penny+mom+dad+kitty


























a little bit of christmas baby, a little bit of newborn.. a little bit of family and a little bit of cat on beautiful yellow chairs.. a little bit of sucking on dad's nose (cute/gross), a little bit (more like TONS) of drool and little bit of hair pulling.. a little bit of snuggling and a lot of being in love.

I had the best day in san diego with you guys. our 1 hour turned into 5 and I was kind of glad. it gave me 4 more hours of getting to know you and your adorable scrumptious baby girl. make lots more just like her. xo.

simply breakfast

I have been following this blog for awhile and am sad to see it near its ending. she posts beautiful photos every morning of breakfast. there are not many things I love more in this world than breakfast and pretty photos. I think I would really like food styling.

she has printed a couple books that you can buy here.

( I love the old wood table she eats most of her meals on)

tree vs. stars

my honeymoon destination search brought to light a few more possibilities...

...like staying in a TREE HOUSE!

I loved swiss family robinson as a young thing and was very intrigued with the inner workings of living in a tree house. I've always wanted a master bedroom with a "roll away" ceiling so you could just sleep under the stars. no 5 star hotel could beat that. I love this idea.

read more about tree house hotels here or here.

...or what about this! a luxury safari camp in africa! I'm not sure how you would be protected from the wild animals but who cares if you can really get this view!

last but not least, SPACE. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it before. seems perfectly reasonable. book your flight to outer space here.

honey beach moon hut

(photo somewhere in french polynesia borrowed from here)


today I have been a woman obsessed with beach bungalows.

fiance and I are thinking of a south of the equator honeymoon....or at least somewhere warm....currently most thought about places are maldives, bora bora, india and indonesia. we both decided we wanted our honeymoon to be somewhere neither of us has been.

I have my heart set on some combination of hammocks, white linens, outdoor shower, amazing food, secluded local, mosquito netting etc. it doesn't have to be fancy, but we don't want to be without hot water and a comfy bed. oh, and it would be a plus if it was affordably priced

any suggestions?

where did you go on your honeymoon? what do you wish you would have done differently? know of any great little beach huts?

kineto pictures- documentary style defined


one of my most talented friends, damian, is one of the owners of kineto pictures in SL. (you might remember them from here) they have a great company and a great blog. I read a post on their blog today about documentary film making and I thought it was a nice description for still documentaries as well...so I borrowed a bit of their post, but go check out their blog for the full post.
A lot of people may think that a documentary style automatically includes a handheld camera and shaky framing. And although those aspects are often used in documentaries, they’re not really what define them. We like to think that what makes a documentary interesting, is how a story is told, without necessarily a storyteller. Everything is presented factually with real people and real events. If this is done correctly, the filmmaker is able to present the opportunity for the viewer to have a personal connection with what is going on without the guise of any fiction. It also gives the cameraman, the editor, and the director a unique chance to create a narrative for a real-life story that has possibly never been told. Have you ever heard of Steven Wiebe, the title holder for the second highest score on Donkey Kong? Or what about Little Edie, the turbaned, reclusive social-climber from the Hamptons? What’s most fascinating about documentaries and the documentary style, is that the ordinary is able to become extraordinary. Using this kind of style makes every pan, angle, and cut have a purpose in order to visually create meaning. Suddenly the shaky camera isn’t an awaiting headache for the viewer, but the proof that they’re invited along for the ride. I guess what I’m trying to say is, with our business, it’s personal.

frame emi and kort

to purchase prints from emi and kort's wedding visit here.

(ps. I know I have majorly neglected my blog this past week. I think it's the holidays and planning a wedding myself that is causing me to fall behind. don't give up on me! keep checking back because my goal is to fully remedy my blog problem by wed).

grandpa puente







































when my friend steven asked me to take some portraits of his paternal grandfather, the initial idea he had was to recreate a image of gpa puente in his boxing shorts. I was excited. taking photographs showing life, history or stories of individuals are my favorite type of portraits. we never ended up being able to talk this 80 something man into changing into nothing but mini boxing shorts and then letting a complete stranger take photos of him...but in the end it didn't really matter.

he is a natural born story teller. he just talked talked and told and laughed and flattered and charmed his way into the middle of my camera, where I tried to bottle his charisma. we ate some oatmeal, hit some golf balls, rummaged around in the garage. he blew me kisses, told more stories and explained to me who people were in all the frames. we took a small visit to the community senior center where it was evident he had charmed everyone there as well, and then back to the house to pick some avocados off of a huge overgrown avocado tree looming in the backyard.

this whole shoot really got me thinking about how important it is to do family history...not only in writing but also with photographs! I know before I took some photos of my grandma henriksen I thought, "but my grandpa has already passed away...I should have done it earlier...maybe it's too late..". It's NOT too late! don't wait to preserve memories. don't miss a chance to help tell the story of a grandparent or a family member. I want to remember (probably the number one reason why I am a photographer) and I know you want to remember as well.

I feel honored to have been invited into grandpa puentes home. his life has been rich and full and I can tell and feel that he is loved by many people.

If you are interested in having me shoot a photo story of a family member, friend, or yourself, please let me know! It's great to have a nicely composed, picture perfect photo of your child or your family, but how amazing would it be to also document your family doing what it does, LIVING LIFE! in your home, neighborhood, favorite park, eatery...getting ready for school, making dinner, decorating the christmas tree... I would love to create a family history for you through photographs.

tis the season to remember and feel thanks.

xxoo- rachel

oh somebody's had a birthday!

..our dear little kateford dear! may father in heaven bless her throughout the coming year!


happy birthday to my first younger sibling. thank you for being a girl. thank you for having the cutest voice EVER when you were little. thank you for saying on the home video "makes me wanna crrrryy". thank you for letting me dress you in doll clothes and push you around in my buggy (I was in baby heaven). thank you for making valentines day memorable for "many" reasons. thank you for appreciating good music, good food, good books and good jokes. thank you for being deep. thank you for loving "little women". thank you for having the most beautiful long golden tresses known to man or robot. thank you for hiding with me under the kitchen counter when we wanted to hid from helping with dishes. thank you for understanding what I mean when I say, "obedient children" or "7x7=49". thank you for sleeping with me on the street during the blackout in NY. thank you for forgiving me when I make stupid mistakes. thank you for wanting to protect our family. thank you for "speciba" (sp) and "lou blu" (sp). thank you for jumping on my tramp with me in your red footie pajamas. thank you for being an amazing aunt to my kids someday. thank you for being the better person always, but pretending that I am sometimes. thank you for having a name like, kate. it fits you perfectly.

25 was one of my top years. you're going to love it. thanks for being born to me as my sister forever and ever more. amen.

ps. I'm glad I get to see you today! maybe I'm with you as you are reading this!

(I am the the one with brown hair, kate, with golden tresses........also notice the sheet under our sleeping bags, I think they are star wars sheets! yes!)

the wedding of emi and kort- los angeles, ca
































































































I haven't posted for a few days..my bad. I am making it up by throwing up a huge ginormous wedding.

it has taken me a couple of days to tackle this beast. so many images to edit through. I really loved re-living a wedding while I look through the images. I am so busy on the wedding day that I don't really get a chance to "enjoy" the wedding till I am looking at the photographs.

this wedding was traditional with some non-traditional touches..alternative music during the ceremony instead of classical, cupcakes instead of a cake and the best part was stand up comedians as entertainment. I was skeptical at first when I heard about this, nervous that if it wasn't funny it could flop. luckily, they were hilarious! I was laughing, my trusty assistant grant was laughing and every guest was as well. it was a hit! I would highly recommend them. the comedian duo basically get details on the spot about your story and then proceed to improv a musical about it. amazing. I was so impressed and LOVED that it was something I had never seen at a wedding before. good job emi and kort!....oh and although it was suppose to be funny (and was), it was still emotional enough that it actually brought tears to emi's eyes (refer to photo with laughter and tears). priceless. I will post the comedians information once I find it.... (have to clean this desk).

you two are so great. I loved becoming friends with both of you and wish you all the happiness life can give. xxoo.

to see more from this event and order prints visit this place.

one year ago..

(photo courtsey of shaun)

well, almost a year ago. last year on thanksgiving day gfunk and I jumped on a plane(s) and flew to peru. we hiked the inca trail to manchu picchu and did it with some pretty hardcore friends. thanks mikell for planning the whole thing and thank you porters for all of the coca tea.

off to texas this year for the grateful day. not quite the same as cusco but texas will be full of family so it will be an adventure in its own right!

face film

I just got back my processed film from the film is not dead workshop and am so excited looking through the images. It was a great week with some great photographers shooting side by side....so I thought it only fitting to showcase some of those photographer faces first in what I'm sure will be MANY hawaii posts to come.

jon making the most NORMAL face I ever saw him make (thanks again and again for such an amazing week...I can still hear your shooting "wooOOooo" in my head).
natalie is SO full of energy and has 3 amazing boys and 1 amazing husband that match her energy. how does she do it all?! quite the inspiration.
leilani spent many years living in laie and was one of our island experts. I loved her free spirit and morning walks along the beach.
tracee was the bombshell photographer and mother of 2. thank you for all your advice on child rearing and motherhood. you took away some of my fears and actually helped me feel a little bit of excitement. not sure about your "baby a year" plan, but we'll see how desperate I get!

doble quinceanera

(invite design by jp)

grant n' friends threw a surprise party for me on friday. how thoughtful!! I loved it!

we bowled, took out 30yrs of pent up aggression on a couple of awesome pinatas and were serenaded by jenny b.

because of friday, this birthday was easier to bear....actually quite easy. I was happy and content with my old, old age. thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and everyone else who thought it in their hearts.

hasta luego a los anos veinte.

jenny & baby battlestar


















introducing my soon to be sister in law, with darren making a guest appearance (g's brother) and the real show stopper, little baby bump! our very own baby battlestar! my cute cuddly, mad over his aunt rachel, soon to be nephew!

photographing and looking at these images truly remind me how blessed I am to be adding these people to my life.

jenny has been such a positive influence on me this past year and a half. she is one of the most Christ like people I know. so forgiving. so generous. so accepting. she is a magnificent mother, wife, woman and sister. her smile makes me smile and her love helps me feel welcomed into her and her family's life. I love darren for being so kind to me and for showing his desire to be close to family. I love chasen for showing so much inner strength amidst life's challenges. I love jori for tenderly letting me know I'm needed. it wasn't long after grant and I started dating seriously that jori said to me "I hope you and grant are always together", when I asked her why, she responded, "because I don't want to lose you". is there a better compliment coming from a child? I love tani for her energy, personality and bright spirit. AND I love baby battlestar. I look forward to him making messes, screaming all day long, peeing on everything in sight and me still melting every time when he looks at me with his perfect little face.

jenny, thanks for adding so much beauty to my life. I love you.