Can you believe it snowed in Livermore!? Ok, first, let me start by saying, as a normal everyday person, I am NOT a fan of the snow. I’m not a fan of anything that makes me cold, you know, like winter and ice and snow…..can it just be Summer already?! However, as a photographer? Snow is the most beautiful thing in nature to photograph; it just adds this breathtaking, magical quality to any image. I’m always envious of my photographer friends who go to the snow and photograph a couple or a family there and come back with these jaw dropping images. I mean, I would love to do that but ya know…..it’s cold.

So when I was driving my daughter to school Tuesday morning and saw the snow covering our beautiful Livermore hills, it dawned on me that this was my chance to get my own snow pictures without having to drive three hours, get stuck in a snow storm and crash into several cars overlooking a cliff…..ok ok so maybe there are some tramatic memories that keep me away from the dreaded snow too. Let’s be real, snow IS beautiful but it’s scary AF to drive in, nevermind the cold.

Without thinking to much about it, I grabbed my camera and headed out down North Livermore. My intention was to just get the hills from below. Capture beauty, stay safe, capture beauty, stay safe. I really just wanted the Strawberry Stand on N. Livermore with the snow capped hills behind it. I love that little strawberry stand. But, curiosity got the best of me and my car kept inching closer and closer to Morgan Territory. I figured I’d just get the cute cows in the field with the snow behind them and go home. But I thought, I wonder what it looks like from the top of hills, I mean, it must look like Heaven and I’ve already come this far.

I was familiar with the area since I used to have family who lived at the top of Morgan Territory so I knew the drive well and figured, what’s there to be afraid of, it’s just a light dusting of snow and I can just drive slowwwww. As I got to the part of the road that is basically a one lane road with a scary as all get out cliff on one side and a lot more than a dusting of snow on the other side (and who knows how slick the road was), I realized that my tires were low and I probably should have gotten that oil change my car as been telling me to get for the past month (or two). I might have gone into slight panic mode, praying I didn’t slip off the cliff while simultaneously trying to decide if I should stop and take pictures of what really did look like Heaven. But fear took the wheel and I drove straight to the top where I would be safe-r-ish.

I can’t even describe how beautiful it was up in the clouds, how much more snow there was than I thought there would be and how happy I was that I let my intuition take me where my fear did not want me to go. It was magical, really. Breathtaking. Extraordinary. And it was home. Our home. Livermore, California. I got the opportunity to photograph something we rarely see and to think I almost convinced myself not to go!

Livermore’s snow day made me really appreciate the beauty of the place we call home. Snow or no snow, Livermore is such a beautiful place to live in the Bay Area. Get outside of the “city” limits and explore the country of our town. Treat it well, pick up your trash, pick up others trash, appreciate it, teach your children to appreciate it. And as always, never let your fear stop you from doing incredible things. #livelivermore

This tree has always intrigued me every time I’ve driven up this road. One random tree and a pond. It has never looked more beautiful. It was my one reason to stop on the drive up. This is what I mean about magical. THIS. This is beauty at it’s finest. How is this Livermore??This was a passby, instant breaks and reverse kind of picture. I’m so glad I saw these two donkeys, already posing!The cutest strawberry stand there ever was. So excited for them to open this Spring!