Blue Lotus Photography

My boyfriend of 6 years recently proposed (I of course said yes!) at the beautiful Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe. I had my suspicions the moment was coming but what I didn’t know was that he secretly hired Sandra & Josh to capture it! Let’s just say we have a lot of pictures of my ugly crying.
In all seriousness, Josh & Sandra helped make our day. They stayed with us for two hours after the proposal and got some absolutely breathtaking shots. Not only were they skilled photographers but they were so much fun to be around. You could tell they had a true passion for their jobs, their subjects and for each other. I would recommend them to anyone looking for photographers who define going above and beyond.

We were so lucky to have Josh and Sandra photograph our wedding at Blue Sky Heavenly this summer! They are two of the nicest people, who happen to be really great with cameras.
They make a perfect team: Josh was in charge of the camera on our day, and Sandra helped locate the best photo ops, control the lighting, fix my hair, and provide good laughs. They are so fun, easy to work with, and effortlessly made us feel comfortable in front of the camera. You can tell they’ve been doing this for years and love what they’re doing! I also really appreciated their eye for detail: guiding us through the best poses, without missing great candid moments in between.
It was a little stressful planning my wedding while living out-​of-​state, but Sandra helped make that easier. She was always easy to get a hold of via phone or email, and even offered advice when things went sour with our original caterers. Sandra also took the time to meet with us a month before our wedding, which was a nice way to get to know each other and discuss details of our big day.
We loved our wedding weekend, and thanks to Sandra and Josh, we can relive the best moments for years to come!

We recently hired Sandra and Josh to photograph our wedding at Heavenly Resort. I can’t say enough good things about them. They knew all the good locations/​times to get a good photograph. We met with them at the venue before the wedding to go over ideas, they wanted to do it the way we wanted to do it. Flexibility was key to the success of our wedding. Not only were the «staged» pictures in unique areas with great views, but they made sure to grab some great candid shots as well. So far, we’ve only seen a few pictures in a sneak peek, but they are awesome. We can’t wait to see the rest!
If you want someone who is really easy to work with, and understands how to capture the beauty of the S. Lake Tahoe area, Sandra and Josh will not disappoint. I suggest having both of them there for max value/​flexibility.

Sandra and Josh were awesome at our wedding! My wife loved their pictures as soon as she saw them and we contacted them right away. We had our wedding at Northstar at Tahoe and knew we wanted someone that knew the area and knew how to shoot a wedding outdoors.
We were not disappointed at all. The pictures they took turned out amazing and we are super happy with them. There are so many that we haven’t actually gotten through all of them yet.
They met with us at our wedding venue prior to the wedding to choose out some good sites. Not that it helped, because we ended up changing our plans last minute, so they had to find a new spots to shoot us. Luckily, they’re experts and were able to deliver on some amazing pictures!
On the wedding day, they were super awesome. They made everything really easy, were fun to be around, and made everything so much better. We got married on top of the mountain, but had our reception down below, but they managed to capture all the special moments. I can’t recommend them enough!

Sandra and Josh were like best friends capturing our wedding. They were fun and playful! They were flexible when we decided we wanted more candid shots so we could enjoy the reception. They helped us capture those memories throughout the night! Can’t wait to see the final photos! We know they will be everything we could imagine and more. The day was truly perfect and these two helped capture those moments!

Amazing! Josh and Sandra did our family photo shoot in Lake Tahoe in December. They were responsive over email ahead of time and incredibly friendly and approachable when we met up for the shoot. They chose a beautiful location and varied where we took the pictures and who was in them, so in the end it felt like we got every type of shot we wanted. They had a great eye and paid close attention to detail, working hard to get just the right lighting, positioning, and background. The photos wound up absolutely beautiful; it’s not easy to get nine people looking good at once, but they managed and excelled!
It was absolutely freezing the day we did the shoot, and we had a nine-​month-​old baby who could not take the cold. They offered to come to our rental house at the end of the session to make sure we got enough photos with her, and they stayed an extra 20 minutes to get shots with different family members at the inside location as well. Throughout the shoot, Sandra and Josh were warm and positive and made us feel very comfortable. It was such a great experience and I highly recommend them.

Fantastic wedding photographers! Not only were we incredibly happy with the quality of our 1120 photos, the photographers (Sandra and Josh) couldn’t have done a better job! From our initial contact and interactions, we were able to comfortably discuss what we were looking for with our wedding photos. Prior to the event, Sandra and Josh were easy to contact and happily discussed different options and packages. They were extremely personable and answered all our questions and concerns. The day of the event, they made us feel at ease and comfortable. They were very flexible, and genuinely sincere. We can’t thank them enough for being our wedding photographers. We would offer them the highest recommendation!

I could write a book on how AMAZING both Sandra and Josh were at photographing my husband’s and my engagement session and wedding; however, I believe that people like to read reviews that aren’t so lengthy. So, to sum up the BEST photographers on this planet, I will say this;
1. You will not find anyone better than Blue Lotus Photography, so stop searching and book them ASAP, before someone else snatches them up on your date.
2. Their creativity, mindset, and ability to capture exactly what you want is impeccable. They will exceed all your expectations!
3. Every time I look at the photographs they captured for us creates a feeling of joy that I cannot even explain. The beauty and emotions that I feel towards the photos that Josh and Sandra captured cannot be replicated by any other photographer.
4. Finally, they capture hundreds and hundreds of photos and every single one was AMAZING! How is that possible?! Well, because Blue Lotus Photography is the best in the business!
Oh and they have to be the coolest people ever! Their personalities are awesome and they make photo shoots so much fun and enjoyable.
Cheers to Josh and Sandra!

This really is as good as it gets! My review has been a long time coming and I am almost ashamed that I didn’t make time sooner. These guys are A-​MAZING! They were highly recommended on wedding sites, timely, professional, easy-​going, and most important, fabulous photographers. I love that there are two of them and they each bring something different to the table.
We got married in Lake Tahoe last year and being out-​of-​towners, we were concerned with finding someone to capture one of our most important celebrations. I spoke to Sandra multiple times on the phone and felt very comfortable with her, but their price was a little higher than another photographer I was considering. I went with my gut and boy, am I glad I did!!! Our pictures turned out phenomenal! Everyone that sees them is impressed. I can’t stop picking «favorites» I want to frame, but my husband is making me stop, lol!
You will not be disappointed with these two. There are some things I would have done differently about our wedding in hindsight; the only thing I would have changed about them would be to have hired them for longer than the timeframe that we did so we had more beautiful pictures of the evening. I would use them again in a heartbeat. Highly, Highly recommend!

Sandra and Josh photographed our wedding this past summer, and I could not have been happier with them, with the photos, with the whole process. I found them online searching for photographers in the Pleasanton, CA area, not knowing they had moved to Tahoe. Luckily they were able to accommodate us. I could tell from their website (and I was right!) that they just had the perfect blend of journalistic and traditional. Some other photographers’ photos looked too stiff, others focused too much on the art without actually capturing the people. Sandra and Josh’s photos really capture the place, the mood, and the people. I have so many perfect photos of my bridesmaids laughing, of my groom and me smiling at each other at the ceremony, and of the dancing at the reception. And they all look great: beautifully composed, lots of color, and highlighting the beautiful aspects of our venue.
And they are the nicest people. I was accidentally running very very late to my own wedding, and I was so focused on getting ready on time that getting photographs was not my top priority. Luckily it was Sandra’s top priority, and what was a blur to me was captured by Sandra: lots of photos of my family, my bridesmaids and flower girls, my shoes, the flowers, and eventually (when I was ready) me, smiling like a happy bride. I am so grateful that she was able to work with that.
We also requested that they not be too obtrusive during the ceremony itself. They were perfect. I honestly did not notice them at all, and I have so many great shots of the party entering and exiting, and of the ceremony itself, and from a ton of different angles.
They also spent time with us getting the traditional family and bridal party photos, with Sandra capturing the formal ones and Josh snapping the happy moments in between. And finally they spent time with just me and my groom around the venue, getting the lovey-​dovey shots.
Our photos came exactly when they promised on cd, and I had so much fun going over them. The album deal that they offered was a little out of our price range, so I took my favorites and made my own. So so happy with our decision, and I cannot recommend them enough!

We had our family pictures taken a few months ago and I am still looking at them all the time and enjoying them. Josh and Sandra are fun, creative and patient. They make an amazing team. We have 3 children and brought an aunt and 2 sets of grandparents, so we were not a small, easy group to deal with! :) The shoot was fun and the pictures say that. I would use them again in a heartbeat.

I searched on Unilocal for a photographer to take a family portrait (ages 11 MO-​60 yrs) during a vacation in Lake Tahoe over Labor Day weekend as a surprise for my husbands 60^th birthday. I read all the great reviews about Josh and Sandra so I called and talked with Sandra and instantly knew this was who I was going to use! It was the best decision I made. As soon as I met them at the home were we were shooting, I felt so comfortable with them. They spent so much time with my family being sure to get as many photo shots as possible with the family and then individual photos. The kids loved working with them and had a blast. When we all saw the sneak peak on their blog we could hardly wait for the final photos and it was not a disappointment. The music they played to the slide show was fantastic and there is not a bad picture in the whole bunch. The only problem now is deciding which ones to choose!
How you got the kids to jump off the pier into the cold Tahoe water was best and most creative idea and they loved it. What a way to finish a photo shoot! I think my son said it best, «They did great. They really captured more than just our faces. They got who we are».
Thank you Josh and Sandra for a memorable day. It was a pleasure meeting you and I look forward to working with you again.

BEST FIND in Tahoe! 11 family members (ages 14 – 89) for Christmas in Tahoe and i had 1 week to find a photog. went to Unilocal for ‘real’ reviews, and since Blue Lotus was listed 1^st I called Sandra and she immed. answered, and was ready and willing to help us. She & Josh scouted out areas for snow photos as I requested (it’s the driest winter in years… ugh) and when we couldn’t find any areas, she brought a garland of snowflakes for our pics! She suggested Zepher Cove at sunset, and of course clouds and stormy skies presented themselves… ugh again!
She and Josh met us on time, fully ready, and worked w/​our 4 boys, relatives and grandpa wobbliing on a cane SOO well. Laughter prevailed, and the QUALITY of the pics is EXCELLENT! They have great equipment, an ease w/​groups, and candidness that i appreciated…(ie at the last second before a shot they would notice details we may have missed, and correct em… a hand out of place, a chair leg peeking out, etc).
They let us «TEBOW» (kneel down w/​elbow on knee) as a family, and this shot was the fav. by far! Our boys HATE photo shots normally, but this amazing couple had them playing football down the beach as they photographed them effortlessly.
Sandra saw that our 17 yr. old ‘jock’ son had put my fuzzy white jacket on d/​t being cold, and she snapped a great shot of this moment. casual yet funny…
I like this ‘dynamic duo’ sense of professionalism. They sent the CD to our home (so we can get our own enlargements at Costco… our fav. place that makes awesome 16X20 CLEAR enlargements for $ 19.95!) for our mantle. I forgot a hat at the shoot, so they mailed it also on their dime, and we had our proofs/​CD within a week or 2… now THAT’s service.
There was never any ‘hard-​sale’ or pressure. Just fun, lots of giggles, and as our family left that day the boys actually said it was actually painless! PHEW!
GRAB this couple, USE their expertise, and take a few
read/​SEE their blog page complete w/​UNIQUE pics (I love the Santa Cruz Ferris Wheel engagement pic and the one of a toddler being swung up in the air w/​glee myself!)
Blue Lotus is a solid 10… creative, fun, and flexible. We’d use them again in a heartbeat, and hope Josh and Sandra come to our town for some wine-tasting…our treat as a mere thanks for their incredible work!

Josh and Sandra are two of the most dynamic and versatile photographers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. In the event planning business, I’ve worked with quite a few photographers over the past few years, and interviewed 5 of them for my wedding in May of 2010.
What we wanted: great still life shots of the «basics» (aka. group shots), but most importantly, we wanted the «action» shots of the day. What was going on? What were people feeling? Could they capture the expressions and emotions on everyone’s faces?
After seeing a book of their work at our wedding venue in the Bay Area, we went to their website — and surprisingly, they had such a variety of different photos, we were kinda taken aback. But that only speaks to their incredible versatility here. Because, when we went to meet with them and see countless shots of their work, I was astounded at how many «perfect» shots there were… not just across each medium, or each type of shot, but across one entire wedding — with wedding after wedding — from start to finish I loved their work.
Fast forward a few months to the engagement session — we had such a blast. My husband isn’t the most natural smiler. But the way Josh and Sandra made us feel comfortable with the camera (s), every shot had a happy natural smile on my then fiancé’s face.
In May, our wedding felt perfect. And before we could even see the photographs, I can’t count on one hand the number of guests and family members who commented on how professional, yet fun, our photographers were. «Quick to get everyone needed together with a short timeline, but able to do it while not feeling like a heard of cattle — hope the photos are as great as their personalities.» (quote courtesy of my aunt).
Four weeks after the wedding, we received an email that our photos were online and available for viewing — CD in the mail soon! (Note this is fast for a wedding photographer — anything shorter than this is either a lie, or they don’t take the time to make sure you don’t have food in your teeth and the color is right.) When we received the photos, we spent 2 hours going through almost a thousand perfect photos. They did the «basic» group shots creatively, and they flawlessly captured the feeling of the day, the emotions of my husband and I, and the happiness on everyone’s faces.
Though they live in Lake Tahoe now, I constantly see updates on Facebook that they’re back in the Bay Area for a photo shoot. It seems they’re traveling quite a bit, and are able to go wherever your wedding may be. They were always on time, and weren’t «looking at the time» if you know what I mean.
Overall, I would recommend them for any wedding, and would recommend you go beyond their website and meet with them in person — it will make your incredibly difficult decision of choosing a photographer that much easier.
Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any specific questions.

Josh and Sandra photographed our wedding back in 2008 but embarrassingly it has taken me this long to write this well-​deserved review for them.
When my husband and I were creating our wedding budget, we decided that the most important thing for us was the photography. We wanted to make sure that we had beautiful photographs to remember the day by, especially since we opted not to videotape the day. My husband is a graphic artist and I love photography, so we wanted to make sure that whoever we hired went beyond the standard posed photographs and would really take a more artistic approach.
After reviewing a number of different wedding photographer portfolios, something really stood out about Blue Lotus Photography. We really liked that Blue Lotus focused on the people. Many photographers had beautiful photographs showcasing the tiny details of the wedding day — the rings, a dew drop on the bridal bouquet, etc. Josh and Sandra certainly take amazing photographs of these details too, however what was more impressive to us is how special the photographs of the bride and groom, their attendants, and their guests were.
From the creative angles to their choice of lens, Josh and Sandra always highlight the emotions people feel on their big day. And really, isn’t that what you want to remember when you look back? I have this amazing picture they took of me reaching out to hold my dad’s hand when he was giving the toast which is one of my favorites.
In addition to their amazing photographs, Josh and Sandra are really a blast to be around. We had so much fun hanging out with them during our engagement session at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, they chose the coolest backgrounds that we would have never imagined for us to «model» in front of. Our photos do not look posed, we look like we are having so much fun because we WERE! If you need proof, the picture of the couple on the ferris wheel they posted here on Unilocal is of my husband and I.
If it isn’t already obvious, I could not recommend Josh and Sandra more. Our wedding pictures were beautiful, and people comment on how fun our engagement photos are all the time when they see them on our desks at work. You will not be disappointed!!!

I am a mother of one and looked everywhere online under photography to get my daughter’s one-​year photos done. When I came acrosee Blue Lotus, their website was inspiring and so were Josh and Sandra. They are a very tallented couple who produced amazing pictures of my one year old: black and white, color, fun, funky, rose garden, bubbles, props — you name it, they did it.
One year photos of your kid are kind of a big deal, something that you have your whole life, and Josh and Sandra captured our daughter just the way we want to remember her at this age.

Quick review — I was in a wedding recently where Josh and Sandra were the photographers and I can only say great things about these two. They were so incredibly nice, creative and down right entertaining. I have yet to see what my friend’s wedding pictures look like, but if it’s anything like the engagement photos they had done, I can only expect great things.