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A Photographer’s Wedding…

Klea and Dave got married at the Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma on July 23, 2011.

Klea and Dave’s wedding may have been one of the easiest and one of the hardest weddings that I have ever photographed.

It was one of the easiest weddings that I have photographed because Klea is also a photographer so she knew how to create a beautiful wedding… She picked a photogenic location with amazing light and carefully planned all of the details.

It was one of the hardest weddings because Klea is also a photographer so naturally she has high expectations of the photographs of her own wedding. With Klea’s high expectations weighing heavily on my mind, I may have been a bit more nervous than I normally am before I photograph a wedding. But I had to remind myself that she hired me for a reason and that my job was to stay calm and to do what I always do… except with more film. Because like every good photographer, Klea loves film and she wanted me to document each part of the day with my film camera as well as with my digital camera.

So to make sure I had every moment covered, I hired Annika Erickson, another talented photographer, to be the second photographer… and here is our story of Klea and Dave’s wedding...

See if you can tell which photographs are digital and which photographs are film…









Congratulations, Klea and Dave, and thank you for trusting me to document your very photogenic and love-filled day.

To see more photos of Klea and Dave’s wedding and to find out which photos are film click here.

Congratulations to Katie and Pat…

Thank you for choosing me to photograph you wedding. To quote your best man, “I hope you always remember the love you felt for each other on this amazing day.”

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For all future brides and grooms… if you need a gorgeous place to get married, I highly recommend the Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma. The cabins are cute, the food is amazing, and as a photographer it was so easy and fun to photograph.

Come Get Your Dance On and Win Big…

The Green String Farm Band is going all out, in their very best Christmas sweaters, at Murphy’s Irish Pub in Sonoma, tonight, December 20th, at 6 pm.

It promises to be a really good time and very family friendly. Raffle prizes will be given away all night… which means you will have a chance to win your very own bottle of Arann’s homemade, super hot, Strong Sauce, Green String Farm Band t-shirts and CD’s… all of which make great stocking stuffers.

Hope to see you there.

The Honeymoon is Over…

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The honeymoon is over…  and it is back to work for Arann and the Green String Farm Band.

They are getting serious about music and that means… more songs about chickens, a blog, a website, hot sauce, business cards, t-shirts, sweatshirts and very exciting secret musical instruments.

Want to know what the secret musical instrument will be?

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Well, I can’t give the secret musical instrument away here… but it is going to be awesome!

Stay tuned to find out the secret very soon.

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(Digital photos versus Rolleiflex photos once again. My conclusion between the two: for musical gigs, they both have their benefits.)

A list for Santa (Rosa)….

Both my brother and one of my best friends recently made requests for prints to decorate their homes. Their requests turned into a fun project for me… it’s like cleaning out the closet and trying on a pair of forgotten pants and realizing you love them, and suddenly they become your new favorites.

But the fun part about photos is that not only do they become my new favorites, but I get to share them with other people too. I am making my list and sending my order off to Santa (Rosa,) so if you see something you like… it’s not too late to share the photo spirit this Holiday Season.

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LA Cowboy.

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Oak Hill Farm, Sonoma.

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Behind Mia

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Farm Art.

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London Graffiti…. above and below.

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Windrush Farm Holiday Art Sale 2008 – and the Photo Booth with Hats

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Thank you to everyone who came out to support our annual Windrush Farm Holiday Art Sale. It was another really fun day on the farm with… good art, good people and good food. We loved seeing all your faces and we’re happy you shared your faces in our Photo Booth.

To see the rest of your faces from the Photo Booth, please click the link below:

http://paigegreenphotography.smugmug.com/Non-Profits.

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Stick to what you know…

This is the email I received this week….

Hi there,

I have a last minute project I was hoping you could help me with?

I have to get a professional headshot of an executive here at Safari Books Online. He will be in San Francisco tomorrow and I was hoping you would be available and willing?

What do you think?

We will need a professional backdrop and lighting.

I was all fine, and ready to go until… “We will need a professional backdrop and lighting.”

I don’t do professional backdrops and lighting… but of course, I said, “Sure, I’ll be there.”

And then I freaked out. Professional backdrops… that means c-stands and drop cloths, but all I have are wrinkled sheets and Arann’s mic stands…. and I hate using lighting. So I ran around and borrowed what I could from photographer friends (thank you Jude and Randall) and loaded up my car with all kinds of gadgets and I took off for the city with a stomach full of butterflies.

But because I didn’t have an assistant to help me set-up any kind of backdrop, and because I knew my client was going to be busy and not able to hang out while I try different “professional backdrops”… I decided, while I was in the car… no gadgets… do what you know how to do… find good light… and go.

And I got lucky, because in his office (not a typical office building) they had a meeting room with huge beautiful windows, a cool brick wall on one side and a long white board on the other… and ta-da…. my very own professional backdrop and lighting.

Thank you to all the architects who make beautiful buildings with good windows.

Summer in Rebecca’s Garden…

My good friend Rebecca runs the Sonoma Garden Park garden and she has started her own business helping people plant and maintain organic fruit and veggies in their own gardens. Rebecca wanted some photos for her business and to help promote the garden and she thought I might get some good photos for my stock photography project. Arann and I were late and I was bummed that we were going to miss the good evening light… but we made it just in time. We had lots of fun eating yummy fruit, arranging bouquets for her Saturday market and drinking cold micro-brews. It was a perfect Friday night and these are my favorite photos….

Fun Idea for a Bachelorette Party (pass it on)

This is Gina. She was one of my first friends when I moved to SF and she is getting married in August. She currently lives in NY, but for her bachelorette party she decided to come Sonoma for a wine country weekend. Gina is one of the most positive and full of life people I have ever met. Life is always fun for Gina, so we wanted to plan a fun, Gina appropriate, weekend.

We did the whole wine tasting thing on Saturday and Gina wore her veil with plastic male body parts all day.

(holga photos: click photo to enlarge)

But we wanted something more…. something more memorable…. so as a surprise, we hired a burlesque dancer to come and teach us some moves (we thought it was a little more realistic than the pole dancing trend, seeing as not many of us have access to poles on a regular basis.) To help create the mood, the teacher wanted us in “appropriate clothing,” so we needed an excuse to tell Gina, why we had to dress up in boas, fishnets and slips.

Leave it to me, the photo obsessed, I decided the perfect solution would be to have a boudoir photo shoot beforehand, because Gina loves taking photos, and I thought she would enjoy getting to play. So we all bought her something fun to wear and we dressed her up. She pretended to protest a little, but eventually she gave in and had the Gina fun we were hoping for

The hardest part was getting everyone else to change into their sultry side. I would say this is a pretty conservative and modest group, so it took a little pushing and encouraging, but eventually everyone played along, got over their insecurities and we laughed a lot. And now everyone has a portrait as a souvenir of the weekend, which is an added bonus.

So if you are trying to think of something fun for your friend’s next bachelorette party, let me know, paige green the boudoir photo shoot photographer extraordinaire, is willing to travel.

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As a study in portraits… I love the comparison between these two. They are both so powerful and so different, even though the information in the photos is minimal… it is all about body language and eye contact. I am having fun with formal portraiture and I am slowly getting more comfortable at giving directions and slowing down…. yay for my Rolleiflex.

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