Stacy and Christoph's engagements, San Francisco - featured on Wedding Chicks.com!

Stacy and Christoph's engagement session was beautiful and so fun! We got to explore their fantastic Russian Hill apartment (inside and on the roof), and a fabulous SF park I hadn't been to before.



And Wedding Chicks loved it enough to feature on their blog!















































They had this cool ampersand thing in their living room, which I thought would be so fun for playing around on the roof!





Then we headed to the lovely Sutro Heights Park, where Christoph used to go with his grandmother to play... I want to go back, it is just gorgeous!























Thanks Stacy, Christoph, and Ginger the dog! I can't wait for your lovely wedding in July!

Happy New Year! Engagement Portrait Giveaway Contest, Discounted Mini Portrait Sessions, and Thanks!

Hooray 2011!! It's time for my annual Engagement Portrait Giveaway Contest!

I'm in love with the results from my last two contests, and am so glad I can continue making this a fun way to stay inspired.



As always, I will give away one free engagement session to a lucky pair. And I want to hear your most creative, fun ideas and locations and props and color schemes, whatever comes to mind.



In order to enter this year, please email me (j@jessamynharris.com):

-your names, and either the story of how you met or how you got engaged
-a photo of yourselves
-any ideas, thoughts, or locations you'd like to use for your shoot



The contest is open to the whole Bay Area, though I will likely choose a location in Sonoma, Marin, or Napa. Still... got an amazing location in the East Bay or San Francisco? Feel free to tempt me!



The deadline to enter this year is January 31st... I will pick a winner in time for Valentine's Day, and will shoot in February or early March. Plenty of time for your best ideas!

You can be a current client, former client, potential client, a friend or a stranger. You must be willing to sign model releases for me, so that I can use the images for stock and promotion. The winning session will include shooting time, online hosting, and an 8x10" print of your favorite shot.



Also, if you are interested in a portrait shoot for yourself, your family, you and your partner, or a pet, I will be offering discounted mini portrait sessions through January and February. These sessions will be only $150 (1/3 of the normal portrait price!), will run up to an hour, and will include online hosting, digital proofing/ online hosting, and an 8x10" print of your choice. Availability is limited, so hurry and contact me to set up an appointment!

These sessions are good for groups of up to four people (or pets), maternity photos, newborn shots, senior portraits, engagement shoots, or anything else you can think of - a very good deal for any of those possibilities!

Email me at j@jessamynharris.com or call me at 707-235-8953



Happy New Year!
xo
Jessamyn
j@jessamynharris.com
www.jessamynharrisweddings.com

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve!

Happy New Year!!!



I will most likely spend my countdown cuddled in bed with a cozy baby... hopefully warm and asleep... but maybe I'll give her a little tickle around midnight to wish her her first New Year.

Hazel Winter is here!

Beautiful, sweet Hazel Winter has been born!!



She was due on Christmas and came a week early, in time to let her parents recover and adjust, and to meet her older sister, Lennon, before Santa comes.













Hazel's Down Syndrome was a big surprise. First I was sad... and mad... because it wasn't what any of us expected, and I was scared. And then I met her. And, oh boy, is there nothing to cry about!









This girl is already a joy. She sleeps easily (which I certainly can't say about my own baby, oh well), eats readily, opens her eyes to look around shifty-shifty style and then snoozes some more. She has big chipmunk cheeks and teensy monkey feet. She does the usual newborn stuff in the usual newborn way. She looks like her parents and her sister and herself. She is wonderful!







She is also incredibly lucky - Jessie is one of the best moms I know. She and Ian are still adjusting their ideas of who Hazel is and will be, but when I took these photos on the 3rd day of HW's life, Jessie was already doing great. Loving her baby, enjoying the newborn period, embracing her new daughter physically and mentally.









Hazel is blessedly healthy so far! She is going to be one of the most doted on kids I know, and her big sister is already so proud of her and so ready to kiss her cheeks forever. She looks a little different than some babies, and will probably develop in different ways than most kids. But I'm reminded that even "normal" babies are never who you expect. I couldn't even know who I was pregnant with until I met Symphony, and I continue to find out who she truly is every day. I think every parent has expectations for their baby, and all of those expectations are wrong.



Each baby isn't who we expect, and yet each one also exceeds all of those expectations, and Hazel is no exception.



I'm not sure I'm saying it all right, but I know: Hazel is so lucky. Jessie is so lucky. And I am so lucky to have met her and photographed her so early!





This is a great opportunity for all of us. Jessie said in "I think Hazel is going to teach us a lot about patience and love." Yes! I'm signed up, and I can't wait (ummm, patience?). I'm so glad Symphony gets to be automatic fakey-cousins with this new baby girl!





And if you haven't read Kelle Hampton (a great photographer with a DS baby, too)'s beautiful writing about birthing a surprise Down's Syndrome baby, check it out on her blog here.

Merry Christmas!! I know I'm gushing but I just know this girl is something special.