Tara and Carlos Get Married

Their Wedding day had Tara’s bright, beautiful, sweetness permeating every little nook and cranny. Her raspy, bubbly voice filled the room and when she laughed, I swear it got brighter. Her two favorite men in the world (Carlos and their son, Nathan) were in a room nearby and the longing to be with them was palpable. Tara and Carlos have a love story whose exact plot seems to be debated by many. But it is a long story. A VERY long story. In Tara’s words, they’ve been together FOREVER. Whatever the twists and turns of their story, they belong together.

Here are some highlights from their beautiful day…







Reading a special note from Mother to Son…


Sand Ceremony Fun…

One of my favorite moments of the day that I rarely get to capture…

Tara and Carlos sang to one another as the music played over the garden and the ocean which brought tears of joy…

A moment between Mother and Son…

That ended with a sly low-five…

Tara, you are STUNNING!

My favorite…

An amazing location I spotted on the way to the ceremony site…

What would a shoot with me be without a little passion…

When we returned to the car from our location, Tara realized she’d left her shoes in the road!

Party Time…

A lovely & personal touch, Wedding photos of the family…


Dancing as Husband & Wife…

A beautiful moment with the Father & the Bride…

Sassy Tara…

Sara Gorski - Gorgeous!! So great to see the story unfold, it was such a beautiful wedding. Loved how you were able to capture the family feeling with their son, and keep things looking romantic with fitting with their theme. Great to work with you Danielle!!

SaraSeptember 2, 2010 – 7:31 pm

How I got my wings

Walking into her home was like visiting an fantastic city that I’d never been to and could only hope to never leave. I was 16 when Mary called me and offered me a job 3 days a week as her assistant. She heard about me from my friends mother and she hired me without ever meeting me in person. I was both incredibly excited and nervous. And maybe 5 minutes later I had made a unspoken and possibly even subconscious decision to be in the photography business.

Mary was a bright light in my world, a riot of color. Her home was never quiet, never boring. Her style influenced me greatly and I was able to find myself in it. I’ve cropped more negatives and designed more Wedding albums than I care to remember but no matter what I was doing I always felt the purpose of gorgeous images and I was always happy about it. When I bought my first ‘real’ camera (Mamiya RB 67 – a monster of a camera and that’s just fine considering how beautiful the pictures that came out of it were) I could’ve come out of my skin with pride and excitement. Mary had taught me the basics and I would be testing and tweaking and testing some more for years. And if I’m being honest, I still am.

Mary made me laugh, she made me feel envious (and still does) over the incredible items in her closet, but mostly, she gave me hope. She never made me feel like photography was out of my reach. Instead she praised me with words like ‘innovative’. Mary even photographed my Wedding for next-to-nothing just out of the kindness of her heart. I can’t ever thank her enough for being who she has been to me.

After being mostly out of touch for several years she came across my website and declared to me in an email that she nearly DIED when she saw it. She wanted me to do a shoot for her and she was so incredibly proud of what I’ve done and that it was more than she ever dreamed for me. Um…. first of all, best email EVER. Second, of COURSE I’ll do a shoot for you!

Here’s my favorite…. (there’s more concepts and I’ll post more later but C’MON! I’m SO in love with this one!

Ps. Mary is currently working on a new website, I’ll post the link soon!

your favorite Jenn! - Beautiful!July 23, 2010 – 2:59 pm

Rita Ramirez - You are hands down one of my favorites!! Great, great work!September 1, 2010 – 8:07 am

Sarah’s SF Boudoir

I LOVE LOVE LOVE when other photographers want me to shoot for them. I said to my hair/makeup artist the day of the shoot, ’she’s coming out from Texas. She’s another photographer actually’ and she looked at me as if I should be having a panic attack and said ‘oh my God, are you nervous?’ And of course, in that instant, I started to freak out a little. OMG, should I be nervous? I should be nervous!!! And then I remembered that I’ve shot for other photographers before and it was always fun and it always ended up being a great shoot. So, I shook it off and went about ordering my soy latte.

And another, and another. I had a shoot the day before and for some reason, my body refused to wake up. These are the times I pat myself on the back for never doing a shoot without a hair/makeup artist. That’s a built-in, guaranteed hour and a half of nap time. Yeah, you heard me. I straight up LAID down on the couch in the loft, pulled a blanket over myself and NAPPED. Okay, I didn’t exactly get to ’sleep’ per-se what with being 10 feet away from the action and having to offer mumbled opinions on how tousled I wanted her hair but I nonetheless made a total ass out of myself by napping on the job. I promised her very firmly that I would get ONE more coffee and I would be totally normal. And I was. Thank God.

Sarah was giggly and adorably understanding and when we finally started shooting… whoa. I didn’t expect what I saw through my lens and I was pretty darn stoked. It still amazes me… the pure magic of what happens between when the client walks in and when I finally click my shutter. I don’t know why I get to be so lucky as to witness something so spectacular, but I’m grateful. Sarah emanated beauty and grace (with a few giggles thrown in for good measure) and even though she was a photographer herself, she never questioned me for a second, she never offered a differing opinion, she never behaved like anything other than a sweet girl who was trusting me to make her look good. Amazing.

There were a few moments during shooting where I just had to stop and put the camera to my side and just plain freak out. Hopefully you’ll agree with me that in one of the shots below (her back is to the window), she is basically a dark-haired Blake Lively. Work it Sarah. I’m not mad at it.

Oh, and can we talk about Sarah’s fabulous Vintage leopard-print coat?

denise - These are GORGEOUS, what an amazing job you did!July 12, 2010 – 2:35 pm

Chris Rebo - Absolutely stunning set! THe first one and then the last 3 totally amaze me. Keep it up!July 13, 2010 – 8:51 am

angel - As always, I love your work and seriously enjoy reading your style of writing.July 16, 2010 – 7:38 pm

Jen - Whoa… you are amazing!July 16, 2010 – 11:48 pm

Sarah - Thank you Danielle for your magic! I am thrilled with the photographs~ you have such an eye…making me feel so alive & beautiful. :) July 18, 2010 – 9:15 am

Shaking it Up

The day began with us heading to my stylists home to do hair and makeup because the Hotel wouldn’t let her into the room for the early check-in. We took our time and got her all beautified and even got ourselves some coffee down the block. By noon we still couldn’t get into the room so I started shooting in the bedroom of the apartment. Yay for cute beds and natural light! I was a little shaken having my routine all turned around (and downing a soy latte that had epic amounts of caffeine. And Andrea? She was nervous. The girl was SHAKING.

I never think too much about my clients being extremely nervous because it always goes away 5 minutes into shooting. Mainly because I’m usually acting like a huge dork, even when I’m really trying not to. But Andrea, she held out. She went for broke. She proved her sublime skills of nervousness and she takes the medal. I tried to hold her hand and breathe with her but I’m sure she just thought I was nuts. Although the room was warm and we bonded over our mutual sweatiness. She of course loosened up a LITTLE after awhile and when we finally got to the Hotel she was excited for every single idea I had. Even the one where I’d put her in a 70’s slip-teddy, fishnets and booties, stuck a giant flower on her head and make her pose. In public. Yeah, she rocks. By the time we got outside, even if she was still nervous, it didn’t matter. Her amazingly sweet and bubbly personality persevered and she was determined to live up to my vision.

And boy, did she. She posed half naked in front of passersby and mimicked every ridiculous move and giggle and expression I threw at her. And she made it one of my favorite shoots to date. At the end of the shoot as we were packing up, she folded her slim arms into herself and pleaded with her girly little voice ‘I don’t want you guys to gooooooooo!!!!’ I’m not gonna lie, I was tempted to buy myself a toothbrush, wash my undies in the sink and have a girls night. But I had to get home to my babies and to Pete so I kept that thought to myself.

Andrea, you’re one hell of a girl. And I consider myself lucky for having clients like you who are miraculously gorgeous and incredibly sweet at the same time. It’s not an easy combo to find and I feel so blessed. Thank you for choosing me to have this experience with you and for being so sweet and willing, even when you would’ve rather put on your bright pink fluffy robe and headed for the hills.

Can you repeat that please?

I think my vets maybe think I’m dumb. I’ve received instructions (the same ones) no less than 5 times from the veterinary surgeon. Granted, I asked him to repeat himself while we were on the phone one of those times because I thought we were having an earthquake so I was temporarily distracted. He gave me instructions on the phone twice, the nurse gave me instructions (written and verbal) when I came in and then the surgeon came in and repeated them. He also called to check in and gave me a nice ‘reminder’. Now, I just got a message from my regular vet who talked to the surgeon and HE decided it would be a good idea to reiterate some of the instructions. I guess I look like I just fell off the turnip truck. In fact, I’m sure I do.