Tag Archives: vintage

jenny & rishi | stanford engagement session

Happy New Year! 2012 is proving to be a great year so far and I’m so excited to document a whole lot of love this year. One wedding that I’m really looking forward to is Jenny & Rishi’s, as I recently shot their engagement session and felt so inspired by our beautiful afternoon together. These two are both so kind and engaging and together they make one dynamic couple. Jenny is about to become a doctor and Rishi recently launched an awesome startup called Sosh that all of you in the Bay Area should check out to discover of the most interesting and entertaining things to do in the city.  Jenny and Rishi met while studying at Stanford University, so we had to begin their session on the campus. After we had explored some of the architecture and wandered around the areas where they had spent lots of time together, we headed for the hills nearby for a champagne and pastry-filled picnic. The sunset up there was insane, and these two looked amazing together in the late afternoon light. I’m seriously counting down the days until I get to document their big day and more golden light at The Carneros Inn in Napa early this summer.

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the knot magazine | holman ranch feature

I could not be more excited about Robyn and Tobin’s amazing Holman Ranch wedding feature in the newest issue of The Knot magazine. We had a dream team of vendors who all helped to bring this day to life, including event design and planning by Coastside Couture, flowers by Laughin’ Gal Floral, cakes by Edith Meyer, catering by Grapes of Wrath and videography by Bigtime Video Services. The Knot magazines are always full of beautiful ideas and inspiration, so if you’re newly engaged, check them out for sure.

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dig gardens | inspiration shoot

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: DIG gardens in santa Cruz (available for small weddings) http://diggardensnursery.com/
photography: carlie statsky photography http://www.carliestatsky.com/
co-ordination and styling: Laura Cook http://www.lauracookstyle.com/
makeup & hair: Sarah Viraphanth of Mimi & Taylor Salon http://www.mimi-taylor.com/
accessories: Cameron Marks Boutique http://www.cameronmarks.com/
feather earring and place settings: Fly Love Jewelery http://www.etsy.com/shop/FlyLoveJewelry
additional accessories (like the camera) sourced from Urban Outfitters, Piperlime and Stripe
printed materials (menus, escort cards, wine labels, love grows signage & invitations) Heidi Allen at www.proboscreative.com
flowers: DIG gardens
Cadi: George Purnell www.Rides4Brides.com
bride’s dress: vintage

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

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lara & anthony | engagement session | santa cruz

I think this has to be my new favorite engagement session…and that would explain why I’ve included just about every single photo from that session into this post. This was one of those fortuitous and inspiring days and I loved the company I was able to spend it with. Things didn’t seem so promising at the start though, as I had arrived early to find a huge fog bank moving towards our location. I was sure that within minutes the blue skies would turn grey and poor Lara would freeze in her summer dress, but thankfully we were able to start sooner than planned and the fog stayed at the perfect distance and diffused the light in the most amazing way and only started to sweep in just as we were packing up.

I’m convinced that there is no better way to start an engagement session than with a tandem bike. I loved all of the props that Lara and Anthony brought to the day, like their vintage blanket and custom banner, but my favorite one was the old frame that Lara randomly found on the ground when we were shooting near some hay bails. It was such a perfect fit for their vintage-inspired style that they’re planning on using it at their wedding too. Double score. Props can’t make a picture though, but personalities can, and Lara’s and Anthony’s definitely did. They both showed their sweetness, their humor and their love…and they could go from sultry to goofy in two seconds flat. I blame those two personalities and their photogenic ways for making it so hard to choose favorites and to keep my blog post brief.

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jenny & jef | holman ranch wedding | carmel

This might break the record for longest blog post, but I have a hard time letting beauty go undocumented. Jenny and Jef are one of those truly radiant couples, and then they chose a venue as stunning as Holman Ranch in Carmel, so there was a whole lot of beauty for me to capture that day. Jenny and Jef are Carmel locals and they fell in love with this property the moment they saw it. Holman Ranch creates this amazing atmosphere that’s intimate yet expansive and rustic yet elegant, and that is exactly the feeling that Jenny and Jef wanted to create for their guests that day. You really do feel like you’re a world away up on that warm hill overlooking the Carmel Valley. The entire day felt so relaxed, as I arrived to find Jenny wandering the gardens to find fresh flowers for her hair while the guys were out for a morning surf. The ceremony felt equally casual and personalized as they had their dear friend as their officiant, a song performed by another friend, their rings passed from guest to guest so that each person could bless them in their own way, and vows that they each wrote themselves. After cocktail hour guests were served incredible farm fresh food by Paradise Catering and seated at family style tables. I love that dessert was a variety of local pies from Gizdich Ranch instead of a formal cake. The party then moved out to the barn area for dancing, hanging out by the fire pits, playing horse shoes and joining in on the fun of Jenny’s homemade photo booth. I have to thank my wonderful assistant Marisa for her skills and her spirit, and Karissa and Heidi from Coastside Couture for bringing Jenny and Jef’s vision to life so well. That night as Marisa and I were zoomed down a wooded path on the back of a golf cart to reach our car, we couldn’t help feeling elated and inspired by the enchantment of the whole day.

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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.

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