ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes...

Last week or maybe it was a couple of weeks ago??...I had the pleasure of taking some almost newborn (I say almost because he is almost 3 months old) portraits of my newest baby nephew out in Huntington Beach. Now, I may be partial but I think my nephew is one of the most handsome babies on the planet. He has such an old soul. His eyes are serious and wise...and I could just gobble him up.


I almost missed that smile. Every time I would put my camera down to re-adjust him or move the blanket he would give his mom the biggest grin. Thank goodness for my cat-like-reflexes (LOL) because that shot almost didn't happen.









Aren't those bubbles cute!!



My nephew wasn't feeling the shoot for too long but when he fell asleep he let me move his hand to under his cheek. It totally brought me back to my Picture People days.

Yes, I did get my start at Picture People. But it was back when they were shooting all film.

Well, Erika thanks for having me shoot your portraits for the baby. He is sweet as pie...and Auntie will be gobbling him up every time I get a chance!!

I *heart* Chick-Fil-A

Today I took my kiddos out to lunch at Chick-Fil-A. It was rainy and cold and they were in desperate need of some playground time. Chick-Fil-A has an indoor play area that is amazing. Plus, I met a friend there so I got some much needed "mommy" time and the kids got out of the house. But the reason I sat down and wrote this is because when the manager handed me my milk for my two yr old, I said, "Thank you." and she said, "Your welcome, God Bless".

I don't know why it surprised me. I know Chick-Fil-A is a Christian organization, I know they lend a ton of support to the local community churches, and I know that last friday they showed "Veggie Tales" as their family night movie.

But for some reason, I was moved. To me, it feels like all things "GOD" are this tabboo that businesses shy away from. I never want to feel that way and today I am moved, today I want to say to every person that reads this blog...GOD BLESS YOU!

Thank you Chick-Fil-A!

Delores + Jeremy

Delores & Jeremy met on the picket line of the super market strikes (remember those??) Now, my husband told me not to blog this, but I can't help myself..."It was love at first strike." I truly am a sucker for all things cheesey!

But seriously, all joking aside, Delores & Jeremy fell in love & have been together ever since. The thing I love about these two is that they are such a great team. It's awesome to just sit and watch them making decisions together. They really care about what the other thinks & feels & I find it to be down right refreshing.


We went over to Balboa Park in San Diego to shoot these engagement portraits and it was a lot of fun! They were such great sports and allowed me to shoot for over 2 hours! They indulged me with every whim that I came up with, which included: sitting, standing, laying, climbing, squatting, turning, twisting, spinning and publicly dancing.



Balboa Park has the most amazing doors on their buildings. I especially liked the patterns and colors on this one because they were just perfect.






Here's a shot of the public dancing I was telling you earlier. The story behind this is, we were walking around this musician to go through this cafe that led to a grassy area that was gated off. As we were passing I was like, "That would be so cute for you guys to dance with the musician playing in the background." Now sometimes I "suggest" things to couples that never come to fruition. Which I thought was the case in this scenario but on the way out, to my surprise, Delores extended her hand to Jeremy and they started dancing! It was so special. My favorite thing about this shot is that Delores & Jeremy aren't the focal point. It gives that sense of spontaneity and makes your eye look at the musician first and then over to Delores & Jeremy.



What you can't see in this portrait is that they actually had an audience. There was a dad there with his son. And some people who were in the parking lot, stopped to watch. I was impressed that they were able to dance like that in the middle of the sidewalk. And I am glad that they did because these shots are priceless. Look at Delores' smile!


This shot was a ton of fun. I just had them lay on the ground facing each other and framed Delores' face through the opening that Jeremy's arm created. I can't take full credit for this shot though. I had seen it done a while ago by a very talented photographer (translation: I don't remember who it was) but I remember thinking it was a great idea. I had forgotten about it until I saw them laying there staring into each other's eyes and was like, "Hey! Let's try..."


The sky is so beautiful here. That was natural. I didn't do that in PS at all. I gave the colors a boost but there is no gradient filter usage...at all.


This shot is my FAVORITE in the entire session. It feels romantic and very "spanish villa-ish" I love the flowers and the intense moment before the kiss, look for this one on my WEBSITE for sure.


Well, congrats, Delores & Jeremy! I am so happy we met & I can't wait to share in your special wedding day!!!

These TWINERS turn -2-

These two adorable TWINS are turning -2-
Their Mom had a great idea of shooting their portraits at the park and using the images on their custom birthday party invitations. These two kids are so much fun and I had a great time playing with them while shooting their portraits.



She even brought some fun balloons for them to pose with. It was really sunny day and just love how the colors on the balloons "popped" out.


I have known these two kiddos since they were itty bitty babies and it has been a such a JOY to watch them grow!

Textures, Textures, and more TEXTURES

My newest addiction: TEXTURES! I love me some textures on my portraits. It just adds a little something to them that I like. The only thing is, you either LOVE them or you HATE them. And it is easy to get carried away.



Obviously, I L-O-V-E them (and lately I have been getting a little carried away) but what I love even more is Shadowhouse Creations. They have AWESOME sets of textures that are free to download and even include commercial usage rights (which is VERY cool of them).

Look at what it does to the picture below:


You can see all the grundge especially on the walls.

If you don't know how to use textures it's actually REALLY easy. First, make all of the creative color changes that you want to make to your picture.

In my example above, before I laid my texture down I ran the photoshop action "Grandma's Tap Shoes" by Totally RAD Actions.

Next open up your texture, I used one of the textures by Shadowhouse Creations,
and lay it over your portrait.

Lastly change your blending mode (I used Soft Light) in your layers palette and create a layer mask. The layer mask allows you to take a brush (be sure to change your forground color to black) to paint over the areas that you don't want the texture over (like skin tones: which I didn't do on the first above image- excitement got the best of me- but went back and did for final output).

That's it. Easy as 1-2-3.

I just recently downloaded these and so you can be sure to see much more TEXTURE love coming out your way! But if you want to see some more examples check out my album on my facebook FAN page.

Engagement Session: Tiffany + Aaron

A BIG congrats goes out to Tiffany and Aaron on their engagement! We had such a blast shooting these portraits in Laguna. The weather was perfect, the beach wasn't crowded and we both found parking spaces! Oh, it's always the little things that make me smile.


*NOTE: For the photographers out there, Lagana Beach by the Montage is by far THE best beach to shoot at. It has tons of rock formations, it's secluded and you never really run out of inspiration.



This portrait is one of my favs! I don't know why I am such a fan of headless bodies. I love to shoot perspectives of hands, feet, arms, legs...there is just something about the emotion of body language that inspires me (silly- huh??). I actually L-O-V-E-D this portrait SO much that I changed it to be the very first picture you see on my newly designed WEBSITE.



The thing I loved most about Tiffany & Aaron, is the way that they "looked" at each other. Aaron ADORES Tiffany and it radiates in the way he smiles at her, in the way that his eyes light up when she squints her nose, and the way that he holds her. These two are such a great couple and I can't wait to capture their wedding day!