Thankfully, Little Bo Peep didn’t lose her sheep while we were out Trick-or-Treating, because her sheep are very, very special! But she sure had fun! Here’s a glimpse of our Halloween this year:

My mom made my nephew’s Ewok costume and I think it turned out soooo awesome!

Here’s Nana with the sheep.

And here’s Biker Gwammy with the pirate biker, the Ewok, and Bo Peep.

Yes, my pumpkin did turn out cute this year, if I do say so myself!

Enjoy!

-shawna K

I don’t normally blog this many images from a wedding, but with this wedding, I can’t help myself. There are some moments in a person’s life where everything just seems to go perfectly and photographing R & K’s wedding was one of those moments. I’ve known R’s family for quite a long time, which made it easy to feel involved in the celebration. However, ALL of the guests were friendly and inviting. It was such a fabulous day with love and energy all around. Of course, they also chose one of my favorite locations: Estancia La Jolla. The day ran smoothly with event coordination by Sharon Cole, flowers by Annette Gomez, and music by Ron Freshman. Okay, enough chatter . . . here are the images:

Enjoying a moment before the ceremony begins:

Adorable placecards on a lime tree by Annette Gomez.

The Library at Estancia was the perfect location for such an intimate gathering.

Kasia looking stunning, of course!

And R’s looking pretty handsome himself!

I couldn’t have asked for better light during the outdoor ceremony. It doesn’t get much better than this!

While we capture a lot of candids on the wedding day, we always take a moment for just a few formal portraits. For posterity!

Then it’s time for the bride and groom to have their moment. A little alone time, a few casual and romantic portraits . . .

Sometimes a formal composition just calls for a formal pose!

And we mustn’t forget the elegant cake from CAKE!

All in all, it was a joyous and beautiful day!

Ceremony & Reception: Estancia La Jolla
Event Coordination: Sharon Cole at A Bride’s Dream
Live & Recorded Music: Ron Freshman
Florals: Flowers by Annette

My heart goes out to those in San Diego and other parts of Southern California who have lost their homes over the past few days and to those firemen who are putting their lives on the line to save our beautiful county. It’s so tragic to see this happening again, when the Cedar Fire from 2003 is so fresh in our minds and some people have just finished rebuilding.

We have been very blessed that the fires did not near our home, so the kids and I have just been trying to stay out of the smoke. We lost power briefly, but that’s about it. We’ve also been trying to keep in touch with so many friends and family members who have been evacuated during this time. So far, all of the word we have been getting back is good news.

Here are some of my photos from the past few days.

This is the sunset overlooking Lake Jennings after the Witch Creek fire had broken out Sunday night:

This is the debris around Alpine from the 60mph winds of the Santa Ana:

I didn’t do any camera tilting for this one . . . that’s how bad the wind was:

The next three images were taken from Tavern Road looking south to the Harris Fire on Tuesday morning:

This image was taken from Dunbar Lane looking North. It is the western portion of what was burning from El Capitan Reservoir/Peutz Valley. We understand that this was the southeast finger of the Witch Creek Fire:

These three images were taken from Sequan Truck Trail looking south to the Harris fire affecting Jamul, on Wednesday morning:

Within minutes, the fire got darker and started to turn black and more glowing.

From Tavern Road on Wednesday at 1:00pm:

And, lastly, here is one that my husband took (didn’t he do good?) of the San Miguel Fire near Steele Canyon Road:

Aside from sending in donations and supplies, I think a lot of us feel at a loss as to what we can do to help. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting about a group of us photographers who want to help any families who may have lost precious photographs from their homes. We can’t replace them, but we will be offering services to take a new family portrait for you. Stay tuned.

-shawna K

This has been a crazy, crazy week, starting with my cousin having her baby four weeks early. Little Zoie came as quite the early surprise! She’s home now and doing well. At 5 lbs. 14 ozs., she came into the world even smaller than Tyler (but an inch longer)! Here she is at literally less than one hour old. Isn’t she a doll?

It was an honor and a privilege to be invited in to photograph her so early.

I had the opportunity to photograph 3-week-old Baby “D” the other day. Such a handsome, handsome little man . . .

Jordyn looks like she had a little too much dress-up today. Tulle, feathers, beads, and more tulle. She just plain tuckered out! Yes, this was totally candid. I was working . . . she was playing . . .and this is how it ended.

Jordyn has ben sitting up for over 4 weeks now. She still doesn’t have very much hair, but she does have her two bottom teeth and she is teething badly so more are definitely on the way. She started crawling last week, too. Ever since she’s been able to roll over, she’s been able to get around the house all over the floor, rolling and scooching. But now she crawls forward . . . just not on her hands and knees. She crawls like a GI Joe Army man . . . arms and elbows pulling her whole body behind her . . . literally dragging her loooooooong body behind her. It’s sooo funny.

Jordyn also says “Da - da,” “la - la,” “haaa,” and “hi.” I know she doesn’t associate da-da with her actual da-da yet . . . but I SWEAR she said Hi today and knew exactly what she was saying! hahahaha! Tyler hasn’t said a word except “argggh” and “aaaaaah!” LOL!

They are both just too, too much fun. 8 months already and it is going by quickly.

I’ve seen the stores . . . glimpses of red and green mixed in with the Halloween paraphernalia. It’ll be here before you know it. As such, I thought I’d give you a quick reminder about our holiday deadlines.

Holiday cards, standard prints, and standard enlargement orders must be placed by DECEMBER 1.

Canvases and prints larger than 11×14 must be placed by NOVEMBER 15.

Albums are on a first come, first serve basis. However, your image selections for albums must be in before November 1 in order to have your album for the holidays.

I am currently booking holiday photo sessions NOW! Due to limited time constraints this season, I am only accepting a limited number of sessions. As an added incentive to book early, all sessions booked before October 15 will receive 50% off the creation/session fee!

Call me at (619) 861-3630 to set up your appointment!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
Shawna K