My name is Annie Tao. I am a photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I specialize in lifestyle photography where you get to play, hang out, and be yourself. I capture the moments, real emotions and stories that occur during our time together. Check here often or subscribe to my blog (RSS feed) to see what I am up to or get creative inspiration. Thanks for visiting! 
I scoured through thousands of my client photos and pondered my philosophy on photographing people. What I realized was that my philosophy was incredibly simple.
Looking at all these gorgeous faces and families, my heart melts a little. I hope you’ll enjoy it. ~annie
Want to see more? Yippeee… here’s a video on why you should choose Lifestyle Photography.
You know that saying “Go big or go home?” Well we chose the first option for my last shoot of the decade!
This lifestyle shoot involved stepping across a narrow cliff, climbing on rocks while holding a camera in each hand and in rain boots, and standing in a creek.
Unlike my usual lifestyle session where I move around without much awareness of my environment (the reason I prefer to wear boots to my shoots!), I needed to be keenly aware of my surroundings! If I wasn’t, it could mean falling off a rock, slipping into the lake, stepping in poop, hitting my head on a branch, running into a tree, or brushing up against poison oak. It was adventurous and, honestly, just a regular weekend for The Franks!
Their pup, Georgia, must have known we were “going big”, so she made sure to create one of my favorite family portraits EVER! See if you can figure out which photo it is below. 
Once upon a time, a photographer was on a shoot that had her laughing so hard, her cheeks hurt!
Her clients were so cool and funny that even mid-shoot, she made a point to stop and appreciate everything. She photographed kids who arrived revved up to play and beautiful parents who had the best blend of organized and relaxed that 2 hours disappeared in a blink.
The location had diverse backdrops, two climates (freeze-your-bum-off and almost-warm — haha), and multiple types of light. There was also a lone black duck who followed the family and photographer around like an extra on a movie set! There was hot cider, loud animal sounds, a vista that overlooked the bay, and lots of embracing, carrying, and chasing to keep warm.
This photographer is so lucky.
I never would’ve believed it when I was in my 20s and working late into the night at a corporate job, but this lucky duck is ME! ❤️
LOVE is all you need.
Rain or shine, locations with events being held or not, their lifestyle shoot was going to happen no matter what. And it did. Their positive attitude was rewarded by the rain halting, the sun peeking, a group of Santas running, and a family of seals swimming by us.
We were able to gallivant outdoors, and the Youssefs kissed, marched, danced, and hugged in the best city in the World, their home. The Youssefs have the kind of love that I can capture easily like sonnets flowing into a poet’s pen.
Even if it had ended up raining, we would’ve been fine. We already had all we needed. ❤️
