I recently met up with the Martins in Carnelian Bay for a family portrait photography session with their newest addition, 3 month old Charlie. We started out indoors at the condo they were staying at so we could get some photographs with their dogs too, and then we headed over to the Gar Woods pier. There was a ton of snow on the beach, and Darrell was a trooper  stomping down a pathway, carrying a heavy wooden sleigh, and of course, a Boppy! All the essentials for a baby shoot, right? I photographed Jennifer and Darrell’s wedding 4 years ago at Plumpjack Squaw Valley Inn. I love to stay connected with couples after their wedding. Seeing their families grow, and being able to photograph their children is such a rewarding part of this job I have as a photographer. I didn’t have a blog back when I photographed their wedding, and I was still shooting film at that time too! So I thought I’d add a few wedding photos to this post as well. It was a March wedding, with snow still visible in the mountains surrounding Squaw Valley. I loved her bouquet, created by Bellissima Floral Creations, with rich purples, a few deep blues as accents, and wispy peacock feathers thrown in for texture.  In fact, looking through my archives of their wedding images, I have so many great details shots, I think I will have to do another blog post one of these days of just the details!

One of my dearest friends Sara came to town this summer for her baby shower and we took some time to get these maternity photographs at Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful, crowd free evening at the National Forest beaches on the East Shore, and the water was calm and warm. Sara was a trooper and got in the water at the end of the shoot, and the 15 minute hike each way didn’t stop her! Hunter was born on August 10, and I can’t wait to meet him!

I had a great time photographing Nancy and Juan for their maternity photography session in South Shore recently. Nancy found me with a simple online image search of maternity photography and told me she absolutely loved the images I posted of my sister in the redwoods and wanted a similar session at Lake Tahoe. We met on a Sunday morning at the Tallac Historical site in South Lake Tahoe, before the summer crowds were out and about. Nancy and Juan are expecting their son Hector any day now, he is due on August 12!

Scott and I had a blast doing Allison and Oliver’s Lake Tahoe engagement pictures at Sand Harbor in last week. We met at the state park in the early evening to take advantage of the softer light in the later afternoon, and it was pre Labor Day, so we practically had the whole place to ourselves on a Wednesday afternoon. Engagement photography sessions are a great way for us to connect with a couple. They really get to see how easy going both Scott and I are during a shoot, and  this sets the stage for the wedding day photography as well. With our career backgrounds as a newspaper and Associated Press photojournalists, we like to bring the balance of capturing the moment with fine art portraiture to each engagement session. We use a combination of skills, camera angles and lenses to capture each couple in the natural environment, from strictly documentary lifestyle photojournalism, to giving them some minimal direction with certain poses to obtain a little more polished look for some of the fine art images that result from the portrait session.

Allison and Oliver at Sand Harbor for their engagement photography session. I love the giant granite boulders that give Lake Tahoe photography its signature back drop.

Oliver and Allison share a moment overlooking the clear blue water at Sand Harbor.

Engagement photography can be a great "practice run" before the wedding for the couple to get comfortable with sharing intimate moments together in front of the camera.

Sand Harbor has a great pathway all the way around the point for a lot of candid engagement photos of the couple.

Adding some nice shots of a couple looking right into the camera lens is a must with any portrait session.

Every time I go to Sand Harbor, I find a new backdrop, that is part of staying fresh, always looking for new image ideas.

Sometimes the setting is the main subject, especially with such a spectacular location as Lake Tahoe, and then capturing the couple's interaction within this setting tops off the image.

I like using a long lens to capture intimate moments within the backdrop, it adds a certain "feel" to the image.

Allison and Oliver were so much fun during their engagement photography session. They didn't think twice when I asked them if they wanted to get a little wet!

A nice closer to end Allison and Oliver's Lake Tahoe engagement photography session.