Introducing Baby B

I present to you my newest little buddy: Sweet Baby B. He and his big brother are destined to be heartbreakers -- you can already tell. I'd show you a photo of Big Bro, but he was a tough one to catch. ;)

Thanks, T & MA for spending your morning with me and for allowing me to photograph your family. The gallery will be a big one, so I've included a few extra shots here in your preview.





I love that I caught a little smile:









I just love capturing these sweet baby parts. How quickly they grow and change...

Gettin' Down for "Get on the Bus"

Last night's event was a blast, and I'm grateful to everyone (friends and family) who helped make my part in the affair go smoothly and remain an extremely positive experience.

We were all there to help raise money for a fantastic cause; Get on the Bus facilitates visits (and relationships) between incarcerated parents and their children. Check out this link if you're interested in learning more.

This year, the event organizers asked if I'd be up for running a campy photo booth of sorts. The theme was beachy, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many new people and laughing it up with old friends. I'd never done a shoot-and-print kind of event before, so I remained pretty focused and wasn't too worried about getting release forms signed for my own purposes. That said, I did manage to have a few people scribble on a makeshift form so that I could share some of the fun on the blog. Here's just a small sampling of the uber-fabulous partygoers...



Thanks again to everyone who boogied and posed and supported this great cause. By the way, our family stayed late and helped clean up after the event. As a result, my kids got to take home some of the decorations and props. Miss F has spent ALL of today carting around her faux tiki torch, which she calls her "torture." :)

Happy Weekend

Just popping onto the blog to say hello and offer up a quick "Happy weekend!" I hope you have a nice one lined up.

I realize that I didn't post much this week, but I was most certainly busy. I'm currently working on a couple of projects that have me stepping slightly outside of my comfort zone. It's not always easy, but I like that it's stretching some creative muscles that don't usually get a workout.

One project involves the development of a "Slices of SLO Life" series, and hopefully I'll be able to share some of those images here in the coming weeks. Another involves a semi-covert opp to capture the essence of an eighth-grader, and since it's a surprise for her dad, I'm holding back on the public previews (not that he's stalking my blog, but we do live in a small town, after all). And tonight, I'm helping out with some photos at a family charity event. So much to do, and so much of it is interesting and different. I'm feeling fortunate for sure.

Of course, fortunate can turn to frazzled pretty quickly. :)

And since a post is nothing without a photo, here's a shot of one of my neighbors. He and I spent a little time getting to know each other last weekend.

K & K at 6 Months

My little buddies were here yesterday for their 6-month session. Perhaps they knew they were coming and were just so darn excited, because their mom said that they essentially blew off their morning nap. Which was funny, really, because I was feeling a bit like I needed a nap.

It may not have been the giggly session we had last month, but it was still awesome to see these mini-men and spend a little time in their company.

















See you next month, mi amigos. :)

Not Exactly What I Had in Mind

I was asked recently to work on a commercial project that has me stepping far outside my box and photographing bits and pieces of the San Luis area. I figured that the project would be a good excuse to try some things that I usually don't. Like landscapes.

If you know the San Luis area, you know that Montana de Oro is a gorgeous coastal area. Thinking that I'd multitask and shoot some landscape images while entertaining my kids with a drive and a little sightseeing, we piled into the car and headed out.

Unfortunately, I picked the wrong trailhead and missed the spot I was targeting. Instead, we found a path to an enormous sand dune. There was a family already on said dune, and they were hurtling themselves off of it over and over as we approached.

My kids, of course, thought this was AWESOME. Aaaaaaand that brought an end to our location scouting.

I am choosing to look at it as a great opportunity for my kids to get some solid exercise today. And a chance for them to sharpen their not-listening skills. I can't tell you the number of times I yelled out, "Do not even think about throwing yourself off this dune one more time. It's time to get ourselves home."

Do they look like they were listening?









In case you couldn't tell it was her, here's a closer crop of my fearless daughter. Any timidity you ever see from her is PURELY FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT, I tell you.







Yeah, they were a handful.

Backing Up (For Just a Second)

I never did post any Easter photos, and since the tidal wave of life already has me riding my boogie board into the coming week, well... it's probably not going to happen.

I don't want to leave the holiday unrecognized here in blogland, though, so I'll post a group shot from that morning. This shot is post-church, post-brunch, post-pony rides and candy craziness, pre-nap for me. It was overcast, windy and cold, but we were together and that's what matters.

The Very Definition Of Jolly

I'm going to go on record here and say that yesterday afternoon just may have been my very favorite session to date.

But first, a little context:

A year ago, I had a fun maternity session with an adorably-pregnant-but-technically-on-bedrest mommy-to-be. Good thing we squeezed it in, because she went into labor the very next day and delivered little Mr. T.

His due date was more than five weeks away.

Given his prematurity, I worried until I got word that all was okay. As it turned out, Baby T was healthy and doing well from the beginning, and I got to photograph him at roughly eight weeks old (still shortly after his original due date).

I had another great opportunity to catch up with the little man in the fall, when we met up to do a family session. Again, I was thrilled to see that he was thriving, despite his early entry into the world.

Which brings us to yesterday: T's one-year session.

I'd emailed his mom, saying that I had a darling "1" onesie that I thought would be fun to use during the shoot. She emailed me back saying that the idea was nice and all, but that there was NO WAY he'd fit in it.

Okay. No big deal. But I thought I'd keep it out, just in case.

And then my little buddy arrived, and he was clearly a little preemie no more.

Can you believe that this guy was born almost six weeks early??



Within minutes, I was head over heels. He was the sweetest, smiley-est, happiest one-year-old I have ever seen.





I mean, SERIOUSLY?? Have you SEEN piggies this cute?



And he was such a performer. He screeched. He flapped his arms. He had us in hysterics.



I present Mr. Modesty:



... who then took a bath:





I mean, the only time he really got serious was when we gave him cake. Regarding that, he was all business.



I cracked up over and over as I picked up after the session. I can honestly say that there wasn't a moment during the entire thing when I wasn't thoroughly entertained.

And did I mention that his mommy is due to give him a brother or sister in July?

I can only hope that the next babe born to this family is as entertaining as the first.

xoxo

Meet Mr. B

I had a great time meeting little B and getting to know his big sibs as well. He will have two fun and enthusiastic playmates as he grows -- lucky guy!

Back From Vacation... With My New Favorite Photo

Spring Break is almost, almost over. My boys go back tomorrow, and the girlie has one more day of vacation left (why???? I have no idea...). The last two weeks have been chock full of visits with grandparents, Easter celebration(s), and some quality family time, and while I've enjoyed so much of it, I'm looking forward to getting back into our routine.

I'm also looking forward to getting back to work -- I'm photographing a newborn and a one-year-old in the next few days -- and to getting back to playing with some personal photos and sharing both professional and personal images here on the blog.

I do have quite a bit to sort through, but before I head off to bed I want to share a couple of favorites. First, a snap of my yahoos during the s'more cookoff at the cabin last night:



That's one of my favorite recent shots of my kids completely in their element, being themselves.

And this morning, I was treated to one of the most adorable father-daughter moments. Daddy is the one who generally cooks weekend breakfast, especially in Carmel. And he typically has one enthusastic -- and vertically assisted -- helper.



Check out the look of adoration on her face. I think it's my new favorite photo.



Now I'm off to rest up for a busy but welcome week ahead. Goodnight!