Talia Photography

New Blog URL

Dear wonderful people who read my blog,

In order to nicely reflect my branding, I'm changing the address of this blog over to

"www.savannahlaurenphoto.blogspot.com"

So, if you have me linked on your blog, as I know some of you do, or if for some crazy reason you follow my RSS, update accordingly. :)

Love, Savannah

I really love doing Senior pictures, but especially when the senior is someone who I have been blessed enough to become friends with. Leah is graduating in May, but over the last few years as I have been on staff in the youth group and she has been a student, we have shared a lot of times of fellowship, mutual encouragement, and laughs.

Leah, you are beautiful, I love you...and I really love your pictures. ;)

We wandered around Mare Island, which is an abandoned naval base, and found some AWESOME locations (well, ok, i knew about them already, but it was fun to revisit them), and caught some of the last rays of the setting sun. Leah has been dancing for a long time, so we also incorporated her shoes into some shots.

Christmas, Birthday, and Shenanigans

Every year it seems to be just a little bit different. Sometimes the presents are all under the tree a week and a half in advance. Sometimes the last few presents are put under the tree 5 minutes before they get opened. Sometimes we end up opening a present each a day or so early...Dad says it's because he's begged for it, but just so the record is straight, it's mostly because he just can't wait to see us open it. ;)

We opened them on Christmas eve this year and i got a few shots before my camera battery ran out. :)

(Adam, who is 17, is pretending to be not amused by my taking a picture of him)

(What can I say, we're a Canon family)

The day after Christmas we had a party for my 21st birthday (which was actually 2 days after, but who wants to party on a monday? ;))

(I really like Filipino food, so my dad cooked up a bunch for the party)

(My friend Walker drew this for me. :D)

My friends Beckie, Ian, and Reuben came up after my party, and on my actual birthday we hit up San Francisco and did some exploring and just all around good hanging out. I'm really thankful for friends who will drive halfway across the state for my birthday.

(Ian is also a canon fan)

(This viewfinder didn't actually point to anything because trees have grown up in front of it)

Christmas Eve and Adventuring

For Christmas this year we're just going to be our family (most of our extended family lives on the other side of the country), but yesterday we took a trip into San Francisco with some of our "family" from church. We took the ferry down, then we walked to the Hyatt Regency which is all decked out for Christmas and admired the beautiful lights and hitched rides on the elevators with people who had the required keycards that went to the 17th floor. Then we just walked the embarcadero and ate clam chowder and took lots of pictures, browsed boutiques, and got our free square of Ghirardelli's Peppermint Bark chocolate.

We were entertained by the street performers and our goofy friends, and finally made it back to the ferry and played around on the deck.

It was a joy-filled day, and as i enjoyed all the things above and hearing the many accents, languages, and voices in the city (one of my favorite parts) i was reminded that Jesus came to bring His glory to all nations, and that "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." (Isaiah 40:5)

And Christmas is about seeing that glory of the Lord come to earth, setting aside His place in heaven for a time, to bring us reconciliation to God and being humbled in the form of a baby to die for us and save us.

Christmas is about this love that came down, reaching into our hearts to change us and make us His own.

Enjoy the pictures and remember why there is Christmas.