The Smith Bridals

What a pleasure it was to meet the new Mr. and Mrs. Smith! They got married five months ago and were looking to do a bridal shoot. As I greeted them I could feel the warmth radiating from this couple. So sweet and genuine they were!

To make our photoshoot even more special, Brooke invited her mom to join us. Brooke wanted to capture a few images of her and her mom. Now I have to say, her mom's dress was fab-u-lous! I loved the colors, and it was a very sassy mother-of-the-bride dress. After watching my mom search far and wide for hers, I realize a great M.O.B. dress is hard to come by. But Brooke's mom made it look effortless!
I have a feeling this photoshoot was fate. I handed Brooke a bouquet I had made from fresh gerbera daisies. Every bride needs a bouquet, right? I could not resist the bright, spring-like colors of the tangerine and fuscia. Here is where fate played a role, Brooke pulled out a bouquet with the same flowers! After lots of giggles we discovered that these were the colors of both of our weddings. Like I said, it was fate :).
Getting to know these two was so easy, it felt like I was visiting with old friends. We chatted and shot, then chatted and shot some more. Before I knew it two hours had flown by. Between their beautiful looks and gracious personalities they could not have made my job easier!
Thank you again!

A Preview of the Smith Bridals

Here is a preview of what I am editing this week.  I shot a bridal session for the Smiths.  They were so much fun and I am very excited to post all the details and pics from our session!

Fearless and Fabulous

These are the words that best describe Amy. 
We did her Trash the Dress photoshoot two weeks ago at the height of a rare cold spell.  A brewing Arctic storm left temperatures in the 30s and 40s.  Now for a lot of you, that might be a nice spring day (I have family in the Mid West where anything in the double digits is considered "warm").  But for those of us who are wimps used to the mild Bay Area climate, 30s and 40s are downright frigid! 
Snow was forcasted and we were quite excited to do a Trash the Dress in the snow.  How great would that be, a bride and her snowboard?!?  Unfortunately the snow never made its much-anticipated appearance.  What we did get were those fa-reezing temps.  And did this stop Amy?  Not a chance!  This is where that fun and fearless comes in.  The cold weather didn't slow her down.  Although her poor hands were a vibrant shade of pink she continued to smile and have a blast.  When it comes to sacrificing comfort for a great photo Amy is my idol.
We left one park employee so bewildered (can't say I blame him, a bride, no groom, 40 degrees outside, and she's posing in a life preserver!) he pulled out his camera and took photos of us!  That was just one of many reactions.  People just can't resist a bride!  There were also shouts of admiration from men to congratulations and well-wishes from women.  Really, can you ask for more fun on a photoshoot?!

Oh, and did I mention she is a gymnast?  A pretty rad gymnast too!

Trash the Dress Sneak Peak

Here is a glimpse of what I am editing this week: 

Words cannot even begin to explain how much fun we had on this photo shoot!

Bella's First Portraits

World meet Bella!
She likes snuggling up to mom, eating, sleeping mom's arms, and the oodles of attention her two big brothers lavish on her. 
She dislikes sleeping anywhere but mom's arms, dirty diapers, and binkies. 
Bella was two weeks old when we sat down for her newborn session.  Anything under ten days old is ideal, but there were a lot of cooties going around her home and mine.  Passing a cold onto an innocent newborn is more than my conscience can handle!
We all wanted a very natural look for her photos.  Just baby, no frills.  With a seriously hot room and a good dose of nursing and rocking Miss Bella was ready for close ups.  I do have to give credit to Liz (Mom).  That room was over 80 degrees and she sat smothered in a blanket while holding Bella.  Way to take one for the team, Mom! 

Seriously love that hand smushed into her face and the way it is squishing those pouty little lips!

I also created a birth announcement for them.  To maintain their privacy her middle and last names, and birthdate were changed.  

* On a side note, the cards are a project I am working on.  My goal is to have a line of birth announcements, holiday cards, party invitations, etc.  to go with your portraits.  But if you are interested in something before the card debut let me know and I will mock up some drafts for you.  

And Baby Makes Five

For the past 22 years I have been blessed to have Liz in my life.  We have been through a lot together in our many years of friendship:  first loves, graduations, marriages, and a long list of comedic adventures that our parents still don't know about all these years later.  But for me, our most memorable experiences have been the births of our children.  I have been there for the births of her two boys, and as she says, "Real friends get each other their epidurals!"  (I was the one who suggested that if you are sobbing between contractions, it might be time to think about one.)  This was her third and last pregnancy/delivery.  But this one was extra-special.  After two boys and battles with fertility issues, finally!, she was going to have a girl.  The pink clothes!  The bows!  The mother-daughter bond!  We were all ecstatic! 
The day of the c-section arrived and my job was to 1.)  document it all and 2.) love that baby girl until the end of time.  Unfortunately I could not photograph the birth since it was major surgery and only one person is allowed in the operating room.  Dad was the obvious first choice :)!  He had a camera in one hand, a video camera in another, and a cellphone for instant Facebook uploads tucked in somewhere.  Granny, Papa and I were anxiously biding our time in the waiting room. 
Finally, after two loooooong hours our time had come to meet Miss Bella!  So little, so miraculous, looking so much like big brother Chris.  Such a tender moment for us all!  And what a privilege for me, I got to shoot it all!  The raw emotion was incredibly powerful.  This was an opportunity I hope to repeat again!  Capturing these first moments was such an honor.  I have to admit, five weeks later and I still choked up thinking about it!
This experience came with no shortage of its own unique photography challenges.  Hospital lighting which is kind of green and ugly, not to mention dim.  This meant shooting at high ISO's with my lens wide open.  Fortunately the noise was not horrible and post processing that was minimal.  But it also meant a shallow depth of field which was not ideal for all photos.  During the post-delivery bath only dads are allowed in the room, no other family and crazy photographers friends.  This meant shooting through a window.  Only it was not just any plain ol' window.  That would have been far too easy!  This window had lines on it.  Lines!  Fortunately when I got close enough that my lens was almost touching the window the lines disappeared.  In Liz's post partum room there were seven of us, her bed, the baby bassinet, and all of their luggage in a room the size of a walk-in closet.  Photographing all of this with a 50mm lens turned me into quite the contortionist.  All I can say is being precariously wedged on a sink while dangling over a bassinet with a newborn is not for the faint of heart!
Without further adieu, meet Miss Bella:

Ready for surgery!

She's here!

Granny &  Papa meet their eighth grandchild for the first time.

Out comes Mom ready to rock & roll

Shooting through the dreaded window:



Dad and Bella have their first moment to bond.



I loved watching this nurse (whose name I forgot, sorry!) just take the opportunity to share a tender moment with Bella.  This is why I love the nurses at John Muir Hospital.  A-MAZ-ING!

Steven and Chris meet their new little sister.