This family is special to me because they were my very first clients!  They took a chance on me when I had no portfolio to show for, and I’m forever grateful that they took that leap of faith.  I shot their engagement portraits & party, and that was pretty much what I used to build my business.  Their photos booked me more gigs… and here we are today!  I can’t believe their little baby, nixon, turned one!

I love his little skinny jeans!  And hat.  And shoes!

But even with all the cute clothes, he’s happiest in his birthday suit:

I LOVE this next photo… Bookworm:

Happy birthday, Nixon!  You have the coolest parents!

I’m sure many of you can relate to this… Sylvia and I became online-friends while planning our wedding.  Our weddings were a week a part and we were both active on the wedding forums.  We were also both bloggers and coincidentally, “ran into each other” in the blogging world too.  You know how you feel like you totally know someone from their blog/fb, but have actually never met in person?  Well, I later would randomly see Jimmy walking their dogs, Kobe & Angus, around the neighborhood while I was on shoots.  As Jimmy reminded me, I once scared him.  I had just finished a shoot and happened to walk past him… it was pretty dark, but I recognized Kobe & Angus.  I said, “You’re Sylvia’s husband!”  … he looked creeped out…  “Uh… and that’s Kobe & Angus!”  …even more creeped out…  After I said that, I kinda regretted it because how was I supposed to explain to him now how I know Sylvia.  Luckily, he laughed about it when I saw him again for this session.

So if you couldn’t tell, they’re expecting baby #2!!  Frances is going to be a great big sis:

Jimmy wanted a few photos with his very first car.  It’s 20 years old!!  I can’t believe how well he has taken care of it.  It really says something about him, and you can see it in the way he’s with Sylvia & Frances.

LOVE this next image:

I also heart this last photo:

Baby Nolan and his family are special to me.  I actually photographed them when he was still in his mommy’s tummy!  I can’t believe he has turned one!  I had just found out I was pregnant when I did their maternity session too.

What a beautiful family they have:

One of my favorite things about family shoots is watching daddys get all gushy with their baby.   Even between Jonathan and I, you see how dads just play differently with their baby.  It’s a different kind of bond, and I love seeing the different ways.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE this next image of Nolan and mommy:

Nolan LOVES the water… so much, he tried to crawl into the water.  Daddy picked him up literally just before a wave got him.

Casual family time on the beach…

I love my job.  It’s such an honor to watch people grow as individuals and as a family.

Meet the Shih family.  They were here vacationing this summer, escaping the Vegas heat.  There was also lots to celebrate!  It was daddy AND little Penelope’s birthday!

Penelope & big sister, Abby:

We let Penelope take a lick of the cupcake and she was in love!

Then they changed into little pink tutus and wandered freely:

sisters…

Happy birthday to Jeff & Penelope!  Hope you’ll visit again next summer!

I really love shooting one year olds.  If you can’t tell, I have a lot of fun with them.  I actually met Fiona when she was still inside her mommy’s tummy at Sarah & Raymond’s Cafe Pinot wedding.  It’s crazy to see the adorable little one year old she is today!  We brainstormed several ideas, but when Dorothy told me that she made Fiona a teepee, I HAD to shoot it!  I convinced them to lug out this big teepee and I’m so glad we did.  One of my favorite kid sessions yet!

Don’t you love the two babies, fiona and nacho?  And this is one of my favorite family photos ever:

I really just love how they play together.

I love her giggles… and little shorts!

Another of my favs:

I also love the quirkiness of this photo with Fiona’s parents and grandparents.  The whole family!

Another fav from the day:

Goodbye!  Thanks for playing with us today!  Please join us again soon!

P.S. If you’ve signed up to receive workshop info (see my previous post), you should be getting an email from me in the next few days, if you haven’t already.  Google limits the number of emails I can send a day!  Didn’t know until I got the notice that I exceeded my limit.  Just sent out a second batch today, so if you haven’t received an email from me, you will soon!