Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet an incredibly special lady and hang out with her entire family for the afternoon.  In the short time that I spent with Sandy, I could sense how important family is to her.  I wanted to capture that connection with each of her family members and wanted to share some sweet moments with her grandkids.  (Although, it’s hard to believe she’s a grandma…she looks so young!)

And here she is with her husband, Dan….aren’t they so cute together?!

Sandy, it was an honor to meet you and I walked away from our afternoon wanting to go home and give my kids an extra long hug.  We can all learn something from the way you love your family…

-Kristin

This weekend was packed with photo shoots, friends from out of town and lots of family time at the beach!  My early morning Saturday photo shoot (kudos to everyone for getting out the door so early) was a time for me to take advantage of some amazing backlighting and a gorgeously pregnant mama.

You would think this was baby #1, but in fact this baby will have 2 big brothers and a big sister!

Thanks for the fun morning!  Can’t wait to show you the rest of the pictures…

-Kristin

I’ve had an influx of summer babies and it’s been so much fun!  I think photographing newborns has kept me from having 17 kids!!  I love this stage of life and it’s a pleasure to be able work with couples that are just starting their family, or in this case…adding to it!

I met Jill at Rascals to Rebels when she was pregnant and we were able to reconnect and schedule a newborn photo shoot when Patrick was just 6 days old.  This is such a perfect time to photograph a baby because they are oblivious to the world and able to curl up in poses like this…

Patrick was even kind enough to give me a big smile…before he conked out again.

I love the “awake” pictures I took of him too…

I also love this picture I took of Patrick being held by his big brother, who is not so sure how he feels about the whole situation. 🙂  But, he’s only 6 days in and a month from now, he won’t even remember life without Patrick!

It was such a pleasure to spend the hottest afternoon in Long Beach with this sweet family!  Thanks for bearing the heat with me!!

-Kristin

I have just a few more pictures from the old red truck…

This amazing little spot happens to be my parents’ front yard.  And if I could I would fly out to Montana every weekend to hold photo shoots.

Sighhh, I love the way these images turned out.  I love the place, love the kids…lots of great memories!

-Kristin

I took a few more pictures in front of the new back drop today.  The coloring works really well with a wide range of colors…personally I love the texture of layering clothing in photos!

The inspiration for the back drop was my floors.  You can click on this link to see my wide plank distressed wood flooring.

Cooper’s in a no-smiling-for-the-camera phase, but I kinda like his little smirk.

Jillian just couldn’t miss out on a photo opportunity, so she ran out (while trying on school clothes) and jumped in a few pictures.  I think her outfit goes perfectly with Cooper’s, even though it wasn’t planned.

These two should be twins…

Looking at these pictures makes me so ready for school to start back up!  We are in official countdown…two weeks!!

-Kristin

I’m finally getting around to working on these pictures from the old red truck.  I’m simply in love with so many of them…it’s really hard to narrow it down for the blog!

For now, here’s one that made me smile!

I was in a movie theatre today and saw that Where the Wild Things Are is coming out on October 16.  So fun!  It also reminded me that I never blogged the Where the Wild Things are first birthday party that I photographed.  It was right around the time that Cooper was out of the hospital, so I have a feeling a lot of things got lost in the shuffle. 🙂

The details at this party were amazing.  Starting with the edibles…

Every one-year-old needs their own cake to destroy!

I love his “throne” with all his family and friends watching…especially how much his Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed the whole process of cake mutilation!

To go along with the theme of the party, Laura (of Ascot Friday) created themed goodie bags and crowns for all his guests.

One of the other details was a forest inspired photo booth for all the party guests…

I had so much fun photographing Hudson’s first birthday party!  If your child has a birthday coming up, consider hiring a photographer.  It takes the pressure off capturing all the right moments and lets you enjoy the party.  I have special pricing through the month of September for parties, so email me for more details.  info@kristineldridge.com

-Kristin

I just finished painting my new backdrop and I am in love with the way it turned out!  The first thing I did was start planning the perfect outfit for Jillian to wear.  I like to do sample pictures, so my clients can get inspired and see how textures and colors work for you in an image.

Oh, and I finally got around to making a feather headband…I even wrapped it in navy silk.  I may even have to borrow it!

And this chair…this chair.  Okay, let me back up by saying I’ve been wanting to go to the flea market in Long Beach since I’ve lived here.  Laura invited me last week and we both majorly scored.  I came home with the chair I envisioned for this backdrop and Laura came home with a tan cowhide rug that is amazing.

I wanted to show how the colors in the background also lend themselves to black and white.  I can’t wait to share more details about how I’ll be using it!

I have a few more ideas I want to show for this background…so stay tuned!

-Kristin

What a great day today at Seal Beach!  I’m more and more in love with the wooden pier and the beautiful light that comes with it.

Reagen was a little shy at first, but all it took was her big brother to show up and she was all smiles!

Aiden is pretty cute himself!  And those eyes, oh my goodness, those eyes…

We made our way down to play with the sand and water.  Once Aiden showed her how to do it, Reagen was all about the bucket.  Such a serious little worker. 🙂

I have to include this last picture because Melissa and I joked about how pretty the grassy area was that we found at the end of the photo shoot.  Here we are at the beach, taking pictures in the grass.  But isn’t this the cutest!?

I have so many more cute pictures from this little grassy area, but I have to save something for your online gallery! 🙂

-Kristin