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.
Lifestyle Photography is my jam, but from time to time, I like to stretch my creativity by telling a visual story through a Styled Shoot. Let me tell you one:
According to ancient Greek mythology, there lived a beautiful nymph who preferred the company of her imagination and nature more than the company of other people, so she built a house in the woods and lived alone.
She picked berries and washed them with river water before eating them one by one while lost in her own thoughts. The isolation meant being alone, but she never felt lonely. She felt…
Free.
When your heart is full, you allow yourself to feel a wider array of emotions — and you approach life with more confidence because you know everything isn’t always perfect, but everything is the way it is supposed to be. Man, I should’ve been a philosopher! 
Tim and Jennifer seem this way to me.
Their photoshoots are always filled with emotion that make me want to find reason to hang out with them even longer just to be around that kind of energy. Even when there is no activity and everyone is calm, there is tenderness and love radiating from them. It really is beautiful to see and photograph.
Julia and Aaron needed headshots for work, but not stuffy ones — so I pulled them aside at the end of their Landfill Shoot.
We walked to an area between the water, parked cars, and large shipping containers (seriously!) where there was diffused light. The light was so pretty there that I widened my scope to include the kids.
These relaxed headshots are more like relaxed portraits. Ahhhhh…
For more information about taking headshots, you can read A Change Is Coming and How Your Subject Feels.
Or if you just want a LAUGH, you can read about doing headshots of my Worst Client!
