You all know how much I love being a wine country wedding photographer… and I love the Wente Vineyards and Murrieta’s Well wedding venues with their expansive vineyard views and really beautiful wedding amenities! I also love it when my brides refer their friends who are getting married… Kelly and Kevin sent Stephanie and Rich my way, and we hit if off like gangbusters, no surprise since I LOVE Kelly and Kevin (who were referred by another favorite couple, Michelle and Steve!!)

Stephanie and Rich spent one of their earliest dates at China Beach picking blackberries, so we braved the winds on a gorgeous sunny evening, and had a blast! I love China Beach Engagement Sessions because there are so many different looks in one location. While we got our toes in the sand and surf, it was great to hop around on rocks and under boardwalks before we made one more stop at Land’s End for a different vantage point of the bridge!

Oh my gosh… when this lil’ cowboy’s parents brought him in and I saw this hat, I knew… I just knew that this session would be completely adorable! It’s been 4 months since this little guy was born, and this is the third time he’s been in front of my lens already! (smart parents and Watch Me Grow program = a year of fantastic photo memories!) I just love this image… LOVE it! Enjoy, and don’t forget to have your darling cowboys and cowgirls photographed often in their first year… it’s amazing to have a chronicle of how they change and grow!

At my first wedding of the season with Becky & Mike they celebrated their first dance to my current favorite new song, “Marry Me” by Bay Area artists Train… This song gives me chills… After I downloaded it on iTunes I was transported back to my days as a teenage girl with a crush, and literally played it over and over for a couple of days. The lyrics are just so strong and romantic, and it doesn’t hurt that Pat Monahan, the lead singer of the band, is really easy on the eyes… Here’s their video for the song that I am sure I will hear at many of my clients weddings this year. I will never get tired of it… “you wear white, and I’ll wear out the words ‘I love you’ and ‘you’re beautiful…’”

One of the things I always love is capturing images of the families that grow out of my wedding photography business! It makes me so happy to continue to be your family photographer throughout the many phases of family life! Often friends of my couples are starting or growing their families at the same time, and my clients have so kindly referred many of their friends to me to become their family photographers as well! Recently a family that is friends with two of my wonderful clients came in to bring their brand new baby boy and their adorable daughter to enter my Watch Me Grow program! I know that having a new baby in a family is an exciting time for all, but often the big brother or big sister needs a little extra attention too, since Mom and Dad have to take care of the new little one! This special girl got to wear my special fairy princess dress at the end of the session, and she was just perfect! I’ll share more later of her adorable baby brother, but she is getting her own post!

Love, love, love a gorgeous crisp winter day for a wedding in the wine country! The skies were so blue, the bride and groom were so in love, and I was so happy to be shooting with my great friend, Shannon, of Shannon Stellmacher Photography! Here is a little group of some of my favorites details that made up the day! Enjoy!

So excited to announce the launch of my brand new website for weddings!! Check it out: Hip, Modern Wedding Photography for the San Francisco Bay Area Thanks to all my wonderful clients over the past few years for putting such beauty in front of my camera! Can’t wait to photograph more in 2011!!!

I am having so much fun processing Becky and Mike’s elegant wedding at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco!! It was such a spectacular day of family, friends and fun that everyone enjoyed heartily!! Becky looked amazing in her custom made gown from Amy Kuschel Bridal Atelier, and Mike was a very handsome match in his tux!! Here are a few of my favorites from the wedding!! I love how Becky and her mom just beam at each other!!!

More to come soon!!

Ahhhh newborn teenie-tiny babies… I just love them so much… So much in fact that I will photograph a newborn in the family home (or studio) in the first two weeks of life and waive the session fee!! I know what it was like to be a new parent… completely in love with this little person, and bleary eyed from lack of sleep!! That’s why I come to you! It makes it so much easier than trying to get out of the house, and less pressure dealing with feeding, changing and the challenges of parenthood! I also have a great baby plan for the first year which includes 3 sessions at key developmental milestones, and gets a collection of images worthy of your child’s first year life volume!

They change and grow so quickly (I write this as my cranky, tired almost-four-year-old just won’t drift off to sleep…) and you do want to remember each new moment! Here is one from Kai’s newborn photo session. Please feel free to tell any of your friends or family who are expecting to contact me about the newborn special session and Mill Cottage Kids baby plan!!

What a great time everyone had at Becky & Mike’s wedding Sunday at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco! The Drake was decked out in it’s finest, and the happy couple was absolutely gorgeous as they celebrated in style with family and friends! Yet another fantastic photobooth styled by the wonderful and talented Carrie D. Mader! Here’s your wedding photo booth gallery link!! Enjoy, and remember that 10% of the proceeds will be donated to Becky & Mike’s favorite charity!

I have to kick myself into gear and blog… I have so many images to share, but lets start with one from a really fun session with Starla and Parker! So excited for them as they expect their first baby, and to add to the excitement, there is a documentary film crew following along to showcase the ups and downs of a first pregnancy… yep, that’s right people… today I got to be in a movie. Verdict is in, and I definitely prefer to be BEHIND the camera, but it was great fun! I love their style as a couple and wanted to do something beyond the ordinary maternity session… so we sought out interesting places in downtown San Francisco, and even got kicked out of the doorway of a private club… {puh-leaaaazzze… apparently people don’t like people standing on a sidewalk in front of a brick wall, so don’t forget about that…) Thanks to Parker and Starla for braving the “wilds” of the City, and being so completely adorable!! Enjoy!

The last wedding of 2010 has been posted, the last session of 2010 has been shot backed up and almost processed, and it’s time to spend the holidays with my own family! Thanks to each and every one of you who gave me the honor this year of photographing your families and precious events! I am so thankful each day to have met you all, and for my 2011 clients, I am really looking forward to each of your events as well! You are all a part of my Mill Cottage Photography family, and I wish you all the best warm wonderful things this holiday season, and in the new year to come! Can’t wait for more weddings, babies and families, so I hope you’ll refer me when anyone you know needs photography!

The first time I spoke to Andy on the phone, I knew I would love him and his wife Lissa! We made a date for Black Friday to photograph their adoption profile portrait session! They are working with the fabulous Ellen Roseman, and are looking forward to adopting a child in the new year!!! Ellen specializes in open adoption, and is a wonderful matchmaker between first-families and adoptive families. It’s a beautiful thing no matter how you slice it… I loved Lissa & Andy, as expected, and was supremely grateful to become a part of their search, and for the yummy coffee they brought me to warm my fingers while shooting! Here is their slide show!!

Isn’t she adorable? Here is a cute little slideshow of baby Lily’s portrait session at Mill Cottage Kids Studio a few weeks ago!

Holiday portraits are so much fun, especially with an almost 4 year old and a beautiful beach in the mix! I am so thrilled to be the Heath family’s photographer, and love seeing them through so many important milestones… engagement and marriage of their two children, and babyhood to toddlerhood of Steve & Michelle’s son Connor. Looking forward to many more years capturing images as their families continue to grow! much love!
Kim

NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

It was a great day for a workshop today… rainy and cold, but it was red hot in our space! Thanks to all of our lovely models, and all the participants! Here are some images, and then I am off to bed!

I can’t wait for December… Kit & Ginny will be having their baby, and I am so excited for them!! They are such special people, and they will be wonderful parents! Here are a couple of my favorites from their  maternity session!

Just Added! Renegade has been invited to be a part of next weekend’s World Photography Festival in San Fran. Our “Racy, Red, Renegade boudoir workshop” will be held Saturday, November 20, starting at 10:15am.

Above photo, Lush Magazine, spring 2008, is SOLELY shown to illustrate just one of the looks that we are preparing for you to shoot on!

View more sample photos

• Three separate set-ups
• Three female models in lingerie (all age 18 or older) and simple sets
• Shoot with lead instructor Kim Sayre from Delicious Boudoir; work 1:1 with the models
• Limited to no more than 15 participants
• Plenty of space–900 sq feet studio
• Every effort is being made to obtain full model release from each lady; stay tuned for updates

This session is $129 for one.

Bring a friend and the two of you are just $200.

To register as a duo, please email me.

All attendees must have festival pass (*$27 for Renegades). The festival pass provides access to the event on all four days, plus the launch party Thursday evening.

*$27 for 4-day festival pass if you buy ticket online:

http://www.worldphoto.org/events/events/getdiscount/ Enter promo code: SFFEST10

Festival schedule

For more information (or to register if you do not wish to join the Meetup group), email martha or view event page.

To visit Renegade Photo Shoots – Bay Area, go here:

http://www.meetup.com/Renegade-Photo-Shoots-Bay-Area/

Did you have a new addition to your family this year? Do you have a beloved furry creature who is always there for you? Will beloved family members be coming into town for the holidays? Capture those amazing moments and make your holiday gift giving list a little shorter with a fun holiday portrait mini-session from Mill Cottage Photography. I am offering some holiday mini-sessions so you can get up, get out, and get your family portraits done in time for the holidays! Here’s the (amazing value) deal… Just $95 for a mini-session, which is about 30 minutes long and a $200 savings from our usual full session fee! If you need a session on the weekend, then there is a minimum order fee of an additional $200, which is credited back to you for your order. I am going to be at the San Carlos studio and a nearby park (weather permitting) on the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 27-28, so you can combine your holiday shopping with your holiday greetings!!! Specials will be available for holiday cards, and if you bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots, you will receive a bonus 5×7 print for your donation! Call 415-515-6370 to schedule your family!!! Happy Holidays from Mill Cottage Photography and Mill Cottage Kids!!!

Babies, babies! I just luv them! Especially when I have known their parents through their engagement, wedding and marriage! Little Miss Lily visited me for the second time in the studio (the first time was for her mommy’s maternity session when she was still cozy in the belly!) What a smiley, happy, adorable baby!!! Her parents are completely in love, and so am I! I am so glad they are a member of my Watch Me Grow plan so I will see her on regular intervals through her first year and beyond! For more details on the Watch Me Grow plan, just give me a call or an email, and without further ado… here is lovely Lily loving her toes!! xoxo

And so it goes… another wonderful couple, Adam & Earl, looking to become a family, and working with Ellen… Adam contacted me to set up their session! We had a blast working together, and I LOVE their images! Best of luck to you both, and I can’t wait to photograph a lovely little baby that’s yours in the near future! xoxo  CLICK HERE to see your images

We had a great time strolling around downtown Los Gatos… Can’t wait for the wedding at one of my favorite wedding venues of all times, Nestldown!

I love it when everything aligns, and a strong solid image just pops off the page… Had a really fantastic shoot downtown in San Francisco with an incredible model, Spencer Te’0. This man just rocked his look in every location we shot but I think this one is my personal favorite from the day. The lighting couldn’t have been more perfect! Even cooler that this is practically straight out of the camera with no photoshop… Thanks for a great shoot Spencer! 

Wardrobe by Banana Republic. Photography and Styling by Kimberly Sayre

What do I do with one of the coolest couples’ engagement session images? I whip out the old design skillz and craft an appropriately cool guest book for them to have at their wedding coming up next year!! I love Becky & Mike, and we had such a fun day together downtown when they were here for their wedding consultation with the fabulous staff at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Union Square. Any couple that would have a sock monkey cake topper is a-ok in my book! Can’t wait to see you guys!

What is that squeal of delight you hear??? We walk in to start photographing this weekend, and everywhere we looked there was something amazing. I look at Shannon, and we both say at the same time, “She. has. Jimmy. Choos.” I have seen the most beautiful shoes at weddings in the past couple of years. Many brides are choosing elegant footwear with style, color and sparkle. Let me go on record here about it. I like it. Just sayin’… I even let the groom’s shoes (Via Spiga) play in this shot… never let it be said that I was only obsessed with bride’s shoes… Enjoy!

Ok, I have been promising this session for quite some time… it’s been a busy summer, so I am glad you had time to wait with me! View our photography styling and inspiration board for the shoot here, and the rough draft of some of the finished images in a slideshow

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Qwc775FIY

Slowly but surely catching up with blogging of summer weddings! As you can imagine, I am crazy busy over here, and sorry to make you all wait for new images!! Here is some eye candy from a wedding that I shot with my friend Shannon of Shannon Stellmacher Photography! Incredibly gorgeous day in St. Helena for a wedding, and the details were just over the top! Emotions ran high for this lovely blended family, and crystals sparkled from every surface! Funny that the bride’s god parents are wedding photographers back in the midwest… He obviously thought we were crazy with our “antics’ but hey, we don’t shoot the same way here in beautiful California… The bride’s infant niece had the cutest special dress, and LOVE, LOVE the bling at this beautiful affair!

What an amazing time we had creating this styled shoot! My incredible stylist, Carrie D. Mader, pulled together exactly the right mix of things to convey exactly the sentiments of the session… this is the inspiration board… actual images coming soon!

Sunday I photographed the beautiful wedding of Shannon & Steve on Santana Row at the amazing Hotel Valencia! I felt like I was on vacation!! Warm, balmy day… Pinkberry Yogurt before we started to work, courtesy of my wonderful BFF Jacki of Jacki V. Photography (her hubby, Vince, was the minister for the wedding… talk about a dream team!) Jacki & I go all the way back to the beginning of my photography career, when we met at a workshop almost 10 years ago. Even though she lives and works in Minnesota most of the time these days, she still gets out to exotic locations to photograph destination weddings (like Maui, Jamaica, and sunny San Jose!) and we love to shoot together every chance we get! Shannon and Steve met on the dating site, eHarmony, and started out as good friends, then dating, and now married… all in the course of the past 3 years! Steve is a pastor, and quite a musician/composer, and he shared some of the music he had written for his lovely bride throughout the day at the ceremony and reception. Pastor Vince did a wonderful job weaving the stories of Shannon and Steve together along with scripture, making it a lovely experience for all of us! I really loved it that Shannon and Steve administered the communion for all their guests… a very moving and personal touch! What can I say about Santana Row… such a lively, fun place for wedding photography, and I can’t wait to shoot there again! It was a completely perfect day! Here are some of my favorite images… All the best, Shannon & Steve!

Just finished a custom Love Story Album design for Kim and Derek’s gorgeous Sonoma wedding in April at Ramekins! This was a fun book to design, and I love how it tells the story of the day… even the bit of rain we had in the beginning, which was magically whisked away by the weather gremlins and replaced with sunshine at the perfect moment in the ceremony… We had a great time sneaking off from the party in Granddad’s classic Cadillac, and narrowly escaped the law… (just kidding… we didn’t do anything WRONG…) The wood fired pizza, wonderful hors doerves, and great service from the exceptional staff at Ramekins made for a wonderful wedding!

Every photographer has someone in the very beginning of their business who takes a chance on knowing you will do a good job! Someone who knew you could do it even if you hadn’t done it before… someone who believes in you and chooses YOU! Christy and Matt were those clients for me. When I met them I knew I wanted to photograph their wedding more than anything, and after interviewing quite a few photographers they chose me to do just that… They were married at the beautiful Carmel Mission, and their reception was at the Marriott, and it was a wonderful day! I love both of their families (and photographed Matt’s sister, Bridgette & Darren’s wedding a few years later) and so the time has come… Christy, Matt and awesome-hound Indiana have a beautiful baby girl who was born just 10 days ago. I could have just snuggled her all day… Here’s a couple of favorites… Happy First Father’s Day Matt!!

Newborn babies are just the best to photograph! I don’t know how many times I have said it, but I LOVE it when my wedding couples call me to share the good news of the arrival of a new addition to their family!!! Shannon and Tim came to me from a previous wedding couple, Michelle and Ted. It was great to see them at the wedding with their kids too! Now Shannon and Tim have a beautiful little boy named Justice (LOVE his name!!) and he wants to tell everyone “hi!” He was wide awake for most of his session, until the end, when we managed to get him to sleep on his daddy’s grandfather’s guitar…

Those of you who follow my blog know that I love to teach other photographers, and regularly schedule time to offer workshops to help out the profession! In addition to it being possibly the best weather I have experienced in San Francisco since I moved here 15 years ago… Sunday was the perfect day to teach a kid’s portraiture workshop with my friends from the Renegades. Special thanks to Martha Blanchfield, freelance PR person, and regular contributor to Rangefinder Magazine for professional photographers, who organized a gorgeous bunch of kids to come and model for us on a bright sunny day in the Tulip Gardens! The highlight of the day (probably for both the photographers AND the kids) was a pie fight between a group of best friends who will love these images as they grow up together! It was Memorial Day weekend, so some of our small patriots also paid tribute to the gool ol’ USA with their fun outfits! We hosed down the kids, wiped down the cameras and headed into the Beach Chalet for a nice snack and some Photoshop and Lightroom lessons, and before you know it, it was time to go! here’s some of my favorites from the day!

Happy 4 week-i-versary toooooo youuuuuuu! I know you can’t wait to see these images and without further ado…. here is your gallery of colorful, wonderful heartfelt wedding images! Please share with anyone you choose, and feel free to leave comments on the blog! much love, Kim (and Jill & Carrie from the Mill Cottage Photography team!)

click the image to go directly to the gallery!  or follow this link: Atherton Wedding Images for Eliza and Justin Enjoy!

Last Saturday started out just wonderfully for me… first getting to see Kim & Derek, and Kim’s parents to show them their wedding images for the first time at the Napa Valley homestead, and then just up the road to the beautiful Silverado Country Club to meet my wonderful friend Jill of Jill Doherty Photography, to photograph her sweet clients, Stephanie and Matt — such a beautiful day for a wedding! Steph’s shoes were just amazing (we all know how obsessed I am with fabulous wedding shoes…), and every detail of their black and pink themed wedding sparkled and shined! The sun shined brightly on their ceremony in the grove, which was performed by my favorite wine country wedding officiant, Reverend Blane Ellsworth, who is so much fun to work with… it was my second time in his congregation for a wedding, and I honestly just want to hug him a million times! After they said “I Do!” Steph and Matt grabbed their golf clubs and whacked one down the green for good measure! Here are my favorites from the day…

 After the ceremony, guests were treated to an amazing fare of appetizers and signature cocktails, and everyone flocked to the games and our Celebration Photo Station. Styled by the amazingly wonderful Carrie D. Mader, whose talents are unending… guests posed for portraits with cute signs and well wishes. To view the images and order your own, please visit the photo booth Gallery here and laugh along with the crowd!

When I first spoke to Justin on the phone, I knew I wanted to be the wedding photographer he and his lovely bride, Eliza, chose to photograph their wedding! They were referred to me by my wonderful clients, Krista & Brett, who were married at Nestldown last August. They were in the same marriage prep class! Eliza’s mother grew up in the family home at which she and Justin planned to marry, and married Eliza’s dad in the same spot where the ceremony was to be held. Sadly, Eliza’s parents are no longer with us, so this was such a special tribute to them. Eliza placed special tributes around the wedding, and flowers to honor her parents. There were games, and a signature cocktail, the “CosmopoliJim” that let us know about the special people they were.

Both Eliza and Justin are the kind of people everyone wants their kids to grow up to be… smart, funny, lovely, and with a passion for helping others and fighting for social justice. They are very cherished by their friends and family, and had a record 18 people in their wedding party, which just shows how much they are loved!