This week, I made it out to a concert.

I know. What has even happened to my life??

But hilariously, this was a pretty great show for me to shoot, because it appeared the artists were as weary and old as I am.

Not that I don’t still love a good rock show full of dancing and screaming — I do! But not on a Wednesday night before I have to leave the house at 7 am the next morning. Not on a night when my kid might wet the bed, my dog might wake me up eating my bedspread and I might have caught my kid’s raging cold (which all happened that night, btw).

So a more mellow show was just what I needed.

And have you not heard of Radical Face? Ridiculous name, but wonderful music. Go listen here.

I do have more photos, but they aren’t that great. Because white men sitting down for more than an hour to sing into microphones doesn’t make fantastic photography. But it does heal the soul. Go give it a listen.

Also, the last photo is of the cellist whistling into the cavern of his instrument, and it sounded so haunting and beautiful.

This is Buddy. When his mom told me she was bringing in a blind dog, I didn’t hesitate. I’ve shot many blind dogs for rescues before… but… they usually still have their eyes.

So I was a little surprised to see his had been removed. His owners explained he’d been rescued from Texas, and when he was found he had horrendous, oozing eye infections, so they needed to be removed.

You guys. I swear, you wouldn’t even know they were missing! Be it his sniffer or his amazing hearing, he trotted around the studio exploring like any old regular pup. And he even posed the same! What a champ.

I learned a lot from this session — but mostly I learned that even without those expressive eyes, dogs are still just as magical. I was so lucky to have spent a morning with this handsome guy.

I have been so lucky the past week! I’ve had a bunch of newborn shoots AND some dog shoots! And some, like this one, where I got to photograph both together!

Bringing a newborn home when you have animals is such an adjustment for all creatures involved, and I adore capturing not just the baby, but the entire family in this moment.

I know I say this a lot, but I really am the luckiest to get to call these shoots my profession. Spending the days with these families is such a pleasure.

Right after we got back from our vacation, I jumped into work with this newborn session. I am not gonna lie, I adore this family and could not wait to get this session under my belt. Their dog is THE BEST, and their oldest daughter makes me laugh and laugh and laugh, and I was thrilled to be there. And I haven’t even gotten to the parents! I could sit down and talk with them for hours (but I try not to because after all, they have a newborn and are exhausted!).

Seriously, I sometimes have to pinch myself. I come home from a week away in the warm desert, and I am excited to get back to work. I am begging everyone to find work that is this satisfying — it will change your life.

There are a ton of favorites from this session, and I managed to narrow it down to the few below. I hope you enjoy them.

These are just two shots from our trip that I really liked and didn’t really fit in my posts about the beach or Joshua Tree. When we are staying in Palm Springs, we are mostly by the pool or playing games or just hanging out at home with the family (which I love). Because of this, most of my images from this vacation are more personal family shots, and not so much scenic ones.

But these two are the exceptions.

Up top is Ezra running to his favorite playground at Ruth Hardy Park. We walked there every day, and the view of those mountains never gets old, friends. There are no foothills like Denver, these mountains just shoot straight out of the ground, and it’s amazing.

Below is a shot I took from the car on our way to the beach. I love the California windmills and I thought this image captured the magic of it all.

And before I sign off, I want to say thank you to all of you who took the time to poke around my new site yesterday, and especially to those of you who ordered packages. I was blown away by the support, and it was a very happy Monday for me! So thanks again!

Did you notice my fancy new design? I’ll get to that in a minute. First, the item above.

A few weeks back, I showed you the photos from sweet Ellis’ session, but I wanted to share his film as well. I really adore these newborn films, and I’m hoping to book more and more of them in the future.

And speaking of that! If you’re reading this on the day of publication, you’ll notice that orange bar at the top of your screen! That right there is a discount to ANY family session booked for 2020 — but you have to book before midnight on Feb 17, 2020, because after that it’s gone folks.

But back to this website! Isn’t it lovely? My amazingly wonderful and fabulous friend Margaret designed it for me, and I could not be happier. She is a gem, I tell you.

Why change it, you ask? Well, I wanted to redo my website to focus more on families — but keep the dogs present. As many of you know, these are my very favorite things to photograph, but they don’t make up even half of my annual income (that goes to portraits and commercial gigs). I’m going to be completely transparent here and tell you that I really, really want to do even more of the work I love, so I thought refocusing my website was a great place to start.

A few questions you might have:

1. Are you ONLY doing families and dogs now? What about my head shots? Yes, I will of course still do portraits! But I don’t want that front and center on my site. If you need a new head shot, get at me.

2. I don’t see weddings anywhere? Are you not doing weddings now? Hmm… I will do weddings if the circumstances are right. But at this point in my life, I’m only truly loving weddings of long-time clients or friends or people I already know in real life. So I took them off my site. But if you are getting married and want me to shoot it — reach out!

3. I don’t see Lucy on the site — did you two break up? HELL NO. I still adore Lucy and admire her work so much. But I wanted to change up the site, and she loves doing way more than just families, so I thought it was unfair to pigeon hole her into my dream world. She just redesigned her own amazing site, and we are still working closely together. We still share the studio and still refer jobs back and forth like crazy. She’s the best.

Ok, I think that should cover it! Please take a look around — I’m really proud of all the work on here and how it’s displayed. Plus, it’s Monday (and a bank holiday)! Why not waste a little time!

We finally made it out to Joshua Tree this year on our Palm Springs visit, and man was it lovely. I think I could have spent an entire day exploring the park, but my five year old, however, was content with the 3 hours we had planned.

We hiked the Hidden Valley loop and Barker’s Dam, which were both lovely and easy enough for the kiddo. We only saw one hint of wildlife (a roadrunner), but we were ok with that since tarantulas and rattle snakes were a big concern for Ezra.

Overall though, climbing on the huge boulders was fun for everyone, and I highly suggest this for a family trip. Enjoy the photos!

This week, the family and I have been in Palm Springs. By the time you read this, we will likely have returned to the frozen tundra with a touch more color in our faces (thank God), and maybe some spring in our step.

Most of our time away was spent in the desert, but we did travel to the beaches of Southern California for one day to introduce Ezra to the Pacific Ocean. He LOVED it. And I love that Baywatch-esque image up there of my boys.

Here are a few snaps of our afternoon at Laguna Beach. Not pictured is my swollen foot after stepping on some sort of bee/wasp/scorpion/who knows what. Still worth it.

Also, the next time you come back to this website, things might look a little different. Please be patient as we implement the changes this weekend!