New Mexico!

A very familiar scene in Santa Fe...
Ummmm ummm! Delicious food at the La Fonda
mi y mi papa


Our cousin's boy, Angelo
my dad being an Indian
Bandelier National Monument....






ahhhhhh the beautiful land of New Mexico, I just love the setting. We visited my dad and some of his family for a few days, went up to Santa Fe, visited Bandalier National Park - it's sooo cool, and ate WAY too much mexican food!!!

Well, national Allyson vacation month is coming to an end, and now it's back to reality, and some fantasticly fun and amazing weddings coming up, I'm so excited to be a part of! yeah!

Home on the range...Oregon

Last week my mom and I headed up to Oregon for a quick trip to visit family and the family ranch. In the summers as a kid, my sister and I would spend a lot of time up there, pretty much every summer up till hight school. I love to visit as it makes it feel like summer and brings back so many memories!

During our visit I had planned on shooting my favorite church in the whole wide world, located in the tiny town of Fox, population 9. I get out there on the first afternoon, and what do you know, my shutter breaks!!!! How this happened I don't know, and even though I was bummed, I was super happy it didn't happen in the middle of a wedding. So my friends at Canon are working hard and quick to get that back before our next vacation this weekend, yes August is vacation month for most of the world, so why not me too!?

I ended up using my little point and shoot for some shots, then we headed back to my aunt's. You might remember how I've written about going 100% with your intuition over the past few months? I woke up at 5am, determined to get my sunrise shots with my favorite little church (even if I had to use the point and shoot) and had this bright light come on in my head that said "Hey Allyson, why don't you try shooting with your camera upside down?!" I thought, now that's just silly, but I'll try it. What do you know, it worked!!! Because the piece broken on my camera was dangling down so if I held it upside down, it fell back into place after the shot fired. Now if that's not a sign that I should always listen to that little voice, then I don't know what is. It still did have some technical issues, like a major light leak right through the middle, but I found if I positioned that lovely extra light on something interesting, it kind of worked.

We came, we shot with a broken camera, we had freezing toes in my favorite flip flops in 40 degrees, and we conquered, the little church in Fox, at least the best we could for this trip!
Mi Mama!


The Strawberry Mountains













the new dock at the pond.

Until your next visit, AA, you get the booby prize photo posted!

Natalie + Carson + Ella :: SLO town | Central Coast

Natalie had this awesome idea to have their e-session be totally "central coast" themed based. So we made a list and hit up several common places they might like to go. Like a lot of my clients, Natalie and Carson met in San Luis Obispo, so when they got engaged, it was natural they wanted their wedding somewhere on the Central Coast, they are getting married in October at one my of favorite venues, Santa Margarita Ranch. We hit up downtown, a pub, bubble gum alley (of course), Mission Plaza, a winery, and to top off our hard work, we ended up with desert (and orange juice - you've gotta have their OJ) at the Madonna Inn.

So, we had SO much fun, I think this is something I'm going to offer for future couples. If you'd like to book your adventure photo safari, let me know... I will guaranteed good times and awesome images!

Thanks Natalie, Carson & Ella, can't wait for October!

Ella was named after "ella" street here in SLO.

some shots for me....

On our way up to Ashland I saw a couple of spots that sparked my eye for a mini photo safari - that's what I call it when I "shoot for myself." On our way out of town we stopped at one of the spots, an old train depot.

I don't really know if we were supposed to be roaming around there, but a guy who worked there has a Jack Russell and liked Gunny, so that saved the day and Dan chatted with the guy, which let me cruise around and shoot a bit. Gunny is like a "get out of jail card" - he's gotten me out of a ticket or two, because he's so darn cute and got me into this spot to shoot!








If you're a photographer and reading this, take my advice, take the time to shoot for yourself periodically, shoot subjects you don't normally shoot. It's good for you and good for your clients!

Banyan

I had to take some photos of Banyan while we where here. We hadn't seen him in about 2 years and he's changed so much. He's such a cool kid....and his expressions, too fun not to shoot! Here are just a few I got of him while visiting:



he's into some kung fu or karate kid stuff....

at some point, you just give in and become a kung-fu master as well ...
The last night we were there, the light was absolutely incredible, as we were waiting for the BBQ to be done.... it was so awesome I had to climb to the roof of the fort in my pink travel slippers....you know you want a pair! Here's what I got from where I was....sometimes you just gotta deal with what you have!

Ahsland, OR

Doesn't this sign just say "road trip" to you? Well, we thought so, so we hopped in the car and drove up to Oregon.We made it up to Oregon and are having a great time. We're visiting some friend from our high school and college days. We've had some awesome thunder storms, a nice change of pace from the heat we usually have at home this time of year.

When we left last week, I decided that we needed to have a photo project along the way, it was quickly established as "rear view mirror" photos....so FUN! Well it's at least fun for me, Dan probably has a different opinion, but he loves me for my geekness. The only problem with this task, is that I usually ended up taking most of the photos while I was driving...CHP would probably not be very happy about that, but hey, we made here!





We went for a hike through the forest, which really reminded me of my Santa Cruz days.
Gunny likes to hike.
the next day we went bowling, I was kicking some booty until my arch-nemesis caught up with me! and it wasn't my 5-year old buddy, Banyan.

On the way home I saw this really cool fence, well it's really cool in someone else's yard, it wouldn't go with my house! but it was totally fun and I had to share it.
Dan & Gunny on a walk / ride, on the "kool bike."
Had to stop bye my favorite knitting store! I could spend all day in a store like this....so much creativity and beauty in the different textures and colors....gotta love it!
Banyan and his silly expressions.
one last photo from the drive up. I'll post more once I download the next batch!

Spingtime at French Camp

Gunny Highway is in full force this time of year, throughly enjoying the sunshine and more rural areas we live near...occasionally assisting at photo sessions like this one (images from session coming later), and hanging out with good friend, Turbo. It's a dog's life, I tell you...

grams

So today, while I was going around hanging my signs for our yard sale tomorrow, I saw a lady across the street walking with a cane, she looked pretty old. I felt it in my heart (more than once within a minute or so) that I should ask her if she'd like a ride. I've really been practicing going for my instincts this past year, so I rolled down my window and asked if she'd like a ride. It didn't matter where she needed to go, after all, I was simply hanging up yard sale signs for Saturday, and she was quite old walking in the heat, I didn't have anything until my shoot at 4pm.

She hesitated and said she felt odd taking a ride from me, but I insisted (after all, my instinct told me so!) I took her about 4 blocks to the print shop, which made photo copies. She told me she is 96 (holy crap, I hope I can walk when I'm that age, much less be alive!) and she got out of the hospital 5 days ago!!! I thought to myself, "what in the good Lord's name are you doing walking to get a photo copy?! " I was relieved to have taken heed to my instinct. She has one family member in the area, her son, he is in the most northern part of Alaska at the moment (for 3 months) she shared with me, working on a project.

I guess I am sharing this with my blog readers to encourage you to be open to your instinct, you never know where it will take you. I was rockin' out to my favorite 80's music tonight, listening to "man in the mirror" (yes, Michael Jackson) and this story came to mind.

Really when all is said and done, my yard sale means squat in eternity!!! but the ride for this lady and what I might be able to share with her, if she has no belief, might make THE difference of ETERNITY for her!!! That is certainly worth my time, not to mention more valuable than my yard sale.

I don't know what her beliefs are, but most likely, she's closer to meeting the big "G" than I am, so I might as well take a chance and help her out while she's here, who knows, maybe she's here on earth until she hears what WILL make an eternity's differenced for her! And if not, I'd certainly hope someone helps my 93 year old Grams if they see her walking down the street (which I hope she is not!).

Blessings and have a super weekend ~ don't forget to be inspired by those instincts!
xo
allyson


Above is a shot of our Grandma Meigle, such an amazing woman in Christ ... (not to mention, she's gotten me out of two speeding tickets!!! ~ she must have SOME connections =)

Happy Easter

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Some days when I'm in a particularly good mood in the mornings - which is extremely RARE! - I sing this song to Dan to get up. Most days he's up way before me showering me with so much happiness and new made up songs (sometime rap songs) I could throw up! Yet somehow, the pillow I put over my head eases my urge to go anywhere far from the down-filled goodness I sleep on, so I deal with it until I am again whisked away into the sleeping beauty bliss I SO enjoy!

It always seems like God makes Easter and Christmas especially glorious days. I can't think of the last time we had a cloudy or rainy Easter or Christmas. This year was no different. After our adventure in Napa we headed to Dan's family in Rescue, CA for a little relaxing time. We enjoyed our nieces, Lily & Ella and their pretty little dresses, fancy shoes and let's not forget the challenging easter egg hunt the hippity-hop bunny left to be discovered.

How we go from celebrating Christ's resurrection to bunnies and colored eggs is beyond me, but Lily is four, and like all my four-year-old Sunday school kids, she knows what's it's all about - Jesus! (that is there answer for all the questions I might ask on any occasion)

Here are some Easter egg hunt photos and our annual family portrait, complete with the dogs and jeep!


Isn't Lily (4) adorable and incredibly photogenic!
Ella (2) and her grocery basket full of good things from the big bunny...

Maddy....
The whole damn fam....
Little Greg, Big Greg (dad) & Danny
PS I've been having some blogging troubles, but think it's now resolved, I have so much to share, but it's time to go home to make desert for the dinner we're going to in Cambria, so check back tomorrow (wednesday) and they'll be more!

Jen + Chad | Healdsburg, CA

After Jill & I made it home from Las Vegas to catch up for a day, Dan and I headed up to the Healdsburg area to shoot some engagement photos of Jennifer & Chad.

They choose the beautiful venue of Ferrai Carano Winery for their session. After doing a bit of wine tasting, we moved on to another couple of locations to finish off the session in some friendlier surroundings. Here are some of the results....











Congratulations Jenn & Chad I look forward to your wedding!

Las Vegas

This year, Jill & I headed to Las Vegas on a girls' trip to WPPI....the annual wedding & portrait photographers convention. We had a great time, found some beautiful new products for our clients, reconnected with some old friends and made some new ones! Here are a few photos of us on one of our wild nights out:
Jill & I

My friends (and photographers) Katie & Dia:More girlfriends.....

Brook (of Alisha & Brook) & I
Ohhh yeah, we hung out with Nicholas Cage too! hahaDid I mention the absolutely amazing wildflowers we've had this year?! Simply INCREDIBLE!!!It was fun to watch a bunch of my friends speak this year including the fabulous: Gene Higa, Mike Larson, Anna & Michael Costa and Jose Villa.

Shandi + Jason | Carmel

Being a California wedding photographer, I get to travel, and I truly enjoy, seeing and shooting at all different places around the state. Last weekend Sumer (my friend) and I headed up to Carmel to hang out, and take photos of Shandi + Jason. This weekend I'm heading to S California to shoot Nyssa + Danny and visit my family. Fun stuff!

Shandi + Jason are a very fun couple. They are getting married in Carmel Valley
and I'm so excited to shoot their wedding in May.
we thought this one was appropriate since they are both pediatric doctors....
Love this one with the umbrella....

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

Adventures | New Mexico

Back in town from a wonderful trip to visit my dad in New Mexico. It's been almost 15 years since I've been there - my dad just moved there a few years ago. It's a pretty cool state really - lots of history, open space and Indians.

We visited a bunch of old Missions, a couple of Pueblos, old town Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, the tram up to the top of a Sandia mountain, visited Madrid and saw the cafe the movie Wild Hogs was shot at, Jemez Canyon, Bandalier (old indian cliff dwellings). Really I could have stayed a lot longer and spent more time at each location - maybe next time! I just missed seeing the balloon festival, which ended the day before I got there - bummer!
Funny enough, while I was sitting at the airport yesterday on my way home, still in New Mexico, I ran into a wedding photo friend ~ Jose Villa ~ Hope your wedding was great Jose & Linda!
OK, enough chatting, here are some of my favorite shots! ~ enjoy!

Me eating my favorite - soppapia (I probably spelled it wrong)The lights of Albuquerque at night

Taos Pueblo
This building has a sign on it - will build to suit - it was pretty funny!

They get awesome fall colors!!
mi y mi papa
the cliff dwellings from far away....
A note about this area....it's very close to Los Alamos - and somewhere around here they developed and tested the atomic bomb!!! We kept going by fences that said "danger - explosives!"

out of town till Friday the 19th

Hello my reader friends,
I'll be out of town until Friday. I'm in New Mexico! It's pretty cool out here, maybe I'll post some images tonight or tomorrow morning if I get a chance. Until next time, have a great week!
Allyson