This week I gave Marcus and Lucas a visit since their Grandpa was in town.  They are as cute as ever and even remembered me.
We started out with some more formal family shots…

The sun was very bright, so I had my work cut out for me…but we worked with angling them against the sun and with the help of a reflector I got some really vibrant colors.

I also took this one with the house in the background.  I really like the vintage black and white action for this shot.

It was getting close to the boys' naptime and they were a little tired of taking pictures.  Desperate times call for desperate measures so I pulled out the bubbles.

I love this series of photos taken with Grandpa.  You just can't beat authentic smiles!!

I love the 3 generations in this picture…

Thanks for letting me be part of your afternoon!

-Kristin

I don't have to say much…
They are seriously, the cutest couple!  And can you GET more photogenic??  Joanna told me they'd never had their pictures taken.  Wow.  I'm glad I could break them in with my camera. 

Joanna and Duane were kind enough to run around Castro Valley with me and literally jump out the car on the side of the road to take pictures.  First I took them to an old field, which had some really tall grass.



Then, in the middle of the field was a huge pile of concrete slabs.  I told them to just trust me (famous last words!) and I got these series of photos.  They might be my favorite from the day!



Next stop on our tour was a barn that I always drive by.  My local readers will recognize this barn.  The colors are fab and I've always wanted to photograph here.  Poor Joanna suffered a leg wound climbing over the fence for me.  Talk about sacrifice!!





Joanna and Duane, I hope you enjoyed your tour.  :)  And I had so much fun being your own personal paparazzi for the day!
-Kristin

I love when families want to include their dogs in some of their family pictures…because they ARE part of the family!  JJ was such a sweet family dog.  He wanted to be in every picture and he always looked right at me, like he knew I was taking his picture!
The girls were so cute.  They were great at making each other laugh too!





Such a lovely family…

And this picture of Gina and Fred is one my favorites…

Thanks for letting me hang out with you all yesterday! Enjoy the pictures…
-Kristin

Where does the time go???





Jillian turns four with a sassy new hair cut!
-Kristin

Now you can't say you haven't been warned!  This sweet family got their walking quota in for the day during our photo session.  I told them I'd bring them to all my secret spots…you know the kind that don't have directions.  You just have to duck into a neighborhood, find the trail head and get to just the right field, etc!


Hayden just turned one today…Happy Birthday big guy!  And despite a big ol' tooth coming in, he was super happy and content.



I love being able to capture families in a natural way.  Hayden and his mom and dad were so comfortable and easy going, that it made my job a piece of cake!

 



I know this is a lot of pictures to share, but there were too cute not to share!  And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
-Kristin

…brothers, I got some cute shots of my boys last week too.  Like I said, my typical photo shoot is pretty wild!


But, there was also some sweetness mixed in!

This is exactly how they are with each other…Jake is very sweet and loving, Cooper is a zany ball of fun.

I sure do love these guys!!
-Kristin 

I think the relationship between brothers is so sweet.  Maybe it’s because I have my own two boys and I love it when Jake watches over Cooper or when Cooper will just give him a hug ‘just because.’ 
Marcus and Lucas have that adorable connection and when I came over for their photo session, one of my favorite moments was when Marcus read to Lucas in their chair.

I think Lucas may have been a little distracted by me!  I loved how they were running around the house in their bare feet, so I also had to capture a little of that.

My job is so fun because I get to see the world through a child’s eyes.  Getting down on their level and capture a moment of what it’s like to be them….

Here was another moment where you can just imagine what it’s like to be four years old!

And I don’t remember what I said here, but I’m obviously hilarious!

I love love love the boys’ mini-boden outfits…

Lastly, here’s a shot of the boys in the doorway…the gorgeous doorway, one of my favorite spots in their house!  And I love the contrast with the blue.

Christy, thanks for being so helpful with snacks and beverages on hand at all times, catching kids running down hills and all the rest!  I had a pleasure meeting you all!
-Kristin

That’s what people tell me about photographing my own kids.  When, in all honesty, photographing my kids is wayyyy harder than anyone elses. 
When I tell them to get close, something that starts out as this:

Quickly turns into this…Jillian licking her closest brother.

And before I know it, they’re rolling around on the ground!  Anyway, it’s always fun…so who cares if it’s hard!!  I had a cancellation this week and told myself earlier that every cancellation meant a booked session with one of my own kids.  This time was Jake’s turn.

Jake’s getting pretty big, so we had to be creative.  Sitting there to pose just wouldn’t do.  I saw another photographer take musical instruments into an open field and knew I’d hit the jackpot.  I wanted to put my own twist on the idea. 
Jake is such a musician.  His Nana and Papa, not to mention his dad are all musically talented.  The drums are Jake’s specialty.

This is all I’ve got edited so far…I’ll share more later!
-Kristin

I know this is late to do a post on Mother’s Day, but it’s too cute not to share.  Jillian’s preschool class did a little presentation for the mom’s, so I brought my camera along.
This is her handing me what she had made.

My friend Maggie took this one of us together.

And Jillian wanted a picture with her teacher, Mrs. Kaufman.  All three of my kids have had Mrs. Kaufman as a teacher and many of my 30 something friends had her as a teacher too!  She is the sweetest lady and Jillian is always spouting advice that she has learned from her. 

We got to stay and watch our kids do their thing, so the first thing Jillian did was dress up.  Hmmm, where does she get that from!?  Although, in this picture I think she looks like she is a seventies child!

Here is story-time…

And a picture with on of her best friends!

-Kristin

…with a three year old!  You might remember this little guy  from my Easter mini-sessions. 

Caleb’s mom invited me back to their house to do a full family session and Caleb was cuter than ever!!  When I asked everyone to move locations, he would say ‘great idea’ and ‘sure’ when I asked him to move his hands, for example.  He even replied ‘sure’ when I offered him a job as my assistant.
Caleb’s little sister is equally as cute and let me put her in the hands of her big brother, which sometimes worked out better than others!

Here are a few family shots I got from today…

And one last one of mom and dad…awwww!  The scenery couldn’t have been more beautiful.  I was really lucky to be able to visit their parents’ property on a perfectly sunny day.

Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys…and Caleb…I’ll be sending you a job application!
-Kristin