James and Sophia Engagment Photos

When I spoke with James and Sophia about where they wanted their engagement photography session, they knew immediately. They wanted anywhere on the coast. And who could blame them? The coast of Northern California is beautiful, breathtaking, and sometimes a little cold. After having amazing weather on Saturday, the coast decided to be not so gracious on Sunday during our engagement photography session.

But James and Sophia were great troopers and decided to brave the cold weather anyway. Sophia even started out in this adorable dress and you would never know that it was absolutely bone chilling! She's a natural model!!!



After a wardrobe change...we continued photographing them. They are so cute and so in love, you can't help but be giddy around them.


Thankfully that wave did not get them wet...it barely missed! One of the things that I love doing with my brides is to collaborate on ideas. Sophia had this great one and it's how we ended the day!

Best Wishes James and Sophia!

Cooking Party at the Mountain Winery

I received a phone call from a caterer I had met asking..."Are you free to photograph a cooking party?" Now being a total Food Network Junkie, I was intrigued and happy that I was free on the date of the party.

I had never been to a cooking party before and was definitely wondering what would happen....and would I get some of the food? The party was at the Mountain Winery and was being catered by Cuisine Style by Pamela Keith.



The clients from Barracuda Networks arrives with excitement and a little apprehension about the cooking party. The clients were broken into teams and told that their secret ingredient was Pizza Dough! Everyone was going to grill their own pizzas and be judged just like on Iron Chef. Each team would get to choose their own toppings from a huge selection of fresh ingredients.




Then each team would roll out their dough and grill one side before topping it and finish cooking it on the grill.







Teams then showed off their final pizzas for the judging.




And posed for photos with their creations.



And the winning team is.....




And if winning wasn't enough, each person got a bag of cookies to take home compliments of Cuisine Style by Pamela Keith.


If you get a chance to have anything from Cuisine Style by Pamela Keith, jump right in and don't hold back. I was lucky enough to get a pizza for myself and I have to say it was one of the best pizzas I have ever had!

Kickin' it with the kids

With Mother's Day right around the corner...tomorrow in case some of you forgot...I thought I would highlight a great gift that was given to a Mom (and Grandma)!

As a present to their Mom, her two sons got their families together for pictures with Grandma. It was a great session and tons of fun.



The twins were just adorable...


...but their brother made sure that we all were having a great laugh too!


Don't worry...we got the "behaving" picture too.


And not to be out done by their cousins...the girls were perfect angels.


Mostly....

But being outside at such as great location as Gamble Garden Center in Palo Alto kept the smiles coming.


So if you get a chance, head over to the park and enjoy the scenery...and the people watching.

How cute is my smile?

Henry has the cutest smile and loves to show it off! During his 6 month portrait photography session, he made sure to not to disappoint!


I love this look....a pictures is worth a thousand words, especially when you can't understand the words a 6 month old is saying. :-)


Henry is stylin' in his awesome hat!



Just can't resist those little feet!!!!

Thank You for Supporting a Great Charity

I wanted to thank everyone for supporting the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep charity. The family that I made the photo of and was entered into the competition is now a finalist!

Winners are announced on March 26th, so keep your fingers crossed. And again, thank you to all who voted to help support such a great cause!

Last Chance to Help a Great Cause!!!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is a wonderful organization that helps families who have lost a newborn. By voting for North America's Cutest Family, you can help out a great charity and all donations are fully tax deductible.

Voting ends tomorrow at 11:59pm Mountain Standard Time. Only the top family from each city gets to go to the finals, so please vote for the family represented by Rhonda Giedt Photography!

Online Dating Profile Pictures

Online dating profile pictures are important to catching the eye to potential suitors. But no one wants a stuffy head shot or a photo that doesn't represent their personality. Enter Chrissy. When Chrissy hired me to do her dating profile pictures but like most people she hates getting her picture taken.


So we sat down and made a plan. She likes wine, cooking, throwing dinner parties, and hanging out with great friends. She travels all over the world and is so awesome to talk to that I almost forgot to take photos!

With this plan we decided to head to Kepler's Book Store to pick up some magazine on cooking and grab a glass of lemonade and scone the neighborhood cafe.



Chrissy wanted the photos to be professional but still casual. While chatting with her doing the session in Menlo Park, she mentioned that she loves going to the beach and a thought popped in my mind...

...Let's go to the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay! They have great wine, a killer view, and amazing service. Unfortunately it was extremely windy and freezing cold! So we headed inside to the restaurant and grabbed a glass of wine.



And before heading back we enjoyed the nice warm fire place and then headed back over the hill just in time for Chrissy to make her dinner party.

Chrissy, it was so awesome hanging out with you! We will have to do it again, especially when it's warmer on the coast.