Sheri Van Wert Photography

Cooper at 6 months

I am very behind on my blogging once again.  But I have some very special sessions from 2009 that I want to share.  This is Cooper and his beautiful family. 

 

 

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As I reflect on the blessings and successes of the past year, I want to take a moment to thank all my friends and patrons for standing with me. May the new year bring the best for you and your family!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to blog more frequently, and share more with those of you who are interested in viewing and following my art.  I am grateful to the wonderful people I have met and photographed this year.  It is an honor to be able to freeze important moments in time for them and give them something they will cherish for years and years.  

"Macaroni Miracles"

So happy to bring to your attention the launch of the book "Macaroni Miracles" http://www.macaronimiracles.com

The author, Kathleen Dempsey Burgin, hired me to create her portrait for this book. I loved working with her and her two cute dogs!

I encourage you to visit her Web site and/or Facebook page.http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=130127336191&ref=ts

From her Web site: "This book gives new meaning to age-old subjects, one rhyme at a time. This fresh collection of poetry with a purpose includes; Among Women, Two Boys, 
The Perfect Shade of Grace, Be Right All the Time or Be Married, Wings for Anne Marie and Heritage. With over 50 titles and vintage photos packed inside, Macaroni Miracles has a common thread of forgiveness and unconditional love. So fluff up your favorite pillow, grab the bonbons, sit back and enjoy the pint-size book about life-size hope."

Check it out!

 

The Wedding of Brian and Caitlin

Images from Brian and Caitlin's engagement session were the content for my very first blog post. Their wedding was so well put together and absolutely stunning.  It was fun to work with the bride and groom along with all their family members.  Such a fun group of people!  

It was so hard to only pick a few images to blog about, so see a SHORT story of their day here....

 

The beautiful bride before her hair was done....

After...

They choose not to see each other before the wedding, so here they are holding hands with the door between them.  

I was so touched by the grooms reaction as he saw his bride for the first time walk down the aisle.

Their wedding ceremony was at the Pulgas Water Temple which is South of San Francisco.  What a gem of a place!!!

Here they are, man and wife!

See the bagpiper in the background....he played them in and out of the ceremony.  Some people may not agree with me, but I LOVE the bagpipe.  

I didn't have to pose them.  It's obvious to see how in love they are with one another!

This location is a photographer's dream.  I could have photographed for hours.....but we were kicked out by the ranger at a certain point.  

This picture says a thousand words :-)

The ring shot.

The bride's mom is in the background here singing for their first dance.

I have been really getting into the cooling look of blue in images lately.  It really works here. 

Brian and Caitlin - I wish you MANY MANY happy years ahead!

Brandy and Lucy

For the CCHAT Fundraising event back in April I offered a free pet portrait session as one of the silent auction items. At the end of the night I saw a woman walking out with my certificate under her arm and so I chased her down to meet her. Thus I met Eve and she told me about her two wirehaired griffons that I would be soon photographing.  I had never seen this breed of dog before, and as a huge dog lover was really looking forward to meeting Brandy and Lucy for our session together. Dogs are so much fun to work with. They don't know what you are doing with that big flashing box, but they know that they are getting lots of treats for sitting there for you, so they don't care. Brandy and Lucy were such sweet and good dogs....AND very photogenic as you will see in the following photos.    

 

 

 

Jaydin's 1st Birthday

  Jaydin is the second baby to "graduate" from my Baby Program.  He is such a sweet baby as you will be able to see from the following pictures.  On the day of our session we braved some fierce winds!  But this park was gorgeous and well worth it.  Jaydin had loads of fun running around and exploring.  I can't believe he is already 1!  Happy Birthday Jaydin!

Congratulations Class of 2009!!!

Whew, May was a really busy month and I regret to have neglected my blog for a while. It was a busy month especially for students too as they prepared for finals and their last days of the school year.  I'd like to profile one very special High School Senior here.  She was the color guard captain for the Whitney High School Marching Band and Color Guard...of which I am proud to be one of their instructors.  Kristina is bright and was a wonderful leader for her color guard squad.  We had a great time creating fun images during her session!  Congratulations Kristina and all you other graduates as you embark on all new adventures!

Ethan's 1st Birthday

My Baby Plan is so much fun.  It is such a great joy to visit each of the families on the plan every few months and see how much baby has grown.  My very first baby on the plan was Ethan and he just celebrated his 1st birthday.  Mom (Jennifer) made the cutest baby size birthday cake and we put it down for him at his session. 

He was so happy when mom put the cake in front of him.  He just kept bobbing up and down and smiling so big! 

It took a little coxing before he realized that he could go ahead and eat it!
It was ALL for him.

He still couldn't really believe that we were letting him do this....

...but he sure was happy we were! 

Before long the cake was COMPLETELY destroyed and it was time for a bath.

Here he is all clean, with a belly full of cake and all packed and ready for a trip!
(Actually that's his father's trumpet case)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!!!

Veronica's High School Senior Portraits

Veronica found me on MySpace and chose to have her high school senior portraits done at my FAVORITE portrait location....Sun City.  The picturesque scenery, the perfect light, and a beautiful subject, made for a joyful session!

I am thankful to her sister for being my reflector holder that day :-)  Now I look forward to working on her graduation announcements and album! 

Karen and Nick Romero

At the CCHAT Center wine tasting benefit's silent auction last year, fellow photographers Karen and Nick Romero (Sand Castle Images) bid on my gift certificate for a free portrait session. They wanted an edgy look and chose to do their portraits in the alleys of downtown Sacramento.  We had loads of fun scoping out interesting backdrops and plenty of graffiti.  I was a bit nervous at first to be photographing a fellow photographer, but Karen and Nick were so wonderful that the nervousness quickly melted away and I just had fun creating these images for the two of them.  The following is a small sampling of our day together.