I’m a romantic at heart- I’ve always enjoyed a sappy love song, or poem- I like a good cry at the theater and I’ll admit it, I often tear up behind my camera during the toasts. The emotional aspect to documenting love is one of the most fulfilling parts of being a photographer for me. I get close to my clients when they are most vulnerable- when they are ripe with emotion and change.

With that in mind, maternity sessions always strike a chord in me- there is just something so peaceful about an expecting mother. It’s like this quiet before the storm- it’s serene and peaceful and it’s important for me to capture that moment before two, well three, lives change forever. Jimmy and Dawn’s little man has already arrived and I am anxious to meet him but for now, bask in their anticipation and excitement!

Onward!

My tweets from yesterday:

Before the shoot:

After the shoot:

I got so many replys on twitter regarding this question so I decided to share an outtake versus a selection. Do we ever really feel 100% confident in ourselves as artists? Somehow yesterday, in the midst of two ADORABLE kids having some not so adorable breakdowns we all managed to work together and go from the shot on the left to the shot on the right.

So next time, even though I’ll be just an anxious and will think I suck just as bad when the kids are crying and the parents are stressing and we’re all doing the best we can- I am going to remember this: we all feel like this and if we are prepared and professional and truly know how to do our job well, we’ll knock it out of the park. Let’s all stop being so hard on ourselves!

I have been trying to avoid making this post because of it’s sheer ludicrousness but I have gotten so many e-mails and now a handful of phone calls about this so I feel like I need to address it briefly!

Someone is posing as me on Craigslist- (flattered? NO) They’ve placed ads for an assistant in a few local listings in Florida and I need to make sure that I address this somewhere so that hopefully people will see it and figure this out before they get their social security number or something else stolen! I can’t quite tell what the basis of the scam is but you need to know that IT IS NOT ME.

The ad’s ID email address is : job-nb9se-1918325202@craigslist.org

Follow-up emails are coming from this gmail address megperotti076@gmail.com (seriously, I’m not kidding around here)

They are signing the e-mails Meg Perotti with a link to my website and also are claiming they have been in business for over 30 years (I’m not even 30 yet!) and offering $500/wk for various tasks (some involving a laminate machine ?!??! again, not kidding around here) I’ve reported it to gmail and to craigslist but haven’t heard anything back – wonderful!

So anyways, sorry for this dumb post- trust me, I’m finding just as annoying as it sounds!

Oh time off, I forgot what you felt like! Tim’s older brother Joe and his wife (and one of my new sisters!) Charna, were in town this weekend to head to Napa and taste wine and eat food and it just so happened that Tim and I were headed up there to visit my Uncle Charles who will be playing the role as officiant in our wedding to plan our ceremony- so we got to spend three lovely days with family, drinking and eating, and being merry! Long winded enough? It’s enough to just say it was a great weekend!

Me, croquet, and love.

A couple of weeks ago Audra and Charlie tied the knot at the Cinnabar Hills Golf Course – I have know Audra since I was a baby- her mom and my mom went to high school together and I seriously can’t imagine anyone else photographing her big day! Editing her images was rough- I kept tearing up… I think it just felt close to home.. seeing Audra as a bride made me realize that I’m going to be a bride! She is so freaking gorgeous and the both of them were such a joy to photograph.

Since moving up here last December I’ve photographed at only a handful of northern California venues but I was so surprised by the beauty of Cinnabar. I have to be honest, sometimes golf courses can be a challenge- ya know…. gazebos and manicured lawn isn’t all its cut out to be – but Cinnabar has so many beautiful spots for lovely image making. Enough chat- onward!

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I don’t normally post family group shots but this one is near and dear to my heart

So I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to wear my hair on the wedding day. Tim has one request- nothing shocking or costume-y and nothing unrecognizable. I’m planning on honoring these requests but I am also planning on looking glamorous! I do not want to look like myself on a Saturday night – I want to look like myself on a really really special Saturday night. We’re going old-fashioned for a lot of things and I also want to make sure I feel that way from head to toe yet obviously still modern.

Here are some classic images I pulled for inspiration:

And here are some modern-day examples I think are similar …

What do you guys think? Should I just get Blake Lively to stand in for me in my wedding photos?

In other people’s wedding news…. Jen and Matt are getting married at one of my favorite bay area venues – The Holly Farm in the fall and I was so excited to finally shoot their engagement session. It was a windy day in SF but we had so much fun running around the presidio and fort mason…Can’t wait for the wedding!

Onward!