7 years later... still a model & a photographer

7 years ago we were Juniors in high school.  I took my very first photo class there, which was black & white film photography. I started out the class with a newer point and shoot camera that my mom gave me, that all you had to do (& could do, no manual settings), was point and shoot your subject. I eventually moved on to a more manual setting camera, but was still pretty baffled by how to shoot in manual. Right away I learned that my favorite thing to shoot was portraits, and enlisted my best friend Julia to be my model for quite a few of my projects. I dressed her up in funky outfits (since it was black & white, you couldn't see how mismatched it was haha), did her makeup and hair crazy, and one time had my mom squirt water from a hose on her so it looked like she was frolicking in the rain. I can't believe how good of a friend Julia was for letting me do all that to her haha. All of this turned me onto my love of photography, and combined with my passion for fashion, I decided I wanted to be a fashion photographer. Senior year of high school I took the second level black & white film class, where I got better at composition, lighting, and had more of a direction with my images. I'm so thankful for friends like Julia who let me explore my creative passion to create beautiful images. Even though I no longer want to be a fashion photographer, my love of portraits stemmed from my very first photo class and are still my favorite. As some of you know, I was home in Pleasanton last weekend to shoot a wedding and an engagement session. Julia asked me the week before if I wanted to do a shoot "just for fun" of her, and I of course said yes. So 7 years later we found ourselves in a similar position, model & photographer. Yet this time I have way more knowledge of lighting & posing, which Julia even acknowledged haha. This shoot reminds me of where it all started, and how I had no idea that my little point & shoot camera would lead me to a full time career as a wedding photographer. I love what I do and love the people who have been there for me along the way, including my beautiful best friend Julia!

Big thanks to Jen Price for doing an amazing job on Julia's makeup, and to Adam's sister Jenae for being a hair genius! :)