Michelle for Tennessee Gray

My cousin-in-law stayed with us over Thanksgiving, and so, unbeknownst to her, signed up to be photographed for a Tennessee Gray portrait session. An amazing makeup artist, Michelle is much more inclined to be just off-camera on a shoot, so I'm grateful that she agreed to agreed to sit for me and in the end, made it very hard to choose just one final shot for the project. 

MATES shoot in Oakland

Ok! New year, new resolve to share more of my work around the time of shooting, rather just delivering it to the client or posting a few shots on Instagram. I've been working on a personal project for the past few years that focuses on portraits of housemates, together and in their own individual rooms. You can see the entire body of work here.

It's not an easy thing to schedule a bunch of people to be in the same place at the same time, and it can be tough for me to carve out time between paying jobs, but I absolutely love these shoots. They satisfy so many of my personal and photographic interests- learning more about people and how they've come together, seeing spaces that a stranger isn't normally invited into, and taking on the challenge of creating a compelling image with just the people, lighting, and environment in front of me (no stylists, no extra lighting). Julie, Anisa and Laura were such wonderful subjects and I'm so grateful that they opened up their home and lives to me. 

Goorin Bros.

My husband has been in the market for a good hat recently, so we decided to check out the ultimate store for one in San Francisco: Goorin Bros. 

Lea by the lake

I've had the good fortune to work with Lea Stafford as a planner on private events and she is one of the best- smart, kind, hard-working, and on. top. of. it. When she asked to shoot some portraits to accompany her new venture into the food world, I was more than happy to oblige and had the best time strolling around Lake Merritt on a sunny Sunday. Check out her new Instagram account @staffordeats for some serious food inspiration!