photographer | sia mcdonald photography
2nd shooter | the super fun and richly talented diana maire photography
venue | viansa winery
musicians | vast music
dj | denon & doyle
cake | walnut creek baking company
caterer | sage catering
wedding dress | gesinee's bridal
invitations | gillis design studio
floral | wine country flowers
hair & make-up | vicky lopez young

Mara and I met in a mom's group when our daughter's were newborns.  Since then their family has grown to include beautiful Gabriella.  Please enjoy some of the photographs from my session with this sweet sweet family.  

Mom is Alexa who is one of my besties.  I shared my first post college San Francisco apartment with her and we lived it up together until I got married.  Alexa and Dave are such wonderful parents to this sweet child.  Campbell has captivated them which is obvious as I watch them lovingly stare at their precious child.  

It is a joy to watch their beautiful family grow and I'm so excited to be a part of Campbell's life.  

Love to you all.  

I have had the privilege of knowing Laurie for years.  We went to high school together, were college roommates and sorority sisters, and worked together post college at PwC.  I'm so thrilled that Laurie found her perfect partner in Jeff.  Laurie is so sweet and kind but simultaneously this crazy wild spirit who knows every dance move to EVERY Britney and N'Sync song ever made.  And Jeff - he loves her for all of that and so much more.    

Laurie deserves every happiness in the world and it's obvious that she found that in Jeff and that Jeff found that same perfect love in Laurie.  

Congrats to you both!  

Sisters. 

As adorable and sweet as they come. 

She was absolutely stunning in her wedding dress.  Her beauty just effortless.  He smiled as his love walked down the isle - excited that it was the day he got to marry her. 

Katherine & Dan are such a fun couple - full of life and always ready for a good time.  Their wedding day was beautiful.  See for yourself.  

I told you so.  

Seriously beautiful. 

Congrats to the happy couple!  

photographer | Sia McDonald Photography 

2nd shooter | Diana Maire Photography 

church | Saint Anselm Catholic Church 

reception | St. Vincent's 

caterer | City Forest 

cake | The Creekside Bakery 

dj | Peter Haley 

florist | Teresa Stoner 

dress | Allure Bridals 

We have been slowly working on projects around the house, mostly to "de-late 80's-early-90's" the place. I have such admiration for those that are good at design.  My blog reader is comprised purely of celebrity gossip, photographers, and designers.  I lack much skill in this area so I turned to the talent of the ladies at Nest Design for help.  Heather and Jennifer are such skilled designers and were able to turn my living room into a space I absolutely treasure.  Here are a few before and after shots of one of my favorite rooms in my house.  

Kristin and Scot's day held so many special touches.  Kristin wore her grandmother's wedding dress that had also been worn by her mother.  Her jewelry was hand made by a neighbor.  Kristin and Scot's shoes were made by a friend.  Flowers for the day had been grown and harvested by friends. Their vows were said under a chuppah made from a quilt built of squares made by wedding guests.  The delicious cupcakes were made by a dear friend.  

2nd shooter | the fabulous Diana Maire Photography 

wedding venue | Green Oaks Creek Farm & Retreat 

caterer | Catered Fresh 

band | Belle Monroe and her Brewglass Boys 

Katie and Kevin just welcomed perfect baby boy Max to their family.  Super adorable big brother Henry could not be more excited about his new brother.  Congrats to you all and your beautiful family!  

I first heard Mary speak at WPPI last year at a panel on the trade show floor.  I sat in the audience and was taken by her talent and honesty.  Last week I had the opportunity to attend Justin and Mary's Walk Through a Wedding workshop in San Francisco.  

And that's exactly what we did.  

We went through every stage of the wedding from the getting ready, to the wedding at the beautiful St. Marks church in the city, to the reception at the ultra cool (I wanted to say "jazzy" but there has to be a better word that doesn't make me sound like i'm 87!) speakeasy of Bourbon and Branch.  The theme was a 1940's inspired "Boxcars and Bugle Boys" and our models were the lovely Elizabeth and Ryan.  Justin, with his technical savvy, and Mary, with her calm spirit, were dropping knowledge at every stage of the day.  They freely gave of their experience and expertise.  They are talented photographers as well as gifted teachers.  If you get the chance to go.  Do it.  Seriously.  My girl Rupa told me to do it and I'm passing on the good word.  

For me one of the beautiful things about photography is that there is always more to learn and for me it is an ever evolving art.  I learned so much that day that I have already begun to incorporate with my wedding clients.  I also got to meet a group of talented photographers which is always double bonus time.  Thank you to Justin and Mary for the super fab day!  I thank you and so do my clients.  

Morgan is an adorable 2 year old who loves exploring the world around him.  He is full of energy and during our shoot happily clutched a toy train and a little lovely named Dexter.  Morgan is the soon-to-be big brother of twin boys due to arrive in a few short weeks.  Mom looks radiant and Dad is excited to add two more boys to the family.  The family will be moving out of state soon after the boys are born so needless to say there is a ton going on for this family.  I'm so glad they took the time to get some photographs taken to remember this very special time.  

It's just a little look Brian gives her.  A sweet moment between them that always makes Nadine light up and smile.  I spent the afternoon in the city with these lovebirds and loved listening to them laugh with one another and talk excitedly about their fall nuptials.  Nadine and Brian compliment each other so well.  They love sports (GO GIANTS!) and spend weekends golfing around the bay area.  From my time with them it was obvious that they have such a fun relationship full of inside jokes and laughs.  I can't wait to be a part of their wedding day! 

I took and developed this picture of my beautiful mom when I was 15 years old.  I was taking my first high school photography course.  It was here that I got my first introduction to photography basics.  Digital cameras for the average consumer were years away so I shot everything on film with my mom's Nikon FM 35mm from the late 1970s.  I kept many of my favorite images from my time in this class and love looking back at the images I wanted to capture.  It was one of my favorite classes and I'm thankful to have been given the exposure to the craft.

Recently I have wanted to get back to shooting film for some personal projects.  I needed a little kick start and found just what I needed when I purchased the Find Guide by the talented Jonathan Canlas.  I highly recommend it for anyone interested in shooting film.  In a word the guide is RAD.  Full of grade A knowledge and inspiration this book has me back into the film world as an intrigued and excited hobbyist.  Here are a few images I recently shot on my Canon EOS 3 on Kodak Portra 400.  In addition to the Nikon that I still use I also picked up a Bronica medium format camera that I'm excited to start experimenting with.  

For now I'm thrilled to be learning something new through practice and lots of trial and error.  I love the simplicity of film in the way that it looks.  I'm looking forward to sharing more images in the future.