Great Bridal Expo, San Francisco April 13th

It's that time again!- Time for me to start preparing for my next wedding show. I'll be at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco on Sunday, April 13th from 12-4pm.

www.greatbridalexpo.com

I typically do 3-4 wedding shows a year. My clients all love that they're able to actually put a face to the names of some of the vendors they've been researching. I love being able to meet with potential clients face to face and hear about their unique wedding plans. Recently I had a booth at the Party and Wedding Faire at the Marriott in Walnut Creek. It was a great show and I met a lot of excited brides and grooms-to-be. It was a bit challenging talking over the fashion show speaker I was next to - and diverting attention away from the wonderful cake samples I was also next to- but we had a good time nonetheless. :) Here's a photo of our booth
Back in November I had a booth at the Great Bridal Expo at the Fairmont in San Jose. This is pretty much like what my booth will be like next month. That's me on the right (soon after I went brunette. Thankfully that has now faded to a non-descript bronde shade.) That's my faithful second-shooter Lindsay on the left taking copious notes.

*Photo courtesy of my husband's IPhone. He's quite proud of that little device.

So, if you're planning a wedding don't forget to put the Great Bridal Expo on your calendar. We hope to see you there!

Flower Power

I have the sweetest husband. Every once in a while he'll come home with flowers for me - He really is a closet romantic. I find it incredibly therapeutic to photograph them... Usually just as they are, on my kitchen table at home. Just a few days ago he came home with lillies. Here's my first blog installment of the "flower of the week." I am one lucky woman. :)

Engagement Session at Tilden Park

Yesterday I photographed Marc and Anjuli's engagement session at Tilden Park near Berkeley. It was a BEAUTIFUL day - however a bit chilly in the shade! We went to the Botanical Gardens and had a great time. Marc and Anjuli's wedding will be here soon- July 12th. I can't wait till their wedding! This is a very photogenic couple and SO much fun.

NILMDTS

When I was at Imaging USA in Tampa this past January I finally had the courage to do something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I signed up to become a "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" volunteer. NILMDTS is an organization that introduces volunteer photographers to families with newborns who are terminally ill. The volunteers provide these families with priceless keepsakes of their little ones.

http://www.nilmdts.org/

The organization received a lot of attention after a segment aired on the Today show last week.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23481435#23481435

Sadly, I was called on Thursday to photograph my first NILMDTS session. I arrived at the hospital and was introduced to one of the sweetest families I have ever met. Unfortunately their newborn had been diagnosed with Trisomy 18 and was not expected to live much more than an hour after birth. I was there to photograph a very powerful baptism there in the hospital room and captured some lovely images of a sweet baby boy. This is why I do what I do. I am so blessed to be able to share my talent for more reasons than just making a living. I felt so incredibly honored to be able to provide this heartbroken family with images they will treasure for the rest of their lives. I left the hospital an emotional wreck-- but I am incredibly glad that I was able to be there for this family. This little one was with his family until Saturday when he passed away. If you know of anyone who may be in need of the services NILMDTS provides please contact one of the 3200 volunteer photographers across the country by simply searching by zipcode on the website.

Childrens session in Oakland

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of photographing *Connor and *Ryan again. This family is EXTRA special to me because their mom was my very first client contact when I moved to California. It's been wonderful watching their little family grow. I photographed *Connor when he was younger and then with his mom last year when she was pregnant. *Ryan is now a little over three months old an a complete doll. The session went very well and I can't wait to share all of the images. Here are a few!

If your friends jumped off a bridge....

I've had "start a blog" on my to-do list for a couple of years now. I've finally decided to jump in and join the crowd. I'll do my best to keep you all updated with what's happening at Julie Cheshire Photography and throw in some other fun stuff as well. I've had a SUPER busy week as I am getting into the 08 wedding season. I can't wait to work with all of my fantastic clients this year! The best part of my job is getting to know people on a personal level. This weekend I had a great time with Chris and Sarah at their engagement session at Heather Farms Park. You can just tell how in love they are! I'm really looking forward to their wedding. I'll be posting their images soon.. but here's a sneak peak at a few of my favorites.