Lately, I've had the pleasure of working with Carmen from A Dream Party.  She's a wonderful children's entertainer who's talents are not limited to dressing up as your child's favorite character.  She also does a magic show, face painting, balloon animals, a puppet show and so much more. 

Thankfully, I get the chance to photograph her often.  When she gets a new costume in, we usually get together and have a quick photo shoot.  Yesterday, we got to go downtown and shock people with a Cat Woman costume and a Black Widow costume.  We had a lot of fun with!  Here are some images from yesterday as well as some others that we have done recently. 

I thought for this post, I would give you a little more about me, personally.  It's always nice to know what kind of person your photographer is, right? 

Well, I'm a mom of two wonderful children (Eli and Alison) and a wife as well as a crafter and photographer.  Christmas is my busiest time, not just for pictures.  I also make wreaths, ceramic coasters and anything crafty for my house that I can think of.  I love it all.  My daughter also inherited my craftiness.  :)  Christmas is our playground!

I grew up in Santa Ynez and migrated up to SLO county a few years after graduating high school.  I couldn't love it more on the Central Coast and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  We really have the best of everything.  We have the beach, the forest, the desert and even some tropical areas all within just a few miles of us.  

I also like to make as much food as I can from scratch.  I currently make my own instant oatmeal packets (have you ever seen the ingredient list on the store ones??), granola bars (the soft ones), honey cornbread that is even better than the Marie Calendar's one, jam, cereal bars (like the nutrigrain ones) and salsa.  I have a few other things I make from scratch like breads and sauces, but I am also always on the search to find healthier alternatives to what I get at the store.  I figure all those preservatives, sugar and chemicals can't be good for us and I will do what I can to keep my family healthy.  I have yet to find a spaghetti sauce recipe that I like, so if you have one, please share!  I have tried several, but I'm just not getting the smooth texture or rich flavors that I want. 

I also have a garden where I grow some of what I need to make the staples we have in our house.  My garden is slowly expanding, but I've only live in my current house for a year, so it's just a baby garden right now.  This year, I grew rainbow carrots (so fun for the kids), tomatoes for my salsa (I'm going to need SOOOO many more next year), lettuce, cucumbers and some Swiss chard (for the chickens). 

I also have chickens...Yes, I am one of those crazy people that loves to have chickens.  This year, I ended up having a hen that wanted to lay on some eggs, so I let her.  I don't have a rooster, so I had to ask the community for some fertilized eggs.  One woman came to my rescue and gave me 8 eggs.  It was WONDERFUL!!!  7 of the 8 eggs hatched and we had these fluffy, adorable little chicks running around.  I LOVED it!!!!  The kids loved it too, but maybe not at much as I did.  I seriously could have watched them all day long.  I mean, how cute are they??

I am so excited to shoot Megan and Dillon's wedding next month!  They are clearly in love and excited to get married.  Their energy is great and I am very happy to be able to soak up some of it while I'm with them. 

They met in downtown Paso Robles and even though Megan lived in Southern California, their love thrived and the relationship lasted, despite the distance between them.  Now they are ready to get married and officially start their lives together.

They have planned a beautiful ceremony at Circle S Ranch and Vineyard in Paso Robles with almost 200 guests scheduled to attend.  

After much searching, we were able to find the perfect place for their engagement session.  Castoro Cellars in Templeton, CA was very excited to have us there and we were so fortunate that they had some availability for us on the day we had planned for.   We had a wonderful time exploring the property and finding just the right spot for some pictures. 

To say that Matt & Tammy are wonderful people is an understatement.  No one that knows them has a single unkind thing to say about them and I am so happy to now know them.  I was asked to be their photographer at the last minute and fortunately, I was available for their wedding day.  I will always be grateful that they asked me.  Their kindness and generosity knows no bounds and is evident in everything they do.  They are the perfect match for each other and I'm really looking forward to knowing them for years to come.