Sometimes I forget how lucky we are to live by the beach…
This photo session was in the summer of 2009. Such cute sandy baby feet. 🙂
I bought this bucket a few weeks ago and the flea market and was so excited to find the perfect baby with the perfect hat to take it for a test drive. Oh…little Marco…one day you’re going to wonder why your parents let me put you in a bucket. 🙂
I also took a drive out to Palos Verdes to a new resort… Terranea One of my clients from the Bay Area (when I used to live there) made the drive down and chose the resort as the setting for their photo sessions. It was gorgeous…I need to find an excuse to head out there again!
I’m wrapping up my photo sessions with the gold settee. This was the last set of mini-sessions and we ended with a bang! So many cute photos came out of these sessions!!
And the bucket makes another cameo…this time as a stool!
Now that Halloween is wrapped up and in the bag, it’s time to think about Christmas! I’ll be at Rascals to Rebels again November 12, 13, 19 and 20. See the following dates and times:
Sign ups are at the store, so go buy your holiday outfits and sign up for a free photo session. These go quick, so go today! (This event is for children only…sorry the backdrop isn’t big enough for families.)
It just isn’t Halloween without carving pumpkins and toasting the seeds. This year I made a sweet version and a savory version. Butter and garlic salt went into one bunch, cinnamon sugar and nutmeg were added into the butter for the second batch. We’re still snacking on them!
I’m a little particular about washing the seeds…no stringy stuff!!
Here’s a bit of what I was up to last week…
I was at the Seal Beach pier when one day when it was bright and sunny. Ten minutes later the fog rolled in, then back to sun. The weather was crazy and indecisive that day!
I also had a last-minute location change when I found out there was a race going through the park I was supposed to be shooting at. Love thinking on my feet!
And a gorgeous evening photo session in one of my most favorite fields ever!
Don’t forget! Today…Friday October 28 (Rossmoor) and Monday October 31 (Huntington Beach) I’ll be at Rascals to Rebels to take pictures of your kids in their Halloween costumes! There are no appointments, so bring your kids by any time between 4 and 5pm on Friday and 3 and 5pm on Monday. It’s $20 (cash or check only) for 3 digital images (of my choice) that will be emailed to you the next day. Quick and easy..and an amazing deal!
In other news, last week I photographed a line from Sierra Julian. My models were so adorable and it was a first time for all of them! They all did so well!
I’ve been putting together quite a few mock-ups lately for my clients. When you hire me to photograph your family, I love to work with you to choose a location that fits your style and compliment that with clothing. The perfect blend of color and texture can bring so much to a photo. Not only does it show your personal style, but it adds interest and draws you in.
This mock-up was made for a family with 2 little girls who are doing their photo session at one of my urban locations. I wanted to create a holiday look without too much fuss. I also love the gold and navy against red brick.
Mock-ups are meant as inspiration, meaning I don’t expect my clients to run out and buy each piece that I put on the board. But, it will give them some ideas to run with…whether it’s the color palette, the use of texture or how to work with details and patterns.
So, I gotta be honest with ya. I’ve been a little behind on work. Things have been crazy busy with my family life and work, so I’m not in the kitchen as much as I’d like to be. For the past few months, I had back up recipes/pictures in a folder on my computer because I was cooking so much. Well, those have run out and I wasn’t making anything super exciting this week for dinner. I needed quick and easy. So, instead of bailing on this week’s food feature, I decided to show you what quick and easy looks like in my house.
Last night for dinner I made bourbon chicken and roasted broccoli. The hardest part was stopping to take pictures. I mean this is one of those dinners that is put together before I can even get my kids to set the table!
I had a giant bag of broccoli in my fridge, so it was as simple as roasting (with olive oil, salt and pepper) it in the oven at 425, then tossing with lemon, pine nuts and parmesan. I based it loosely off this recipe…The Best Broccoli of your Life.
While the broccoli roasts, you are cooking the chicken and dumping together a few pantry items for the sauce. SO EASY.
This is the recipe for Bourbon Chicken. Which has Asian flavors, but I’ve been to many Chinese restaurants and I’ve never seen Bourbon Chicken on the menu. 🙂 Regardless, it tastes good!
Oct
24
When I was first starting out, I remember watching a photographer that I admired and it was shutter click after shutter click, hundreds of them. For those of us that grew up with film cameras, it’s a transition from the feeling of being limited to the amount of film you have on hand. Digital blows all that out of the water. I know there are people who stick to their guns about really contemplating each shot, framing it perfectly and not going home with loads of junk images that never see the light of day. But, people, I photograph children. And they do not wait for me to frame them perfectly and they also don’t care how many images I ‘waste.’ Sooo, I fire away. I keep shooting the entire session. Even when I feel like I’ve got the shot, I try to squeeze in just one more good one. Sometimes, it’s when the camera leaves my face that the stars align and everyone relaxes into the perfect shot. Let’s just say I have a quick trigger finger. 🙂
I also shoot during the get-to-know-you that happens at the beginning of a session. I’ll be talking to the child, asking them questions, raising the camera to my face, then back to chatting and so on. Once we get into a groove, the natural expressions just start rolling. Sometimes, kids like to take a new smile ‘out for a test drive’. They’re not really sure what I want from them, so they just start trying things out. I’ll even show them the back of my camera…of course everyone loves to see themselves. We just keep talking and interacting until BOOM that look, you know the one I’m talking about, it just happens and I know I’ve got the shot. And that’s when I’m glad I didn’t give up.
