Cindy's 50th | Corinthian Event Center

Cindy celebrated her 50th Birthday in style with family and friends at the Corinthian Center in Downtown San Jose. The drinks were flowin', the band was rockin', and Cindy sure knew how to get everyone in the mood on the dance floor. Her sister, Michelle, who I shot a family portrait session with last year said that she couldn't remember the last time Cindy had such a happy-go-lucky time. Here are some photos from the evening.

My New Toy

The Canon 5D Mark II is probably one of the hottest tech toys on the market at the time of this blog post. You wouldn't know we're in the midst of a recession with the way this camera is flying off of store shelves. I waited impatiently for a month before mine would even ship. One of the cool new features is the ability to shoot HD video. Here's my chance to flex some weak video editing skills.

See embedded video below or HD version here.

the pintner family

If you were to walk into the Pintner home you'd probably find a jam session in progress with Keith on the guitar, Camille ticklin' the ivory, little Jaden on the drums, and baby Karis belting out a rock ballad - your next American Idol. What a musical family!

This past weekend I had an opportunity to share a beautiful morning with the Pintner's in Fairfield, CA at Rockville Hills Regional Park. It was truly a family portrait session as Keith's mom, Patty, Camille's parents, Eve & Ramon, and sister Christine were in town and joined us for the shoot. With the blue skies, green grass, and tres cool rockband family I started humming Paradise City by Guns N' Roses as I started to blog:

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Take me home (Oh, won't you please take me home)

nice to know there's no risk of fire today

such a gorgeous day



a tender moment with Keith and Karis


at one point Jaden cast a spell and froze everyone with his magic wand!




My daughter, Natalie made a new friend in Karis and will most certainly have a play date soon!



Eve & Ramon are medical missionaries who just returned from an awesome trip to the Philippines


Keith and mom Patty


sisters Camille and Christine. Christine teaches English in Taiwan

there's never a dull moment with these two





Thanks for such an awesome session!

The O'connell Family

Meet Andrea and her 2 beautiful children - Danny and Meaghan. Danny is currently a senior and star center for his high school basketball team and will be headed off for college next year. Meaghan is an active 8th grader who competes in cheer competitions.

Yesterday was quite a wet day for the Bay Area but the O'Connell's braved the elements and we headed to San Andreas Reservoir near their home in Millbrae for a portrait session.

Meet Dusty


Meaghan & Andrea


Very wet!




I love the mood of this shot






What a beautiful family!




Natalie and Andrea meet for the first time

Chicago in the Winter

I headed out to Chicago for the RSNA Conference held annually at the McCormick Place Convention Center. My flight out to Chicago was delayed nearly 2 hours and I ended up getting into my hotel really late.

All the local restaurants were closed and I was forced to order food from the hotel. This spicy bleu cheese burger actually wasn't bad.


Snow fell my first night there but it actually wasn't that cold yet.


Here was a little tribute to diMaggio's 56-game hitting streak on Taylor St


McCormick Place Convention Center


Downtown Chicago at sunset is just magnificent






Can't leave Chicago without a shot of Cloud Gate - a.k.a. "the bean" at Millennium Park


See the icicles? It was so sunny but only about 16 degrees on my last day!


The el train is the easiest and cheapest way to get around Chicago - on my way to Midway