Category Archives: Get to know Brett & Liz

Sometimes I think that Brett and I might just be a little off our hinges.  We were recently hired to photograph a wedding in Portland.  Well we had the option of flying up renting a car and then flying back.  What do we do?  Rent what was supposed to be a compact car from our local Hertz and drive the 18 hours up to Portland in one day.  I’m not sure we were thinking clearly when the little light bulb blinked over our heads and said “lets just drive it!”  Well the wedding was fantastic.  Portland was having its hottest weekend of the year.  We met some wonderful people; created some beautiful pictures and everyone walked away with wonderful memories from the weekend.  The advantage to having driven up to Portland was that we could take a nice little detour through San Fran on our journey back home.  We managed to swing through Napa for a couple hours and do some wine tasting. By the way if you ever happen to be up in Napa check out Trefethen family vineyards.  We thoroughly enjoyed their Reserve tasting and the sommelier were really knowledgable and very nice.

We ventured into San Fran via the Golden Gate, and I just have to say driving over that bridge always feels like my first time.  I lean as far forward on my seat as I can with the seatbelt straining to jerk me back in place.  My face practically touching the windshield and staring towards the sky as we cross under the beautiful red towers.  Poor Brett is then trying to get me to sit back because of course in my excitement I’m blocking the mirrors.  This time as we approached the bridge, fog was just starting to come in and it was beautiful to see it rushing up over the bridge and across the blue bay.  The pictures don’t do the experience justice.  We only had a day and a half to explore the city and see friends but we managed to zig zag all over the city seeing just about everything we had hoped to.  We started in the Haight Ashbury district because they have a Kidrobot store, got ourselves a new toy to photograph in the city.  Ventured down to the warf so Brett could eat clam chowder.  Tried to ride the cable cars but the ridiculously long line was moving at a snails pace.  We ate lots of good food and ventured to Twin Towers for a nice view point of the city but the fog was as thick as split pea soup up there.  Did manage to find Tank Tower view point a little lower for a beautiful panoramic shot of the city as the fog closed in around us.  After the fog consumed us we drove through Golden Gate park and stopped to see the buffalo, yes that’s right buffalo.  Went in search of dinner but found the Green Apple book store instead and got lost in the excitement of new and out of print books.  We would have loved to stay in the city for a couple more days but it was time to get home to our doggies.

Our first glance of the city was of the epic San Francisco fog bank rolled in over the bridge and across the bay.

First stop was the Kidrobot store on Height St, but we got stopped by a cute dinosaur on our way.

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Our new Dunny!!! We were little kids in a candy store picking this guy out.

I just remember the breaks squealing as we passed the Swensen’s ice cream shop and Brett trying to find a parking spot as fast as he could.  I wonder if anyone makes a bumper sticker “I break for Ice cream”

I'd like 2 scoops of Cookies N' Cream and Mint Chip. MMMMMmmmm

Yeah, we just picked this girl up out front of some law school. Luckily she knew us and likes ice cream as much as we do. By the way Rachel, thanks for letting us drag you around the city for the day.

Love the cable cars. The line to get on was time wastingly long so we settled for just taking some pictures.

Coffee break! I mean taking polaroids is just so tiring.

I think we drank more coffe in our 2 days in San Fran than I drink in a week.

We loved finding art all over the city.

Domo even found some fun street art.

Walle is that you?

We drank a lot of coffee, took a bunch of pictures and made some wonderful memories. Can't wait to go back for another exciting visit.

  • Chad and Jenna have known each other for about seven years. Over the course of their relationship they developed a few vacations spots that have become almost tradition. Rocky Point in Mexico across the Sea of Cortez from San Felipe is a favorite spot of Chad and Jenna’s to soak up all the beach and sun have to offer. In March 2010, on one of their yearly trips, Chad proposed to Jenna on the beautiful beaches of Mexico. What a perfect place to ask such an important question!
    Another of Chad and Jenna’s traditional trips is to hike into Supai village (Havasupai Indians) just above the Grand Canyon, bringing with them as many friends as are adventurous enough to attempt the 13 mile hike. Down there are 3 magnificent waterfalls (Havasu Falls, Mooney Falls, and Rock Falls). For three years Brett and I have been in wonder of the pictures they bring back from this magical place. This year we joined them for the joy and marvel of the trip, but also to shoot their engagement pictures. It was clear to us before we embarked on this adventured that Havasupai was an important place to Chad and Jenna and given the wondrous beauty it was, without doubt, the perfect place for their photos. Hope you enjoy these fun and delightful shots of this truly loving couple in their favorite place on the planet.


Brett and I have always talked about seeing the sites our city has to offer us but have never done anything about it.  When we lived in Santa Barbara we we’re so wrapped up in school that we never took the time to go do anything touristy.  The closest we came was buying an ice cream on the SB pier after a photo shoot.  In LA we always talked about going to universal studios or walking the Hollywood stars,  Yep never did that either.  So when our friends Dottie and Josh came into town to stay we all decided it was about time to play tourist.  San Diego is one of the cities that’s home to the GoCar.  GoCars are 3 wheeled electric cars with a GPS that guides you around San Diego and spews out random facts of the city’s history.   At this point there are only 2 tour routs, one takes you all over Point Loma and the other goes all around Down Town.  The best part is you can go off tour at any time to explore other areas.  The 4 of us has a blast!

That's right we had to wear helmets

GoCar Races!

Yep, it's just not an adventure with out Domo along for the ride

don't even ask

We weren't sure our brakes were going to stop us on the hills of Point Loma

Dottie and Josh got the jump on us when it came to up hill

We had a little extra time so we jumped onto the Down Town tour for a few minutes. It takes you by the USS Midway Museum

The Birch Aquarium in La Jolla was offering free admission for mothers on Mother’s Day.  After a relaxing morning eating fresh fruit and hot baked scones we piled in the car and headed off to see the fish.  The Birch Aquarium has some absolutely breath taking exhibits to look at, one of my favorite being the jelly fish.  I wouldn’t want to be caught dead in the water with them but they sure are beautiful to watch from behind glass.  We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I believe mom’s favorite was the Sea Horse exhibit.  I was surprised to learn that they have a sea horse nursery where the Aquarium works hard to raise and protect new generations of sea horses.  There is even the option to adopt a sea horse, however contrary to how it sounds you don’t actually get to take it home and raise it for your own.  We had a great time and opted to leave our bad boy cameras at home, but we did get some fun Hipsta shots.  I totally recommend going to the Birch Aquarium if you haven’t been in  a while.

I had never seen a black and white clown fish... He's awesome!

I think we stood around watching these guys for a good 20 minutes... can you say easily entertained?

These guys were totally smiling

Seahorse Nursery

Amazing view from the children's tide pools