seal beach family photographer Archives - Page 2 of 3

Mar

Updates! [Long Beach Child Photographer]

I thought I’d use today’s post to share a few quick updates… Thank you for all of you who sent me pictures of your adorable little guys! I have already selected the little boy that will be doing the railroad photo shoot. He happens to have a cute little brother, so lucky me! I promise to update the blog with those pictures once we get them done. I’ll be trying to squeeze in something new every month, so check back for more opportunities!

In other news, this week is going to be CRAZY! I have two more photo-sessions coming up at Rascals to Rebels. This time we’re spreading the love to the Huntington Beach store! I’ll be wrapping up all the details on that today, so more to come soon. I’m also doing an Easter event in Ladera Ranch, hosted by the lovely Arlene, so I’m off to location scout for that today. So, if you’re in that area, let me know if you’re interested in some super cute spring photos!

Finally, a post just isn’t a post without a picture, so I’ll share what has been a top secret project for my photographer friend Shannon. She has rocked out the new catalog for Matilda Jane. A month or so ago she asked if Jillian and I would like to model for her. I’m not normally up for being photographed, but I knew I was in good hands, so I said yes! Of course Jillian and her good friend Madison know how to work the camera, but Shannon made an average girl like me look somewhat cute. Thanks friend! So, here we are…

Hope you all have a fabulous Monday!

-Kristin

Feb

Baby Balls [Long Beach Family Photographer]

How could I not title the post “baby balls” when this little guy has been collecting them just about his whole life!

It was really cute to see the whole family helping him look on the trail and I bet that years from now, looking at this photo will bring them right back to his toddler years. 🙂 And what a cute time of life!

For a few short moments, these two were hugging and gave me a window to give their mom some great pictures!

And this little gal was on the go…she helped me get my workout in!

And here’s a few more of these cuties having fun with their family.

Thanks for letting me spend the afternoon with you!

-Kristin

Feb

Photography Tips [Long Beach Children’s Photographer]

This morning I had a chance to talk to the lovely ladies at Bethany MOMS group. They were super gracious and kind…especially considering I was working off a few hours of sleep and had a few extra gray hairs. Last night Cooper took a dive off one of our retaining walls and spent the evening in the ER. He’s OK, just down a few teeth. Even though I HATE the thought of a child being hurt, it did take my mind off being nervous!

For those of you that don’t know, I’m a self-taught photographer. I started out as a mom that loved good pictures and was dying to learn how to get from point A to point B. Point A being the digital camera- Point B was an amazing photograph.

I read as much as I could, asked lots of questions, watched my friend Shannon and then just practiced a ton. Then practiced some more. Of course I’m still learning, but I wanted to share some tips that I picked up along the way. Tips that any one can try…you don’t have to be a professional and you don’t have to own a fancy camera.

I’ll be sharing the list of those tips in the next week on a friends blog…more on that to come! For now I want to share some pictures that I took today. After I gave the talk, I asked to borrow one of the kids so the moms could see the tips in action.

Hayden was kind enough to let me take his photo…so off we went to the doorway. Perfect lighting situation! This first picture was taken with my rather cheap point and shoot camera.

This next one is the same image, but I edited it in photoshop…adding contrast, warming it up. Pretty basic things. You can do this!

My encouragement is that as a mom with a fairly simple camera, you can take a good picture of your kids. It’s as simple as using light to work for you instead of against you…like I said more on that to come.

The next few pictures were taken with the big gun…my Canon 5D. The pictures are sharper, crisper and have better coloring. So, yes there is a big difference when you are hiring a professional photographer.

I told the MOMS group to check on my blog to see the images I took while I was there. Hopefully they’ll be able to notice some of the tips that we talked about. And a big thank you to Hayden for letting me photograph him in front of all those people!

-Kristin

Feb

Anthropologie Fashion Shoot [Newport Photographer]

I promised that today would bring more news about a new favorite location…so here’s the deal. I found a railroad track. Not just any…but a railroad track that dead ends into grass (so it’s not a dangerous place to do a photo shoot!). It’s perfectly vintage. What a find in the middle of the CITY!

I also previously mentioned that I wanted to spend a photo session every month doing something a little experimental. My kids are only up for so much…then they draw the line and start calling their agent! Anyway, right now I’m looking for a toddler boy to do a photo shoot at the railroad track. Any age between 2 and 5…email me if you’re interested! The photo shoot itself will be free, prints can be purchased a la carte.

In other news…I made it over to Anthropologie today to photograph the girls for their Carolina concept. The girls totally brought it!

Good luck, girls! I hope our version of Carolina knocks their socks off!

-Kristin

Feb

City Grit [Long Beach Senior Photographer]

Yesterday overflowed with peanut butter and jellies, first graders, editing, driving and more editing. The good news is I’m ready to blog today AND I found a brand new location that I’m really in love with. More on that in my next post.

Emily had her head shots done for an upcoming audition- Musical Theatre West. It was so much fun to hear about how bright her future is. She has so much ahead and so much to be excited about!

I mentioned that Emily brought along her sense of adventure. She was totally up for the grunge of an urban shoot. The juxtaposition of her fair skin and intense blue eyes with the grit of the city is amazing. Of course we have to work around dumpsters and a little bit of stink, but the result is worth it. 🙂

It’s harder and harder these days to find the grungey bricks and unique doorways. They’re paved over, stuccoed on top of and “prettied up.” The location we shot at with Emily feels untouched for many decades. It has so much character…and that’s what I love about it!

Best of luck to you, Emily!

-Kristin

Feb

Blue Eyes [Long Beach Senior Photographer]

Can you plan an entire photo session around some one’s eyes? If you are Kristin Eldridge, the answer is yes. Emily brought along an entire basket of clothes, along with her sense of adventure, to her photo session this afternoon. I helped her choose what she would wear, based on- you guessed it- her amazing blue eyes.

You’ll see what I mean…

I’ll share more tomorrow, but I know a few people who’d be super excited to see a little sneak as soon as possible. More on this up and coming tomorrow…

-Kristin

Feb

Fresh Foods Cafe [Long Beach Photographer]

I finally made it to the Fresh Foods Cafe to enjoy a lunch on the water and see my wall art! Way back in October, I photographed different fruits and vegetables for the restaurant. The grand opening was last week and I had a job, so I wasn’t able to go. Brent told me all about it, so I was so excited when Cindy invited me to go to lunch today.

I highly recommend the chopped salad! There’s a huge selection of fresh vegetables and once you choose your favorites, they chop the whole thing and add your choice of dressing. I had cilantro vinagrette and it was delicious!

The restaurant also roasts its own coffee beans, so I had to try a coffee while I was there. Ben suggested the latte with chocolate syrup and it was soooo good! I’m thinking about going back this afternoon for another. 🙂

Oh and the flatware is so cool! I loved my demitasse spoon. Cindy and I kept joking about sneaking a few pieces out the door every time we go.

Speaking of…Ben took this picture of us when he was checking in on our table.

Cindy got the tea and we were in love with her little steeping pot. Not sure what its real name is, but it makes having tea that much more enjoyable.

My friends and family only slightly roll their eyes when I take pictures of my food and people pouring tea and things like that. What can I say, I have to take a picture so I can share it with my invisible internet friends!

-Kristin

Feb

Livingston Park, Belmont Shores [Long Beach Children’s Photographer]

Today after school we met Cindy and Sam at Livingston Park in Belmont Shores. The park was built by the community and they did an AMAZING job. Seriously, this is the coolest park I’ve ever been to!

The park is divided into several sections of equipment. It’s great for moms that have different age groups because there is a little something for everyone!

The kids had so much fun!

This updated version of a merry-go-round was taken over by a few dads. There’s something about the way a dad pushes you, because ALL the kids were pumped about getting on the “ride”!

While I was there I met a guy from the city of Long Beach and we talked about doing pictures of the park for their website. How fun! I love chance meetings like that…and thanks Cindy for the introduction! 🙂

-Kristin

Feb

More Fabulous [Long Beach Children’s Photographer]

If you recall back to January 1, one of my goals for 2009 was to be overall more fabulous. Not me personally, just my business. 🙂 So, yesterday and today I did a major overhaul on the content of my website. The blog is fairly easy for me to update and add new things, but the website is like its forgotten orphan. I rarely think about it, which is wrong! Google Analytics tells me that most of you are coming through my site to the blog.

Anyway, go check out the site…lots of new content, some of which has never even seen the blog! I did keep some of my favorites from years past, but most of the content is new.

This is one of the new rotating pictures on the front page. I don’t think I ever blogged it. It was from one of my last photo sessions up in the bay area. I love the casual feel and the connection between the brothers. Since summer is around the corner, I wanted the front page to have a very light, airy and *warm* feel.

Another change is the categories in my portfolio. In the past, it was divided into stages of life. I decided to instead divide the portfolio into location styles. All walks of life can have their photo session in a rural area, urban downtown, at home or at the beach. I want to use the site as inspiration for clients in deciding the background for their images. They can easily click a location choice and see how they will fit into that environment.

Not to worry, I have an arsenal of locations for each of the categories. There will be no cookie-cutter photo sessions at the same place. If I ever do a repeat location, my goal is always to keep the same feel while making it look like a totally different place than the time before.

Coming soon…I want to keep it fresh by doing an experimental photo session every month. I’ll need local volunteers, so stay tuned for more details on that.

For now, bed is calling my name after a long day’s work.

-Kristin

Feb

Quite Proud [Personal Musings]

Since we’ve moved into this home, I’ve been able to enjoy how handy Brent is! He’s made grass grow were there was none and his latest project is this fire pit.

He and his dad made it from scratch- constructing the frame, pouring the cement, cutting and laying bricks, piping the gas and doing the masonry. Like I said, I’m quite proud!

A few weeks ago during the inaugural marshmellow roasting night I took some pictures of all Brent’s hard work!

Growing up in Montana, I’ve made my fair share of smores. I have a theory about how they should be made…even though I get mocked by certain family members. 🙂

Notice the chocolate melting technique…

I think Cooper approves of the technique!

-Kristin

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