Family Portraits - Lincoln, CA

Last week you saw part one of Tania's family, now it is time for the casual part two! After a quick outfit change and the search for the right musical instrument, we began this half of the session inside their home. There were music themed posters all over the wall, and I thought it was just the perfect spot to feature dad and his girls playing their guitars.I asked the girls to find any sheet music that they could find for this next photo, and it became a full family scavenger hunt. Dad was pulling out his guitar books, while the girls were finding any piano related things they could find. I just LOVE this one so much!
We headed outside for a few more photos before calling it a day. These are a few more to add to their collection to use for their first album cover as an awesome family band :)
We couldn't allow dad to have ALL the attention, so we pulled mom Tania back in to get a few shots of just her and the girls together.
But you can't have a family portrait session at home without ALL members of the family, including those furry four legged ones! Such a trooper!

Thank you SO much for getting in contact with me Tania. I had a blast working with you and your family!

"let's do 52" - wk25

still. haven't. started.
please don't smite me.

Friday Feet - June 24th, 2011

amy - "At the bowling alley for work. It's been a slow week but it's picking up!"

emily - "a long overdue movie night with my two favorite still in CA girls, jenny & ariana. time for some pirate-y goodness"
jenny - "Lazy feet reading a lengthy novel before work"kasey - "Happy Mcdonald's Feet! Getting some dinner since I didn't feel like cooking. Spent the day cleaning my house to prepare for my husbands birthday BBQ this Saturday. Cooking dinner would just destroy my clean kitchen."

Family Portraits - Lincoln, CA

Tania came my way through my aunt, who has been helping spread the word of my growing business quite proactively. We scheduled a family portrait session together at her home with her husband and two daughters. Everything went so smoothly, I would strongly suggest considering shooting in your own home for anyone's family portraits! It was such a comfortable environment, as well as created some very personal portraits for them to keep for years! Here is just the first set of the images, the second to come next week!I LOVE this next shot. Since we dragged the bench from their front porch to the middle of their yard, we made as much use of it as we could.
We moved on through to the back yard for a few more photos in their classy wear before doing the break downs. Seriously, consider your own back yard for photos!
The family is a group of musicians (which you saw on the father's day sneak peek post, as well as more to come in next week's post) so a formal photo around the piano seemed very fitting!
While the girls were changing, we stepped back outside for a few mom & dad portraits. Always something that should be included in every family portrait session :)
Stay tuned for next week's post with part two of this fun bunch full of music, pets, and love. I cannot wait to put the post together for you!

"let's do 52" - wk24

Yesterday, we quite possibly had one of the LARGEST recitals ever. In case this is your first time coming across the blog, let me fill you in on a few things. First off, Hello! Secondly, when I don't have my photographer "hat" on, I'm also a dance instructor for Joanna's Kids R It, the same dance studio I grew up at. This year's recital had a whopping 63 numbers, and after two weeks of extra rehearsals, we survived to tell the tale. I choreographed quite a few numbers for my classes this year, as well as taught my group of 18 little ones both songs I did for my very first recital back in 1993. It was quite a feat, but everything seemed to run pretty smoothly, and now it is time to be off for a week before we go back to get ready for our state fair performances at the end of July!

Friday Feet - June 17th, 2011

amy - "Luke and i hanging out in our new recliner! Well new to us anyways. Been a good week so far!"
emily - "post dress rehearsal pre recital feet. crazy crazy friday"
jenny - "enjoying a nice summer day outdoors before heading off to work"kasey - "Curling my hair getting ready for the baby shower. All the effort Laura and I put into it was way worth it. I am a pro lumpia roller now! 8 more weeks until Konnor is here!"

Dan & Stephanie - Wedding

A week and a half ago, I had the joy and pleasure of second shooting for Georgette with G Aronow Photography. Not only was this my first full wedding of the year, but it was my first time second shooting ever! Georgette took the reins, and I followed along, doing my best to pay super close attention to details here and there. Here is a small selection of some of my favorite images throughout the day :)I failed to mention before, but it was raining almost the ENTIRE day, so we had to make the best of it when it came to portraits. Georgette set the guys up under the entryway to the church so that they stayed out of the rain and we could still use the available light for portraits.
I just LOVED the back of Stephanie's dress! Something about a pop of color right on the dress makes me happy :) And of course, Dan was pretty suave with his coat and tails
We snuck the duo back outside in order to capture some photos of the detailing of Stephanie's dress by herself. While Georgette was doing that, I was able to capture this next portrait. Love!
After toasts and cake cutting, we FINALLY had a break in the rain where we quickly swept the newlyweds outside and take advantage of the clear skies. The view in the background was AMAZING!
Big thanks to Georgette for allowing me to tag along to shoot with her for the day. I had a blast, and hope that the rest of both of our wedding seasons are just as fun!

Toe Shoe Tuesday - Aria

Sadly, all good things must eventually come to an end, which includes this ballerina project I did for the semester. I figured we needed to go out with a BANG, which is exactly what Aria brought to the table during the session! I have never seen a girl who can leap so high, or stretch her leg out as far as she could! While winding up our Roseville shoot, we ended up on Main Street, and found this little brick doorway. Becca and Lexi both came up with their individual images in this doorway, but then Aria pushed the envelope and stretched herself from end to end in the doorway. LOVE IT!
Thank you SO much to all the girls who have helped make this project come through to the finished project for this semester. I couldn't have done it without all of you amazing volunteers! If I ever come up with another ballerina related project, I will let you all know :)

"let's do 52" - wk23

I thoroughly enjoy getting things in the mail, and this week was no exception! I wanted to create something new that I could give to clients post session along with their orders as a fun little gift. Originally I was thinking t-shirts, but then dealing with sizes and figuring out colors... it was just too much to think about! After seeing Stephanie's buttons she made (I met her in Vegas at WPPI!) the ideas started forming in my head. Today, I had the perfect little model to help me out, and for her modeling skills, she got one of her own to take home with her and tell all her three year old friends about. I'm sure she'll be the talk of the town!

Friday Feet - June 10th, 2011

amy - "I'm weeding a place for my garden to be. It's very exciting! I have cucumbers and green beans!"
emily - "long thursday of working, followed by recital rehearsals... to be followed by some whose line relaxing and soft pretzel eating in order to do it all again tomorrow"
jenny - "The feet are relaxing, finally being introduced to the first season of bones by jake"

Virginia & Dave - Lovebirds

About a week and a half ago, in the midst of the crazy rain/tornado warning days, I had the pleasure of doing a couples shoot with Virgina and Dave out at the Old Sugar Mill. Since photographing Dallis there for my ballerina project, as well as having my senior portraits taken there, I was dying to shoot there again. We made it there after they interior was closed, so the entire outside was free range with no one to bring us down! And well, they were just fabulously amazing, so take a look!I just love these blue doors so much! (Same blue doors Ariana took my now profile picture in front of!) and these two just rocked it out.
Super cute building just off to the side of the little grassy area. Love love love!
After the previous image, I realized this couple was a brave one. Dave asked "Can I put her up in the window or something?" Sure, go for it? And this is just one of the MANY end results from it.
From the THREE other times I have been here, I have somehow never noticed this little area. The giant gash in the ground helps it look even more awesome! Virginia and Dave brought their best model looks with them, and look simply smashing.
I found some new areas while in the Clarksburg area to shoot besides the Sugar Mill, and I cannot wait to go back again soon! I had a blast working with these two, through the wind and everything, they did amazing :)

Toe Shoe Tuesday - Becca

You remember Becca, right? The gorgeous red head ballerina who climbed all over the underneath side of the Forresthill bridge with me to get to the graffiti? Of course you remember her! I just HAD to do some more solo shots of her when we were out with Lexi and Aria, and I'm super glad we did! She's always fun to work with, and super easy to photograph :) She makes everything look so simple! Girls like her make me LOVE my job!

"let's do 52" - wk21 & 22

So i'm making up for last week's last of post by giving you two photos today :) i totally spaced last week, and the only pictures i took aren't worth sharing... really, they're the window in my living room. not thrilling at all. anyways, here are some of the things that have gone on this week!
i've been having people ask for gift certificates, and i figured if i was being asked on multiple occasions, i might as well break down and make something generic, and still awesome at the same time. with the help of a sassy designs template, her digital papers, and a cute lorelai, i now have these as part of my products to offer. so yes! if you would like to purchase a gift certificate for yourself or someone you know, send me an email! i'm planning a super awesome summer offer with them as well, so stay tuned for that!
While you're reading this, i am already headed out to second shoot a wedding today with Georgette of G Aronow Photography. It will be my first full wedding of the season, as well as my first time as a second shooter. I spend the past few weeks working with a d300 instead of my usual d80, getting batteries charged, memory cards labeled (really, can you tell they're mine? haha) and making sure i know what to wear! I'm super excited, and i'm sure you'll hear about how it goes soon enough :)