carlie statsky photography » modern wedding and portrait photographer

Some things are just meant to be. When I first met with stylist Laura Cook and we both had on the same wooden cuff bracelet and the same handbag I took that as a sign that we were destined for some quality collaboration, and this shoot was the first of what I hope will be many projects together. From the very start we knew that we wanted DIG gardens in Santa Cruz to be our location. DIG is not only a beautiful space for events, but it’s also a garden store and nursery, so it seemed fitting to unify the shoot with the theme ‘love grows.’ This shoot was inspired by all things organic, bohemian and local, and I loved how Laura blended vintage and modern elements to make this wedding so full of character. Laura also did an amazing job sourcing all of clothing and accessories, helping to design all of the printed goods and then styling everything from the alter, to the table, to the models. We had a stellar team of vendors, each of whom helped to bring our vision to life, (please look below for the full list) and I was in heaven photographing this gorgeous couple as well as all of the unique details including invitations and menus that were printed onto thin slices of wood, signature rye-jito cocktails, a turquoise fisheye toy camera, and the whole wedding party holding up a ‘love grows’ sign in front of a vintage cadillac. A huge and hearty thanks to everyone who helped make this day happen, it inspired me as a photographer and I hope it offers some ideas those in the process of planning their own big day.

venue and flowers: DIG gardens

concept, co-ordination and styling: Laura Cook

makeup & hair: Sarah Viraphanth of Mimi & Taylor Salon

jewelry: Cameron Marks Boutique

feather earring and feather and suede place settings: Fly Love Jewelry

printed materials: (menus, escort cards, wine labels, love grows signage & invitations) Heidi Allen at Probos Creative

cadillac: George Purnell of Rides 4 Brides

bride’s dress: vintage …and additional accessories sourced from Urban Outfitters, Piperlime and Stripe

My babies.

I’ve known Mara since before she became a mother for the first time, over 5 years ago, and she’s become one of my dearest friends here in Santa Cruz. Mara is one of the most magnetic people I’ve ever met and she seems to be constantly surrounded by great people, great beauty and great fun. She is exactly the kind of woman who was meant to bring new life into this world more than once because the world could definitely use a few more content souls raised by a bold, brave and incredibly loving woman. All that personality and the girl is drop dead gorgeous on top of that, so you think she might be up for having a few photos taken of herself, but I seriously had to force her in front of the camera and she gave me all of about 5 bashful minutes to photograph her and her beautiful belly. She went 10 days past her due date and then, finally, she gave birth at home to one of the cutest newborns I’ve ever met and has since named her Frankie Luella (but is putting Fiona on her birth certificate in case she wants a more feminine option.) I met Frankie when she was 2 days old and of course I had to bring along my camera to do another mini photo shoot to capture her in all her newborn perfection. Mara I’m so happy for you and your whole (and now complete) family, and Frankie, I can’t wait to watch you grow and get to know the woman who you will become.

In honor of Mother’s Day I wanted to share a little love for my own amazing mom. She is one of the most open-hearted, open-minded, down-to-earth, nurturing, excitable, and youthful-spirited women you could ever hope to meet, let alone have raise you. Growing up I have to admit that I used to be embarrassed by her gregarious and eccentric ways, (like rolling up to my conservative high school in her convertible blasting some techno beats) but now I love the fact that she has never been influenced by what other people thought of her, she was simply true to herself. I am constantly inspired by her strength and her passion for life, as she has transformed herself from being a woman who struggled with agoraphobia and panic attacks to now being able to fly across the world alone, free from fear. Her energy is bright, industrious and contagious, making her an incredible host and motivator to everyone she cares for. She makes you want to tackle even the most overwhelming of projects, and the woman is like a tornado on crack when there is a job to get done, and she does not stop until the task before her is completed. She has taught me so much about how to live well and how to mother well, and she’s always reminded me to follow my intuition. I am so thankful to have her as a mother and a best friend and now a GG to my kids (she refused to be Grandma because it made her sound too old in her opinion.)

I love this series of my mama because it shows all of her different sides; her joyful side, her sultry side, and her free-spirited side. Mom I adore all of you, and I am forever grateful to you for giving me life and love.

I just got back from a 24 hour vacation to Carmel Valley to celebrate seven years of marriage to my man and I am one happy girl right now. With two kids and two businesses, it is so important to make the time that we never feel like we have, to just get away to play and relax, and Carmel Valley was the ideal place for that. I even forced myself to let my big camera take a vacation too (well, for most of the time at least) and I just used my phone to document the fun. We checked in super early at the Bernardus Lodge and headed straight for the hills of the Garland Ranch Regional Park. It was one of the most beautiful runs that I can remember, going through mossy oak covered paths, up to waterfalls, ponds and majestic views out over the valley. After that we felt like we had truly earned our relaxation time on the gorgeous grounds of the Bernardus that we felt like we had all to ourselves. We hung out poolside, in the massive hot tub and in their eucalyptus steam room that I wanted to take home with me. The next day we played bocce ball and explored the town a little before heading up to the beautifully re-designed Carmel Valley Ranch for lunch and one last cocktail before heading home in time to pick up the kids from school. It really was a perfect trip, one that we hope to repeat again in a year!

This is a wedding that’s exceedingly worthy of a ridiculously long post…and I’ll fully disclose my bias now by adding that the bride and groom our some of my favorite people on the planet, (the groom is my daughter’s godfather and my husband was the best man.) This was more than a wedding, it was like a full on vacation, only far easier and more enjoyable, because Christine and Aaron planned everything much better than we could have. I couldn’t edit out any of the fun, so I’m starting with the day before and finishing with the day after to show the whole Monte Rio experience. On Friday the rehearsal dinner was held on the banks of the Russian river, where they brought a taco truck to serve people whatever they wanted to go with their keg cups full of beer, followed by a few games of baseball, a toasty bonfire and then some late night antics back in our shared cabins and houses that were all situated right on the river and within walking distance to each other and the ceremony site. We entered our vintage style bedroom to find handmade gifts waiting for us; a beautiful wooden candle holder that Aaron made for everyone in the wedding party. The next morning we went for a jog around town while others went our for a canoe and by the afternoon we were all feeling relaxed and connected, and definitely ready to celebrate the love.

I initially thought that I was going to be a guest at this wedding, but Christine asked me if I would photograph the ceremony since their main photographer, the amazingly talented Stephanie Pool, is one of her best friends and also one of her bridesmaids! I was so honored to get to help document such an important day for them, and I loved getting to hang with the boys while they got ready. There is something so sweet about watching boys help each other get all dressed up, and it was pretty hilarious to see them all riding into the ceremony site on the back of a pickup truck with a bottle of whiskey between them…in perfect keeping with the country spirit of the event.

Christine and Aaron did such an amazing job pouring their hearts into this entire wedding weekend. Everything felt so personal, relaxed and soulful, and nothing conveyed that more than their ceremony. They simply picked a beautiful spot by the river, surrounded it with flowers arranged by family and friends, had a dear friend recite poetry by heart, exchanged some of the most beautiful vows I’ve ever heard, and then had their dog Bella run up the aisle with the rings and lay at their feet while they were announced as man and wife. I thank my camera’s auto-focus for seeing beyond my tears.

After the ceremony everybody walked up past the old movie theatre and into the reception site together. It was at this point that I went into party-mode myself and probably should have put my camera down, but there was too much fun to capture, from everyone taking turns on the swiss alphorn, to Christine and Aaron’s first dance that surprised everyone when it broke out into a fully choreographed dance routine, to the entire guest list dancing in a line behind the band, to a game of identify your husband’s calves, and ending with late night limbo. The next day everyone had breakfast together at one of the houses and then a bunch of us spent the entire day playing in the sun on the river. It was a weekend that we will all remember and I honestly couldn’t be happier for these two…they were meant to find each other.

I asked my Mom what she wanted for her birthday, and she said that all she wanted was a girls’ day…so we chose Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma as our destination, and had the most idyllic summer day wandering through the sculpture gardens, art installations and shops, followed by some wine and olive oil tasting and ending with dinner on the water in Sausalito. Now that I am a mama myself I can appreciate my Mom to a whole new level of love, and every year I come to celebrate her life a little more. She is the most amazingly strong, huge-hearted, fun-loving, passionate woman you could ever hope to have nurture you from womb to adulthood. She brightens the lives around her with her enthusiasm for life, her invented vocabulary, her liberal use of curse words, her over-zealous hand gestures, her beautiful shock of red hair and her youthful spirit. I love the fact that she continues to celebrate her 18th birthday every year. Mom, I hope that all of your wishes are granted and grown upon.

I had to post this first picture of both of my moms. I love them both to the moon and back, and my life is infinitely better thanks to their presences in it.

I am so in love with this family…because they are my actual family, (thanks to my husband Gabe having Jessie as his sister.) I honestly have no idea how I lucked out in marrying someone with a family that I actually enjoy being with, and even calling after the ‘being with’ to talk for a few late night hours. This is a family that offers a permanent supply of  love, support and hand-me-down gossip magazines, so they definitely deserved a little something back, but being an artist with little to offer besides some creativity and heart I was forced to give the lamest excuse for a present ever: a hand made gift certificate. Granted it was an excessively large gift certificate, colorfully written on a stretched canvas, with instructions to hang the certificate on a wall in their home until it was redeemed for the real gift; a family portrait session, but it was still essentially a gregarious coupon posing as a Christmas gift. Finally, a half a year later, I’m finally offering something back to the most deserving and beautiful family ever; documentation of their connection as a family and some memories of this fleeting moment in the girls’ lives. I usually post mostly color photos, but for this session the toned black and white images felt much more powerful to me. I think when the color is removed from an image we are more easily able to focus on the emotion within the image. I find so much love and spirit communicated in all of the expressions and gestures that these four share. I included a little color some color at the end,  to show that it really was a stunning summer day at the beach, that there are some insanely dazzling blue eyes in this family, and to convey that there is a very vibrant future ahead of this crazy hula hooping crew!

A small idea became a big and beautiful vintage inspired day thanks to the collaboration of some talented locals. This shoot was entirely created by vendors and artists based within Santa Cruz County, and I’d like to give a loud shout out of love and appreciation to all of those wonderful people for their contributions: huge thanks to Heidi and Karissa at Coastside Couture for helping to co-ordinate the event and styling the tables, the bar and the food, to Julianne ‘Jewels’ Castro from Stripe Design Group for styling the clothing and accessorizing, to Blank Verse for the amazing handmade jewelry, to Beautiful Jean for the stunning custom feather head pieces, to Alexis Party Rentals for the linens and china, to Gidzich Ranch for the homemade pies, to Jen, Matt, AJ, Kaia, Jewels and Mike for modeling, and to Linda Arietta for the flowers and for letting us use her beautiful flower farm country estate for the shoot, (and for cooking us all dinner at the end of the night!) This was one of those days that I never wanted to part with the disappearing light, and it left me looking forward to the next inspiration shoot.

There is nothing much better than just watching kids explore the world, and it’s infinitely more entertaining when they happen to be your own children. The energy and joy that these particular kids exude when their senses are stimulated has the power to generate an amnesia effect in their mother, making her forget all of the previous week’s frustrations, and fooling her into believing her senses are younger and her demeanor more playful than they really are….and for that she is grateful.