My First Steps...

2009-02-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

What a great day my Tuesday was! I went to my friend's house to take some photos of her 3 month old, and while I was there we decided to do some of her son too. What a ham. Seriously, the outtakes are almost cuter than the "good" ones.
Her littlest one is the first newborn I worked with, from this post, so I was excited to get some more "grown up" shots ;)
We even attempted a few of all three of her kiddos, but by that time they were pretty much done with me and my camera. We'll have to try again another day!

PS: there might be a few more posted from this session another day... right now I have to get to my Grey's Anatomy :)

Pretty in Pink

2009-02-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

A client of mine from the hair salon was kind enough to let me come take photos of her 8 month old daughter this weekend.
Let me say, what a cutie! I was lucky yet again to have a beautiful sunny day, I still can't believe it is winter around here.
It was so fun to dress her in pink and take lots of photos just in time for Valentines day. Here are a few to enjoy, and I have more that I'm working on too. Thanks girls!

Isn't it supposed to be winter?

2009-01-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

I had to postpone someone's session earlier last week since it was so gray and cold, so I was a little worried about the weather today. But... it was beautiful! The sun was shining, and it was even warm enough to go outside without having to be bundled up.

So, this was the first session I did with somebody I didn't know! My neighbor passed my name along to a friend and I am so glad she did. It was such a pleasure meeting cute little G and her wonderful mom.
This little girl is what I would call a mover and a shaker... wasn't that on some diaper commercial at one point? Well, anyway, that's what she was! She also happened to be a friendly, fearless and happy, smiley baby too. I really enjoyed meeting these two today, and hope we can meet up in a few months to do her 1 year shots too!
I hope you like your little peek!

PS. check out my new pettiskirt from www.chicbabyrose.com :)

All the way in Seattle

2009-01-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

We had been planning to drive up to Seattle for a few weeks, and the day before we were supposed to leave I-5 was closed due to flooding!!! We thought about canceling the trip, but after some advice from the locals, and watching the WsDOT reports we decided to go up anyway.

It was so great to see my brother and his family. The newest addition, just 1 month old, is such a sweet and mellow little guy, and cute as can be. His big brother is so much fun too. At 21 months old he has so much energy, and he is so loving and so much fun to be around.

I can't wait for them all to move down to Sacramento! Hurry up guys, I'm excited to have you guys close by!

Here is a little peek at some of the photos I got during my visit.

More from Thanksgiving day...

2008-12-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

It's been too busy for me these days to schedule any new photo sessions, but I did have some time this morning to revisit one from Thanksgiving. Our goal was to get a photo for a Christmas card, which we did, but there were a few more that I just loved from the day that were not really, well, Christmas card worthy!

We were dealing with super bright sun, and no trees, or anything for that matter to block the light from the kids eyes, so they were not very happy with my directing them to look at me not the ground! Not to mention the tons of open field and all the other kids running around playing... I had some tough competition!

The photo of the boys trying to get their sister to sit up and smile is just too great! And, the one of little A with her back to me, well, I don't know, I just love how it looks like she's in the middle of nowhere!

I love these kids... I don't know if I have ever seen such sweet, loving, caring, fun and well mannered group of siblings. Thanks guys for being such great sports, I can't wait to do it again!

Its Christmas Time

2008-12-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was full of little babies this year! Here is my cousin's little guy in his Christmas outfit. He was so happy, even with the bright sun beating right down on him he had no problem smiling for the crowd that gathered behind me and my camera. I just love these in front of the wood pile... it reminds me that its time for cozy fires and hot cocoa!

so. many. leaves.

2008-11-24T09:09:00.000-08:00

Leaves.
I have a love hate relationship with leaves. Before I lived in this neighborhood I used to love driving through here in the fall, seeing all the beautiful leaves falling from all of the huge, old trees that line most of the streets.
Then I bought a house with one of these trees in the front yard. This "beautiful, old tree" as I once referred to it has now become "that #*%&^ tree" most of the time!
Before hubby and I could rake (ok, I used the blower most of the time) all the leaves up into a pile the size of a car, I had to get some pictures!
My wonderful neighbors were kind enough to supply the baby :)
Little S is the sweetest, calmest, happiest baby! He is so easy going, and smiles alllll the time, except, as I learned, when I have my camera out. Lesson learned this week: have noisy and bright toys to make babies smile on command.
I love any chance I get to hang out with S (and his parents of course) and look forward to many more sessions with this little guy.

An adorable pink tinkerbell

2008-11-19T07:33:00.000-08:00

Brianna loves the camera, and the camera loves her too.
My wheels are spinning with tons of ideas for shoots with her, I'm hoping she'll want to be a model for me to practice with. After all, I put her mom through lots of my practice sessions back in the college days!

my first newborn... wow, what a day!

2008-11-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

My day with Vanessa was first and foremost a great day. It was also, however, quite a learning experience! At 7 days old I had expected her to be sound asleep for most of the session, but she had other plans. I am so lucky to have a great friend who sacrificed her own sleep to let me invade her home with my makeshift set up, and hang out all day snapping pictures.

furry little guys

2008-10-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

My curious dogs couldn't stay away from my new photo setup. I decided if you cant beat 'em, join 'em! Or at least take their picture.

Brady's turning 4

2008-10-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Just a few more weeks til Brady turns 4. We ran all over the Junior High by my house taking pictures, climbing walls and poles, peeking in windows...
Oh the energy of a four year old!

Blake or the Frog Prince?

2008-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to practice again today. Thanks Kali and Blake for a fun afternoon! I hope you like what you see :)

It went pretty well I think...

post number 1

2008-10-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

OK, so I made the decision to once again explore the subject that I studied throughout my college years, photography. I had been putting it off because the professional digital camera just seemed daunting! Last week I took the plunge... I am now the owner of a Canon 30D. I had forgotten how addicting photo equipment can be, I already have a wish list about half a page long. I mean, I need a new lens, a new flash, I want to take classes on photoshop, and photo secrets... the list will never end I'm sure. So before I go broke gathering all of the things I need to satisfy my photo bug, I'd better get to practicing with the things I already have.

My hope for this blog is to be able to look back and see how much I've improved over time. I hope you all enjoy watching my progress too!

the first shoot in many years...

2008-10-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

For my first practice shoot I took the wonderful receptionist from the salon I work at out for an hour or so. I drug her through every alley I could find in midtown Sacramento looking for lighting situations I thought I could handle. Here are a few from our adventure.