My Thoughts Are with Thailand

As the flooding continues in Thailand I can't help but think about one of my adopted countries and grieve for what it's going through. Evan and I spent a year there, but it felt like so much more. I still remember the sounds of waking up in the morning, the chattering of geckos and the trills of the birds outside our window. In Thailand you don't forget the power of nature. Armies of ants swarmed our house, spiders bigger than my hands inhabited our kitchen (gently, I might add). Wild dogs were everywhere, not so gently. There was a softness about people that I loved, and also a great sense of fun. No matter where I am, some of Thailand comes with me.

So I'd like to share a few photos from our time there again. My apologies if you've been a reader long enough to have seen these before.

This was the tree outside our bedroom window. I saw it every morning when I woke up. When it monsooned, everything was drenched. Immediately.

These were our street dogs. They lived on our street, and unlike most of the dogs they were pretty nice and they never tried to attack us.

Whenever we had a long weekend we usually took a bus to the islands. This is Koh Chang. Elephant Island.

And these are the types of places we stayed. From here, sitting in chilly San Francisco it looks pretty good.

Beer Chang. Yup, Elephant beer. You can speak about as much Thai as I can, now! (Ok, I speak maybe a little more.)

These were our sunsets.

And these were our pet cats.

Ok, not really. That's a baby tiger. But I did get to pet this one and feed it some milk from a bottle, so that wasn't too shabby. And we did bring home a cat that was a little (well, a lot) smaller than this one.

Thailand, I miss you and I hope you get through this troubled time without too many bruises. My thoughts are with you.

Katie and Trevor - Second Shooting for Amanda Lock

It was through a series of slightly confused emails that Amanda Lock  (to see her site, click here) and I sent to each other that we finally decided I would help her shoot the wedding of Katie and Trevor. (Before anyone thinks anything about Amanda, the confusion was all on my side. Sometimes my emails are not the clearest.)

But on the day of the wedding, there was no confusion. Only a beautiful ceremony for Trevor and Katie, who were surrounded by the best and most loving group of friends and family. I've very rarely seen a couple who were quite so fully in love, a love that all around them were eager to proclaim special and rare.

The men were especially dapper. I loved Trevor's white suit and blue vest. Quite an eye-catching combo!

And what a handsome groom! Lucky Katie.

I loved the simplicity of the color scheme: pale blues and pinks, with a few accent colors here and there.

The flowers were just gorgeous, and I have always loved gardenias. They lent their gorgeous scent to the wedding day.

Isn't Katie's mom gorgeous? The light in her room was just off the hook beautiful.

Even relaxing, she was elegant.

The flower girls were so cute you could eat them with a spoon!

At the end of the ceremony, they released some monarch butterflies.

Trevor and Katie, the two of you are just stunning together. And I know you always will be.

Aren't those rings just perfect together?

Katie, you're beautiful.

HUGE thanks to Amanda for letting me come and shoot such a beautiful wedding with her. It was just magical.

http://www.amandalockphotography.com/

Why Sue Bryce Rocked My World

It was kind of an impulse buy. An expensive one. But I've been reading Sue's blog for months now, pretty much since she started it, and she was finally coming to San Francisco. How could I resist?

Turns out, I'm really glad I didn't.

From the first moment of her two-day master class, I sat spellbound. Sue has this talent of just sucking you in and making you pay attention. I found myself taking notes even on the inane, "Connecticut? And where is that?" (Sue's from New Zealand, and currently lives in Australia.) "I'm a black belt in shopping." (Yes, me too.) And some wisdom from her mother: "Nobody would hate you unless they wanted to be you." Good way of looking at it.

We laughed a lot. We went to the Cheesecake Factory two days in a row, which by the way has pretty good huevos rancheros if you're in the mood, which I was. We practiced posing, and we soaked in her wisdom on everything from service and sales to posing and how to run a business, plus her attitude to beauty. "I spend an hour making the outside look pretty so that I can photograph the inside."

I'd say that you should grab any opportunity you get to go to her masterclass, but I think she's phasing it out. Still, she'll be around. If you have the chance to see her work, or even just meet her for a moment, I highly recommend it. There are those people that you just never forget, and Sue's one of them. If in ten years I could be half the person she is, both in business and in my personal life, I'd be thrilled.

Stuff of hers to check out: this great video interview with Catherine Hall, who was also at the workshop. Also, Sue's blog for photographers, chock full of wisdom on marketing and life. And her work on her website. Don't miss the before and afters, as well as the videos.

Sue, I'm sorry. I stole this image from your website. You see, I enjoyed the masterclass so much that I didn't take ANY pictures. Crazy, I know.

Wordless Weekend

Happy Caturday

Why yes, I AM king of all I survey. 

Whoops!  Momentarily lost my balance there. It's not easy being king, you know. 

This king thing is a lot of hard work. I think it's time for a nap!