Christmas Cards Galore!

Bye now I have officially processed over 1300 Christmas cards....a bit scary, but the upside is that I've almost reached my goal for 2007!

Here are a few of the "fronts" - there is much more to each card and in person, they are absolutely amazing, but this will hopefully give you a general idea of the "A" style Holiday Card.....If you're on the A list - you just might receive one of your own for Christmas!

this one is still in progress...

Families on the beach! | Avila

Shelley & Gil called me on short notice....they came over from the valley for a quick vacation in Avila with their puppy - Molly. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know how in love with my puppy - Sergeant Gunny Highway "Gunny" - I am....so I just had to take their photos, because I could relate to how special they felt their puppy is. If you're not a dog or animal lover, you might not get what I'm saying, but if you are, you totally will!!!

Molly and Gunny met today - they got along OK, but we were convinced if they hung out longer they would have had a blast!

I don't know why but to me, Blogger certainly seems to desaturate and lessen the contrast of photos when posted - so please know they look much better in print than when posted online!

Families on the beach! | Cayucos

One of my favorites beaches to shoot at ... well it was, until I found a new beach last week! It's great because of all the different locations. Danielle is a sweetheart, and is always a pleasure to shoot as are her parents - you can tell!

LOVE this one - above....and below.

Family in the vineyards | SLO town USA

Karen has the sweetest family one could ask for. I shot their family portraits at the ranch next to Edna Valley Vineyards in Edna Valley - imagine that! In fact, I just checked out their website and they have several of my photos on it - which I forgot about - not all of them - but check it out anyhow!

So back to Karen's family....the kind of family one can only hope to have when they grow up!

Vintage Christmas | Templeton

I have photographed Michelle & Shane's family for 3 years now....and Michelle never ceases to amaze me with her ideas! This year we did a Christmas tree decorating theme - and I think it really worked, in fact it might be one of my favorites shoots for this season. Here's the proof:

Holiday deadline

Well, I've completed about a million and a half shoots - thanks to my loyal clients and new ones! Thanks so much for such a splendid 2007.

I wanted to post the final day to place orders to receive them in time for Christmas delivery - DECEMBER 11th - it's a Tuesday. Please have all orders in by this date 5pm if you need them by Christmas. After this date, there is no guarantee they will be done in time for gifts. This is for portrait clients - if you are ordering wedding photos please refer to the Pictage website for their holiday deadlines.

I will post photos from a handful of shoots over the next few days - I hope - I'm packing my bags and flying out to shoot a wedding in Hawaii on Friday! Stay tuned for updates of that as well!

All the best,
Allyson

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my friends, family & clients,
We have so much to be thankful for, hopefully today is not the only day that we give thanks! I am thankful for all of the special people in my life and all the goodness God has blessed Dan & I with. I hope you too have a lot to be thankful for.
Gobble gobble!

Meadow | Spark Life Design

Here are Meadow's most recent photos....isn't she sparkly?! We were going for a bit of a rocker look and I think we achieved it!

I met Meadow and her beautiful daughter - who stars at the top of this blog, bet you can pick her out - about a year ago when she asked me to shoot her headshot for her business, Spark Life Design. Since then I've had the joy of getting to know her professionally and personally and I can see why she does what she does.

About 8-9 months ago I was beginning to feel "empty" from my work. It's easy to say that this might not ever happen to you, and it might not, especially if you do what you truly love. But going on 9 years in the business, my feeling towards what I do had changed for some reason and more disturbing, I could not put my finger on it.

I still took beautiful photos that couples & families cherished and loved, but for me personally, something was missing. It was hard for me to believe that this was the case, because I am living my dream come true, and successfully. So I felt that there had to be some reason I was feeling this way.

Meadow helped me rediscover why I do what I do (which I knew all along, but had lost my path you could say) and to bring back the joy, along with fresh new vision. Caution you photographers if you are reading this - "burnout" can happen to you! - without you ever suspecting it. If you don't take care of it, it will take care of you.

Anyhow, I don't need to drag out the story, but Life Coaching really opened up my mind and energy in amazing ways. I highly recommend it, even if you just need a fresh perspective!

Hey if it works for Oprah, it will probably work for me!

Blessings, Allyson


PS I just re-read this entry and it sounds a bit salesish - So I thought I should clear the record - I wrote this all on my own, with no solicitation or benefits from anyone - it's all true!

So exciting!

I just got back from meeting up with the flooring guy at my new studio. They have done a lot of work since I was there last and it's beautiful! It's really a dream come true for me. Stay tuned and I'll post some photos once we have the floors in. Looks like I'll be moving in on schedule, which honestly I did not think was going to happen. So that means I have January to decorate and do the fun stuff!

Welcome Baby Kyrie!

Our good friends Samadhy & Kyle had a baby girl yesterday - Kyrie. She's got a full head of hair and is very sweet....

Time for a rewind?

So earlier this week Dan (my husband) called me while I was in the middle of a big project with not enough time to talk or brain function available to think about what he was calling me about. I basically answered him in a snotty tone (yes, yours truly can get a little nasty every here and then) and we hung up angry.

Then my aunt called and I told her I was upset etc....and she said, "you need a rewind!" I said what's that? She said you move back in time to the beginning of the conversation and start over.

So I called Dan back and we had a rewind - for the first time in almost 15 years! wow, it worked. Just thought I'd share with you, even when you've been together forever and know how each other communicates, sometimes it doesn't go so smooth and you might need a rewind!

Jodi + Joe | Pismo Beach

Jodi called me just a few short weeks before their wedding here on the central coast. She had canceled their "big" wedding and was coming to the coast to get married quick and easy way. Jodi is the first bride that I have ever encountered, who like myself, completely changed their whole wedding to make it simple, quick and still fun. She looked beautiful - and can you believe she is a mom to three?!!! Congratulations Jodi + Joe!
~allyson

First place kids |

Each year our local weekly entertainment paper, The New Times, hosts a photo contest. Sometimes I remember to participate - and when I do, it pays off!! This year I won first place for the professional kids category! Yeah! I only entered a few photos, so for one of them to win, I was quite pleased. Special thanks to Miss Bijou, who is the subject of the photo:

Getting Personal

So, it's been a while since I've blogged and I've been thinking, there's more to me than photography. It's a huge part of my life and my passion, but I enjoy lots of other things as well, and I think it's about time I share. Now, I'm going to share more about me, but I have one request - and that is that you share more about you! There are over 200 of you "lurking" a week who check and read this blog, but never write comments - basically that means your a stalker! So un-stalk yourselves and I'll do the same!

Tonight I made my favorite soup, I just call it Thai Soup, but it has a real name - of which I'd have to look at a Thai menu to find out. Anyhow, I really enjoy cooking & baking, especially when I have family and friends to enjoy it with! So periodically, I will share my favorite foods to whip up and my secrets - if I have any - for that particular recipe.

All of my favorite recipes, which are "generation" worthy - are put into this handmade book I made in college. I used to make handmade books all the time, but haven't in a while - since I'm so busy taking photos! It's something I love and for a really special something I will make one. For instance, take this recipe book. Inside are prints I made from Zinc plates - if you are familiar with printmaking you'll know what I am talking about. Then I watercolored them to add color and bound the book together with a purple gross grain ribbon (because it won't stretch) and pink thread, to keep with the colors. It does not have signatures, each page is individually sew in.

So, back to the recipe, if you can read the photo - or enlarge it, you should try it! I could eat this soup everyday of the week. I've been making it for years and my tips if you do try it are:
add extra mushrooms
cut back a bit on the chili paste (if you don't like your nose to run while you're eating)
add cilantro
use the whole shallot
don't skip any ingredients - especially the odd ones like the chili paste and fish sauce - they are key!!!

Bon Appetit!