Miss Olivia Turns One - Orangevale, CA

A part of being a photographer that I absolutely adore is being able to document the big moments in life.  While weddings are a big passion of mine, family portraits are just as special in my eyes.  I've been photographing Michelle & Keith since their engagement session, and last November I photographed their first family portrait session with little Miss Olivia at just 3 months old.  I couldn't believe it when Michelle contacted me about photographing Olivia for her first birthday.  Had 7 months really zoomed by that quickly?  I met up with these two lovely ladies in June and had a great time chasing Olivia through the grass to capture her on the go and full of personality to celebrate her upcoming birthday.  Here are just a few of my favorites of this sweet girl.
Michelle also took advantage of this first birthday portrait session to bring in a little surprise for the grandparents - and of course anyone else to see their photos!  My dad works with Michelle's mom, and said everyone was raving about this next one.  She just looks so adorable intently "reading" this special story just for her.  And how perfect is it that the little piggy is named Olivia?
Congratulations again to Momma, Dad & now Big Sister to be!
I am certain this little one had a great birthday full of love from everyone around her.  She is simply as sweet as can be.

Aileen Turns 16! - Downtown Loomis Portrait Session - Loomis, CA

The last week of March, my little sister turned the big 16. We were both on spring break last week, so between my quick trip to SF, her room painting, & other projects here and there, we were able to get out for an afternoon and document her at this age. Unfortunately, not ALL parties involved were thrilled with the idea of the first part of the project, as you can tell by the stressed out cat on the leash. I promise you, he is TOTALLY chill with being on a leash, but apparently when it wasn't HIS idea, he wanted nothing to do with the word cooperation :) Whiney baby cat got a break for a bit, and so I made Aileen get down and (not so) dirty for probably one of my favorite portraits of her in a long time... and that was just the START of the shoot. After an outfit change, and allowing Mushu to go back inside, we headed in to town for some more casual photos. I've seen this wall time and time again outside of my dad's office, and I was FINALLY able to put it to good use. Be prepared, the second one is another FAVORITE :) We crossed the road over to the train tracks because what is a teenage portrait session without a rockin' train tracks shot or two? LOVE this next one! One last stop around another building in town, before calling it good. Or maybe I should say before calling it EXCELLENT. It's hard to believe it has been over 5 years since I first photographed my sister, and the comparison between then and now is crazy! I think it's pretty safe to say she's aged well, and that my photography has also improved!
I'm hoping to get her back in front of the camera to show off her Drum Major "L-Pattern" accomplishments. That may take some bribery though. :)

Tristan turns 3! - Red Bridge Portrait Session - Fair Oaks, CA

A few weeks ago, I met up with another one of my Aunt's co-workers for a portrait session. This time, it was to celebrate the fact that this little guy turned three! Tristan was a little ball of energy to work with, and so much fun! Our session took place in Fair Oaks by the red bridge, and wound our way down to the river. The location was fantastic, the family was awesome, and the weather was perfect! What more could a photographer ask for?Tristan loves his little cars, so of course a little "off roading" in the sand was a fun way to bring them in to the sessionAfter tired out by his cars, Tristan got a little fishing 101 from Dad, and he was good to go to "catch" those big fish! We even saw a giant salmon swimming down stream!We snuck in a quick family photo before he was right back to having a good time around the water. Tristan was super excited about seeing the rock splashes in the water!Then, it was on with the rainboats and after a little bit of convincing, in to the water for some super puddle splashing.We raced back to the cars, but a quick play with the sand and a family photo came first! Tristan totally beat me up the hills... BOY is he a speedy little guy!Hey Tristan! -plus Mom & Dad, of course :)- I had a fantastic time playing around with you and taking pictures of you fishing and rock throwing! I hope you had a good time, and I hope Mom & Dad had some fun as well too :) I hope to get to do some photos for your next birthday, if not sooner!

"let's do 52" - wk44

The day has come and gone, and I survived. No, not a terribly monumental birthday like turning 18 or 21. Yesterday I had the big 2-3, and spent it pretty simply. Kicked off the day at a marching band competition (the exact same one I spent my 17th birthday performing at) watching my sister compete. The latter part of the evening was spent with good friends, good food, and having an all around good time. Pretty simple birthday if you ask me, but sometimes that is all that a birthday needs to be :)

Kent Cake Smash Session - Modesto, CA

The last time I did a cake smash session was well over 2 1/2 years ago when I worked in a portrait studio. Now that this little guy turned one, Lisa churned out her cake decorating skills (and thrift store crafty skills to make a cake stand) and got to work planning for Kent's one year session. We started off (quickly) with one outfit, and piece by piece took away to get him ready to dive right in to the cake. It's always entertaining to see how the little ones react to the cake smashing idea. Kent had his hesitant moments, but he was also ready to dive right in at the same time!Kent was so excited about the initial cake smashing, that he full on knocked over the stand! Sure made for easy access once that obstacle was out of his way :)Love this face!
Sure was quite the mess to work with, but it was a fun experience to say the least! So if you have an almost one year old and no fear of messes, this is TOTALLY the way to go!

Desmond is Seven - Modesto, CA

A few weeks back I headed out to Modesto for some cousinly hang out time as well as 3 important photo sets.  One of those three just happened to be for Desmond's 7th birthday photos.  After a fashion show of wardrobe choices, we headed across the street to the park to do some photos oh him, as well as next week's blog post of Kent.  We picked a few of the best shady spots to work in and let Des do his thing.  Although blinded by the light at some points, he did a pretty dang good job!

We decided to try a new spot, just to add some background variety.  The sun was rather bright off the concrete, so here's Des doing his best model look.  Or just trying to express to us the playground with Lorelai sounded SO much more exciting :)

a quick lie down in the grass, and then he was set free to run about the playground, like 7 year olds are SUPPOSED to do... not take anymore silly picture.  That's okay, it became Kent's turn soon after.  You'll see him next week though, so see you soon!

Aileen - 14 yr photos

my sister turned the big 1-4 this past march. we have been randomly goodwill shopping and finding her some dresses, and since this pink one was such a hit, i made her dress herself up, and go down to the park for some photos. oh, and a couple other outfits as well as her oboe for a prop... aaaaand her crazy cat mushu... who walks on a leash. ah, i do miss my days of TPP with photographing animals more often. i defn. got more accustomed to working with dogs that way. haha. although, i think mushu was more excited than she was. here is a small sampling of some of the photos :)he's such a snotty looking cat in some of these. just goes along with that quote about dogs having owners and cats having staff... at least he didn't go cross eyed! ;)