-  I love this family!  Carey and Brian…. your kids have grown into amazing, beautiful, and self-assured people.  I had a blast with you yesterday!!

p.s.  I am outta here for a week!  Going on a little vacation to Palm Desert with the ladies and shooting a wedding. I will be back Monday to share Meghan and Matt’s wedding with you.  XOXO

cutie-putie miss Anna….

the beautiful miss Caroline (minus 5 baby teeth)….

XOXO

- meet my beautiful and wonderful friends who are getting married soon!   Miss Meghan and Matt are the best match!  Seriously,  Meghan is crazy good-looking, sweet, stylish, and super bright!  Ohhhhh….Matty,  I have a secret crush on him (aka Clint Eastwood).  He is a go-with-the-flow-laid-back-guy  who finally enjoys to work-it-out in front of my camera!  Meghan and Matt you two have ‘just the right thing’  that makes your relationship amazing together!  (I know that Meghan has been checking the blog like a stalker — so I am short on words and big on lot’s of photos)…..

hey pretty lady…..

this is one of my FAVES…..

I LOVED this session and this old house!  Matt and Meg’s are the best best best –we are standing on piles of  ‘cow poop’   they are true professionals…..

another fave…adorable….

here is their beautiful one year old Nola,   just as attractive as her parents….

could be the most CUTEST flower girl….ever…..

Matt + Meghan + Nola = absolutely fabulousness!  I can’t wait for your wedding in Palm Springs in just 10 days!!!  XOXO

I am finally moving into a new direction with my photo slideshows – VIDEO!  I know, I know – I’m a photographer, but I love the look of adding about 20% of raw footage to share the moments in-between getting the shot.

I want to start focusing on the vows and speeches of the wedding day and  give my clients the gift of memory and language, that will become valuable over time!  I also will include in my kid packages capturing the sound of your kids and babies with audio track to our photo sessions.  SERIOUSLY PRICELESS  — these moments will be amazing for you as a parent, bride + groom, your family,  this will grow in value over time!

This is all new to me, but I am excited,  learning,  and I am ready to tell your story in a new way — XOXO

p.s. miss you Katy and Doug, SF….you two ROCK!

- when Katy and Doug got engaged,  they knew they had to have their engagement session in SF.  We started at their home — wow — so CUTE!  and when I met their adorable 15 yr old cat miss Sophie, and then saw their bedroom with the green walls — “let the shooting begin!”

so seriously - this is a long post of images!  K + D are an AMAZING couple  (not even exaggerating)  …we never stopped laughing and talking the whole time…in perfect…beautiful….warm Cali sun!

adorable!

miss Katy is very comfortable in front of a camera…love…..

of course, if I am in California I need to go to the beach…..

definitely needed to get at least one bridge shot (;

we went back to their home for an outfit change, and some vino on their deck…..with ridiculously amazing light!!!

Katy,  I am a HUGE fan of yours!  You have the most wonderful features and ’so natural’  to take a pictures of (:

downtown….

Ha!  love this…another fav…

some Farmer’s Market time…with a touch of Vogue….

“more Champagne please!”

K + D,  you both are HOT HOT HOT!

when I met Doug, I instantly liked him…he is kind, thoughtful, and has a sweet demeanor…he also can Work It!

love the way these two look at eachother…

Katy and Doug,  I am so excited to be photographing your wedding this September in Sun Valley!  You both have the BEST personality’s, genuine, fun,  and are so in LOVE!  Thank you for the fabulous time in SF!!

Love love love….XOXO

Hey everyone!  I am off to San Francisco for an engagement session – super cute and fun couple!  I will be in on Monday to share their photos, return emails, and phone calls.

I also want to show a cutie photo of Presly in the bath – I think everyone needs to get photos of their kids in bubbles!

This photo made me pull out some tricks to get her attention away from the adorable ducky and over-load of bubbles!   Here are some of my tricks I still use on Presly and clowning around ideas to get 2 and 4 years to look at me….

First - I always start with peek-a-boo. I do it behind my camera,  or have mom do this behind me at the my level.

I ask them “what color eyes do you have?” after response “Really your eyes look Pink,  no wait,  are they purple?”  I just keep going on until they are bored with my lame questions,  but it works (:

Photographing kids I have become shameless!  and I don’t care anymore what a DORK I can be, the BIGGER the better!  I have the dad or mom pretend to tickle me and I get really loud “stop it” “stop it, I am so ticklish!” and try to squirm away.  The parents put something on my head, or put bunny ears behind me with their fingers, or just mess up my fabulous hair do (:  Kids laugh every time!!

And most important technical advice I have when setting up for a photo — think LIGHTING FIRST!!! Your location 2nd….. no matter how beautiful your background is!  My clients ONLY care about their kids beautiful faces! So I always look for that open shade, at the edge  (no sun spots coming through tress or weird shadows on their faces).  Have FUN shooting and a wonderful weekend!!!

– remember the beautiful Beth and Jordan last month I was so lucky to capture….

– they had their beautiful Jack just 4 days ago!  WOW — they walked into my studio with so much pride for their new special gem.  It’s so cool,  just a couple weeks ago they were talking about what he will look like, who he will take after, and now Jack is here….just perfect, beautiful, and healthy!  Seriously,  this is the most rewarding….for me to photograph a newborn, they are precious and LOVED!  Beth is a natural mom who has bonded,  and Jordan is so relaxed with Jack, these two are going to be wonderful parents!  Jack being only 4 days old was the perfect little sleeper…..

what a face on this little guy (:

again, I love the details of newborns….

one of my favorite newborn photos….ever……

the parents are  ‘baby whisperers’…. Click here to watch a small clip of their magic! –  its also about 95 degrees in the room with a space heater to the left of us pointed at Jack — yes, we were all warm and toasty (:

Jack you make me smile….

Congratulations Beth and Jordan… Jack is wonderful….and now you have a new little person who is going to grow up as relaxed and sweet and beautiful as you are — XOXO

– what a BEAUTIFUL, alert ‘little bean’ miss Reese is!  She is 13 days old today and oh-so-sweet to finally meet her!  Regina you look AMAZING! and so wonderful to see you and Gene again!  I always hope to get that one perfect moment at each newborn session.  Sometimes it can happen quickly with a full-belly, warm nakey baby,  already asleep when I get to their home. Or…..like miss Reese, wide awake and ready for her first close ups with me (;

Here is the beautiful Regina trying to get Reese to go to sleep….

still trying, but I LOVE this soft window light on her perfect face….

miss Regina is a crafty one too, she made this amazing blanket!   — again — miss Reese melts my heart with her face expressions (even if it is gas).

‘have you ever seen such sweetness?’  — 2 hours and finally DEEP asleep!

one of my favorite parts of a newborn,  are their eyelashes…

I’ve been struck with baby lust…. “I will not have baby fever!”  ” I will not have baby fever!”  “I will not have baby fever!”

Congratulations again Gene and Regina,   your little girl is unbelievably beautiful!   XOXO

I had HUGE visions to get this AMAZING group of babies together for a Tater Tots Boutique advertisement. The BEAUTIFUL mommies are all really great friends of mine and we did have a BLAST!   But….uhm…SERIOUSLY,  I don’t know what I was thinking trying to get 3 babies to sit and smile at the camera?!?!  We did get some cute individual photos of the super sweet girls — lot’s of laughing and good-times!   I got a couple shots of the moms with their cutie-pies too….

Keely + Kaya

Jamie + Anja

Meghan + Nola

how CUUUUUUUTE is miss Nola?!   - this one is a character, gorgeous, and the ringleader of the divas  (:

Anja is  ‘adorable beauty’  who is a very composed little princess, she will melt your heart (:

oh miss Kaya… this little one is all personality!  ready for a photo, smile,  and never sits still!  I love her — the camera LOVES her (:

okay…Seeeeeeeeeeriously I really had a picture in my head that I thought I could pull off!  NO WAY! miss Nola was playing a game with mommy taking off her hat every time!  Kaya was just over it, needed a nap and mommy time!  and miss Anja was flabbergasted of our very BAD and off tune singing!  Check us out –  it’s a quick and dreadful clip I got of us (;

-  here is my FAV… and I LOVE IT!   these ladies are fabulous and it truly was the most FUN to get us all together yesterday!!  I LOVE my friends!  and THANK YOU Janessa at Tater Tots for the duckies and cute clothes!!  XOXO

A client of mine had a wonderful idea for her mom — photograph all the grandkid’s in mini-sessions. Then put a layout together with the photographs and display in the kid’s playroom at her home.  So I put together a couple of wall displays that I do for all my clients.  It helps assist them to visualize how ALL my photo collages will look in their homes (I have over 75 ideas)  this can be time-saving and better prepares me in presenting possibilities to clients prior to sales sessions.

Here are some ideas for the six photos I am working with….

Mr. Big Canvas 20×30!

30×30 Canvas Wrap that I can add any colors too, add text,  or fill all the spaces with photographs — possibilities endless (:

some more visual ideas for your home….

and this is a really cool feature,  I can drop in the images on the computer for more inspiration — all sorts of frames and canvas layouts!!

Also an old favorite I thought I’d share again are my Collector’s Vignettes: Far Away Dreams! These make wonderful 12×12 Canvas Gifts or even in your own home if you are looking for some Vintage Vavoom — LOVE this!

Happy Friday and have an AWESOME weekend — XOXO