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Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! I hope you’re enjoying time with your loved ones (and yourself), and have had a chance to celebrate in a way that makes you happy. Nathan and I ran away to the beach over the weekend and had a great, quiet time together enjoying some blustery walks.

I’m sending very special wishes to my 2011 couples who are celebrating their first married Valentine’s Day this year (some of you are below). Cheers to you all, and many happy years to come! To my 2009 and 2010 couples, many happy returns and love to you all! I thought of all of you today.

Tiffany & Chance:

Erica & Ronak:

Kaetlyn & Tom:

Erica & Jim:

Sarah & Patrick:

Holly & Greg:

Kristin & Casey:

Mandy & Paul:

And lastly, all my love to my valentine, Nathan, who sticks with me through thick and thin (and even married this crazy girl!):

Mandy and Paul were married on December 16th, 2011 at Montavilla Baptist Church in Portland, with their reception held at the Adrianna Hill Ballroom downtown. It was one of the largest weddings we’ve photographed: over 450 people. Everyone was absolutely fantastic, including their families and 20-member bridal party. Mandy and Paul are obviously very loved by a lot of wonderful people.

Their portraits were taken up on Mount Tabor, where we were regaled with stunning winter afternoon light coming through the trees. Perfect timing.

Congratulations, Mandy and Paul! We were so happy to be a part of your unforgettable day!

Watch the video slideshow here.

I started 2011 with a jolt. Many changes awaited me: my exit from a full-time corporate world, marriage, realizing some dreams, stumbling a bit on the way, realizing how many wonderful/helpful people are in the world, learning accounting… I feel like I had a chance to spread my wings as an adult: a surprisingly terrifying enterprise that makes you wonder how anyone before you took those crazy risks that brought the human race to where it is today. And no matter how many times you’re reminded (inspirational quotes, blogs, greeting cards congratulating you on your boldness, great friends telling you that you did the right thing) that people before you have taken major risks before you and succeeded, you sometimes sit staring at the ceiling wondering what in God’s name inspired you to be such a complete, committable nut job. Welcome to the world of being a small business owner.

Through all this, and the “what are you doing” days, I sit looking through the pictures I took this year and thinking about all the lovely couples, the children, the moms, the dads, the best friends that I got to know, and realize that every tough moment was outnumbered 10-to-one by the dazzlingly amazing moments. I am changed by the love, joy, beauty and wisdom of these events and people. They’ve become a part of me. And I, a part of the way they remember.

It may sound really sappy, and I’m well aware that my infatuation with weddings and photographing them is a puzzle to many who know me, but I cannot even begin to express how lucky I am to wake up every morning and do what I do. I get to see unedited, unfiltered, unscripted, unstructured love and hilarity and tears and emotion in a way few people do. I get to share precious, once-in-a-lifetime moments that will never come again. And I get to document them. Preserve them. Cherish them. Because, really, what could be more important?

At the end of it all, I got to share my (mostly technology-bereft) Christmas break with my handsome and amazing husband. We drove down to San Francisco to stay with friends, and had some wonderful adventures. I had a chance to spend time with landscape art, and I hope you enjoy.

Click the images for a larger version.

Above: Embarcadero Center – San Francisco

Above: The Mission and Castro District – San Francisco

Above: The Marin Headlands and The Golden Gate Bridge

Above: Nathan in a battery tunnel – Marin Headlands

Above: Rodeo Beach – Marin Headlands

Above: Christmas Eve at The Golden Gate Bridge

Above: Keyhole on Pfiffer Beach – Big Sur

Above: Pfiffer Beach – Big Sur

Above: Bodega Bay – California

Above: Mendocino – California

Above: Mendocino – California

Above: Moonrise in Mendocino – California

Above: Trinidad Wayside – California

Above: Prairie Creek Redwoods – California

Above: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park – Oregon

Above: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park – Oregon

Above: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park – Oregon

And one for fun, me taking a bounce in front of Postcard Row.

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Jonathan and Allison went on a Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood adventure with me for the first part of a “four seasons” engagement shoot. We’ll be doing part 2 in the spring. We hit the perfect transition from fall to winter, on a beautiful day with some of the first lower-altitude snow on Hood. What a lovely couple they are, too! Sometimes you meet a pair who can’t stop smiling and laughing, and such was the case with these two. It’s a good sign for a long life of love.

Mandy and Paul joined me at Cannon Beach and Hug Point for a beautiful day in October–one of our incredible Oregon fall days this year. They are a sweet and sassy pair, getting married in just a few short weeks in December.

Our visit to Hug Point included a bit of a bushwhack through the shrubbery over the hill to the waterfall. The tide was in almost all the way, so we couldn’t duck around the rocks on the beach. After a bit of a muddy, slippery, bushy adventure, we emerged at the beautiful beach on the far side. Such a fun afternoon!