WPPI! 2011! It was my third year attending this convention and as always, it was jam-packed with fun and friends and food and fotography. (See what I did there? Alliteration!) Some highlights of this year:

– Rooming with the sweetest ladies {Lydia, Serena & Alice!} and grubbing on shin cups late at night like we’re in the dorms or something
– Dancing so hard at Airplanes and Blazers I broke one of my heels (WOO HOO)
– Sipping pretty pink greyhounds with the lovely Traveling Heart ladies
– Walking away from the trade show with a shiny new Kelly Moore camera bag (I got the hobo! the mustard one!)
– Grabbing Mad Greek for lunch on the way back (a must when visiting Vegas)
– Coming home with the annual inevitable WPPI SARS and being out of commission for about a week. (OH WAIT, that is the opposite of a highlight, that is definitely the lowest of all lowlights, I’ve pretty much figured out that I can only exist in Vegas for 72 hours, any longer and I catch the bubonic plague.)
– Participating in two amazing shoots, one which you shall see below!

For this shoot, we drove out and out (and out) into the Vegas desert, and just when we were all pretty sure we’d be the stars in a “Nine Photographers Go Missing, 237 Weddings Now Photographer-less” article, we arrived at the most amazing little ghost town. They’ve shot all sorts of movies and commercials and ads there, but all you really need to know is that an Anthropologie catalog was photographed there once. THAT’S HOW CUTE IT IS.

Thank you so much to Alice Hu for being an organizational wizard and bringing everything together, to the amazing models for coming out, to Lydia for helping to style, and ban.do for providing us with the sweetest box of accessories to jazz up our shoot. So much fun!

Models: Shelli Anderson | Natalie Brewster | Marissa Knudsen

Wedding Gowns: Bonny Bridal

Hair: Hair by Shelli

Hair Accessories: ban.do {thanks to Ever Ours!}

Part of why I so love what I do is the fact that I get to capture milestones, wonderful moments that only happen a handful of times in a lifetime. It’s even more exciting when I get to be a part of multiple milestones for the same couple, so I was overjoyed when Dawn {a past bride-turned-friend, my favorite!} contacted me regarding some maternity photos of her & Craig. I loved working with them for their engagement session & wedding day.. and since both of these were filled to the brim with creativity and personality, I should have known that Dawn would come up with something equally amazing for the maternity session!

So how is this for amazing… dozens of photos hanging from trees – baby photos, family photos, engagement & wedding photos, and tons of memories Dawn & Craig have shared over the years, a lovely little bench, a collection of pastel-colored frames. We headed to one of my favorite photo spots, set everything up, and I got to shoot one of the sweetest couples ever in the prettiest light. It really doesn’t get much better than this :)

So excited for them and their little bundle of joy who is on his way any day now!

Seriously, is Dawn not THE cutest, prettiest pregnant lady you’ve ever seen??

So in love with this pillow, good thing it didn’t fit in my Shootsac or I might have have tried to sneak it home with me ;)

A couple weeks ago I drove down to sunny San Diego for a fun shoot with this super sweet couple! I love shooting in San Diego.. the drive down is so gorgeous and relaxing, with the sparkly sea lining the left side of the highway, and as I enter the city, I automatically feel a couple ounces of stress magically float away (I also feel an immediate craving for carne asada fries, but that’s a whole other blog post).

N & T were married a couple years ago (they’ve been together for over 10 years!) but didn’t do an engagement session then, and decided to set up a similar session now :) I am a huge fan of “just because” sessions and believe that any time is the perfect time to get lovely photos of yourself! A cheery bunch of balloons & their adorable pup {and the amazing amazing light} added an extra dose of fun into the session.. :)