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Posted on August 31, 2009
My little girl has outgrown all of her 3T clothes. Hard to believe we are in the girls section now shopping for size 4 (is it just me or are the clothes not quite as cute?)
Perfect timing as we needed to do some shopping for back to school (Preschool starts next week). Auntie Kjerstin came with to help us (she is a style authority so that was helpful). When we got home M put on a little fashion show for dad to show off her favorite sweater.
Oh, and I should mention the IZZE pop. This has been a favorite treat over the summer. I bought a few bottles just because I thought they looked cool. Turns out they are very tasty too!
Someone is really excited for school!
Posted on August 27, 2009
Finally…a photo session with boys! It’s been awhile so I am happy to post this! Here’s a sneak peek of my session with this very fab family of four…
I love home photo sessions. It’s a great thing to get the kids/the family interacting in the place where they live day to day. This family home session was a perfect location. When I first arrived, the boys greeted me at the door (what awesome manners they have – such great respect). They were both wearing Star Wars t-shirts and I knew we’d hit it off (not that I’m a huge star wars fan but my husband is so I know plenty about it by proximity alone). They showed me the toy room (it should be called a lego room) and bedrooms. Star Wars lego creations were everywhere! So Cool.
After a few battles with the lightsabers we went outside to the trampoline. I love how you can see the tight connection between these 2 brothers as they play and laugh…
Check out the blue eyes here.
Watch out, mom! The girls are going to be chasing these two like crazy…
This is one here of my favorites. The focus is on this one child but yet it shows his closeness and connection to his brother at the same time.
Just how cool is he?
The family together on mom and dad’s bed (this is what they do everyday, afterall)…
I love this one! The four of them together with the family dog…
A little black and white series of the family hanging out in mom and dad’s bedroom…
And this one here may just be my favorite…
I love how these images show the quality of togetherness…the family connection.
This is the first family photo since the youngest was a baby! When you look this good you really should be doing this more often! You can be models for me anytime.
Such a cute couple…
How cool is this? Dad is a fireman and brought home his hat and gear for the boys to try out. This one is surely a keepsake.
The boys were both happy (and proud) to wear dad’s firefighter gear.
Before I left, Caden showed me around his room…
More legos as you can see!
Thanks for the fun session! It was truly a pleasure to spend the evening at your house and take pictures of you doing your thing in your place.
Posted on August 27, 2009
Check it out: awesome faded sun effects! It’s kind of vintage with a color pop.
I like to call this style I’ve been out in the sun too long…
These pictures were taken earlier this summer in San Diego but I’m just now getting around to working on them in some more creative ways. I love to play with fading and sun flare! This is not my typical post-processing but I’m really starting to like the faded, yellowish flare for certain pictures. I think I may be doing more of this in the future. If you are interested in this style, please let me know so I can plan for it in your photo session. Awesome for beach pics!
I actually made it into a few pictures that you see here. No, I did not have my tripod along (at the beach? too much trouble…) but I was able to get my camera settings as I wanted them and then asked my sister or husband (whomever was willing) to push the shutter button. The picture up top was a shot that my husband took of me the day we left – there I am saying good-bye to the perfect tranquilty of the pacific ocean.
Since I’m always the one behind the camera I’m typically missing in family photos. I’m trying to get in more of them. We have hundreds of amazing pictures of our clan and I cherish them all - just wish that I were in some more of them.
Photog friends take note: I did not process all of the images here with total consistency. That was not the goal. This batch was all about experimentation! I tried different techniques on each picture. Fading…flaring…texture…different effects. How fun is that?
I love the first images here.
Faded. So clean and light.
When I saw this little site on the beach I really wanted to be in front of the camera for a few shots with my girls. I entered my camera settings and asked my sister to snap tons of pictures of us while we played around the lifeguard stand. She did the job well – she must have shot over 30 pictures. Then I just chose my favorites for editing. Thanks Kjerstin!
Faded + a little texture too…
I am simply in love with this reflection picture…
Isn’t that soooooooo cool? Here’s another below:
The girls loved climbing up and rolling down the sand piles. Oh, the joy!
Can you tell I loved the lifeguard stand? We took pictures here during our first day at the beach and then again after dinner another night. I was wishing that I would have promoted a photo session and set up plans with some locals in San Diego. Our trip was a bit spontanious so I was not able to do that but next time I would love to shoot a family at the beach. If you are from the area, drop me your name and number and I will let you know when we plan our next trip. After working on these images today I am soooooo eager to get back to Pacific beach!
The yellow ‘treat’ shop right at the beach is my favorite place ever! Awesome color…interesting signage…totally beachy look…ice cream treats…what more could I ask for (other than to pack up the shop and move it to my backyard)? And by the way, just how great is my sister with her little nieces? You can just see the relationship in these pictures. I’m so thankful for that.
Our sweet babe had just started walking when we took this trip (now she’s running all over the place so hard to believe this was just a few months back). She preferred to crawl in the sand rather than walk (do you blame her?) so I have tons of shots of her on all fours. I love that! I’m thankful that we went right at this time and I was able to capture some pictures of her on the beach in the last days before she took off running.
I love this one here:
1. for the expression and 2. because big sister is running circles around her and you see that her presence is always right there beside her little sis.
She did start walking when she met this little guy, however….pretty sure she was trying to impress him! I think we witnessed her first crush here (he was pretty cute and so sweet too).
By the way, if you love the hat make sure to watch out for it in an upcoming designer spotlight! More where that came from soon…
Posted on August 23, 2009
There’s a story here. The girls and I were out running errands at Tempe marketplace and ’M’ had her scooter with bc she always prefers to scoot rather than walk around. We drove by this teal car (love that color!) in the parking lot on the way in and I noticed the parking space next to the car was open. Hmmm…a place where I could squeeze in tight and take a few pics I thought — if I had the fisheye lens, that is. I grabbed the open space to save it and called my husband to bring over my camera and the fisheye (that’s the only lens that you can shoot in that tight of space). I was just praying that the car’s owner wouldn’t come out and take off in the meantime! My husband was soooo annoyed (I do go to some great lengths sometimes for a picture) but I just couldn’t pass it up. When I see great color and sun flare, I must shoot. So I got a couple shots. Then, since I had my camera I brought it along as we ran our errands and was able to get some fun shots of ‘M’ on her pink scooter. I am happy to have these shots because this has become a favorite activity for my sweet girl over the last few mos.
A refection image. Kinda fun, isn’t it?
Scootn’ around…
This may look like a simple task: snap a couple shots of a little girl on her scooter. Not so! Let me remind you that these shots were taken while I was out running errands with both of my little girls at an outdoor shopping center. Can you believe I caught these images while toting around a one year old at the same time? Thank goodness for strollers with lock-in straps.
The joy of finding a little puddle for jumping around…
this never fails to delight my girl!
and lastly…run, jump, play!
It’s so much more fun to combine photography with everyday errands. I’ll have to do this more often. Thanks for making this outing very special Ms. ‘M’ – I love it that you are always up for a little play time!
Posted on August 18, 2009
I know, I know…enough with the lollipop pictures already! Sorry to post yet another but I can’t resist. ‘J’ went crazy when she saw her big sister working the giant lollipop and desperately wanted one too. Hmmm…I guess…as long as I can turn it into a photo opp.
I’m just a little biased but I think she’s pretty cute!
and finally with her sister by her side…
And you know by now that I have to make everything into a collage (I love how the series of images tells a story)…
Posted on August 18, 2009
‘M’ and I made the cutest (very colorful) puppets a few weeks back and she has played with them for hours. She tells stories with them and creates shows where they sing and dance. Amazing to see how she can work it!
Kids at play really do make the best pictures. I love to capture these moments.
Thanks for joining us for the puppet show!
Posted on August 17, 2009
Holiday cards currently in the works…
Many more to come soon! Just getting started…
Also: see previous post for more samples.
Posted on August 16, 2009
I have had several requests lately about photographing birthday parties so I’ve created a package to do so. Here’s the deal…
Invite me to your party! I will show up an hour early and take some unique and memorable pictures of the birthday child and family together (while everyone is still ‘fresh’ and not distracted by all the excitement yet)…then I will stay throughout the party and capture the celebration details as they unfold. I will catch great moments that you may not even notice otherwise. I will stick with you to the very end. The only thing I won’t do is clean up the mess (although I may take pictures of it)!
After the party, you get a full CD of all the images with favorites professionally edited! What a great keepsake.
Bonus! You know I love to make collages. Well, here’s the thing. Collages are awesome for birthday parties because you can see the series of images together and they tell a story about the event. Great for baby/birthday books…wall display…anything!
The fab deal is this: custom photography before, during and after your party with a full resolution CD of the all the images…only $340! Too good to be true, I know. The thing is: I am just so excited about this new venture so I’m making it irresistable. I am supremely motivated to obtain awesome party images so my ambition = a great opportunity for you.
note: This offer is only available for a short time as I build my ‘event’ photography portfolio
Capture moments like this…
Posted on August 16, 2009
Here’s the adorable birthday girl!
Unfortunatly I did not get to stay for this party (so sad) because I had another photo session scedueled for the day. I did stay just a few minutes when I dropped ‘M’ off for the fun and (of course) snapped a couple shots before the other kids arrived. Wish I could have stayed for the event!
I’m glad that I had the opportunity to get a few of the birthday girl anyway + a couple of the 2 girls greeting each other and getting all excited in honor of the occassion. You can see that they are just bursting with excitement! I love it.
The birthday girl in B&W: she strikes a model pose (can’t you just see her in Glamour 20 years from now? Seriously.)
The cupcakes (I had to grab one for the road):
Served by a princess, even…
Happy Birthday Princess! I wish I could have stayed for the party…
Posted on August 16, 2009
A trip to the Disney store ended with yet another princess dress. Auntie Kjerstin was with us on this venture and helped M convince me that it was too adorable to pass up. I keep thinking no more…we have enough dress up wear but sooner or later we end up with another — and then another. Ms. M loves to dress up and she wears them all the time so at least they are used often and well loved by this little girl. Her friends are the same way - the first thing they do on a playdate is ‘fancy up’ for the fun. I will always look back on these days with the greatest memories so for now I will just embrace the whole princess obsession and let her do her thing. I admit this one stands out a bit from the others. I love the mermaid tail made up of little strips of tulle.
