not my best friends wedding, just her loveshoot • justin and jalayne • san francisco photo shoot

jalayne and i met in mrs. stonebreakers class.

in the ninth grade.

we hated each other. but only at first, and only when we tried really really hard. because as it turned out, we actually really liked each other. a lot. and we were pretty much attached at the hip from 9th-12th grade. we even went to the same college as planned, but it got a little complicated after that with me getting married and knocked up (not in that order) and her finishing college and graduating and traveling and working and studying. even through the complicated bits we did our best to remain connected and it was always amazing when we did make time for the phone call or the visit, how easily we fell back into our worn in friendship.

jalayne is like my barometer. she knew me when. we have history. we have a story. and the best part, we’ve been a part of each others stories for going on almost 20 years.

she was the girl i used to skip through magic mountain with, trailing our boys behind us, sucking on mustard packets.

the girl who babysat my sisters with me, even when neither of us wanted to.

the girl who i snuck around with, but forgot to tell her, and who i got caught without.

the girl who would make her government tests readily available for my prying eyes.

the girl i modeled with and photographed in my parents home.

the girl whose bedroom i knew as well as my own because we shared equal time between the two.

she went through my country/hip hop/metal phase with me.

she helped me through a miscarriage. she taught me about Jyotish. and last october, she asked me to come up north for the weekend to photograph her family. and i did.

we started out with jalayne and her awesome boyfriend justin. justin has lived in san francisco for something like 15 years? works in the castro. apt in the tenderloin. so thats exactly where we hung out. after a quick shopping trip for a new shirt for jalayne, and sushi at blowfish, i put them right to work.

got crazy with the photoshop here, but i dig it!

i have always LOVED jalaynes face. i quickly came to love justin’s as well. i love these next three.

random old tv sighting, tara runs them across the street to work this OUT.

somebody named justin wasnt too KEEN on sitting here. i take no prisoners. he learned quickly. and jalayne, oh jalayne….that look. BEAUTY! CONTENT!

LOVE the body language here.

justin is an amazing carpenter. he isnt just a carpenter. he is an artist. he has PASSION for this. he makes the most amazing furniture and cabinetry. when i saw this plywood wall i had to get him in front of it.

“so guys, what tricks can you do?”

this was at the beginning when they were still warming up. so a little nervous, a little goofy. i LOVE the expressions. photos taken one right after the other.

one of their hang outs. the bar at the grand.

justin rocking the deck shoes. LOVE!

this one might be my favorite. she looks so safe. he looks so strong. they look so content.

how did i luck out to find a PARKED/ABANDONED taxi???

as the sky darkened, we got in the car and headed up to carmel, where her parents own property on a preserve. on our second day together, because she is my best friend, AND ONLY BECAUSE SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND, i agreed to shoot their entire family together. ;) i normally run screaming from the “large family group session”. just not what i like to do! but for the people i love, how can i say no? :)

just before i brought EVERYONE outside though, i wanted to get some of the two of them with their doggies. Django (the lab) and Torch. this is torchie. the most gorgeous little love of a dog ive ever met. torch is their new little boy.

and django,  who has been jalaynes best girl for many years, and who is possibly the smartest dog ive ever met. she understands english. im not kidding. like, CONVERSATION.

sweet old girl

and then i brought everyone out

this is her brother bryan and his family, her mom sherri, and her stepdad jerry. we also did some of the parentals in and around their AMAAAAAZING house.

on the third day, we headed into monterey for the shoot with her brother and his wife summer and their two little men. i LOVE the emotion, laughter, color on these!

and i LOVE this one. perfect family shot. not too contrived, everyone doing their thing, momma looking RADIANT.

oh, just one more of the doggies. at the beach. fetching a starfish stuffy out of the waves.

so hows that for a blogging comeback? am i back on your good sides?