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Catching up…
Posted on November 25, 2011
This little family has been so patient… by the time we finally got a date on the calendar, it rained (no, actually, it poured). Then I was off to Michigan… then my gallbladder tried to kill me. When your schedule is like a carefully balanced deck of cards, the littlest thing can mess you up. I’ve had a few. But we managed to squeeze this shoot in between the rain and surgeries, and they have been so patient and understanding. Thank you, Keung Family! You guys are adorable and it was a blast getting to know you guys a little better! Thank you, thank you!
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Frequent Flyers…
Posted on October 30, 2011
Ahhhh… my Barnes Family. I love them. I think this is our third shoot together and they just keep getting cuter each and every time. By now, they are pretty used to me, so their shoots are just relaxing and fun. And I love that Rhonda is “on it” enough to make family photos a priority more than once every 10 years. I can’t tell you haw many people I talk to who regret that they didn’t take more photos together (and I don’t mean just by a professional… I mean like “just grab your point-and-shoot and do it…”) Especially moms… we always seem to be conveniently behind the camera. (Like I should talk.) But I tell ya… in 30 years, your kids aren’t going to care that you still had 10 pounds to lose or that your roots needed a touch-up. When they look back on family photos, the ones that feature the people they love the most are the ones they will treasure. So my challenge to you this season is to find a stranger on the street, learn how to work the timer on your camera, or teach your 4 year old how to shoot… but darn it – get your butt in at least a few shots.
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Such a sweet family!
Posted on October 24, 2011
Meet the Valdez Family… they are warm and welcoming and you just kinda want to move in with them. I don’t seem to shoot a ton of families I’ve never really met before, so it’s always a little nerve-wracking to walk into someone’s home and just start telling them what to do. But they were so sweet, the kids were ADORABLE, their home was gorgeous and comfortable at the same time (not easy to do), and they put me at ease right away. And they’re all to stinkin’ photogenic! (That’s not easy to do, either…) So, thank you, Valdez Family, for a lovely afternoon! You guys were awesome!
Now… I debated on weather or not to post this. I certainly don’t want to destroy the mystery of digital photography, but I just had to share because I was so impressed. Anytime you are trying to get “one good family shot”, there’s always a little pressure, especially when you have little ones in the picture. And inevitably, everyone in the family will look great except one of them. Usually, you have to let it go and realize that the definition of “artistic beauty” doesn’t always mean everyone looks “perfect”. It’s more about capturing where that family is at that stage in their lives… the stage where one kid only had the “cheesy” smile, or the stage where the other one just simply wouldn’t smile at all, or the stage where the other kid thinks it’s fun to cross his eyes every time the camera points in his direction. It’s all part of the process. Luke here (on the left) was awesome, but for the 5 minutes we were getting this shot, he was not feeling the love. But I thought everyone else looked fantastic, so I called my lifeline, Cleve. I met Cleve at a wedding I was second-shooting last summer. He was a guest and as a Certified Photoshop Expert, he ended up talking shop with us photographers. Since I was completely enamored with meeting someone who knows everything there is to know about a program that still baffles me, he was kind enough to give me his info in case I ever got stuck. We did a marathon mentoring session a few months ago and he’s been on my speed dial ever since. So I commissioned him to see what he could do (if anything) to improve this image. (No offense, Luke…) The guy spent an hour and a half on this, and that was just to work on Luke. I can’t even begin to guess what he did. I’ve swapped a face or two in my day, but never a whole person. I guess I need to add that to my “To Do List” of things to learn. So, behold… the before and after. (And keep in mind, these are the raw images…)
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What’s a girl to say…?
Posted on October 1, 2011
I have been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to think of a catchy title for this… Caroline just asked me, “Mommy, are you trying to think?” (My kids are accustomed to my less than engaging conversations when I’m working at the computer…) “Yes, I am trying to think, but it’s not helping…” What does one say about their oldest and dearest friend, especially when he looks like THAT? Do I reminisce about our days in High School, my memories of the boy I met in Mr. Flocker’s Freshman Algebra on the first day of school who used Sun-In on his hair? Or do I joke about the time I had snuck into the Boys’ Dorm at APU and there conveniently was a FIRE DRILL and I spent the next 45 minutes under his bed while the entire school had been evacuated onto the football field? Do I credit him for teaching me how to smoke a cigarette (the first and last time I ever did that, btw…)? Do I bust out the hundreds of pics from High School through College that showed we spent WAY too much time together for two people who weren’t dating? Do I mention that he’s always been the most amazing support to me over the last 22 years, yet still finds a way to tell me what I need to hear without hurting my feelings? Do I laugh about how he caught the garter at my wedding, which was quite ironic because I had wanted to marry him for the first several years of our friendship? Do I mock him for when he was in the delivery room when I was having Austin, he was standing as FAR against the back wall as he could possibly get? How does one sum up “that friend” in a blog post…? Or do I just gloss over the huge significance he has played in my life and simply comment on how gorgeous he is and how he wasn’t ripped like that in High School? I don’t know what angle to take here, so you will just get it all. Meet Russ. I’ve known him since I was 13 and somehow, our friendship has lasted forever. When he finally moved back from Seattle, I moved to Michigan. When I finally moved back from Michigan, he moved to New York. We have been there for all of it… the good, the bad and the ugly. But ugly is hardly how you would describe these shots. Once we got past the laughter and uncomfortableness of actually trying to pull this off and act professional, we had fun. (How could you not when your subject looks like that?!?!) So here are just a few… Thank you, Russ, for letting me practice on you (this was a little out of my “norm”, so he did me a HUGE favor). Now I can add “Super Hot Hunky Men” to my client base.
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I love hanging out with celebrities…
Posted on September 29, 2011
Meet the stunning Lily… fresh from her latest gig, a Paul Frank print ad, which in my book, makes her a celebrity. I love her face, I love her playful spirit, I love her energy… she is so fun to shoot! Yes, I get a bit of a workout since she’s 2, but I count that as my exercise for the day. I knew Lily’s dad in Junior High, Lily’s aunt was my BFF in 7th grade, Lily’s mom and I were Social Work majors at APU together and Lily’s grandma is one of my favorite ladies at church… so, needless to say, we go way back! It is always a joy and a pleasure to hang out with her (and of course, you too, Gina!) and I can’t wait to see where this charming little girl will go in life! Thank you for making me a part of this journey!
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To know her, is to love her…
Posted on September 28, 2011
I LOVE it when someone tells me, “I’m just not that photogenic…” and then I TOTALLY get to prove them wrong!!!! This was one of those times… BOOYAH! With that infectious smile, this girl is adorable! This the Jessica from the Cupcake Post… the Jessica that my girls love and adore… the Jessica that is a legend with pretty much every kid at church… the Jessica that is taking AP Calculus for whatever reason a person would do that to themselves… and everyone who knows her, LOVES her. So when she asked me to shoot her Senior Pictures, I jumped at the chance to capture her – her personality, her joyful spirit AND her gorgeous good looks! We shlupped down to Santa Monica last weekend, fought the crowds and lack of parking, but it was soooo worth it! It was the perfect place to reflect how FUN this girl is. I love her. We all love her. Best of luck to you, in your Senior Year, Jessica! I know you will glide through it with the grace and sweetness that you do in every other area of your life!
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September 28, 2011 at 8:39 pm -
you are incredible and I am so thankful
When someone takes an interest in your kids…
Posted on August 27, 2011
… it kinda melts a mom’s heart. We have been so blessed over the years with amazing friends, babysitters, friends from church, etc. who have all played a part in my kids’ lives and gone out of their way to form special relationships with them (and you all know who you are!). I think it’s soooo important for your kids to have older, trusted people in their lives, so that when that times comes when talking to Mom or Dad might just be a little too weird, I know they already have that additional support system in place and I can trust the wisdom and insight they will get from those people. Miss Jessica, here, is one of those people. She has gotten to know my girls these last couple of years since she is one of the Rock Star volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at church. She comes to their gymnastics practices, just because. And what High School Senior, who has a ridiculous school schedule and does Track & Field, volunteers to come over on a Saturday morning to bake with your kids? She’s kinda like my Fairy Godmother. So this offer for sweetness came at JUST the right time, since we are planning Georgia’s 8th birthday party, and Georgia wanted her friends to be able to decorate cupcakes. Now, mind you, I had never done anything with a cupcake besides smear the canned frosting from the grocery store onto a usually kinda flat and pathetic cupcake, toss on a few sprinkles and call it a day. And I’ve seen a few “DC Cupcakes” episodes to know that even though they make it look fun and easy, there HAD to be more to it. So I made a trip to the cake decorating store, told the lady, “I need to learn how to make those cool cupcakes you see on that “DC Cupcakes” show and then I have to be able to teach 10 eight year olds how to do it… PLEASE HELP ME!” So the nice lady told me what to buy and what to do, I took home my supplies and thought to myself, “Well, this will be interesting.” ENTER: My Fairy Godmother, Jessica… She shows up, reminds me that her whole family is crafty and full of cake decorators, we bust out all of our supplies for a practice run, she and the girls have a blast, and I will sleep better now that I think I know what I’m doing for the party. (And Jessica offered to come to the party and be an extra set of hands… Fairy Godmother.) So here are a few shots from our morning. We used like half of our supply of frosting I’d bought for the party, but it’s all good. It was well worth it. Thank you, Jessica… you have saved the day!
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Loving Miss Amy and Cassidy!
Posted on August 17, 2011
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A Fantastic Fritz Family…
Posted on August 4, 2011
Where does one shoot a family of 17…? I asked myself that question for several weeks before we settled on a location. I have to say, I was a tad anxious about the sheer quantity of Fritzes and what in the world was I going to do with them all. But as they started arriving, everyone relaxed and already having fun, (and Grandpa with an ice chest full of cold water bottles for everyone – thank you, for that, btw…), my fears subsided somewhat and we just got down to business. And for a group that large, they made it a lovely afternoon! Not only are they all adorable, but the kiddos were charming and the adults were compliant (well, most of the time!). And between putting Grandma up in a tree and trying to think of ways to pose them all, I honestly wasn’t sure what we were gonna get… but I think we did o-kay. Here are just a few more…
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A Sneak Peek at a Big Ole Family…
Posted on July 30, 2011
Meet the Fritz Family… all 17 of ‘em! They have been sooooo patient since we did this shoot a couple of weeks ago, so I had to give them at least one! Stay tuned for more from this adorable (and bountiful) family!
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I’m hoping this goes to Beckie Riggs. I want to thank you for the beautiful photos of Lily, who is my third cousin. (Her grandfather, Ben Conner is my cousin) I have not met Lily yet, but seeing the beautiful you took, I feel a little more connected to her. Thank you.
Joe Leonard
Gosh this looks like a baby Gap ad! Well Done!