Meet Michelle

San diego photographer and lifestyle photographer

BEHIND THE CAMERA

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Why I Never Want You to Feel the Way I Did

I had just quit my job to be a stay at home mom, so I was trying to be practical and save money. And professional maternity portraits weren’t practical, so I thought I was being smart.

Plus, we were planning more children, so the next pregnancy, I told myself, we would invest. You know that old saying about how man makes his plans, and God laughs? Well, you can guess the way this story goes. Despite our “efforts,” and the efforts of modern science, there was no next pregnancy.

I ended up losing something far more valuable than money. 
So, don’t be like me. Invest in the stuff that really matters, before it’s too late. 

You see that beautiful bathroom selfie? That’s the very best photo I have of myself pregnant.

All I have to remember that incredibly precious, fleeting time in our lives by (awaiting this little girl we had wanted so badly) is reflected in a smudgy mirror.

My little family

I do this to make sure you’ve got something far more beautiful and meaningful than a smudgy bathroom shot left over when your pregnancy is finished, the newborn stage is just a memory, and the kids are grown and gone. 


For sure, I’m not for everyone. My images are emotive and dynamic and many times even technically imperfect (count the chopped off heads in my portfolio!). That’s what speaks to me most when it comes to giving you this little slice of time to look back on, and if you’re still reading, it probably speaks to you, too. 

Life moves quickly, and it’s so easy to realize too late that the moments we thought we’d remember forever are already slipping away

Contact me to plan your session

NEXT FAVORITE

I'll pass on the wine and instead root through the cooler for a
nice pilsner, kolsch, or lager.
Don't mind if I do!

A COLD LAGER

FAVORITES

Love Michelle 

NEXT FAVORITE

I excel at them. 

NAPS

FAVORITES

Love Michelle 

NEXT FAVORITE

This is not a beach girl.
Instead, give me the mountains and a long hike. Give me a cold beer cracked over my camp stove while cooking dinner next to a tent somewhere in our beautiful mountain West.

THE MOUNTAINS. 

FAVORITES

Love Michelle 

NEXT FAVORITE

This is my family. 
We love roadtrips, traveling, the great outdoors, and making each other laugh with stupid jokes. 

THESE TWO

FAVORITES

Love Michelle

NEXT FAVORITE

Yes, I know it's weird. 
Pictured: one of my landscape photographs in a national park known for its grizzlies -
it's why I go. 

GRIZZLY BEARS

FAVORITES

Love Michelle 

I believe your photography session should be fun and relaxed, for everyone. 

I believe you shouldn’t have to worry about whether the kids behave, because I’ve got this.

I believe your session should be a time to simply slow down and enjoy one another.

I believe your photographs should be as meaningful as they are beautiful. 

When they're the first thing that people grab when the house is on fire,
you know they're precious. 

I BELIEVE THAT FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PRICELESS.

MY PHILOSOPHY