Vineyard Themed Engagement {Hopland, CA.} Portrait & Wedding Photography | Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Photographer...Shelley Hohe

It still seems like yesterday I met Zidanelia (the bride to be) for the first time in a cute little coffee shop in a lovely town called Cloverdale (Northern CA.)  Meeting with her and hearing her story of how her and her fiance met was so exciting.   Being able to hear how two people meet and fall in love brings me so much joy.  No wonder I have such a passion for wanting to photograph and capture engagements and weddings.

After talking to my bride I found out that her and her fiance grew up over 1000 miles apart.  She is from Argentina and he is from Mexico.  She also told me that her mother was born in the same town where her fiance is from.   After moving from Argentina to Northern California Zidanelia would drive over 2 hours every weekend to meet with family....one of these weekends is when she met Ariel (her groom to be).    I also found out that Zidanelia makes wine at a local vineyard, it is such a big part of their life that she knew she wanted to have their wedding photos taken at the winery that she works at.  The only problem was that it was 30 minutes away from where the wedding and reception would take place.  An hour of driving plus taking the pictures on their wedding day would take so much time away from what matters most to them which is spending time with their loved ones.  That is when we all decided to do their engagement photos here instead.

The winery she works at has such stunning views everywhere you look!  I knew right way I wanted to be able to create a picnic theme right in the middle of the beautiful vineyard.  As much as Zidanelia  loves wine, Ariel loves soccer just as much.  As a matter of fact it was at a soccer game where they met for the very first time.  I knew I just had to incorporate a soccer ball in these photos somehow, someway!   What a better way than to have it right there at this themed picnic session.  My husband thought what a fun idea it would be to get shirts made up that says "I Love Soccer" for her to wear and "I Love Wine" for him.  We all know that when two people love one another especially as much as these two do.  You also love what they love too!

It has been such a blessing getting to know this sweet and beautiful couple over the last few months.  My husband and I look forward to next month when we will get to photograph their wedding day!!

Look at that ring!

This is one of my favorites...beautiful vineyard, gorgeous couple!

Don't you just love the shirts...I Love Soccer, I love Wine!

Lifestyle, Portrait & Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties

415.827.9646 ~ www.shelleydeephotography.com

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Novato Scenic Drive {Locations} Portrait & Wedding Photography | Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Photographer...Shelley Hohe

The other day my husband and I went out just the two us.  We promised one another that we would not bring work on our day together.  Which means no cell phone for my husband and no camera for me.  You see anytime I am accompanied by my camera I always find a reason to to take pictures and a ton of them.  After spending the day together we decided to drive home the scenic route from Novato to Cotati.  Even though I didn't bring my camera, I still had my iphone and Instagram.  We pulled over at least 4 times so my husband could let me out to take some pictures.  After being married to me for 15 years you think he would know better than to take the scenic route with me...LOL!  We did take a little detour and stopped in one of our favorite little places...Occidental.  There is a place called the Union Hotel Restaurant and they have the most amazing and authentic italian food.  We have only been there a few times, but when we do go you feel like family!  This place has been open for so long that coming here has become a tradition in some families.  This place will definitely become a tradition for us as well!!

I know these photos are not taken with my dslr, but I must say I sure do have fun taking pictures with my phone using Instagram :)

On our way to Occidental we passed this adorable house in Valley Ford.  

I felt funny getting out of the vehicle to take a picture of someones house.  After we passed it I pleaded with my husband to turn around so I can take a picture of it with the window down as we drove by.

The Union Hotel Restaurant

Click on the link above to view their website.  

I love the atmosphere here...it is very historic and authentic!

The day the we decided to stop by they had their separate dining area nicely decorated for a wedding reception.  They let us sneak in to take a peak.  I sure would love to be able to capture someones wedding at this wonderful place with my camera!!

Lifestyle, Portrait & Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties

415.827.9646 ~ www.shelleydeephotography.com

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Worth Talking About {Shelley Dee Photography} Portrait & Wedding Photography | Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Photographer...Shelley Hohe

Who new that my weekly shopping trip to Costco would spark an idea for a blog post.  Well let me tell you...it did!

Usually I am always in a hurry so when I do go to Costco I get in, get the items I need and get out!  Every once in a while I will actually take my time to stroll up and down the aisles.  One of my favorite sections in Costco is the book section.  I love seeing all the new books that come in and being that it's Costco you know they are only carrying the most talked about books on the market.

While I was looking at some books that sparked my interest, another women and I started having a conversation about one book in general.  The conversation started out being about the book, the author and what the author wanted to share.  After almost an hour of talking I realized this book, this product brought two people together in an engaged conversation about kids and family.  I love it when situations like this happen.

This made me think about my business and how I would like others to come together over a product I offer.  That is why it's so important to me as a business owner to deliver a product worth talking about.  It goes beyond just taking pictures, it's the way I deliver the images to my clients.  Whether my clients want to orders prints or just want digital files, I always want to make sure I am putting out my very best.    If I am giving my clients photos or an album of their session I always make sure to use my boutique packaging to make my clients feel like they are getting something special.  Of course I always recommend that your order photos because your photos come to life when they are enlarged and framed on your wall or in a nice album on your coffee table.  Although some clients still would like to have digital files.  Until now I would give my clients a DVD for them to take home and view on their own computer.   If they wanted to download them they could, from there if they wanted to share them they could upload to which ever sites they wanted to share on and if they wanted to order photos they would either have to contact me and tell me which ones they liked or take the DVD to a lab to get their photos printed.   Do you think this sounds good???  Well if you say yes, I have something even better to offer. I will no longer be offering DVD's, instead I will be offering PASS.

What's PASS???  With PASS  you receive  your very own personal gallery with all your images in which you can share on Facebook or email with a click of a button.  You can view this gallery from your computer, tablet or smart phone.  You can also download photos right to your computer and order photos directly from this gallery.  The best is your photos are safe and secure.  Much better than receiving a DVD wouldn't you say!  I am so excited for when the time comes to deliver my very first PASS and I hope my clients will be just as excited as I am.

Here is a little video that tells you more about it..


PASS - A new way to share your photos from Showit on Vimeo.

Of course I have to share a few iPhone photos of the books that caught my attention...

 Jesus Calling/Jesus today ...a great little devotional and The Best of Me,

a new book from Nicholas Sparks.  I love his books especially the Notebook!

Wheat Belly shares the benefits of eliminating wheat from your Diet

and the book that was worth talking about....

Look Me in the Eye...the author of this book shares about his Life with Aspergers.

My husband and I actually have read some of this book due to the fact our son has Aspergers and when I saw another customer looking at this book I told her a little about it.  She shared with me that she works with kids that have Autism and Aspergers.  We ended up talking for so long that we were sharing personal stories about our own children to one another.  I love how something as simple as a book brought two people together in an engaging conversation....why???

Because this book was "WORTH TALKING ABOUT"!

When ordering products through Shelley Dee Photography 

they will be delivered in my boutique packaging because 

I want the service and products I offer to be an experience worth talking about!!!

Lifestyle, Portrait & Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties

415.827.9646 ~ www.shelleydeephotography.com

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Baseball Photo Session {1st Birthday} Portrait & Wedding Photography | Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Photographer...Shelley Hohe

I have been patiently waiting to share this post and photo session just in time for baseball season.  What a better time to share than now as we are entering baseball season right now...as a matter of fact the Giants opening day is this Friday April 5th.

This 1st Birthday session came about after talking to the mom of this adorable little slugger.  She told me that she wanted to do a sports themed session since both her husband and her are huge sport fans.  After deciding on a baseball theme, we headed to a local school's baseball field.  To be honest this school was not my first choice, we actually met down the road at a local college but the gates to the field were locked that day.  I am glad this happened because I love the lighting and backdrop I was able to capture at this location.

This little guy was quite the champ because it was a brisk cold late afternoon and all he wanted was to be warmed up by his mama!  He did quite well till the very end...he was not to sure about smashing his birthday cake.  In the end some of the cutest photos are the ones of him being not so happy.  I had to hurry up and snap away because his cute little face was melting my heart.  I am so glad I was able to capture this BABE RUTH BIRTHDAY SESSION for his parents!!

Lifestyle, Portrait & Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties

415.827.9646 ~ www.shelleydeephotography.com

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