Tag Archives: santa cruz

lisa & max | engagement | santa cruz photographer

A good friend of mine used to work with fashion designers Lisa and Max when they all worked together at O’Neill down in LA, and when she heard that these two were planning on getting married in Santa Cruz she sent them my way. The moment I met Lisa and Max I knew that I had to photograph their wedding, as they seemed so down to earth and obviously in love, they had amazing taste in music and fashion and their garden wedding sounded like it was going to be both beautiful and a whole lot of fun. We planned to do their engagement session when they were visiting for a few days, all of which were rainy and cold, but thankfully the weather co-operated with us just long enough to capture some great shots and the misty rain only made the beach feel even more atmospheric and intimate, which is exactly how I imagine their wedding will feel too.

Untitled-5Untitled-6Untitled-7Untitled-8Untitled-9Untitled-10Untitled-11Untitled-12Untitled-13

katrina & robbie | engagement | santa cruz photographer

Katrina and Robbie are both talented visual artists working in the film industry, so I was excited (and slightly intimidated) to get creative with their engagement portraits. I really wanted them to love their images, and I think by just documenting them doing some of the activities they enjoy together, we were able to really capture who they are as a couple. Robbie is from the UK and he loves to have a beer or two at the pub, so we started at the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery. There’s nothing like a pint to ease the awkwardness of having a camera follow your every move and to help amplify the fun. We then headed over to Wilder Ranch to wander around the old farmstead and do some crossword puzzles in the orchard. We followed the sun to where it set over the coastline and watched the full moon rise into the dusk light. It was one of those atmospheric evenings, one that made me feel so incredibly lucky to get to meet cool people, go to cool places and simply document love for a living.

Untitled-1

Untitled-11

Untitled-2Untitled-3Untitled-4Untitled-5Untitled-6Untitled-7Untitled-8Untitled-9Untitled-10

zeszut family | family portraits | santa cruz photographer

When my kids were still babies I used to pack them up in the car with my massive double stroller and go exploring through new neighborhoods all over town. On one of those adventures I discovered the most amazing and sunshine filled road that led up to beautiful views of the Santa Cruz mountains. I remember walking past this one particular property on that road and thinking what a magical place it would be to grow up there. Well it turns out I had the honor of photographing the family who live on that very property and honestly, between the the persimmon tree, the kind and carefree kids, the swings, the farm house, grandma’s cottage, the art, the views and the parents’ love, it was everything that I imagined…and then some.

Untitled-1Untitled-2Untitled-3Untitled-4

Untitled-5Untitled-8Untitled-6Untitled-10Untitled-9

sheena & adam | vinehill winery engagement session

I think that the destiny we reach in love and in life is more often than not manifested by the strength of our thoughts and will….and this engagement session is my proof. Earlier this autumn I was visiting one of our Happy Valley neighbors, Santa Cruz’ oldest vineyard, Vinehill Winery. As I was being blown away by the property’s stunning views of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the California Coast, I turned to my friend and said that I really wanted to do an engagement shoot there… and soon. The very next day I received an email from Adam saying that we couldn’t shoot at the Napa Vineyard that we were planning on visiting (where he proposed to Sheena) and asked if I knew of any beautiful Santa Cruz vineyards. I gave them a list of a bunch of local vineyards and out of all of them they chose Vinehill. We were lucky enough to have the entire place to ourselves, and despite the forecast of rain, we stayed dry for the entire session. Sheena and Adam are so much fun together and that fun was completely contagious, as we shared some wine and wandered around the vineyards full of fall colors. I love a little serendipity in any photo session, and on this day it came in many forms, including a mustard cardigan that complimented the colors of the vines perfectly, (best shown in the last shot of this post.) In fact, just about everything about this day seemed complimentary; fashion and location, weather and wine, views and privacy, and most of all Sheena and Adam. I could tell that these two completely belong together and I am so excited to see what they will manifest for their Holman Ranch wedding next year!

Untitled-1Untitled-2Untitled-3Untitled-1.5Untitled-3.5Untitled-4

1

Untitled-5

Untitled-6Untitled-7Untitled-8

boardwalk to the beach | santa cruz engagement session

This has to be one of my all time favorite engagement sessions. I knew I’d love spending time with these two from the moment I met Marilyn and Jason and detected Marilyn’s Aussie accent, but when they described their style as modern, eclectic and quirky, I was in heaven…and I remained there for the entire engagement session when I got to witness the beautiful connection between these two. What really made this photo shoot so special was all of the thought and effort that they both poured into it, from the ‘save the date’ sign they crafted, to mom’s homemade cookies, to their stylin’ outfits, to their willingness to fit three locations into one session, to the fact that they even bought me a ferris wheel ride! Despite the crazy, corn-dog eating crowds, we managed to have the perfect and swift Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk adventure, (which would have been even swifter if I could have resisted the temptation that every brightly colored back drop posed to me and my camera.) We headed straight for the ferris wheel and requested a yellow chair (since yellow is one of the main colors of their wedding) and got on. Once the wheel started turning I suddenly remembered how terrifying a ride as innocent looking as the ferris wheel really is. As we headed to the top of the ride they laughed and kissed and looked beautifully in love while I screamed…loud, giddy, laughy sounding screams…as I tried to hold onto my camera for dear life and not ruin the potentially great shots of these two on top of the world. I survived, and I think we remained on top of the world for the rest of the day, having way too much fun while we had a champagne picnic, wandered through fields and ended up at the beach at sunset. Marilyn and Jason, you guys truly know how to bring the awesome and I’m beyond excited for your Clos La Chance wedding later this summer.

Untitled-1Untitled-2Untitled-3Untitled-5Untitled-4Untitled-6Untitled-7Untitled-9Untitled-8

vintage flower farm wedding | featuring santa cruz wedding vendors

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.

gettingreadykidsgirlsUntitled-2Untitled-3Untitled-6

Untitled-4Untitled-5

senior portraits with ‘alice’ | santa cruz photographer

This was more than just taking senior portraits with a high school student, this was like hanging out with Alice in Wonderland. Santa Cruz always feels like a pretty magical place to photograph, but when you add a beautiful, adventurous, willing and kind-hearted girl, then Santa Cruz becomes Wonderland. We had so much fun together, and I feel like our portrait session captured the many different and lovely sides of our sweet ‘Alice.’

Untitled-1Untitled-2Untitled-3Untitled-4

heidi & paul | engagement session | santa cruz photographer

This was one powerful and atmospheric day for a beach engagement session. It was the same day that just up the coast, the waves at Mavericks were breaking records as the biggest in the history of surf contests. We arrived at Natural Bridges in the morning to discover that the beach had been completely swallowed by the ocean, so we explored around like Californian kids enjoying a rare storm, and discovered so many great spots filled with beautiful light. The irony is that these ethereal images capture an incredibly down-to-earth couple. I love these two for being so easy going, for cracking me up with their quick wits, and for being so clearly and comfortably in love. I can’t wait to photograph their spring wedding at Pasatiempo’s Hollins House in Santa Cruz.

Untitled-1Untitled-2Untitled-3Untitled-4

midtown montessori | portrait of a preschool | santa cruz photographer

I know that we should always try to live in the present, but there are some days that I’d honestly rather be back in the carefree days of preschool, especially if that school happens to be Midtown Montessori in Santa Cruz. My daughter has been attending this amazing school for about 6 months now and I had the privilege of spending a few mornings hanging out with the kids to capture their educational environment for the school’s advertising and website re-design. These kids definitely have it good, really good; a fully certified ‘green’ school, amazing educational activities, organic snacks, an organic garden, and the most friendly, loving and beautiful teachers that a child could wish for. I love the Montessori approach for allowing each child the freedom to develop as an individual, as they focus on their unique interests. You would think there would be pure chaos with that many kids having that much freedom, but I was amazed to discover a classroom filled with a sense of order and effort, as each child seemed engrossed in their work. The teachers manage to give each child a lot of one on one attention, and they include them in all of the activities from cooking lunch to cleaning up. I think I’m going to have to bring a few Montessori principles back home…starting with putting the kids in charge of the doing the dinner dishes. Thank you Midtown Montessori for opening your world to me and reminding me how awesome it is to be a preschooler.

Untitled-1Untitled-2Untitled-3