Evan: Six weeks old

As soon as I walked into the apartment I saw Evan in the corner of the room kicking and squirming. I thought to myself, "Uh oh, I think this is going to be a very long session." To my pleasant surprise, Evan was the perfect little model as soon as we took him outside to enjoy the end of yet another beautiful summer. It was an extremely warm day, so Evan started out a little irritated with the heat and body contact, but as soon as I stuck him in my basket he was happier than a clam! I even got to take portraits of their super energetic and goofy dog Turbo. Have I ever told you how much I love dogs? I do. A ton.

Christiana and Doug are first time parents, and observing how they handled this six-week old with such ease and patience clearly demonstrates how Evan is going to be in great hands for many, many years to come. I had a great time getting to know you and your family and hearing your cute story of how you both met. Thank you for letting me into your lives to photograph your beautiful son Turbo. Ooops! I mean Evan. :-P

Ladies and gentleman, meet Evan!

Is is Halloween, yet?







Knock knock! Special delivery!





Mommy and Daddy married, and then had me.





And we can't forget Turbo, Evan's older brother. How pretty is this dog?! Christiana adopted Turbo when she was in college, and he's been a huge part of their family ever since. :-) I instantly knew I would love this family when they told me they were crazy about dogs.

Sneak preview: Evan six weeks

Meet Evan! This little guy was so awesome! He was a little squirmy wormy at first, but as soon as we took him outside he was as happy as a clam. Here is a sneak preview of his photo session. Yep, he's yawning A LOT in my photos because my camera bored him out real quick. :-P

**Update: I was told by my friend Michael said Evan is actually singing, not yawning. :-) I like that much better!

Mikaella 21 days

As I click my shutter, pose Mikaella, click my shutter a few more times, pose her again, I think to myself, "If all parents can be so lucky." Mikaella is the baby all first time parents dream to have - she is beautiful, extremely calm, and very observant. After spending over four hours with this new family it becomes clearly obvious where she gets her gentle demeanor from. Daddy and mommy are so attentive and nurturing, they comfort her when she's squirming and cheer her on when she's "smiling" for the camera. Their soft voices tell tender stories of when they first met or how excited they were to name their baby girl and how long it took them to make sure the spelling of her name was perfect. Because every parent knows their child deserves everything that is, well, perfect.

I truly believe if photography enables me to continually cross paths with people as genuinely kind, hospitable, and humble as Mike and Claudia are then I could do this job for pennies and still find it fruitful. Well, okay, maybe not pennies but you know what I mean. ;-)

I was testing out my mock-studio skills with this photo shoot in case I get my own one day in the far, far future. :-D

Her mother is sooooo pretty!



You're pretty, too, Mike.





I don't think a baby shoot is a baby shoot without them lil toes!



Chillllin'

Sneak preview: Mikaella newborn photography

I captured this little beauty at 21 days old. She was such a little angel and let us pose her basically however we wanted. Thank you, Claudia and Mike for being such great hosts and parents! Here is a sneak preview of her session, more to come this week.

Andrew and Amy: Engagements

In junior high did you ever like someone soooo much that you would find yourself thinking, "I'm so in love I want to MARRY her!" Well, that's pretty much what happened with Andrew and Amy. These two lovebirds met more than a decade before they would finally end up together. From the way Andrew tells his side of the story, he was in love with her from the very beginning while it took Amy a few years to realize, "What the heck am I doing?! The perfect guy is right in front of me!" After witnessing how much they love each other and make each other laugh, I definitely think waiting all those years was worth every second.

I was fortunate enough to work with Andrew for two years. He is one of the most intelligent guys I know who has the humor and personality of Conan O'Brien; seriously, funniest friend I have hands down! I met his sweet girlfriend Amy shortly after they started dating. I knew he wasn't about to let this one go. Amy, as soon as I met you I knew exactly why Andrew had his eye on you for so long - you're beautiful, smart, hilarious, and super athletic. Did you guys know she's a triathlete?! Yea, 'nuf said. I see many more years of friendship with this couple, and knowing that makes me so smile. :-)

Here are some photos from their engagement shoot this past weekend.

Laughing - best ice breaker











Can she get any prettier??



Andrew is quite the looker, too!









We took photos well into the sunset, which was perfect timing for this silhouette shot

I daydream of Europe...

Sometimes I wonder how different my life would be had my parents emigrated to Belgium or France with some of their other siblings in the late 70s early 80s. Would I have been that super glamorous Parisian trotting down the street with my Christian Louboutins or would I have turned more into the ultra hipster with the faux mullet and neon Ray Bans. "Faux." Did you know that means "fake" in FRENCH?! :-) Yes, those are the random superficial things I daydream about when I try to fish for excuses to land myself in Europe.

Well... maybe my daydreaming of going to Europe will soon be a reality! I know, many folks have visited Europe once, twice, even MANY times, and it's not that big of a deal to them. But for me it's a HUGE HUGE deal! Both Mark and I have never been. We are planning a very belated honeymoon, and we're thinking of going to France, Italy, and either Greece or Croatia. We have barely scratched the surface on planning, so I'll keep ya'll posted as soon as we set our countries in stone. I sure hope all goes well...

Can't you see me rockin' the French fashion already?! Eeeeeeeeek! Photo provided by this super fun fashion website.

Sneak preview: Andrew and Amy engagements

On Saturday I had the privilege of taking engagement photos for my friends Andrew and Amy. They were soooo much fun! I can't wait to show ya'll more from their shoot. Here is one for now. :-)

Alyssa 20 days old - newborn photography

I remember posting a status update on Facebook about a month ago asking if any of my friends would let me photograph their newborns. I don't know what I was thinking when I did that because who trusts a girl who has never had a baby yet wants to handle their precious newborn?! Well! Apparently people do trust me! I am so grateful to all those friends who reached out to me and gave me encouraging words of support and mostly their trust.

Alyssa is the very first newborn I've ever photographed. My amazing friend Rhea introduced me to this opportunity when she told me her friend just had a baby and would see if she can organize the baby's first photo shoot. Now, I call Rhea amazing because simply enough, she is. She's the same friend who MADE our wedding cake from scratch! And I digress on purpose as her cake was truly the most tasteful wedding cake I've ever had; we still get compliments about it from our guests to this day! She's not only a great pastry chef, she is also extremely encouraging and optimistic which makes being around her all the more pleasant.

So after Rhea put in a good word, I was off to shoot my first newborn. I was EXTREMELY nervous, so nervous I couldn't sleep the night before. After meeting Alyssa's gorgeous mother I realized I was totally overreacting because Danielle was so easygoing and funny and carefree that I really had nothing to worry about. I couldn't have worked with anyone more calm and collected. Other than noticing things like what kind of lighting I had to work with, figuring out how to pose a STRONG newborn who loved to push us to our limits, I also noticed how much Danielle was in love with being a mother. Everything about Alyssa made her smile and laugh, even her "explosive" flatulence. :-) Seeing a mother's love for her child is like no other, and I'm glad I got to capture some of those beloved moments between Danielle and Alyssa.

A special thank you to Danielle's good friend Aileen who was there to help us. You are a sweetheart, and I can totally see why Rhea loves you two so much!




Danielle is such a gorgeous and happy mother





A true girl at heart, Alyssa already knows how to appreciate a great collection of shoes.











Hi, guys!

Sneak preview: Alyssa at 20 days

Did anyone ever tell you how hard photographing a newborn is? I mean, in the photos they look peaceful and behaved, but in reality, it takes a lot of work, sweat and tears (baby tears of course) to achieve that look. This was my first baby shoot, and I had the best time watching mother-baby interaction, the smell of newborn babies, and trying to capture those precious moments before they pass us up. Here's a sneak peak from my four-hour long session with baby Alyssa yesterday. Her gorgeous mother and bff were the perfect assistants! More photos and stories to come...

Jessica and Brian Outlaw wedding

Jessica and Brian are two people who's love for life, each other, and especially their family and friends go beyond distances any man or animal can ever travel. Mark met Jessica when they worked together several years ago. I remember him coming home with stories about his senior Jessica who had to be the nicest person he's ever met, and I mean EVER! Now, folks, Mark thinks a lot of people are nice, but when he described her I remember him saying she was so nice to the point one doesn't think people like that really existed until you met HER. I admit, I was skeptical at first because c'mon, that's a little exaggerated, right? But after meeting Jessica and Brian for dinner one rainy night in their cozy Berkeley duplex I instantly felt the same exact way Mark felt, if not more. The best way to describe Jessica and Brian is like this: these were the kids you met on the playground in kindergarten who shared their toys with you, asked you to be their best friend on the first day of school, protected you from the playground bullies, laughed with you when you thought you were funny, and cried with you when you scraped your knee. These kids grew up to be Jessica and Brian, and these kids still share their toys with you, these kids still ask you to be their best friend when they first meet you, these kids still protect you from the harsh realities of this world, these friends still laugh with you, and these friends still cry with you. Mark and I have formed an amazing friendship with these two kids, and we are forever grateful for your sincere love for us and each other. We love you, Jessica and Brian! Congratulations on your marriage, and welcome to the club! ;-)

Side note: this post is semi misleading. When most people see blogs about "weddings" they expect to see photos of the bride and groom and all the romantic decor of a wedding like the flowers, the bride's shoes, and center pieces. I would have loved to capture all these things...if only my camera didn't DIE on me that day! Yes, my camera straight up died on me, and I thank God I wasn't the actual photographer of this wedding because I didn't have a back up camera. That's the beauty of being a guest, I suppose. No pressures. :-) I did manage to get some really bad angled photos of Jessica and Brian and some better ones of the Brazilian capoeira celebrations, but being the perfectionist I am I abhor the idea of posting photos that don't capture the true beauty of who these two people are. Once their cousin/professional photographer posts his pictures I'll be sure to link it on my blog. For now, I've posted a photo of these two lovebirds taken from their save-the-date email and just a few from my own camera when it was alive.

The happy couple






Capoeira celebration was my favorite part of the day!



Leah, the blue-eyed doll

Company Picnic at Fort Mason

When I picture a summer picnic, I picture watermelons, ice cream, corn hole, frisbees, and of course SUN. Yes, sun is key to a picnic. However, San Francisco is unique. You see, in the summer SF can be one of the coldest cities in the country; tourists from around the world come here to "cool down" in the summer - that's how uniquely cold we are in the summer.

Yesterday was our company picnic, and it definitely had all the above EXCEPT the sun. In fact, we were so lucky we even got light showers! :-) Shine or no shine, the picnic was so much fun mainly because I got to photograph all the cute little kids. Man, two year-olds are FAST, and to make things worse for me they do not like the camera! Here are a few I managed to get that weren't nearly as bad, but can be a lot better if I had a better lens (like a super zoom L lens!). That way I wouldn't have to scare them away with the camera! Some are shot with my point and shoot and some with the SLR. You can probably tell the difference by now. :-)

Beautiful Bella





Micah the heart breaker. Which processing do you like better? I'm still adjusting!





Isn't he fierce?! :-)



Best friends!



What a lush!




Stay tuned for Brian's and Jessica's wedding from this past weekend. It was definitely not your typical wedding, and I loved everything about it!