I actually got to get away for a few hours with my mom who is visiting, and we checked out the tiny town of Genoa, NV (Nevada’s first settlement in 1851). Talk about quaint! Lots of small houses with tiny bridges across the creek right out front and antiques stores. We went into the most bizarre store I have ever been to – starting with a real skeleton in a real casket in the front window right next to the entry door (shudder); followed by an amazing array of antiques from throughout the states, from railway lanterns to army dresses to old keys and fifties teen mags. The place is so crammed, I could hardly squeeze through, let alone take everything in. If you’re ever in the area, a must-see!

Remember the big belly? Well, little Drayson finally decided to leave planet Mommy (though he liked it very much and didn’t want to come out) and see us on planet Earth on June 11 – Hooray! At five days old his parents brought him over to start the big baby’s-first-year photo project – here are some of my favorite shots:

Congratulations Stacey and Dave, and big sister Ashlyn, he is beautiful!

Marsha and Curt got married on 06-07-08, with both their 5-year old boys in the wedding, and I was lucky enough to be part of their day – and what a day it was! Filled with beautiful locations, from the cutest little chapel by Fallen Leaf Lake (St. Francis of the Mountains), to a stop by the waterfalls up the street, as well as at Emerald Bay, to family portraits at Sugar Pine Point State Park, to a reception at Sunnyside. At least that was the plan.

Then the bride and her parents got into a car accident on their way to the chapel, in which luckily nobody was injured, but of course they were delayed; somehow Marsha and her mom made it to the chapel soon, but her dad was dealing with insurance and so on. Finally, with an hour delay, they decided to get the show on the road and have Marsha’s grandfather walk her down the aisle. Literally the second before he gave her away, Curt spotted Marsha’s dad pulling up through the open door, to everyone’s big relief. It meant getting everybody back out, and starting over, but Marsha was very very happy to have her dad there with her.

You may notice some dandelions Marsha is holding with her bouquet in a couple of photos. While we were waiting, Marsha’s son Brandon picked those for her, which she took to the ceremony with her – soooo sweet!! 

Naturally, this big delay didn’t leave nearly enough time for the variety of creative bridal portraits we had in mind; we spent about 5 minutes each at the chapel, the waterfall and Emerald Bay. We managed to squeeze in some family shots, and were very glad to finally make it to Sunnyside.

Marsha and Curt handled all the challenges with much grace and did not let them overshadow their big day. Thank you to all their friends and family, as well as Reverend Orr and Bev with the Chapel for being so patient!

Congratulations Marsha and Curt, and all the best for your marriage! You seemed very much in love.

I was very excited when I received a copy of Tahoe Traveler in the mail today – it includes an article on weddings in Tahoe, featuring all my photos! A similar article with different shots of mine was published in the Spring 2008 issue of Tahoe Quarterly a couple of months ago. Below are thumbnails of the pages. Check out Tahoe Quarterly here, or pick up a copy! Tahoe Traveler is available around the lake complimentary. They’re both fabulous magazines!

Just got back last night from 4 days of camping at Yosemite with our friends Tony and Stefanie and their adorable little boy Lucas. It was beautiful as always, tons of water coming down the falls, and not too hot or cold. All we did was hang out at the beach, ride bikes through the valley, and munch on smores – very relaxing! I seized the opportunity to play with my 2 newest lenses, one a portrait lens, the other a fish eye; of course I am sharing some of my favorite shots. Beware – quite a few fishy ones!