Ella 7 months

Today was my first day shooting in the new studio, what a treat! Ella is 7 months old. Her favorite toy is the reindeer you'll see below. She's full of smiles, big blue eyes and drool! Merry Christmas Ella & family!
allyson

Tahhh dahh!

So after over 4 months of waiting for the studio to be ready, I finally got the keys. It's weird how patience works....I've never considered myself overly impatient, but I have learned that good things really do come to those who wait. The more I'm there at the different times of day, the cooler stuff I discover about the space and building. For instance, look at the shadows in the late afternoon on one studio wall, and floor, pretty sweet!

Dan & Ryan worked all day Saturday on the floors at the new shop - they turned out great! Here's a few shots of Dan & Ryan, we've all been friends since high school.

Since the big stuff is pretty much done, I just have to move some computers and go shopping for furniture - now that's what I consider fun work! Will post more photos when it's more complete.

Everrett turns one | Cayucos

Tina & I met when we were 7. We've been great friends ever since. From being munch kins in the Wizard of Oz in elementary school, to being tap dancers and dirt bike buddies, till now, we've had a lot of laughs and good times. It's really fun & special to have a friend that you've known for such a long time, and over so many stages of life and crazy to think that our kids will share a similar experience. Everett was born just over a year ago, as you'll see, he has lots of expression for such a young guy. He's very sweet too, well, at least for now he is, we'll give him a few more years on that and see what happens!
LOVE this shot of him eating sand!
Obviously they are a fun family - must be where Everett gets his personality!Gunny Highway got to come on this shoot....he was in a few photos too! I think this one is my favorite.

The rest of our trip

SO, things kind of went downhill in terms of weather since my last post. The rain didn't stop!!!! We lost power for 2 days at the condo, and almost got stuck in the rental car in a flash flood! Needless to say, we made the best of our adventure.

We were determined to do a little Christmas shopping, since there wasn't much else to do, and that required driving up to Kapalua. After that experience, we decided we'd better stick close to town, rather than risking returning.

We arrived back to the area we were staying in to find the power out, and that they also had experienced a flash flood, 3 feet high, in front of the condo complex we were staying in! The power stayed out for 2 days. We did come up with the bright idea of going to a nearby resort and go to the hot tub - afterall, you're wet anyway when you're in a hot tub....it was a great idea, except the luke warm water part - we neglected to think about the power being out.

We're pretty positive people, but after a couple of nights of sitting in the dark with minimal candles playing dice and cards, nowhere to out to eat, and going to bed at 6pm, we decided we'd rather be at home!

Courtney + Josh | Maui

Courtney and Josh's Maui wedding was very close to perfect, thanks to Robin Williams of Event Masters wedding planning. The light was subdued but beautiful, the weather held off, just until after dinner, when the hurrician winds picked-up, and the bride, Courtney, was of course, gorgeous! Here are a few highlight photos:

Thanks again, Vicki, Courtney + Josh, Robin & Dan!

Aloha from Maui

Dan and I arrived on Friday afternoon and have been enjoying our island time. We shot Courtney & Josh's wedding on Saturday and have been hanging out the rest of the time. It's been raining a LOT here! But today is much nicer, just a little wind. Can't wait to do some more snorkeling now that the rain has stopped and kick it on the sand to catch some rays. Here are a few photos from our first few days. There are a lot of self portraits - I'm enjoying my new point and shoot camera - that's exactly what I've been doing - just pointing and shooting - there is a real freedom to shooting this way!

Mahalo!

Allyson

PS check back for wedding photos on Maui