

Baby Tessa turns one!

On Saturday baby Tessa celebrated her first birthday with a traditional Korean "dol" party and I was lucky enough to be in attendance to photograph the event. It was a small gathering with close friends and family and it was such a treat to spend time with such a warm and loving family! Tessa is definitely a well loved baby!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day:

As part of the traditional "dol" celebration, Tessa wore the "hanbok" which is the traditional Korean dress. She looked absolutely adorable!

Tessa with her proud mom!

The party was absolutely full of adorable children

How precious is this little girl? I love it!

Tessa kept running outside and doing laps and dancing around in the courtyard. It was absolutely adorable... check out her face in this one! So cute!

Time to blow out the birthday candles! Tessa was actually born on her daddy's birthday... she wasn't turning 37 but he was :)

Happy birthday Tessa! Thank you so much to the whole family for letting me come along and share in your joyful occasion. If you would like to see more photos from the party, click the play button below to watch a slideshow!