meegan in california

maci britt June 27, 2018

A year and a half ago one of my best friends flew from Colorado to California to hang out with me for nine whole days. It was her first visit to California, and we had THE BEST TIME. I will always smile when I think about that extended week that we spent gallivanting all over the northern part of my state (and putting over 700 miles on my car in the process ✌️).

Photos from that trip never made it here to the blog. I think I took so many that I paralyzed myself and rather than post just a few, I didn't share any. 🙃

In preparation for my upcoming trip to visit Meegan in Colorado, I revisited some of those old shots and thought I'd compile some highlights.

disposable camera no. 2

maci britt May 3, 2018

Last year I shared some film scans from a disposable camera that I'd used to capture random scenes over the course of a year (plus a couple months).

I had so much fun with that first camera and decided to do the same thing last year! The scans just came in this week and, once again, it was a real treat to see photos I'd forgotten about.

conservatory of flowers

maci britt April 28, 2018

Recently I visited the Conservatory of Flowers for the first time with my friend Brigid! We went on a Sunday after church (and after a picnic) and really enjoyed it! Such a beautiful environment; I could spend so much time inside enjoying all the different climates, unusual plants, and shades of green.

Lots of photos ahead...

the peach blossoms

maci britt March 24, 2018

The blossoms—almond, peach, cherry, etc.—are one of my favorite things about the valley. They are only here for a short time each year but luckily each variety comes in waves, so for a few weeks each spring there are white and pink blooms everywhere you look.

recent work | yerzy family photos

maci britt December 5, 2017

A couple of Sundays ago the Yerzy's met up with me in the city for church and in the afternoon we squeezed in a post-picnic photo session. The park provided a perfect setting to capture Oliver's expressions of pure joy. He was having the time of his life on the big metal slide.

recent work | johnson family photos

maci britt November 28, 2017

Any excuse to hang out with Jared and Keri and Anora is welcome. But when I also get to bring out my camera and capture some of the cuteness? It's almost too much.

We squeezed in this photo shoot just in time for Christmas card season :) First we met up at the cafe, then went for a little walk downtown, and ended at the Johnson ranch for some orchard photos. Here are some favorite scenes!

beach study

maci britt September 9, 2017

Last month I spent countless hours at the beach. Lots of hours walking up and down Ocean Beach, and lots of hours walking, chasing dolphins, and sitting in silence on beaches near Monterey. It's my absolute favorite. My happy place.

On the last day of my mini vacation near Monterey, I focused my photos on textures and objects rather than waves as I usually do. Seaweed freaks me out, as do other small beach creatures (birds are chill), but I don't mind photographing them as long as we don't touch :)

Here are things!

scenes from mount tam

maci britt August 25, 2017

Well I'm horribly behind on blogging, but that's nothing new. Since I last shared photos in this space, there's been another LA trip, an Oregon trip, a Monterey-ish trip, and some more pretty great weekends in the Bay Area. I'll hopefully get around to sorting/sharing scenes from those first three soon, but these photos today are from the most recent weekend.

fun with a disposable camera

maci britt January 4, 2017

Here's an idea for 2017: go to Target. Buy a disposable camera (for $11.99). Take pictures on it all year. When December rolls around, get it developed!

I bought a camera in October 2015 and took photos with it through December 2016. The best part about stretching it out for so long is the added fun of not remembering which pictures you took, in addition to the suspense of not knowing how the pictures will turn out. That anticipation is lost with digital.

Of course, this is not about making high-quality photos. They're grainy. The lighting is funky. But heck, it's a whole lot of fun to do something so opposite iPhones and Instagram (which I still love, btw).

Here are some of my favorites from the last camera.

becki + steven

maci britt November 11, 2016

To state the obvious, Becki and Steven are so cool. A few weekends ago, we met up in downtown Turlock to take some photos... their first photo session since they got married 4 years ago. They're naturals, right?

sunset magazine's bay area idea house

maci britt October 1, 2016

Ugh. Guys, I am literally so behind on blogging!!!!! Honestly I've been spending a lot less time behind a computer screen lately (outside of work, of course), which is a good thing (it really is). I've been journaling more! I've been reading more! I've had more time to listen to podcasts and take notes! Like I said, a good thing.

I'll do my best to catch up in this space (and try to be better in 2017 :)), and first up is this house tour- Sunset Magazine's 2016 Idea House, which just so happens to have been built in my favorite town. On a hill. Overlooking my favorite region. Major heart eyes.

john + annette | engaged

maci britt September 22, 2016

When I first started at my job, I met my next-office-door neighbor, John. I spent a month or so trying to figure him out... I kind of thought he hated me or something. Fast forward to present day I'm so glad he's my office neighbor. He's hilarious, knows a wealth of random trivia, and is a major movie buff.

The most common occurrence is for John to walk into my office and ask, "Have you ever seen [insert movie title]?" If I have, we converse about it. If I haven't (much more likely), he either turns and walks away in silence or tells me I "am wrong" (direct quote).

He also happens to enjoy cooking as much as I do, so we have great conversations about that topic and often send recipe links back and forth on IM.

A couple of months ago on their annual vacation to Florida, John proposed to his lovely girlfriend, Annette, and I had the honor of being asked to take their engagement photos. We drove up to a winery in Lodi for a lovely afternoon of wine slushies and pictures.

three from general store

maci britt July 11, 2016

Three snaps from General Store last weekend.

sunday in the city

maci britt April 14, 2016

Sunday was chill.

Pastries and coffee at Thorough Bread.

Church.

Lunch at Beachside.

A relaxing chat with friends in their living room.

A walk to Andytown (for an afternoon pick-me-up, you know?).

A trip up to the top of the observation tower at de Young.

And a very lively drive home thanks to the "Songs to Sing in the Car" playlist on Spotify.

Such fun.

7:02pm

maci britt April 1, 2016

We're housesitting this week, and it feels like vacation.

The evening light through these windows has provided a bright ending to some rather dull days, and tonight I was happy to pick up my camera and capture it in a celebration of sunshine and Friday night.

Next week will be better. And even if it isn't, we'll still have the sun.

beau + liz...

maci britt March 13, 2016

…are engaged!!!

Beau proposed in Yosemite the very day these photos were taken, and everything was perfect. Also, fun fact: this day, February 13, was their one year anniversary of dating!

It's been my pleasure to know both of these folks for a very very very long time, and it's been my pleasure to have had the opportunity to spend an exceptional amount of time with them over the last 8 months or so (they make the best SF buddies)… (see here, here, and here).

On top of getting to take their engagement photos, do I even have to say how incredibly excited I am to have the privilege of being in their wedding in August?!

berkeley art museum and pacific film archive

maci britt February 18, 2016

A few Saturdays ago I headed to Berkeley to hang out with my friend Micah and also, well, Berkeley. It had been awhile.

We headed downtown to check out the new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive before grabbing lunch at Sliver across the street.

The museum is very cool. The building itself is so snazzy (I wish I would've taken more photos of the exterior), and there are some neat exhibits at the moment. Walls are alternately filled with paintings and objects, film projections and installations.

the poortingas

maci britt February 7, 2016

What fun it was to hang out with these lovely folks a few Saturday mornings ago in downtown Modesto! Judah is quite possibly the cutest little human on the planet, and Jeff and Cheyenne could be models if they wanted to be. Besides that, they're just the sweetest and it was a pleasure to photograph them :)

adventures in time

maci britt January 5, 2016

In June I bought a Dave Brubeck album in Santa Cruz. I didn't have a record player, but I bought it anyway. $5 for 2 records? How could I not?

Over Christmas weekend, I finally took the time to dust off a big Sony console that has been sitting in a corner since I moved in here. It had ten years of dust inside (no exaggeration), but after a good cleaning it worked splendidly. I enjoyed the jazz while editing photos, and I kind of love how these particular photos turned out.

logan + nicole

maci britt December 22, 2015

These are not engagement photos. They were taken a handful of weeks ago.

But guess what?

These guys got engaged last night!!!!!!!!!