Emily Heizer, Photography with Flair. Available Worldwide: Heizer_ea@yahoo.com

Couples Portraits (Oakland LDS Wedding)

2012-01-21T05:23:00.000-08:00

Just a few more sweet ones from Adriana & Austin's couple's portraits on their wedding day at the Oakland Temple. See their other posts HERE.

For family and friends of the couple only, feel free to post on your blog or facebook, but please do not crop or remove watermarks and be sure to include a link back to our website!

Lovely, aren't they? :)

San Francisco & Presidio Engagement (Elizabeth & Matt)

2012-01-17T03:10:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned to Elizabeth a few times now that she always seems to catch me when I feel like a hot mess. Julie, one of my brides from last year (the one published in Our Wedding Magazine) seemed to be the one who was always busting me with my proverbial pants down last year.

This year, Elizabeth seems to be stepping into Julie's pretty little shoes.

It started simple enough, you know, a little behind on email here or there. Not being able to schedule this session during my peak season. (But, it was like, peak season!) And then the weird stuff started. Like, you can schedule an appointment on that day, but I might have to drop everything and drive or fly to Utah to shoot the birth of these twins at a moment's notice and either cancel on you or run suddenly out of the room. Or, I had to park behind two guys who I swear were stuffing a body in the trunk wrapped in an army bag before I came up to see you and I'm a little weirded out...

Then when we started trying to schedule the engagement session, my main computer's motherboard decided to die (at the ripe old age of six months) and I was about to leave for just about a month of traveling and shooting and would almost be completely unable to work or communicate unless I manage to figure out how to stuff a full size computer monitor into my carry on baggage at the airport so I could use my back up computer, which is another broken laptop with a screen that doesn't work. (The system board on this one is dead. It's not the integrater or whatever that $30 part was we replaced in it.) Excellent.

We made it through that, and it was time for the engagement session. I was so pleased with myself. I had everything charged and ready to go, bags packed and I was going to prove to myself that I was not a hot mess after all. I just wanted to touch up my roots before I went to bed. (Being a REAL red head I didn't want Liz to see me going all fakey with my real Auburn roots showing!) So I touch up, stick a towel on my head, and as I'm about to hop into bed, decide to do a quick blow dry.

That's when I realized I was now Bozo the Clown's new sidekick.

F@*$!

APPARENTLY, I grabbed the wrong unlabeled bottle I had left laying around my bathroom and my roots were now FLAMING ORANGE with GIANT SPLOTCHES in RANDOM PLACES all over my FREAKING HEAD. I looked like I had tiger stripes.

HOT MESS, HOT MESS, HOT MESS.

It is now 2am. I have to leave here at 5am. Do I go to the session and laugh it off or do I run to the 24 hour WalMart and try and dye it out?

I picked door number 2.

When I got out of the shower the SECOND time, my entire head was orangier than Carrot-Top. AND I HAD USED DARK BROWN DYE.

I cried.

But, I guess it was some kind of optical illusion or reflection or dye on my scalp or something because when I blow dried it, it turned brown.

PHEW.

So I went to bed at 430am. Of course I was too anxious to sleep. I was up and out the door before 5am.

I got to the Financial District in SF early, and puttered around at a meter before deciding the three previous parking tickets I gotten in the city wouldn't be worth repeating and found a parking garage.

And the trouble began again.

I lost my keys IN THE CAR.

Seriously. (I know I had them to drive there!)

It took me 10 minutes to find them. (Between the seats.)

Then when I tried to take the elevator the 3-4 floors up to the street level I came up in the middle of the Hilton. What Hilton? Where the heck am I? I look out the street and it's like, China Town out there! What is this, the Twilght Zone?! I'm also a level above the street! So I get back on the elevator and try to go down a level... and come out in another parking garage! A different one! I can't even walk to where I was before! So I talk the elevator again, and came up in a different part of the hotel! Now I am freaked out. I find my way out and the valet sends me down some back alley to get to where I was originally and I find Elizabeth and Matt, patiently waiting in the FREEZING COLD like the angels that they are, never complaining a bit! I was so embarrassed but they were such good sports! I felt terrible!

HOT MESS!

After we finished at that location, I went to go back to my car, and I did find it this time, but it still took 10 minutes to get back to it and then their payment machines weren't working and Elizabeth was teasing me if I was lost again! SEE! I am a hot mess!

BANG HEAD ON DESK!

By the way, I crossed another item off photographer life experience list! The gross and nasty section! Of course I have done lots of shooting near urine, kneeled in horse and cow manure, taken lots of pictures with naked people in the background (Baker Beach you know.... sooo many hours of editing to get that out), had a baby spit up into it's mother's mouth while she was playing "airplane" with it... Well during this session, we got to shoot near vomit! Excellent! LOL

Hot mess! Hot mess! Hot Mess!

At least the pictures came out awesome, and these guys are so pretty you're just not going to be able to stand it and you're going to forget all about all that embarrassing stuff I just told you about myself. :) Elizabeth and Matt will be marrying in Tahoe in March. Yay! Congratulations! They are having a pretty green wedding I hear too (their invitations are made of LEAVES and BARK or something!) so look for more from them soon!

Reston Newborn Photographer (Baby Conner Ray is here!)

2012-01-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

When I was in Washington shooting Ben and Sarah's wedding, I of course got to see my old clients Nicki and Dustin! (Nicki just so happens to be Sarah's big sister!) I shot Nicki and Dustin's Groomals, Wedding and Trash the Dress sessions all in and around the greater Washington DC area in 2010 and 2011. When we shot her Trash the Dress session right around her one year anniversary Sarah & Nicki's other sister, Jessica's wedding last May, Nicki had a big surprise to reveal- she was expecting a baby!

Conner Ray made his arrival just a few weeks before Sarah's wedding and I was so honored as to be the one to shoot his newborn portraits in their home in Reston, Virgina! Even though he was a little older than the infants I usually photograph, he was a TOTAL champ and slept through all the important parts and we got some cute awake portraits too. He didn't fuss at all and was a perfect little angel! We are so happy to have you Conner! (And your Mommy and Daddy are MADLY in love with you! :)

Doesn't he look like he is smiling in the first yawn? Tee-hee!

Ben & Sarah's Washington DC Temple Wedding Film (Strawberry Swing)

2012-01-10T04:53:00.001-08:00

As I have been working on this the last few days, I have thought most of all about was how much more meaningful and fun this was to shoot since I actually know the bride, Sarah.

I first met her at my friend's wedding 9 years ago. That means she was 10 years old! I don't really remember her, but I can [count on my fingers] do the math. :) I met her again at my bride Nicki's wedding 18 months ago, again last spring at sister Jessica's wedding (Sarah helped me with my cameras!)... and now, just two days before her own wedding day. Mere months after she had declared to me it would be "at least" 4-5 years before she would get married. :D

It was a total delight and pleasure to shoot for someone I knew and who I could clearly see was in love. I love all my clients, but getting to know someone, even just a little bit over time gets you emotionally invested and I so appreciate that. It doesn't just make my job easier, it makes it FUN. I still just can't believe my time with the Shepherd family is over!

Congrats to Sarah and Ben. For Time and all Eternity!

Did you know we JUST hit the 800 fan mark on our Facebook Fan Page?! We are hoping to hit the 1,000 mark by my birthday! It's coming up fast! Come on over, and tell your friends and family too! It's a RACE TO THE END! (It's one of those nasty, almost-end-of-time birthdays too, yelch. lol)

Fan up right HERE!

Busy Bee!

2012-01-07T02:03:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, this has been probably been the busiest seasons yet! I did more engagements, anniversaries, trash the dresses and newborn sessions during peak wedding season than I ever have. I did more weddings in consecutive weekends than I ever have... And multiple out of state and cross-country weddings. It was a WILD year.

We had a number of highs, a six page spread in the Malaysian based wedding magazine Signature Weddings, and twice published in Real Weddings Magazines- we were in both of their issues this year! We were ALSO featured in Our Weddings Magazine. That's right, FOUR magazines this year! How about THAT?! I could not be more proud!

We had numerous blog features, from The Wedding Chicks, to Love & Lavender, Knotty Bride, Sparkle & Hay, United Kingdom based blog Whimsical Wonderland Weddings and even the French language blog Le Marriage de Portabello. At our peak, we were receiving over 14,000 page views a month! We have been BLESSED!

We had some lows too... I've had some serious problems with copyright infringement. This has weighed heavily on me to the point I have made myself sick. I do not like being the bad guy, but I do not know what else to do. (Am I the bad guy when it's other people breaking federal copyright laws punishable by up to $150,000 fines per violation?) If individuals knowingly and willingly violate the contracts they signed, and we just reviewed them, literally, we just went over all the terms again to make sure it was all clear and then everybody purposely and clearly violates all the terms of the agreement... I am at a loss as to what I am supposed to do other than to enforce the agreement. And that is really painful to even consider, and tears me to bits. I'm still banging my head against the wall looking for an alternative...

I also still suck at paperwork, and hiring an intern to help me didn't totally take the load off. I'm still probably editing too much so I can't quite keep up still. This has been an ongoing problem and gives me anxiety on a daily basis when I think of all the work I need to do that I just cannot get to because I have to take care of pictures first. I mean,that's what I do. I'm a photographer. I play with pretty pictures. I'm not a paperwork person. I'm not an office manager. I was talking with the pastry chef at my favorite bakery tonight and she was saying something along the same lines when it came to managing the official business end of things. She's the expert in her field in pastry land. She can make a gorgeous cake and get it delivered and keep it temperature controlled and ensure that it won't get damaged and repair it properly if it needs it. Paperwork? Ehhh... You do it. So... I'm going to try another tactic. (Again.) Someone I have known over a decade, who works from home is going to give it a go. I trust her and hopefully... this will work! It's going to be long-distance so it will be a little unorthodox (cocks head to the side like a deranged beagle)... but I think it will be good! We will probably have you guys mail paperwork into her in Utah, and she will manage it from out there. She'll do the bookkeeping, scanning, organizing. We're also going to try and have her take over burning master discs. I'm starting to ship her all of the kits to start doing that. It's going to be interesting... But it just might work! (PLEASE!)

I wrapped up the year with another Washington DC wedding on December 30th, which was wonderful and I enjoyed very much. It was my third wedding with the Shepherd family and lovely. At this point, the third wedding with this family in the last 18 months... I could rejoice with them. It was fun! The bride and groom told me that when they checked in at the counter in the temple one of the workers told them to make sure to always kiss each other goodbye. That's nice. :)

Just before I left for that trip the motherboard on my work laptop failed and needed to be shipped back to the manufacturer to be repaired. I didn't want to ship it back until after all of my holiday travel had been completed (so I would be sure to be home to sign for it when it was returned) so I am just now ready to send it out for repairs. It has had some stuff done to it, but the actual repair work hasn't been started with the manufacturer. That's next on the list.

In the meantime, I've been using my backup computer, ( a whacked out laptop that has to be hooked up to an external monitor, and therefore is basically a desktop) which seems to have now contracted a virus. I've had to shut down all uploads to my clients sites as of today to protect everyone's images and drives. Everythings backed up but I want to protect the hard drives so everythings been disconnected. It's been scanned several times but it's not picking up whatever this is. We are working on it!

When I picked the puppy up from the kennel a few days ago, he came back to me noticeably thinner, with a hoarse bark and a runny nose. He then proceeded to get sick all over my house. (Not out of the cute end... the yucky end. Yeah, sick, right?) We spent the day at the vet and he is now on bubble gum flavored meds (K-pectin! aka, doggie pepto bismal) which he thinks is poison, and Rx food (also poison), which the cat thinks is positively scrumptious and I have to hide from him. (Freak). In the meantime, I seem to have caught a bit of a head cold myself too, as I apparently sound "like a dude" on the phone. (Thanks friend for telling me that. It really made me feel awesome about myself and my femininity.)

I think that about catches you up on the last few months! We are currently sick, trapped at home with computers working on repairs! I'm a little nervous to send emails lest I have the ability to infect anyone right now! Since I don't know what's going on, I'm not uploading, download or sending files right now.

Hope this helps keep everyone updated! :)

Emily (sniffle, sniffle)

Adriana & Austin's Oakland Temple Wedding!

2012-01-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Adriana and Austin married on a Tuesday morning in the Oakland Temple of the LDS Church. They met, awesomely enough, in WalMart in their college town of Provo, where they are both attending BYU. He picked her up in WalMart! Forget dating sites, blind dates, church socials, bars, whatever, everybody head to WalMart! Your future husband could be there waiting for you to 'round the next aisle! No, seriously! It worked for Adriana! And he is CUTE! And SO IS SHE! :D

Seriously though, Adriana and Austin were an absolute pleasure to shoot because they were just so wonderfully affectionate and loving with each other. They were caring and considerate and excited to be with each other. It is wonderful to have couples like that and makes my job so much easier. A couple who is happy to just wrap their arms around each other and cuddle is beautiful.

For time and all eternity, meet Adriana & Austin...

Washington, DC LDS Temple Wedding (Sarah & Ben are Married!)

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Sarah and Ben were my last wedding of 2011 and FINALLY ended my 2011 season on December 30th! My longest wedding season ever! Sarah also is the last bride in a legacy of sisters whose weddings I have shot the last several years, all at the Washington DC LDS Temple in Maryland. I have been so blessed to have been able to be there for each of these ladies on their big days, and to meet all of their dashing Prince Charmings! I will SO miss being able to see all of the Shepherd's at these festive get togethers each year! We do have two more sons in the family, but we have surmised that their brides will probably select their photographers, and since both boys are still in high school, we're a long ways off anyway! I will miss all of you!

You can see big sister Nicki and Dustin's wedding HERE, their Trash the Dress HERE, and I am pleased to announce that they welcomed a son, Conner, earlier this month and I was able to shoot their newborn session while I was in DC! I will post a blog soon of this little rascal!

You can see sister Jessica and Carter's nuptials HERE, including their wedding video!

Now, please meet Ben and Sarah, who met as students at BYU-Idaho! Ben is from Kentucky and they will be having a second reception out there before returning to school together in Rexburg. :)

Feel free to post on your blog or facebook, but please do not crop or remove watermarks and be sure to include a link back to our website!

Oakland LDS Temple Wedding Photography (Adriana & Austin are MARRIED!)

2012-01-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! And Happy Wedding to one of my last newlyweds of the 2011 season, sealed for time and all eternity in the Oakland Temple on December 27th! Congratulations Adriana and Austin!

Feel free to post on your blog or facebook, but please do not crop or remove watermarks and be sure to include a link back to our website!

Woodland Wedding Photographer (Ryan & Sandyn's Ranch Weddin')

2011-12-19T03:19:00.000-08:00

Every once in awhile one of my couples will look over at me during the ceremony. I always wonder what thought flashes through their minds when they do. They usually smile or giggle or wink. It feels like our little secret, like we are in this together. Like, I'm their back up. A lot of the time, I'm the only one who can directly see the couple's face other than the officiant, and the officiant is conducting the ceremony so he or she isn't really focusing on that. Sometimes the couple is being naughty and goofing around, usually during a long ceremony and I give my best motherly face to get them back on track but they always know better than to believe my fake out and then they are trying not to laugh even harder. (I'm horrible.)

I always wonder what they are thinking when they glance at me, those 2.3 seconds or so. Is it nerves? Reassurance? Am I too close? Just a random gaze and I was there?

During Terra and Kale's ceremony in August they both kept looking at me and making faces and giggling at the altar. But don't tell. They were TOTALLY paying attention the whole time. LOL

During Sandyn and Ryan's ceremony, Sandy looked over at me real quick right before the vows. Then she grabbed Ryan's hand. I got a picture of that. I love sweet little moments like that because they are just real, genuine, physical manifestations of emotion.

Enjoy your holidays readers and appreciate everyone you are able to be with, and miss the ones who aren't here...

See their engagement HERE.

This is totally going to become an EHP tradition... I talked another bride into getting dressed outside in the woods! And I had my first bride request it on her contract a few weeks back! Yay! So excited!

New Carl Zeiss 85mm 1/4... Looks nice!

Opps caught a blinker in this one. Gotta re-do the edits. :)

And we are off to Ryan and Sandy's ranch in Woodland for the ceremony! They did such an awesome job decorating with the natural landscape and organic elements!

Ceremony site

Daddy Ryan and their Weimaraner Bullet. Silver was having naptime across the street. She's not much one for crowds. (Neither is my beagle so I relate.)

Momma got a little emotional. :)

That hand grab...

The kiss!

Man and wife!

I'll be in Orange County for awhile, then back up here for a wedding in Oakland, then Washington DC for one last wedding before the New Year! Happy Holidays!

Published! Sacramento Magazine's Our Wedding

2011-12-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

I am so pleased to announce we have a second magazine feature on the shelf this month. I went into Barnes & Noble last night and got to see the two magazines featured side by side on the display rack. How awesome is that?

Last year having my image of Tina & James on the COVER of Latino Bride & Groom was phenomenal. The six page spread in the international Malaysian based Signature Weddings- unbelievable. The repeated features with Real Weddings- I can't thank the editors enough.

But being able to just stroll into a local bookstore and see my work in two different magazines just sitting there on the shelf? I 'bout peed my pants.

Now that's classy.

(You can see me in Our Weddings OR Real Weddings right now!)

Special Congratulations to Julie and Ryan for their AWESOME wedding at Taber Ranch and all of their hard work that went in to this event. They did a beautiful job!

Cute as a Button... Quincee Paige and Connor Nathan (Provo Utah Twins Photographer)

2011-12-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

They are SO. STINKIN. CUTE.

Connor Nathan and Quincee Paige are the last children in a family I have actually photographed for a few years now. You can see big sister's Emmersyn's photos here and Nicole and Nathan's family portraits here!

These sweet babies have an awesome mom and dad and an amazing birth story. Nicole worked so hard to keep these babies in her belly and stayed on bedrest for weeks and weeks both in the hospital and at home, which is super hard with a toddler on the loose in your house! After all of that, with the help her husband, friends, family, Hypnobabies and a team of midwives, Nicole gave birth at home to these twins! How about that for an amazing accomplishment! She had as close as possible to the birth experience as she wanted and she got two healthy babies who did not have to stay in the NICU, no induction, no c-section, no drugs, everything was natural. GO NICOLE! If you are not familiar with HypnoBabies, you can check that information out here! I have seen it do amazing things for a number of clients, even those that chose to have medicated births, it helped them get through the hard parts of their labors much easier, and inspired many others to go all the way like Nicole and Nathan!

For fun birth stories, you can read the HypnoBabies Blog over HERE too.

Back to the babies. :)

So, you two are both tiny, cute, and naked. (But modestly posed, thank you very much.) How are we supposed to know which one of you is the girl?

Oh. Thanks for clearin' that up Quince! :D Didn't mean to offend!

What are you both plugging your ears now? Am I that obnoxious?

Okay, so I didn't really need to ask. I will stop talking now. :)

Here's a tiny bit of their nursery too. I love this sign over here on the right. I love it of course because it's my favorite colors, my blogs colors over the years, AND because I found this phrase! I was cruising Pinterest and I saw this sign and I just KNEW that this was for this mom. Quincee and Connor were the most wanted and wished for babies in the world. (Every baby is, and these babies were no exception.) It was a hard road for them to get here and we all rejoiced when we heard that they were on their way to us. They were truly born at the bottom of a wishing well because they were seeded from the prayers, hopes and dreams of so many people and we are so happy they could join Nicole and Nathan's family. :)

Disclaimer of course, I found the phrase (insert Emily's super puffed up peacock feathers here) but Nicole made this canvas while she was pregnant. Isn't that amazing? I still don't know how she did it! It's gorgeous!

Congratulations to the whole family!

Little Baby Owlette (Provo Baby Photographer)

2011-12-15T06:35:00.000-08:00

So I have this friend I have known for a long time. Like, almost 15 years. And sometimes we get crazy ideas. Or rather, I get crazy ideas, and then I bribe her with Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcakes and get her all riled up with pedicures or trips to the mall or Cafe Rio and talk her into letting me do really nutty things to her kids. Like this epic fail with her last baby. (Scroll to the end where we basically tied him to the tree.)

Last weekend we stripped her last newborn babe down to his diaper, stuck an owl hat on his head and put him in an orchard on the side of the road. In winter. Did I mention he can't sit up yet? We got only a handful of shots before he started flopping and flailing around like the baby owlette he was dressed as and she slapped me silly the whole way home for talking her into this. BUT DOESN'T HE LOOK ADORABLE???? :D

What do you think I could talk her into next? Oh, and the tree-baby is all 'growed' up now and I just bribed him with M&M's to smile in the backyard for his pictures. Much safer than hanging him from a tree surrounded by deer. Less exciting, but we usually reserve the crazy stuff for the babies who can't fight back. 0:) Like this one. We still got him to giggle. HA!

Don't worry, we ran him right back into the van, where we had the heater running full blast... in case the property owners busted us in their orchard. ;) Luckily we did some normal indoor pictures too, look for those in the coming weeks!

As we head into the crazy busy off-season (yes, I just said that. I've had more emails about engagement pictures in that last week than I had about weddings in the peak season, HOLY COW I'm scared!) I want to re-start up my FAQ posting series! Do you have any burning questions you would like to ask me and have featured on the blog? Questions about weddings, babies, the business, me, workflow, life, whatever that's been burning your mind! Ask away in the comments, on my facebook page, or drop me a line at heizer_ea at yahoo dot com and it may be featured in an upcoming post!

PUBLISHED! Napa Valley Wedding in Real Weddings Magazine

2011-12-14T06:24:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late in coming, but if you pop on over to your local Northern California, Sacramento/Tahoe regional bookstore or supermarket you can pick up a copy of the new issue of Real Weddings Magazine and see our NEW spread in the current issue!

Melissa & Harley's wedding at a private residence in Yountville in the Napa Valley was selected by the magazine for a special feature because of it's awesome Cookie Monster cookies & milk bar and super fun details.

There was so much more to this wedding than what made it in the magazine; if you missed the posts the first time around, go back now and check some of them out, especially the details posts, they are stunning! This wedding is also now available to be featured on wedding blogs, so if you are interested, please feel free to contact me at heizer_ea@yahoo.com

You can view my posts on this wedding here:

Engagement Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Wedding!

Getting Ready & First Look

Ceremony & Venue Details

Ceremony, Formal Portraits, Couple's Portraits

Reception Details

Reception, Cake & Dancing!

Congratulations guys! :D

Provo Newborn Twins Photographer (Quincee & Connor are here!)

2011-12-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

I got to meet two very special people on Friday. Two very short, squealy, squishy, kind of people.

What do you think of my two new best friends? :)

Check back in a couple days, we've got lots more posts coming!

Pleasanton Maternity Session (Margarita and Devan)

2011-12-07T04:12:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Margarita and Devan. I met them at their consultation for their wedding in 2009 I think. We shot their engagement session, and then their wedding in 2010. Their anniversary Trash the Dress was done in Livermore in 2011, and now, they are back again for a whole new set of services... THE STORK PACKAGE. (Enter HUGE smile by me!) Margarita and Devan are expecting their first baby, a boy, in February, and they chose me to shoot their maternity session last weekend, as Margie hit seven months along, and even more amazing, I'm planning on being there in February when little Raylan is born. A better gift my clients could never give me than the trust to share the most personal part of their lives!

This is just the preview, so there is more to come, and Margarita styled this session awesomely with vintage suitcases, a onesie laundry line, and other cute little details from the baby's nursery! We shot this on a little hill (or maybe I should say mountain... we were all huffing and puffing on the way up there!) where Devan goes mountain biking every day, surrounded by cows!

Woodland Ranch Farm Wedding (Ryan & Sandyn)

2011-11-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

They married at home, on their own ranch in Woodland. Guests sat on hay bales covered in colorful calico prints and the rain held off long enough to get all of their pictures done. :)

Bridal Boots (and a little Horsiness)

2011-11-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

So I was shooting these pictures of the bride's shoes. And it just felt like something was missing.

Hmmmm. I wonder what's wrong? It just needs a little... Something.

Oh, that's MUCH better. Thanks Bullwinkle. BTW, thanks for not eating the boots. I know it was difficult for you.

Boots should always be accented by horsie noses. It's the law of the RANCH!

I will be out of town this weekend in Southern California/Orange County for an event and will return next week. Thank you for your patience and have a great weekend! :)

The Wedding Blooper Reel (Lauren & Jake at the State Capitol)

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the bloopers are the cutest of the bunch! Or maybe not, but they sure are fun! :) Something unique to Emily Heizer Photography is the fact I turn over all of the negatives from each wedding to my clients. When I shoot 20 images of the same group shot, rather than picking the best one myself, I simply turn all of the images over to you and let you select your favorite! I like to run my business how I would want things to be if I were the client, and I know I would want all the pictures... all 2,000 of them... which is very unusual!

Enjoy the bloopers and have a Happy Monday with Lauren & Jake's Capitol Park Wedding in Sacramento! (See their First Look HERE)

For friends or family of Lauren or Jake, feel free to use as your profile picture or post on your page, but please do not remove or crop watermarks.

Close your eyes...

Sugarmill Wedding in Clarksburg (Lisa & Greg got MARRIED!)

2011-11-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it can be really hard to settle on an editing style for a wedding. I know most photographers just have a set style that they stick to for all events, but for me, I kind of let the pictures guide me. The images kind of just... speak to you. Sometimes images just cry to be edited in loud, crazy colors. Sometimes something quiet and soft is whispered in your ear. In the beginning, I don't always know which way to go and I experiment to figure out what way to go.

I met Lisa when she was a bridesmaid at Hailey & Ryan's firetruck wedding at the Foresthouse Lodge in Foresthill in 2008. I also shot another bridesmaid's wedding, Stephanie's in Carmel in 2009! Lisa hired me to take couple's pictures of her and Greg before they had even gotten engaged several years ago. Thursday, Lisa and Greg became husband and wife, officially! More pictures to come, but a preview to tide you over! :)

For friends or family of Lisa or Greg, feel free to use as your profile picture or post on your page, but please do not remove or crop watermarks.

I'm not sure which way to go yet! Hmmmm.... What do you think?

"Wheels Up" (Cecilia and Matt got Married in Tahoe)

2011-10-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Cecilia is one of my closest girlfriends. Not the kind of friend who you see every day, or call up to catch up on every day, regular things, but a special kind of friend. She and I are the kind of friends who are there for each other in crisis. She has been there for me at my worst, lowest moments. At first it was by accident, a medical misdiagnosis six years ago had me sitting in a conference room at the tax firm where we met, shaking with nerves, and when I got the call it had all been a huge mistake, I stumbled out of the room, full of tears and went right into her arms. We have been friends ever since. We learned how to support each other in a way other people didn't. We have always been there for each other when it counted.

On Friday, I got to be there for her on a different kind of day. An overwhelmingly emotional day, but a happy one. She laughingly commented how pretty I looked with make-up; she was too used to seeing it running down my face to know what it looked like in it's proper place. :)

After seeing THIS wedding, Cecilia and Matt (who also happens to own Paladin Private Security, the biggest security company here in Sacramento) decided to marry in the same place, at the longest pier overlooking the blue waters of Lake Tahoe at Timbercove Marina. Cecilia, knowing me too well, managed to dupe me into being her Maid of Honor and shooting this wedding. (Still not quite sure how she did that, but I am NEVER doing it again! Never, never, never! lol)

The night before the ceremony it was realized that Cecilia and Matt's hand written ceremony had been left back at their home a few hours away, but since I had just so happened to have officiated a ceremony a couple of weeks before for my friends Kim & Jeff's 10 year vow-renewal, I had a whole ceremony already written, and a ton of additional readings and scripts already sitting in the backseat of my car (see, I told you it pays to be a slob) that we were able to adapt to Cecilia & Matt's love for each other and reflect their relationship. I emailed it to the officiant about 10:30pm the night before the wedding and somehow it all came together! I also have to credit my friend Vince Henry, whose wedding I will be shooting next year as well. I put a call into him to do some quick research on ring exchanges and he read me the scripts over the phone and I typed them into the service! It was wild, but turned out perfect.

Originally, Cecilia's parents hadn't been able to come to the wedding, but with Matt's entire family, and Cecilia's extended family there, there was more than enough relatives to make up for their much-missed absence. Cecilia had some special mementos from her family incorporated into her attire to honor and remember them on this big day. What Cecilia didn't know is that her mom had planned to surprise her and arrived at the marina just before the ceremony. I was so overwhelmed when I saw her I just burst into tears and gave her a big hug. We went and found the bride doing some last minute touch ups in the powder room, and her mom gave her a special emerald ring as her "something borrowed." It was super emotional and everyone was so happy!

But the surprises didn't stop there! Before the end of the reception, Cecilia's dad came through the door as well, and Cecilia got to celebrate her wedding day with both parents present. It was a huge surprise and great bonus and made for a great, joyous, exciting end to the reception.

You can see their engagement session at the Folsom Marina HERE.

Cecilia wasn't the only one who did some "duping." I sweet talked her into getting dressed in the woods. All brides should do this, don't you think? LOL

(Disclaimer: Again, I'm not a professional videographer, and I just do these for fun. C & M hired a professional videographer for their wedding day who will be putting together a wedding video for them. These clips were filmed by me during their engagement session.)

Photography: Emily Heizer Photography
Wedding Film: Emily Heizer Photography
Venue: Timbercove Pier, South Lake Tahoe
Reception: Tep's Villa Roma
Florals: Bride's Aunt, Donna Lieb
Bride's Shoes: Michael
Official Videographer (I shot all of the video above, but you can see their "Love Story" video HERE by Ed Black): Imagination Harbor Media Group
Officiant: Reverend John

FYI

2011-10-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

For Your Information...

I have been and will continue to be out of the office this last weekend and through this coming week. You may or may not have received an automated email saying I was out of the office. Please know your message is important to me and I will be getting back to you as soon as I can. I have a very busy working week and will be out of town as well.

I believe I have hired an intern to help with paperwork; sending out copies of contracts, master discs, that sort of thing. I am so excited to introduce you to her and tell you all about her. She is going to be a HUGE asset to the company and you're all going to benefit. I hope you're as excited as I am!

If you are waiting on non-urgent correspondence, such as paperwork, I really appreciate your patience. Please know that I am going as fast as I possibly can, but I am in peak wedding season right now, and the most important things to take care of are the wedding images for brides who just got married and are waiting for their proofs. That will be my first priority when your turn rolls around as well. Even correspondence has backed up, because it is so important to me that my brides get their pictures as fast as possible, and that I be able to focus on the correspondence I need to do with my brides that are getting married right now, or just got married.

Please also know that we are ALMOST at the end of the chaos train! (YAY!) Know that it won't always be this bad, but this is a supremely poor month for routine paperwork. I went from having 3 very busy, full events... to EIGHT. EIGHT. Did I mention EIGHT? Those five extra were all favors too, which I didn't feel I could turn down. Let us please just get through October and things will definitely settle down. Again, I REALLY appreciate your patience and understanding through this really extra busy month. I'm logging around 100 hours a week right now; I'm trying my very best, but some things are going to wait for next month when it isn't so hectic. I'm sorry. :( ( Or be delegated...)

AND that is what the intern has been brought on to help with... So you don't have to be quite so patient. :) But please, please still try to be patient. It is just me over here while I start training the intern in my loads of imaginary free time. lol But she is going to try and help with all of the regular office chores that I just don't have time to keep up on. I am so excited! YES! Finally!

Remember final confirmations for your event will go out about a week before your wedding. If you are a Silver or Elopement Package client and have already closed your account, you don't have to lift a finger or do a thing until the week of your wedding when you receive your confirmation sheet. :) Platinums will have to come play with me and do a session usually, so a little more work! ;) If you're getting married in 2012, don't worry about scheduling your bonus sessions until after the new year. No rush, and then also I will have much more time to devote to you.

Official turnover time on all sessions is 90 days. If I can do it sooner, I will! If you need some images up for thank you cards, birth announcements or the like, just let me know. Not a problem. But official turnover on complete proofs is a minimum of 90 days. Sometimes it takes longer. I try really hard for it not to.

Master disc workshops will begin as soon as my off season starts in November. We go in chronological order, so all of those wonderful weddings that were published last year go first!

I'm being published again this fall... in TWO magazines... YAY!

Have you checked out our Travel Dates Page lately? I'll be in Southern California, Washington DC... and although it's not official yet, Utah, all in November and December! You should definitely sign up for a portrait session or a consultation for your wedding while I'm in town!

I have really bad insomnia (probably from all this anxiety!) and it makes me sad because my beagle grumbles at me because my tossing and turning disturbs his sleep. He has been grumblin' and grumblin' and finally just getting up and going to sleep in his crate! It is so sad! :(

I recently had a problem at a wedding with inappropriate guest and wasn't sure how to handle it because I didn't want to ruin anyone's day. This wasn't the first time someone had done something like this to me though so it was pretty upsetting. I've talked about it with a few people and colleagues feel I should have [figuratively] struck back more assertively because what happened was wrong. I wasn't comfortable doing that at the time, and even now, I'm still not sure. I can only hope that it doesn't happen again. After all that I have been through, it was alot to take... But I am still more inclined to put other people first, rather than myself. I dunno.

I'll see you guys next week! Thank you so much for always being so awesome! I love working for you! Was this boring to read? lol

"And that's how the kids got married" (Becky 'n Charles are HITCHED!)

2011-10-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Becky and Charles married Saturday in a Catholic ceremony at St. James in Davis. A location, about an hour into shooting there, I realized I had been before. LOL I felt ridiculous. How many weddings have I done now that it takes me a whole hour to be like... "Wait a minute... that rose bush seems familiar..." Even Becky knew I had shot there and I didn't realize it! LOL

A venue new to me, but one which I had hoped to shoot at for awhile was the Historic Hotel Woodland. Totally lovely! Twinkle lights and climbing vines? Yes! Even better was the dancing... These guys are CRAZY AWESOME! Charles' dad is a hoot and a dancing MACHINE! :) I don't often include reception pictures, but... just this once. ;)

You can check out Becky and Charles' Home Depot engagement session HERE, or their cornfield/airplane wonderment over HERE.

OHIO STATE!

For friends and family of Rebecca & Charles, feel free to share these images on your Facebook or MySpace pages, but do not crop or alter the images or watermarks in any way.

"Forest" Mark & Jenny's Wedding Preview & Fusion Film

2011-10-13T02:45:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer... I am not a videographer, and when I make these little fusion films it's just for fun, because I can and because it's something a little different for me. I'm not a professional videographer and don't claim to be. :) If you're looking for one of those in the Sacramento area, check out these guys. For Utah, this guy is my man. (Although the link takes you to my fav video in San Diego... but it's my FAVORITE!) If you love vintage cameras and old reel film, and you're on the East Coast, she's your gal. I love wedding film, so if you hire any of these wonderful pros, make sure you run right back over to me and hire me too so I can work with them! :D

You'll know Mark & Jenny from their Forest Gump themed engagement session back HERE and HERE.

Starts with the brief opener to their ceremony, then the music will start. :)

Florals by Flourish

For friends and family of Mark & Jennifer, feel free to share these images on your Facebook or MySpace pages, but do not crop or alter the images or watermarks in any way. Every image should include a link back to this website, Eg: "Image courtesy of Emily Heizer Photography http://www.eheizerphotography.com " Vendors may not take or use images without explicit permission. All images are copyrighted.

Cecilia & Matt go DOWN (into the deep blue sea)

2011-10-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

Cecilia, Matt and I shot their session down on the Marina in Folsom at dawn. It was cold, a little wet, the fish were jumpin', and I thought Cecilia's toes were about to fall off from frostbite at any moment. But the sun was beautiful and the sailboats were the perfect backdrop to play homage to their mutual love of the ocean, diving, and their nautical themed wedding coming up in just 11 more days! (And yes, that IS a 3 carat diamond... uh-huh! Jealous much?)

For friends and family of Cecilia and Matthew, feel free to share these images on your Facebook or MySpace pages, but do not crop or alter the images or watermarks in any way.

Who knows this famous book and movie reference? :) It's the brides FAVORITE. Huge hint for everyone that knows them!

Das ist carpe!

I'm just hoping she'll be doing this in her wedding dress too!

Signage by: ME
Couple's initials by: ME
Antique Frame refinished by: ME
Knowing your photographer could possibly attack you with props at any time: TERRIFYING

Our "Here Comes the Sun" baby, Johnna Justin, is here! (And a Blog Shout out & Thank you!)

2011-10-06T03:29:00.000-07:00

Johnna Justin was born on August 22nd, and I was so privileged to be there on her 8 day celebration of her birth! (You'll remember Johnna and her big brothers Kellen, Grant and Lennox from their earlier feature and fusion video with Mom, "Here Comes the Sun." Although, Johnna, couldn't be seen too clearly... she was in a Womb without a View. [Yes, I really called the blog post that. I'm a dork.])

Today, that session is being featured on The Wedding Chick's sister blog, "On to Baby" and since I am battling yet another all night bout of insomnia (we are over a year into this battle now) I decided to seize this moment to blog about Johnna's newborn session, and give a shout out to all of the bloggers who banned together for this family.

As you may remember from this post, Johnna's dad passed away before she was born. It was very sudden and unexpected and the family wasn't prepared. A fund was set up by the family in honor of Johnna's dad, Justin to benefit the four children and help them with their future and put them on the road to a higher education in the future.

You can STILL donate to the JPM Kids Memorial Fund by utilizing the PayPal button below!

After shooting the family and maternity session with this family and talking it over with mom Stephanie, we got the PayPal button set up on my blog and I got to work on spreading the word. I reached out to every blog I thought would be game to help.

First and foremost, I have to thank the people of Pinterest and Tumblr, absolute strangers, who garnered over 3,000 hits to that post about the family in about 3 hours. I have no idea how that even happened. I know that at a minimum, your kind thoughts and well wishes were well-received. The community of Flickr was also very kind in helping to spread the word and sharing positive thoughts!

The following are blogs who featured the family and shared their story:

11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Jen was also widowed with several children several years ago. I was proud to see her write about Stephanie and want to specially mention her. I know this story touched her more than most and related to her more than most. Thank you Jen.

A Good Cadence
Written by a LDS Bishop about philanthropy and his own life, Barett found his way to us through Jen, from 11th Heaven. Thank you Barett!

A Law Student's Journey
My internet friend, and so off topic. Thank you!

Southern Aisle
The first of my wedding blogger friends and part of the TWIPS network who helped spread the word around the community! Thank you Lauren for your hard work and advocacy for the kids!

Sparkle & Hay
Erin, my favorite wedding blogger, who just so put everything so perfectly into words. This post made me super emotional. Thank you Erin!

The Charity Wedding
Introduced to me by Lauren at Southern Aisle, Alicia passed the word on to a couple of other bloggers as well, helping to further spread the word! Thank you Alicia!

Lovely Little Details
Alicia introduced me to Jacin at Lovely Little Details. Thank you for all your help!

Little Bit Heart
A blog introduced to me through this experience. Also, Little Bit passed this along and allowed me to share this beautiful graphic with you. Thank you!

And now on to the GOOD STUFF. You want to meet the baby, right?! :D This is Johnna Justin. Pronounced John-na Justeen/Justine, and named after her daddy Justin. Johnna is the name Stephanie and Justin had picked out and set aside for a little girl long, long ago and were waiting for just this little sweetheart to make their way to them! We are so glad you found your way to us finally Johnna! And that me and your mom figured out you are obsessed with space heaters and heating pads! Excellent tip to know! We gave Johnna Justin a little tea party in celebration of being born. Naturally we stripped her naked and slapped her on top of a cake plate. What else would you do with a newborn baby, right?

Thank you to Sugar & Spice Specialty Desserts for all the colorful goodies!

Just about everything in Johnna's nursery was either made by Stephanie's friend, or given to her by friends and family. Isn't that amazing? Right down to that arm chair- it's being hand-upholstered by Stephanie's friend! Ku-DOS!

Baby: Made in Heaven by Stephanie & Justin
Table set: ~~Jacked~~ "Lovingly Borrowed" from the neighbors
Curtain: Urban Outfitters
Happy Birthday Banner: Posies & Polka Dots Etsy Shoppe
Penguin Classics Books: Amazon & eBay
Cake plate: Mommy's Cupboard
Desserts
Cupcakes, whoopie pies & homemade pink Snowball: Sugar & Spice Specialty Desserts
Macarons: Ginger Elizabeth

Please consider making a contribution to the JPM Memorial Fund in honor of Johnna's dad, for her, and her brother's future by clicking on the following link and making a donation through PayPal. We would all be so grateful. Thank you to all of you who have already been so generous and kind already with your donations and spreading the word about this family!

You can also mail in a donation to the following address:

Matthew Sheffield, Financial Advisor
Account number WH10988
UBS Financial Services Inc.
601 W Riverside Ave, Ste 1200
Spokane, WA 99201

Lauren gets ready, and Jake gets a First Look (Sacramento Wedding Photographer)

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Lauren and Jake were married at Capitol Park on Saturday afternoon. I started the day at their home, watching Lauren get ready for her first look with Jake. From there, we went to the Park, where they met under the citrus trees, bathed in sunshine...

For friends and family of Lauren and Jake, feel free to share these images on your Facebook or MySpace pages, but do not crop or alter the images or watermarks in any way.

These images will be submitted for publication in print and online so these images may not be posted on other websites without the photographer's permission, including message boards, The Knot/Wedding Bee, or other sites. The same goes for all images on this site.

Catta Verdera Country Club: Dave & Andra's Wedding

2011-09-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

Dave and Andra met at work... before they knew it, they had fallen in love and there we were, in a back alley in downtown Sacramento, shooting their engagement session... sniffing... urine... Mmmmm romance. (Downtown sessions are always so sketchy. LOL)
I have to say though, they were REALLY good sports about it though, and those were some of the pretty shots we got! :) (And we did take lots of shots by pretty flowers too. :)

Their wedding was fantastic, with a beautiful Tuscan theme at the wonderful Catta Verdera Country Club in Lincoln. Andra was GORGEOUS, the colors.. Blush & Bashful? Take a peek! :)

HOME DEPOT Love (Becky and Charles are ENGAGED)

2011-09-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

Now what guy WOULDN'T want to do his engagement session at Home Depot? I mean, come on, seriously. It's the Big Boy's Toy Store! Makin' out with your best girl, amongst the lumber (and for Charles, on his birthday too), that is seriously, like, an awesome day for a dude. Like, I think it automatically turns you into a "dude." You know, how all us girls are just pumpkins waiting to be made into Cinderellas? Your grooms are just "guys" waiting to be turned into "dudes." (Okay, so maybe some of them don't want to be dudes; Charles is more of a sweetheart-gentlemen, [the man LIFTED A TREE for me and Becky! A TREE!] but for the purpose of this post, we are calling him a Dude, to inspire Grooms worldwide... to take pictures... And be... Dudes. :)

Charles is a dude. He got to make out in Home Depot. He is now awesome forever.

At least, that is what Becky and I will be telling him. :)
And to think... I was feeling so bad for tormenting him with pictures on his birthday!

Couple: Charles & Becky
Venue: Woodland Home Depot
Memories Of Humiliation and Sawdust to Last a Lifetime.... (Priceless.)

Okay, okay, I'll admit it, we were all a little weirded out by having an ENGAGEMENT SESSION in the LUMBER AISLE... But, whatever. It worked. :)

Yes, I seriously made them crawl around on the floor. That's why Becky looks like she's going to die laughing. LOL

After we finished up at Home Depot, we popped over to Beckster and Charles' new digs: THEIR FIRST HOUSE! (Round of Applause). They are currently enjoying the fruits of their first harvest, and after our Home Depot jaunt, it was only natural (and so incredibly super planned out) that we stop at home to get some shots of them in their new garden.

Your session should be a reflection of you and your partner's life at the time you got married, and this session was exactly that for B & C. They just bought their first home. What an incredible milestone... When they look back at these pictures they will have this incredible snapshot in time of that first summer, when they were going out to Home Depot every weekend and working on the house. Their first garden, working in the yard together, working as a team on the first major thing they ever owned together. HUGE memories and milestones there. And now, having these images... they perfectly reflect this time in their life. They will only live through this part of their engagement- through their lives, once. It is awesome, and now, it will always be here for them to reflect on, this time when they first started out.

But back to speaking seriously, The Dude grew a tomato in the shape of A HEART! (gasp) I know, right? Good thing we gave him a title.

The ratties are jealous! "Daddy, where is OUR bite?!"

Becky & Charles are seriously one of the cutest, most romantic couples I have. They are just so outwardly, openly affectionate with each other. It's a beautiful thing. They are in love! I try to tell my couples, "Love like no one's watchin'." It's my own take on the popular mantra... And these two live it! I am so looking forward to their wedding!

Airplanes in the Night Sky (Becky & Charles are Engaged)

2011-09-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

First, make sure you didn't miss the 10,000-Million posts I wrote over the weekend:

Did you see the Forest Gump Themed Engagement Session I shot this week?

How about their Engagement Film?

What about my personal blog post and write up on the NieNie Dialogues Dinner where I met Stephanie & Christian Nielson?

Did you see that the "Here Comes the Sun" baby was born and a preview picture was posted of her in the middle of a tea party?! We stuck that baby on a CAKE PLATE! It's not too late to donate to the children's education fund either. They are counting on you!

Just checking. :)

Today we have a fantastic session shot in Woodland and Davis! Everybody say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to groom Charles here! He was a GOOD SPORT and did this session on his birthday, letting his sweet Becky and I torment him through the session. He was such a good boy, we did half the session in The Home Depot and in their backyard, harvesting vegetables! LOL We seriously shot this session IN the Home Depot in Woodland. So not even kidding. You'll see more of that later!

Feel free to use these images as your profile picture, just please do not crop or alter the watermarks or images in any way.

RUN, FOREST, RUN! (Mark & Jenny's Engagement Film)

2011-09-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

Mark thinks he's Forest, Forest Gump.
Mark loves Jenny.
Forest loves Jenny.
Jenny loves everybody.
Mark & Jenny go together like Peas & Carrots.

I'm no videographer, (OBVIOUSLY... my video skills SUCK, but it's still fun, eh?) but this was still fun. :)

HOPE: Dinner with Stephanie & Christian Nielson of The NieNie Dialogues

2011-09-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

Last March, I shot a newborn session of baby Brielle, daughter of long-term clients The Hunt Family. After the session, I wrote this blog about my birthday, and shared my love for the blog, "The NieNie Dialogues." If you aren't familiar, The NieNie Dialogues is written by Stephanie Nielson, who on August 16th, 2008, survived a private plane crash along with her husband, although their close friend and flight instructor passed away within the first 24 hours of the accident. Stephanie was burned over 80% of her body, and her husband, 40%. Both have had to have many, MANY surgeries in order to first survive, and now, function. They have been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, 20/20, Glenn Beck, and a host of other programs. Stephanie even has a cupcake named after her at The Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcake Shop in Provo, Utah, (These are my favorite cupcakes in the world, BTW, and I am OBSESSED with their cakebites, if anyone ever wants to send me any ;) and does fundraising for the Maricopa Burn Center in Arizona, where she was taken immediately after the accident. Stephanie and Christian nearly left four children behind that day, but were very lucky to have made it, and are even luckier to be blessed with a much wanted, wished and dreamed for fifth child on the way as of this summer, a mere 3 years after the accident. I have never had a hero before... but I think I found it in them. Not necessarily because of what they have gone through, I think they could have gone through anything and I could have admired them just as much as I do... It's their attitude and strength through their trials that lifts me.

As many of you know by now, the last year has been very difficult for me, and the NieNie Dialogues has been a point of inspiration, hope and guidance for me during a time that has been very dark. The Hunt's read that blog I posted in March and immediately reached out to me. Dan is a member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society- a club that I also belonged to when I was in law school. For their annual dinner this fall, they would be having two very special speakers: Christian, and Stephanie Nielson. Dan & Janay immediately asked me to come with them to the dinner and I accepted.

Tonight, I joined them, and heard the Nielson's speak, from the front table even. Baby Brielle joined us, in all her big girl glory and gurgles (you can see her below!) and I met Steph and Christian afterwards.

For the record, I got TWO hugs from NieNie. Everyone at our table hung out after everyone else left to talk to the Nielson's. I admit I was guilty of being shy and tongue-tied. I always get hung up on the "they are just regular people" factor and never know what to say because I don't want to be intrusive, even though these people mean SO, SO much to me. I pretty much spent the whole day crying, thinking about going, and just... HOW MUCH it meant to me to go.

I wore my "All is Well" necklace, which has been my secret talisman for the year... My secret reminder to myself... It's going to be okay. It may not be right now, but it's going to be. When I feel bad, I put my hand on the little medallion around my neck and physically remind myself. The necklace is so rusty, you can barely even read it. In fact, it has turned my neck so green it looks like someone tried to choke me. Feel free to laugh and point should you notice when we're in person. (chuckle). I never take it off... On a sad note, I just can't. Because then I will forget it's going to be okay!

Anyway, Stephanie talked today about HOPE. Hope for the future, hope for the present. HOPE. I need that now. I struggle everyday to find hope for the future, because I don't have much of it. All I have, is hope that I will have hope for the future. I guess I just have to keep building on that.

How do you go from despair, to hope? I am still listening to, processing, what you said Stephanie. I am listening...

I think I forgot to show Janay how the focus worked on my camera! lol I thought it was automatic. Apparently not. lol Oops. My bad.

"When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we've ever been in our entire lives.
That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would be Temple.

Regarding our Earthly journey, the Lord has promised:

'I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left.
My spirit shall be in your hearts, and Mine angels round about you to bear you up.'
[D&C 84:88]

That is an everlasting declaration of God's love and care for us. Including, and perhaps especially, in times of trouble. "

Elder Holland.

Peas & Carrots (Mark & Jenny are Engaged!)

2011-09-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

THE moment my photography career was absolutely MADE, was the moment Mark sat down on the park bench with his little suitcase and chocolates today and someone screamed out their passing car window, "RUN, FOREST, RUN!"

They got it.
I am understood.
WE are understood.
My life is complete.
[bows]

This is Mark's [Forest's?] Jenny. [Jen-nay?] He loves her very much. They go together like Peas and carrots they do. Mmmhmmm. He's gonna marry her, his Jenny.

Grand Island Mansion: Terha & Jayson are married

2011-09-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

So I totally almost plowed down a raccoon driving home from this wedding, which also means I also almost ran my car over the embankment into the river driving to avoid said stupid freaking COON. (BIG SMILE). I am a very smart girl like that. Trying to save wildlife. Kill myself. All in a day's work.

Little demon possessed coon is going DOWN next time!!

Do we remember Terha & Jasyon from their snowy engagement session at North Lake Tahoe? It was so popular, I am getting requests to do similar sessions next year! We already knew they had good taste... I don't know if we anticipated it being quite this good... (eyes boggle) Look at those clothes! They look like celebrities!

Random Acts of Patriotism

2011-09-11T06:59:00.001-07:00

10 years ago today, I was getting ready for class. I was a freshman in college, living in the dorms. The radio-alarm went off and I groaned, annoyed that the jockeys were yakking about some airplane thing, rather than playing music. I smacked the "off" button and rolled out of bed. I shuffled into my clothes and dashed to my sign language class. I was late.

By the time I even got up that morning, it was all over. Living in California, on Pacific time, it had already happened. As I slid into my seat, the teacher began to speak solemnly about the graveness of the day and I looked, confused, around the room. The red headed kid whispered to me about the twin towers being hit. I had no idea what he was talking about. It didn't mean anything to me. I hadn't heard the phrase "twin towers" before.

In the deaf community, everything happened so fast, closed captioning couldn't get on the tv's fast enough. I remember mass miscommunication going on, and some deaf residents in Sacramento, terrified that OUR "twin towers," the Tower Bridge, had been hit. It really illustrates how chaotic things were that morning.

Our teacher spoke briefly, only a moment or two, and told us that this was sad but we had to go on. She started the class and the students shifted uncomfortably in their seats while she signed and we struggled to learn through our anxiety of not understanding what was going on outside.

After twenty minutes or so, students started running down the halls, and administrators started knocking on the doors. The campus was being evacuated. Everybody was to go home. NOW.

My "home" was on campus. My other home, my parent's homes, were 400 miles away. I walked back to the dorms where I had lived for a measly 6 weeks and watched the entire building parking lot empty out before I even got there. If you had a home to go to, off campus, go to it, they told us. If not, stay in your room, close the blinds and stay put. Keep your lights off. I hunkered down on my bunk style bed and watched the news, called my dad.

All of my siblings called my dad that day. We weren't sure where he was. A businessman who traveled constantly, he lived in suits and carried a briefcase. I knew he was flying that day. I didn't know where he was. I called him all morning. At some point I reached him at the house. He had been at the airport, boarded the plane, long delay... then ordered off... Saw the tv monitors. Thought it was a video game. Then he just stared. I think that's all we could do.

In the weeks that followed, I couldn't stop looking at the pictures. The images burned in my mind. I saved them to my computer and would look through them, listening to the same songs over and over again. I cried, a lot.

My mom flew on one of the first flights that went out after the flight ban was lifted. As the flight landed, the crew sang the national anthem. It was scary, and heroic all at once. My cousins were trapped in Europe on their honeymoon, unable to get home.

Not long afterwards, my dad was transferred to Manhattan for work. I went to visit him in January of 2002. The site still seemed to be smoldering through the snow. We didn't go down there, for the sake of going there, but in our rambling walk we found ourselves meandering along the plywood wall that sheltered the pedestrians from the sadness within those walls.

Those walls... first, layers upon layers of 'Missing' posters. Family members, friends, "Have you seen me?" Last seen on such and such floor. Pictures, beloved father, mother, friend. Slowly, as those people were found, or realized not to be coming home, the wall of missing posters had become a memorial, covered in letters and flowers, teddy bears, flags, "I miss you's" and wreaths.

Stunned, I watched a man stand in front of the makeshift memorial, smile and pose for a picture in front of the posters.

I threw up in a crowded Mrs. Field's Cookies afterwards.

I was so angry.

While my dad was at work, I explored the city on my own. Standing in Rockefeller Center, watching the ice skaters, a plane flew over head, low, and loud enough to hear. All of the people around me stopped what they were doing and looked up. The woman next to me started to cry. I couldn't help myself either. I pulled a crumbled napkin out of my pocket for a tissue. Everything was so raw then. So untrusting, and just waiting for the next blow. I still feel that way now, just in a different context.

On that trip, I noticed something beautiful. Flags. Everywhere. I wanted to turn it into a personal project. Just recently coming out of my high school photography course, photography was still on my mind. Everywhere I went I shot film. Flags, memorials. "Random Acts of Patriotism" is what I wanted to call it. "UNITED WE STAND" spray painted on the back of a u-haul. Flag decals attached on the back of subway cars. They were everywhere. It was beautiful. I came back with, I don't know, hundreds of pictures. I still have them all. But with film, you know, it was the dark ages, especially since I was a history major and only doing it for myself. They're sitting in an album somewhere. Someday I will try and scan them in here, but today, I think the memory is enough.

Where were you?

Nicki at Bull Run (Nicki's Anniversary Trash the Dress)

2011-09-05T04:35:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on a full preview of baby Johnna's session, but once that is complete, I want to take a time out and honor all of the blogs that also took a moment to tell this story and help this family. They all deserve credit and recognition and I want you all to know how much I appreciate your help. I hope it has helped our family! If anyone else would like to help, please let me know, or simply share the memorial fund information with those interested. Thank you all so, so much.

I hope you are all having a good Labor Day, and in honor of "Labor Day," I thought I would share this session... Another one of my brides who married in 2010 in Washington DC. I was able to do an Anniversary/Trash the Dress shoot with her when I returned to DC this year to shoot her little sister's wedding! What does that have to do with "Labor Day"? Well, lol, Nicki is the second of my Trash the Dress'ers to have a baby on board while she did the session! Ha! I think we're far enough along now it's okay to share! :) It's a boy! If you can remember that far back, Kristin was also pregnant with a baby boy when we did her Trash the Dress session in celebration of her sixth wedding anniversary a couple years ago. I thought it would be fitting for "Labor Day," eh?

Well, since I didn't have any birth portraits laying around. But... maybe next year!

Here she is! (Johnna Justin)

2011-09-02T18:53:00.001-07:00

Here she is! Sweet baby Johnna Justin (John-uh Justeen) named after her amazing daddy, who I got to learn even more about yesterday as I spent the day with Stephanie, big brothers Kellen, Grant and Lennox, and family. She is such a good baby, and so easily seduced by the temptress that is the space heater/heating pad combo. And she only peed all over her mom once, so she gets bonus points for that! LOL

Happy Birthday Johnna! We are so glad to have you with us!

Baby: Made in Heaven by Stephanie & Justin
Table set: ~~Jacked~~ "Lovingly Borrowed" from the neighbors
Curtain: Urban Outfitters
Happy Birthday Banner: Posies & Polka Dots Etsy Shoppe

Penguin Classics Books: Amazon & eBay
Cake plate: Mommy's Cupboard
Desserts
Cupcakes, whoopie pies & homemade pink Snowball: Sugar & Spice Specialty Desserts
Macarons: Ginger Elizabeth

Please consider making a contribution to the JPM Memorial Fund in honor of Johnna's dad, for her, and her brother's future by clicking on the following link and making a donation through PayPal. We would all be so grateful. Thank you to all of you who have already been so generous and kind already with your donations and spreading the word about this family!

You can also mail in a donation to the following address:

Matthew Sheffield, Financial Advisor
Account number WH10988
UBS Financial Services Inc.
601 W Riverside Ave, Ste 1200
Spokane, WA 99201

Here Comes the Sun (SPECIAL FAMILY)

2011-08-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is a family you are going to want to remember. Bookmark this post, hit the "like" button on the left side of your screen and copy and paste that link into your email and Facebook and tell the people you know about this family. They all deserve it.

The last year has been really rough on me. The hardest I ever have experienced. I have gone through things I never thought I would have had to experience. They say that life is a balance of holding on and letting go... Every day I am caught in between and have absolutely no idea where I belong in my grief.

August 3rd was the one year anniversary of my hardest day and I had struggled to find a way to commemorate the day in a way that would both acknowledge it, and not involve spending it hiding under the bed, waiting for it to be all over.

That's when I got Stephanie's email.

Stephanie is the mom of three AWESOME little boys. Five year old twins, and a three year old... with a baby girl on the way. They are all charmers, with big eyes, flirty eyelashes and amazing curly hair that any of us would envy. She wanted to do a session to commemorate the summer. A summer spent by the pool, playing in the sunshine and just enjoying this time before baby comes. She wanted the session to reflect just that. Her life, surrounded by her kids and memorializing this pregnancy.

The only person who wouldn't be able to be in the pictures was Daddy. Stephanie's husband was called home to be with Heavenly Father earlier this spring. He passed away without warning in his sleep.

It was then I knew where I was supposed to be on August 3rd. And that is where I went.

The boys are awesome little rocks. They kiss their Daddy's picture good night every night. They chatted about him with smiles on their faces. When they are old enough, they are going to take great care of their mom and baby sister Johnna, who was just born last Monday. :)

For this session, we hung out by the pool. The boys swam, just like their dad did, every day of his life. Afterwards the whole family went for a ride in dad's pride and joy, his GORGEOUS VW Bus! So shiny, new, and perfectly restored! Go Stephanie for driving it! We finished up the session by spending some time running around like lunatics in the parking lot before our little fruit-picnic on the shores of the lake by their house. The boys did great!

Now that baby Johnna is here, there are four little munchkins who Stephanie is going to be taking care of by herself. A fund for their education has been set up in memorium of their dad, Justin. If you feel so inclined, Kellen, Grant, Lennox & Johnna Justin (named after her daddy) would be so grateful if you could lend a hand, or share this link.

Please feel free to share the links to this blog post on your blog, Pinterest page, Tumblr page, Facebook, MySpace or email. You are welcome to repost the video anywhere you see fit. It's for the kids, and when it comes to the kids, I think we would all do anything.

The PayPal donation below will take you directly to an account set up for Kellen, Grant, Lennox & Johnna.

If you would prefer, you can also send a contribution the old fashioned way to the family's financial advisor:

Matthew Sheffield, Financial Advisor
Account number WH10988
UBS Financial Services Inc.
601 W Riverside Ave, Ste 1200
Spokane, WA 99201

Please share all the love you have for this special, special family. I spent the anniversary of my worst day with them, and they made it immensely better. The spirit of being around young children is always joyous, but being around this family is something I will always remember and think of often.

Johnna Justin has now been born and you can see her newborn portraits here!

Terra & Kale

2011-08-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, spitting image of Kim Kardashian, right? But I swear, it's not really her. Terra is way, way cuter. ;) Terra, is however, practically just as famous. Terra won a multi-page spread in Real Weddings Magazine this year in a bridal contest! Kale is just as fab working for the magazine himself (and rockin' the Bono shades) and hauling in such stunner wedding guests like Wendy Sipple, THE editor of the magazine herself. STAR-STUDDED I tell ya, STAR-STUDDED! I also got to work alongside Frontside Films for the first time, something I squealed like a pig over at least four times (okay, maybe five). More to come!
You can check out their engagement film, shot by Frontside last year HERE!

For you are my Beloved (Sara & Mike)

2011-08-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

PLEASE DO NOT REBLOG
due to future publication.

Did you see we (all three of us) were in the New York Times on Sunday? I got three papers. (It's a sickness).
Check out the Blog Post & Article (and my pretty picture of M & S) RIGHT HERE!

You better run to the store in the morning! (New York Times Feature)

2011-08-14T00:25:00.000-07:00

Sara & Mike at their wedding today in Relais du Soleil

Because you're going to need to pick up a copy of the NEW YORK TIMES!

Because I AM IN IT!

Okay, so Sara & Mike are in it, but one of my PICTURES IS IN IT! CREDITED!

I have been PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!!!

AHHHHH!

:D

I was trying to explain this to someone not familiar, but the NY Times Wedding section is not like any other wedding section of any other paper in the country. You can't just submit an announcement and get your name in the paper. You have to be "worthy," you have to have a good story, you have to jump through some hoops, have a picture of high enough quality to print, be good looking, have eyebrows of equal height (???) and a bunch of other secret, mysterious criteria that causes only 20 or so announcements (only a few of which get full articles) to be published on any given Sunday despite the fact thousands of couples marry in the tri-state area every week- And Sara & Mike didn't even get married in New York. They got married in Glen Ellen, California. Yep. And they got in. With my pic. Cuz I'm the shizzzzz.

Okay, maybe they are the shizz, but you were going to find that out anyway once you read the article. :) They are one of the most amazing couples I have ever worked with; I am so proud and blessed to have been able to have been there with them on their wedding day. Mike & Sara initially met through the Peace Corps, but didn't date until much later. You can read a little more about that in their engagement post, HERE and watch their engagement film, shot in Washington DC, where they reside.

... (and back to squealing...) Can't wait until the morning when I can buy my copy of the paper! :D

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/fashion/weddings/sara-riese-michael-osullivan-weddings.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

PSST! Did you see my name under the picture? Hee, hee, hee. :)

Baby Roman is Here!

2011-08-12T08:51:00.001-07:00

Roman & family will be moving oh-so-shortly to the East Coast, adding to my ever growing group of DC clients, but we managed to squeeze in this one session before daddy had to leave. Roman made it just in time! (And so did I!)

Jessica & Carter's Fusion/Duo Film (Washington DC/Maryland/Virgina)

2011-08-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

A wedding that spanned THREE states in a single day, errr... two states and a district... it's a marriage that will last for time and all eternity. Congratulations Carter & Jess... Your wedding is finally complete!

Crazy Pants Groomsmen (Julie & Ryan)

2011-08-05T04:41:00.001-07:00

Oh how I wish all my groomsmen were this deranged. LOL It was a girl's dream come true! Disturbingly hairy legs, socks pulled up to their knees, and absolutely willing to do anything and everything I asked them to, with PLENTY o' their own ideas, I gotta tell ya. DREAM. COME. TRUE.
GROOMSMEN + CRAZY = AWESOMENESS
YESSSSSSS!

Okay, hello there supaman... (awesomenessss)

They were so hot, they were steaming up my lens, SEE! [insistent hissing and pointing]
(check out steamy groomsmen's head, oh yeah!)
(Definitely wasn't because my sweaty hands were all over it, I assure you.)

Stephanie (and a womb without a view)

2011-08-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not even pregnant and I wish I looked this good!

One Year

2011-08-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

My gift to myself was purchased at Grace for Grace on Etsy.

It's been one year. There are so many things to say, but I don't even know where to begin. Nothing has ever hurt or changed me more than this has. I will never trust, or love or look at things in the same way again. The pain and loss of losing the person you were going to spend the rest of your life with doesn't get easier. It just changes. I am working really hard to focus on the fact that although I am not the same person anymore, and my life will never be the same, that this life will still be good, that this is my new life, and there is hope in the future. It is harder than you know.

I have been lucky enough to commemorate today by being with a really special family who has also been going through a lot of changes. I will try to tell you about them soon.

Devargarita (Anniversary Session)

2011-08-02T05:21:00.000-07:00

When a couple gets married, they not only blend their lives, homes, and last names, sometimes, just sometimes, they share a first name too. Or make a up a new one. Margarita + Devan= ..... DEVARGARITA! Sounds like a party to me!

Happy Almost Anniversary!

These two are all about the badonkadonk. There are similar pictures of Miss. Margie's bum from their engagement session, and wedding too. It's a very special part of... well.. their relationship? lol
I think it's cute.

Jess & Carter in Georgetown

2011-07-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

Jess, so sassy, Carter, so ... presidential?
This picture makes me think of Harry Potter for some reason though!

Let me Sow Love! (Ryan & Julie's First Look)

2011-07-25T02:58:00.000-07:00

Julie & Ryan had one of the sweetest, most romantic first looks I have ever witnessed. As soon as Ryan laid eyes on his soon to be wife, he began to exclaim in the softest, sweetest tone, "Oh, sweetie! You are so beautiful! You are SO beautiful! You are so BEAUTIFUL!" They hugged and held hands and chattered back and forth, wanting to hear about each others day. (How cute is that? "I want to hear about your day!!!" Adorable!) They were SO excited to get married. They were so happy to see each other, and so centered in the presence of each other. It was a beautiful moment, and it's a moment both of them will get to carry with them always, in addition to the glory of their ceremony. I was so privileged to be there to bear witness to their love, and the moment and memorialize it for them. It's moments like these that really make me an advocate of First Looks... This moment was so much more special, dear and sacred. It was an extension of their ceremony, and just as precious. And now, Ryan & Julie have not one, but two special moments from their wedding day- when they saw each other in that olive grove with only the jack rabbits and sunshine for an audience, and again in front of family and friends as Julie ascended the aisle with her dad. That is amazing!

...from their ceremony...

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Don't be COY now. (Julie & Ryan)

2011-07-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

tell me how you really feel about being the King & Queen of your own little kindgom!
hee, hee.

Published Overseas!

2011-07-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

For the first time, Emily Heizer Photography (oooh, that's me) has been published internationally! How exciting is that? One of the editors of Malaysian-based magazine, "Signature Weddings" spotted these weddings because they had basically been published/publicized elsewhere, but here in the US! Since the material is new to international readers, the prior publicity didn't matter and SW did a WONDERFUL job of presenting these weddings in a fresh, delightful new way! I love the layouts and how the images are presented. It makes me feel so proud at how my work has been recognized in the last year, and to have not one, but two weddings featured internationally- with a total of six pages of spreads is phenomenal. What's even more phenomenal is that these publications are finding ME, not the other way around. Both Signature Weddings, and Latino Bride & Groom, the magazine that ran my image as their cover last year approached me and asked me for images. That's amazing. After getting the spreads from both Signature Weddings and Real Weddings this week I was a big girl and put in an order with White House Custom Color to have the spreads printed on fancy paper so I can frame them without ripping them out of the magazines. I hope I get more opportunities like this!

Erin & Matt's Winters Wedding was first on the features list. They got me my first blog feature ever- on Ruffled!

Do we even have to identify this one? lol Jamie & Jesse's wedding has been on The Wedding Chicks, Sparkle & Hay, Love & Lavender, Hindsight Bride, Yummy Wedding Food, Un Mariage a Portobello, Brides 365, FY Wedding Ideas, Real Weddings Magazine and doesn't ever seem to get old. I still get clients who when I pull out my magazines during consultations will point and exclaim and squeal when I show them this wedding and tell me it was their inspiration point. This feature is beautiful.

Thank you so much to Signature Weddings for the wonderful features!

Now everyone, go over to their Facebook, become a fan, become a subscriber, order a copy of the magazine, be inspired! :)

Oh, Baby, Let's be Outlaws (Ryan & Julie's Engagement)

2011-07-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

You can see part 1 of Julie & Ryan's engagement session HERE.
They are getting married on SATURDAY! Whewhoo! I hope everybody is getting SUPER EXCITED! :D

I have Issues. (Yes, with a capital "I").

2011-07-20T03:01:00.000-07:00

I always get so confused about where the period goes when you have a quote and a parenthesis together. Anyone want to straighten that out for me? (Note the blog post title; hence my confusion.)

My dog has issues. Sometimes he thinks he's a cat... sleeps in a fluffy orange cat bed, eats cat food, walks all over the furniture, washes the other felines of the house and carries catnip mice around in his mouth.

The rest of the time he thinks he looks like this:

(Yes, that's "Fluffy" from Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone)

This is why I prefer to call him my ATTACK BEAGLE, rather than my second pet with species-identity issues. (Toulouse the cat already being under the impression he is a dog, doing everything short of panting and humping furniture to prove his point.)

If you'd like to see my hyperactive ATTACK BEAGLE in action, and remind yourself why you should never mess with me, or come to my house uninvited (sick, sweet smile) and that I am, indeed, disturbed with an unnaturally delightful happy obsession with my pets, please watch! :p

and that's how we roll.
[at the dog park.]

Published! (Brian & Sara)

2011-07-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

We're been published again! You can pick up a copy of our feature in Real Weddings Magazine at any local Nor Cal realtor!

Whewhoo! Congratulations to Brian & Sara on creating such a notable wedding!

Oh, Alice, you don't even KNOW what a tea party IS... (Ryan & Julie's tease)

2011-07-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ryan & Julie are getting married... in a week and a half... we styled their engagement session at this super secret location only known to me, my beagle, and my terrific previous client Alisa who came all the way up from Woodbridge to help me with the shoot on Sunday. (THANK YOU!!!!)

It was a lot of planning, and thinking and work, and hauling furniture, and a lot of anxiety on my part, and there might have been some vomiting which was totally my fault, and no, I wasn't the one who was doing the upchucking, but really, it was romantic. And MEMORABLE! Ugh... Why do I always have to injure my clients? If they aren't breaking legs or falling in rabbit holes they're throwing up or falling on the ground out of pure exhaustion. I'm a total a slave driver. I'm sooooo sorry about all of my abuses!!! I work you all too hard! But you are all just soo cute I can't control myself!

And I swear on Emily Post's Guide to Etiquette if any of you Tumblr folk remove the watermarks off any of these images you are going to be beat with a freaking vintage copy of the book, manners be damned. The watermarks are there for a reason, thank you!

Ryan makes me think of the bewildered hedgehog or maybe the flamingo in Alice in Wonderland here. LOL

Styled and set up by: Emily Heizer, Alisa Dennis-Kearns, and Julie (Bride!)
Photographed by: Emily Heizer Photography
Furniture & Props: Home Goods, Etsy, Marshalls, ModCloth, thrifted and/or vintage.
Paint Chip Flag Bunting Banner: (Made by Emily) Inspired by A Law Student's Journey HERE & HERE
Signage by: Emily
Desserts Provided by: Sugar & Spice Specialty Desserts, Sacramento
Impressive lifting of hugely heavy furniture: Ryan the Fab Fiance!
Rescuing of random rottweilers running around on the street after standing around talking too long after the shoot after driving from way too far away to help with said shoot: Alisa!! Although I (Emily) did feed the gigantic dog cookies and water and lock her in my car for awhile. She sat in my driver's seat and her head nearly touched the ceiling. She looked ridiculous [ly adorable] until her mother came to pick her up.

Runnin' towards Happiness! (Jonathan & Sarah's Wedding)

2011-07-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy their film!

Party Time at the Carr Wedding! (Melissa & Harley are Married)

2011-07-08T07:00:00.001-07:00

Part 4 of Harley & Melissa's Wedding!

I hope you have enjoyed this week of Harley & Melissa's fabulous Napa Valley Wedding! Today brings us to our last and final post of the week! Make sure you leave H & M lots and lots of love in the comments section, they worked SUPER HARD on this wedding, they deserve it!

Cookie Monster Cookie Bar! (Harley & Melissa's Wedding)

2011-07-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Part 3 of Harley & Melissa's Yountville wedding!

One of Melissa's bridesmaids did ALL of the signage at the wedding, and not only that, she did it FREEHAND! She is just that talented of an artist! She even did that amazing Cookie Monster chalk board drawing- all on her own, no cheating, just free hand! It's that amazing? There are just so many wonderful details going on here! Take note of the streamers in this first shot too- instead of confetti or bubbles, the ceremony guests waved the streamers in the air as Harley & Melissa descended the aisle, and then (being the manipulative artist that I am, lol) I moved those streamers to a handy position during the dancing portion of the reception and everybody was dancing with them too! Isn't that neat! (Although, it was not my idea, one of two party animals were playing with them first, I just made them more accessible and started handing them out like popsicles to get everyone to use them. It was so pretty and fun- everybody should have streamers at their wedding!)

This does bring me to the one thing I really seriously regret about this wedding. I was so excited to photograph the cookie bar, I didn't actually have any cookies or milk! And now looking at the pictures more closely, I'm seeing that there was CHOCOLATE milk in addition to regular milk! How FUN IS THAT?! I feel so sad I missed out! Who doesn't need a little milk and cookies for the ride home? :)

A dog walks into a wedding... (Harley & Melissa are Married)

2011-07-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of Harley & Melissa's Napa Valley Wedding!

During the ceremony, it was so cute, their doggie-daughter Gracie Lou decided to would be a good idea to wander around Mom & Dad while they took their vows, walking around and hanging out on the bridge behind the ceremony site, and she might have stood on Mommy's train too... What can I say, it was hot, I bet her paws needed a break and that delicious white satin must have been so refreshing to her doggie toes!

Getting Ready & Melissa and Gracie Lou (Melissa & Harley's Wedding)

2011-07-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Melissa & Harley married last month in Napa Valley's Yountville. They did an absolutely fabulous job with all of the details and decorating and you're going to just love this wedding. Here is Part 1!

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

Keep on Dancing. (Margarita & Devan's Trash the Dress Love Session)

2011-07-01T05:02:00.000-07:00

The first year of marriage, according to some, is the hardest you'll ever encounter. You have withdrawal from wedding planning, living together, life plans to agree upon, adjustments and compromises to make... who knows what else.

When I photograph a wedding, my primary goal is always capturing that MAGIC between a couple. The innocent love, unknowing of things to come, whether that be joyous or a challenge. Couples holding hands, looking at each other and counting on each other. I want my couples to be able to look back on those images and remember how it was in the beginning- on the day "you loved each other the least," and remember how incredibly sweet and wonderful that time was. I don't always get to give that gift, but I always, always try.

Whatever you do in the weeks, months and years after you make your vows to each other, remember that love, and keep on dancing.

If you're not already, remember I am depending on you to validate my work as photographer by giving me as many fans on Facebook as humanly possible. My self esteem depends on YOU.
(Was that enough pressure or should I lay it on thicker?)

These have been some especially ugly couple of weeks I have had here. I lost my sweetheart 11 months ago Sunday and you'd think it would get easier, but really it just gets more complicated as you slowly more fully come to grips with your new reality.

You think your heart will heal from the wounds the world inflicts on it someday, but really sometimes all you find out about that is that your heart ends up being pieced together with about 40 pieces of duct tape and gorilla glue.

My therapist asked me to draw a picture of my heart a few months ago and I handed her back a kindergarten quality scribble of brown oil pastels covering every inch of an 8.5 by 11 paper.

"And what does this brown represent?"
"Well, that is my heart covered in dog poo."
"...Well, that is just excellent."

I must buy a roll of duct tape and update my portrait one of these days.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

Water Sprites & Woodland Fairies (Nicki's Anniversary Trash the Dress)

2011-06-30T04:57:00.000-07:00

Doesn't Nicki look just like a sweet little fairy down by the water's edge and sitting in the glen?

She's not alone you know... she has a teeny tiny little gummi bear in her belly.

...Okay, so maybe it's a baby. What a wonderful 1st anniversary present for Nicki & Dustin!

Sunshine falling on Snowflakes (Terha & Jayson's E-Session)

2011-06-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

It was a whirlwind romance. Their eyes met across a room where gents like Frank Sinatra used to hang out on weekends off. The Cal Neva's round historic bar with it's beautiful crystal chandelier was the site of the scene last fall when Jayson braved the pack of relatives crowded around Terha at a wedding reception and introduced himself. This year, they stood again in that same spot, with a little encircling of gold on her finger and a sparkling diamond drawing everyone's eye to her dainty hand... always protected within Jayson's own loving grasp.

Terha dreamed of snow for their session, and in the weeks prior, we got WAY more snow than we could handle. In fact, we had to cancel the session twice because there was too much snow in Tahoe to drive up there! We eventually made it up there, and we found Terha her snow. She and Jayson were the best sports ever, and SO in love. Terha & Jayson are one of my couples who I don't have to direct at all. I just tell them to look at each other, and they REALLY look at each other! They stare into each other's eyes, they giggle, they kiss, they hug. They tell each other they love each other. They whisper and tell each other their secrets. They truly enjoy the moment. I wish all of my couples could slow down time and just appreciate those few moments they get to do nothing, just let the world fall away and focus on their love for each other. They aren't just "enduring" the seconds until the pose is over... they are relishing in the opportunity to love each other. They are one of those couples who I have to call out to let me know when they are done. ;) lol
And THAT is what I am looking to capture on film.

I am so looking forward to seeing them exchange vows this fall. :)

Please don't plow us over! (Dave & Andra got married!)

2011-06-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

We're standing on the bridge, Dave & Andra are looking into each other's eyes. The sun is setting slowly behind the trees.

Suddenly, we are interupted.

VROOM! VROOM!
SCREEEEEEECH!!!!!!!!!

RUN! AHHHHHHH!

WTH? Who goes speeding through a country club road so fast on a golf cart and pay so little attention they nearly plow a couple of newlyweds down flat in the middle of the road right in front of their reception? I wouldn't mind some publicity for the business, but not because my clients got smashed like a couple of pancakes! Where's a couple of New Jersey Housewives when you need someone to flip a table and throw a few curse words around?

Good thing it didn't put a damper on the party! :)

How does a bride get SO pretty? (Sarah Nicole)

2011-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

How does a bride get just SO darn pretty on her wedding day? Well, I can show you just that!

Sarah Nicole got ready for her weddng at Gainey Vineyard in Santa Ynez at nearby Hadsten House Inn in Solvang. Make up, hair, the works were all done in the room, and Sarah elected to hold off on putting on her dress until we got to the venue shortly before her first look with Scott. (Which will be coming in another post on another day!) She cleans up good, don't you think? :)

I suspect hubby Scott might have thought she was pretty smokin' too...!

Santa Ynez Vineyard Pink Peony Wedding (Sarah Nicole & Scott are Married)

2011-06-21T03:13:00.000-07:00

SALE ANNOUNCEMENT for Southern California Residents!

2011-06-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

You can drop me a line at: heizer_ea@yahoo.com to schedule a portrait session while I am in town or check out our wedding packages under the "Rates & Services" tab above and get back to me with your date and selection and we can plan a bridal consultation! I will be in Southern California from approximately the 17th to the 20th. :)

Sangria & Teal (Melissa & Harley are MARRIED)

2011-06-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

These are from Harley & Melissa's very private "First Look" moment in the woods behind the vineyard before the ceremony. (I'm sorry if I was too mean with chasing anybody out while we did that, by the way! It was totally not intentional! I was just doing my usual 'happy shoo-shoo tease, get out of here dance,' but afterwards I felt like I was saying it so fast I wondered if it came across as more blunt than super sonic happy. I'm sorry if it did to anyone! Anyway...)

The First Look was very sweet, and very dear right up until Harley knocked Melissa flat on her back in her dress in the bushes and fell on top of her trying to do a dip. LOL Then I think he got spanked. (Or at least scolded. lol)
DON'T WORRY. I got a picture of them falling. LOL

Don't forget, I'll be in Southern California this week and available for consultations and shoots! Shoot me an email if you would like me to make some time for you! Heizer_ea@yahoo.com

Yosemite MAGIC (Sarah & Jonathan)

2011-06-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Jon were rained, snowed and stormed out of their Glacier Point ceremony, but luckily were still able to make do with Yosemite Lodge's Mountain Room with it's floor to ceiling plate glass windows and views of the falls. Eventually the rain cleared and we were able to capture that magic that, really, is only found in Yosemite Valley's great outdoors.

On a side note, do we have any Southern California readers out there who would be interested in portrait sessions? I'll be coming to town in just a couple of weeks...

Friday Night Lights (Carter & Jesse)

2011-05-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe it would be more appropriately titled "Tuesday Night Lights" given that today is Tooosday, but we did shoot this on a Friday, so I am STICKING with my TITLE. So there. :p

I am not much one for night photography, or flash photography (especially the latter) because it is so invasive and distracting, especially during events, and really can make for some terrible images if you're doing formal portraits in the dark. In fact, when I went to WPPI I stood up in front of a crowd of over 2,000 people at Elizabeth Messina's lecture and asked what to do about a client who is getting married in winter... at 6pm... and they don't want to see each other before the ceremony. (So all of the portraits, couples, family, bridal party, everything would have to be taken in the dark.) Everyone in the room audibly gasped in horror. Elizabeth Messina, who is a world-renowned photographer who does workshops in France and shoots for people like Christina Aguilera (!!!) and Tori Spelling (???) told me I would have to talk to them and have them change it. I told her I had and she just kind of stared at me, confused. LOL She didn't have any advice about lighting or anything, she just said, "They have to change it! Talk to them again! They must change it!" And continued to look kind of horrified and then shooed me away from the platform. At least half a dozen people approached me either on my way back to my seat or after the platform class and said how sorry they were that I was going to have to go through that grizzly experience. OMG, is it really going to be that much worse than I thought?! I knew it was going to be bad but people were giving me condolences like someone died!

Anyway, a session in the dark is never ideal unless that's really your style of photography, and for me, it just isn't. For Jesse & Carter, Jess had a last minute dress disaster which involved her mom dyeing her dress with tea... and having to rush it to a dress shop and a seamstress the day before the wedding to make an entire new top for it. LOL The dress wasn't ready until after 4pm, everybody was running late and we weren't on the road to start our planned 'crack of dawn' session until well after 7pm. We hustled, but we didn't get to Georgetown until well after dark. We got lots of pictures done before that, but this was on their must-have list and as we drove there, I began to have visions of twinkly lights and flashing traffic in the background. We got there, we hustled, I laid down in the street (literally), Jesse's sister blocked my head from being run over by cars with her body and I got the following shots! Not too bad for someone who hates flash [outside of a wild reception party]!

As a side note, we were up at 5am the next morning to make up for the lost daylight hours from this session and went back to Georgetown to reshoot so they still had good quality portraits taken here before their ceremony that morning!

Bless the Rain (Mike & Sara)

2011-05-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here we have the second part of Mike & Sara's engagement session which today, includes a VIDEO, YAY! You can see the first part of their session HERE.

Some things you will notice in this video, first of all, is my cheesey taste in music. Yes, I went all out. I did it. It's a mental defect; I couldn't help myself. It's one of my favorite songs, and when I was flipping stations the other night and I heard this come trickling through the stereo as we drove home from the dog park and my beagle began to howl uncontrollably in the back seat, I just totally felt inspired to make this video. I know that really, that sounds more like inspiration to sign up for obedience training, but I have learned to tune the little sucker out. And now you all get to suffer through my music choice too. AREN'T YOU EXCITED?!

::crickets::

tap, tap...

Are you still there?

When you plan your engagement session, remember that it really should be a reflection of you and your partner. For Mike & Sara, we shot the session in the area around their home, and then at Rock Creek Park where when the stars align and they both happen to be on the same continent at the same time, for more than five seconds at a time, they like to grab a paper, lounge in the grass, talk and cuddle. Which is exactly what we did! What you will also see is a beautiful piece of fabric Sara & Mike use as a blanket while they lay on the dewy ground- it rained on and off all through our session-POURED while we were in their neighborhood even. That fabric, called pagne, came all the way from West Africa from a country called Burkina Faso and is just another reflection of Sara & Mike's life: past, present and future. Consider those things as you plan your own sessions!

As I said before, Sara and Mike met in the PeaceCorps. They met in another country, far from home, on another continent even, doing something they both loved and believed in. That is a beautiful thing. In Sara's words,

" Both of us wholeheartedly believe that our Peace Corps experience was one of the best, most valuable things that we have done so far in our lives, (besides getting married, obviously :) ) and that it profoundly changed the way we see and interact with the world. We would love to encourage more people to join! "

It took them on to graduate school afterwards, and led both of them to careers in the same arena
as well. Again, a beautiful thing. A career and a life mission you can feel passionate about, and making a true difference in someone's life is amazing! For more information on volunteering or how you can help, you can head right on over HERE, or if you'd like to start your application boys and girls, you can click right HERE.

Please enjoy the video, and ponder how seriously perfect the music is when is RAINED through our session, and when Mike & Sara met in Africa and... oh, just watch the film! <3

The part towards the beginning where Mike dips her almost to the ground and it's followed up with an almost identical picture of Sara being dipped to the ground in the same spot- I was shooting on two cameras at the same time. I had my main DSLR in one hand where I was shooting my stills, and the secondary DSLR in the other where I was shooting HD video simultaneously. That's how I got that shot. ;) I am tricky.

Lift me up with your Love (Margarita & Devan)

2011-05-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

Through Rose Colored Glasses

2011-05-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday.

Dance with Me (Sara & Mike)

2011-05-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I dropped my doggie off at jail, drove two hours through some light snow to Reno, ran through a parking lot, hopped a plane, dawdled around another airport for a few hours, hopped another plane and landed in Washington DC to shoot the awesome wedding of Jesse & Carter.

While I was there, I also got to meet another set of AWESOME clients of mine, Sara & Mike, who just so happen to also live in Washington DC proper. (How did I get THREE clients in DC?!) Sara & Mike met in AFRICA working for the Peace Corps, but didn't start officially dating until a little further down the road when they ran into each other again working on graduate degrees at Columbia University in New York. They both currently work for I guess what you would call international health organizations, helping the people of Africa receive more and better health care. Prevention or treatment for Malaria, HIV, access to and education about birth control, maternity and newborn care... standard vaccinations... Anything you can think of. These guys do it. They are FRIGGIN' AWESOME. I am so proud they are my clients and told about 20 people about them since I met them and heard their story. =)

They are also MADLY, CRAZILY, ADORABLY in love with each other, which makes it all the better. I didn't have to direct them at all. I'd point at the bed-bug infested chair behind the dumpster down the back alley, they (shuddered and) hopped on, and I shot and shot and shot and shot. Grade A, First Class Clients. I am so proud! They are going to be so easy on wedding day! I can't wait to see them later this summer for their wedding out here in California!

This week is your LAST CHANCE to vote for us for KCRA's Sacramento Best Of List!! PLEASE vote for us! It just takes a second! =)

Did you vote for us???

2011-05-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Did you know we were nominated for KCRA 3's Best Photographer Contest?! :-O

Did you know that YOU can vote, even if you're not local?! WE NEED YOUR VOTE! The contest is almost over (and I'm pretty sure we'll lose, but it would be nice to get ranked!)

Head on over to the A LIST right here!!

The Red Door (Jesse & Carter)

2011-05-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

Don't they sound presidential? Jesse+Carter? = Jesse Carter? That sounds like a president waiting to happen folks. And with where we took pictures, it's no wonder.

My SECOND lovely trip to Washington D.C. to shoot a wedding, and such an honor and privilege because the Shepherd family chose me to photograph their second daughter's wedding after having me shoot their eldest daughter's, Nicki's, last year! :)

6am on wedding day, you could find us traipsing around Georgetown, standing on people's doorsteps and dancing in the brick and cobblestone-laied streets.

Here's a preview on which to feast your eyes!

Sorry you're so small Carter, I'm still working on getting used to my new version of PS... it's been a little fickle so far...

Out of the Office

2011-05-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

I am currently in Washington D.C. shooting a destination wedding, meeting an old client, meeting a new client... I am a busy girl! I am out of the office and will get back to you as soon as I can.

If you are in the greater Washington D.C. area and would like to get together please drop me a line and I will get back to you as soon as I can! :)

Em

Flying the Coop

2011-05-02T04:55:00.001-07:00

This week I will be flying off to Washington DC to shoot Jesse & Carter's wedding extravaganza! I am also so lucky to happen to be able to meet a couple of my Napa wedding clients out in DC for their engagement session while I am out there! What a lucky girl am I?

If you are in the Washington DC, Virginia, or surrounding areas and are interested in lil' ol' ME, well here is your chance to meet me in PERSON! Please don't hesitate to pull up a chair, break open a cupcake and make yourself at home here on my blog. If my work looks good, and you've checked out those pesky packages/prices/policies and things STILL look good, well then, darn it, I think we should get together while I'm in town! Whether you're planning a destination wedding, or a local at-home affair, I am happy to travel just about anywhere to shoot. (As you can very well see!)

I'll be standing by....

This also means for my home-guys I will be officially out of the office this week (of course I'm still sitting here though, y'all know better than that by now, it's 5am, I haven't gone to bed yet and I'm up editing pictures... duh. Do I ever really leave?). Anyway, officially, I am out of the office this week, and through the middle of next week. My doggie will probably be going off to doggie jail (aka the KENNEL) because he has nowhere else to go. My cat Amelia will be delighted over his banishment from her kingdom and will likely dance in circles on her litterbox while he's gone, but Toulouse will probably be pretty sad. The kitties can survive on their own, they just get lonely. :( I wish I could take them all with me wherever I go... You wouldn't mind a cat on a leash at your weddings would you?

[tap, tap] This thing on?

Fascinating Fascinators (William & Kate)

2011-04-29T01:50:00.000-07:00

I of course couldn't let the day go by withut acknowledging this day of days, the Royal Wedding, the first of this decade and the most important of this century so far, William and Kate Middleton's wedding at Westminster Abbey in London today! staying up with my Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Duchess and Toulouse (fine... it's just the beagle and the cats... but I really call them that!), I"ve been struck by all of the wonderful hats and fascinators and wanted to share a few lovelies I found on Etsy! Mostly from one designer, but it's 2am and ....[yawn] I'm trying to get off this vampire schedule.

You ladies should TOTALLY start wearing fascinators. I'm totally going to.

Aren't these lovely?

You can find these hats, designed by the lovely Arturo Rios at this link on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArturoRios?ref=pr_shop_more

Cherry Blossoms and Peach Roses (Dave & Andra)

2011-04-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

This was the soft part of our session. The rest of the time we were marching gallantly around downtown while I gave Dave endless crap for his, "ARE WE DONE YET?"'s. lol (I hope not too much??) I also gave a screaming wallop of "PRAISE JESUS!" when he actually started nuzzlin' up to his soon-to-be trophy wife over here, Andra. :)

My college roommate, Carmen Johnson, whom I lived with for 5 years, will be moving to the east coast in the fall for her Master's in Public Health. 5 years of listening to her bellow out a giggling "Praise Jesus" I thought I'd give it a try. I also considered "Hallelujuah," "WHUPP-AH!" (a-la Chandler Bing of Friends), and a few others. I went with the "PJ." It echoed a little too loudly up the parking structure. Ahem.

Maybe I should bring gold stars instead?

Horse Apples and Pie (Sandyn n' Ryan Make Out)

2011-04-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

She baked him a pie with their initials carved into the top. He jacked some coffeed flavored beer from some friends of theirs. I rolled around in Rocky and Bullwinkle's horse crap.

It was a romantic day.

No, seriously.

They rolled around in the hay.

Kisses, hand holding, feeding each other pie crust under the almond orchard....

It is very rare I hear one of my grooms say "I love you" to his bride with genuine feeling in front of me.

I got to witness that with these two.

That was a privilege.

Even if I had the remnants of horse apples on my butt.

Seriously, I couldn't pick which one. Which one do you like better internet? Leave a comment and vote! Sepia or color?

Part II of the Mad Men Wedding (Zeke n' Sheila)

2011-04-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

Giggles in SNOW (Terha & Jayson)

2011-04-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

The road to Tahoe was beautifully, silently, covered in crystal white snow as my naughty, babysitter-less beagle and I drove to meet Terha and Jayson for their e-session on this pretty warm day for a snow session. (I love run on sentences.)

It went WAY better than my last snow session, although I fell in about 40,000 holes up to my knees (I was only lucky one who did that...) and the exception of the extremely traumatic experience of getting pulled over by CHP on 80, which was really awful for personal reasons I won't go into, but that's what therapy's for, right? (You only WISH I was kidding! [insert uncomfortable laughter here; followed by awkward silence]) Other than that, it was great!

Terha and Jayson were so fun, Terha is the DEFINITION of flirty and sassiness and Jayson couldn't be more tall and manly. This is just a preview though, so hold on to your snow boots for the whole post later!

Let's do a fully rounded post of all styles shall we?

Traditionally posed formal:

Candid, photojournalistic:

Artistic, mod, art nouveau:

In the words of everybody's favorite wedding planner, Franc Eggelhoffer, " Vank Goodness snow is white, it vorks." {Father of the Bride, 1991}

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World...

2011-04-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

The Mad Men Themed Wedding Elopement... Part 1!

It was a cold night in December when Zeke and Sheila exchanged teary vows before their small group of friends. Everything, every last detail, right down to Sheila's genuine vintage coat was in theme for this monumentous day, but this isn't the beginning of the end of their wedding day tale... Zeke and Sheila will be running off to Mexico in June for their REAL wedding, in front of all of their family and friends. This awesome bash, well, it was practically practice! (And man, would I give anything for all of my weddings to be as freaking awesome as Sheila's definition of PRACTICE! Hee, hee! :) )

Let's get married!

The Hunt Family

2011-04-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

I've been photographing the Hunt Family, literally, for years now! I can really say that! (Whewhoo!) I first met the Hunt's when (now big sister) Mackenzie was just a year old, was invited back when brother Connor was born, and now I'm back to photograph the Hunt's again as they become a family of FIVE! You've seen the posts about baby Brielle, and this is her wonderful family! We got rained out of first attempt at the family part of this session (which you'll see here) so we had to reschedule it since a newborn baby out in 45 degree weather, in the rain, didn't mesh all that great. I did get these shots though before we made a mad dash for it, and you'll see the rest of this session later! :)