meet the

Wow, what a beautiful fun family... Meet the {H} Family! One MORE awesome thing about doing what I do is the people I get to meet.  Amy is such a cool, fun, energetic mama to an adorable little Ms. K.  Daddy, Mike was the calm to the storm, or at least it seemed! Great dynamic between the family, and I was honored to catch a few fun moments with them in beautiful down town Riverside.  

Love this shot of them.... They were very easy and natural to work with.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this beautiful painted wall... Ms. K strutting her stuff in her Sweet Things tutu!

There are so many beautiful hidden areas in Riverside... And when I say hidden I don't mean remotely.  This is the door that you might drive by every day and never see... 

I am IN LOVE with a recent freebie action {Baby Max} provided from the lovelies over at Pure Photoshop Actions

Mama A was rocking these killer platforms, so we had to show them off...  

And to seal the deal, Ms. K.  Man, she's CU-UTE!! 

Amy, Mike & K., thank you so much for sharing part of your day with me! I had a great time, and I hope to see your family again, soon! 

{xoxo}

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When I say I love me some baby, you have no idea how literally you should take that.  Amongst my friends, I am notoriously known as a baby stealer… Jokingly of course, but I will almost ALWAYS ask to take a new baby home! Its just everything about a baby that twitterpates my ovaries… Sigh… their tiny feet, the way the skin wrinkles just about everywhere… the smell…

Little Miss N was born early Christmas morning.  We were scheduled to meet when she was just four days new, but Mother Nature was not on our side.  These images were taken on her eleventh day.

We decided to stay indoors, although the skies were clear, it was still more than a bit chilly for this little girl.  I was a little nervous to shoot indoors, I am still not 100% comfortable with indoor lighting, but thanks to my hubby & my gal pal over @ B. Kengle Photography, I had some new toys to play with.  {<3}

I just love the dreaminess of the series. 

For more newborn goodygoodgoodness, head on over to my portfolio.  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

And, my very favorite for last… This is a pose I have ‘seen’ done a lot, and I just love how sweet a baby pose it is.  I have tried… And tried, and tried.  This is the closest that I have come to getting it right, and if only I could get the elbows up just a bit more… well… I don’t know.  I don’t really care, this shot just melts me.  I love her face…!!

small print: if you hire me to do a newborn shoot, chances are I will smell your baby. 

Thank you, {K} family for sharing your adorable family with me. 

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Its "I Heart Faces" time, again!

Its scenic black and whites @ I heart faces this week.  From a recent family session of mine, downtown Riverside… Urban scenic- does that count?

Head on over to I Heart Faces this week, there are several ahhh-mazing images!

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If I could take a trip, and get lost in these eyes…

 

You have met my son, Jace, before… He’s one of my favorite people to take pictures of… His eyes are so beautiful, sometimes I feel like the camera can’t capture all that I see… I have been messing around today, in a feeble attempt to take my mind off things I would rather not think about today.  This is a new technique on the eyes that I am trying.  I like it a lot, but I do think it needs a little refining.  Basically I edited the way that I normally would, but then grabbed my rectangular marquee tool, and selected just his eyes… I applied a lot of sharpening, and a bit of an HDR feel to the eyes… dropped the opacity (maybe I could stand to drop it less?)- and there you go… beautiful eyes.  Its just something that I am trying out, and I think for sure there is a lot more playing that could be done with it, but… for now- I am satisfied with the picture.  Are you interested in a tutorial showing the steps I used? Let me know.  

 

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Meet the Sedillo’s!

Funny, sometimes what a small world it is.  I have lived in Riverside about 8 years now, and before that I was in Orange County, but originally here from the IE.  A few years ago I was at the market, and saw a familiar face, although at the time I couldn’t place him…. A few months or so later, I saw him again, but this time, surrounded by a beautiful family and at the park that I coach at- and where my kids play ball…. Small world, it was Anthony (although, back then it was just Tony)… I had worked with him at a small tool distribution company wayyyy back when! Blast from the past though it was, I was happy to see him, and meet his beautiful wife, Jen.  Together they have 4 really cute and sweet kids.

This is Noah.  He’s ten, I think? What a great kid, so polite, and a really good ball player… All of the kids have amazing eyes, and when I asked him to look directly at the camera, he almost looked through me! Love this shot of this handsome young man.

 

This is Kori… I had the pleasure of coaching her first year in tee ball… WHAT A HOOT she is… not only cute, she’s got the funniest little personality.  I could literally eat her up.  She and my son Jace are in the same class together at school…. I like her soooo much that THIS cheapskate bought TWO $2.00 candy bars from her… that says a lot!

 

This is Kody… He’s about three now, and he is just a little prankster!! Always stealth in that three year old way…. sneaking up on me and trying to “steal” my keys, cell phone, etc.  He is super mischievous, but in a good little boy way.  If I am having a bad day, I know this little one would be able to make me laugh in a heartbeat. 

 

Last but definitely not least, Kaulin… the baby of the bunch.  He’s right around 8 months old, and I had the pleasure of doing a session with him when he was just a tiny little baby.  While he hasn’t had as long to identify his role as baby brother in this family, I know he will be just fine… He’s already spirited and determined… did I mention ADORABLE? Look at those lips.  Sigh, boys like this make my ovaries riot!!

Glad though, that it is a small world… being able to reconnect with blasts from your past isn’t always a bad thing, and in this  case- it’s a RAD thing! Thank you to the Sedillo family for an awesome time, and for being who you are!!

light a candle...

Our family has been going through some troubled times... Its been hard, but we are all pulling together to do what we can.  Kira, my mother in law, has been in the hospital for almost a week now.  About 8 weeks ago she had surgery on her foot, and she needed to go to a rehab center afterwards in order to learn how to walk again... John and his sister, Jennifer went to see her a few weeks ago... and while her spirits weren't exactly high (I mean, who wants to eat hospital food for THAT long?), she was in decent spirits and decent health.  The visit was short but sweet, and before my husband came home we thought everything was going according to plan... A week ago tomorrow, Kira had a major seizure... Which left her unconcious and unable to breathe without support.... Unfortunately, since then there has been little to no improvement.  I have asked friends and relatives to think good thoughts and send any extras our way.

Last night, I got a text from my husband, saying "please light a candle for my mom"... Of course, immediately I did so.  He wanted a physical reminder for our boys here, that Grandma is still fighting, and that we are still hopeful.

When I lit the candle, I talked to the boys about what it meant to have it lit in our home.  I asked that every time they look at it to remember their Grandma, and to think good happy thoughts for her, and wish her well.  Jace, who is 99.9 times my wildIwillnotdowhatyouwantbutIamcuterthansin son sweetly looks at the candle and says, "Grandma, please get better soon, so my daddy can come home"... aww, that really melted my heart... I look at Johnny, and say, "Johnny:... he looks at me and says "what, I bowed?" He's taking Karate and explained to me how its the highest form of respect to another... and also added that he spilled some magical brain juice on her.  His imagination is wild!

Anyway, I thought what better way to show my husband that we are supporting and hoping, here 600 miles away... I took Jace outside my front door to take a couple pictures, and talk about grandma Kira.  Kira, if you are listening, we are still talking. 

Get well soon.



light a candle...



Do you love texture in a photo?

As I continue on my journey in the wonderful world of Photoshop, I am contstantly amazed at the process and the outcome of adding texture in a picture.  In my opinion, not every picture needs texture- and in fact, sometimes texture takes away from a picture.... This is just my opinion, but maybe you feel the same way?

I recently did an urban themed photoshoot with an amazing family with six kids.  I used texture in a lot of the post processing.

While browsing the net today, I came across this awesome link for textures! There are a ton of freebies out there, but these textures are the kind I really like.  My mind literally goes crazy seeing it all come together in my head! So much fun.

Here are a few of my images with texture...

Do you know how to add texture to a photo? If you have Photoshop, I highly reccomend Coffee Shop's "Give it Texture" action- makes it super easy and easy to achieve the desired results.

I love my little boy

This year when the kids go back to school, its going to be super hard for me... I mean, it always is, but this year will be especially.  All three of my kids will be in school this year.  Kayleigh will be a sophomore, Johnny will be in second grade, and my baby starts kindergarten... I keep thinking about what it will be like, to be home alone... I mean, yea, its only half day, but it will be the first time in a lllooonnnnggg time that I will be home alone.  What will I do when I have to go potty? Do I shut the door?

Took this picture of my little man the other day, in our backyard.  He's very good about letting me take pictures and I am grateful to have these amazing images of him.

I say it all the time, but its so true... I LOVE his face. 

The boys!

Seriously... I look at the calendar and am just in awe that its already the end of July.  Where has summer gone? My kids will start back in about a month.  I know that seems like a while, but if you know me, you know that I am super duper attatched to my kids... This year, back to school will be particulary hard.  All three of my littles will be in school, and its my baby's first year!

Yesterday was a pretty mild weather day, especially for being summer & Riverside.  Instead of being cooped up in the house, I decided to take my boys downtown for a little mini photo session.  These are a few of my superfavoriteloveshots of the session.

Here is my little tough guy, Johnny.  He looks so grown up, and ahem, if I do say so myself so BUFF! Now, really, its probably because he is holding his arms that way, but he really likes this image of himself- cause he's got "ninja muscles" Maybe this is the photo that I could use for his Senior page, when the time comes?

Again, the crazy lady laying on the ground to get this shot in front of City Hall.  I love the angle here, and the lighting was really good, too! I love how soft (without being washed out) this image feels.  His eyes are perfect!

Jace hamming it up in the alley.  One of the many cool alleys I found to peruse while walking in Downtown.
 

This was taken right outside of City Hall, there are a lot of fountains that just called out to my boys.  I love this image for so many reasons... I love the reflection of light to his face off the water most of all.

Johnny & Jace can't keep a straight face for anything!!! I had them sit down in front of City Hall for this shot.  I am sure patrons doing business wondered what this mad woman with a camera was doing laying down to get this shot.  Oh well, I say WORTH IT!

The bliss of Ever....

I have shopped at the same Stater Brothers since I moved to Riverside... Now its familiar, I know most of the employees.  About two years ago, there was a beautiful girl working there.  I don't know if you are like me in a sense, or maybe this is just a me thing... but I knew that she was rad.  Her name was Ashley... We got to know each other a tiny bit, would spend time together on her breaks, and I began to realize what a truly phenomenal woman she was... then, as fate would have it, she moved to Arizona.  Staters hasn't been the same since.... During her stay in Arizona, we kept in touch via Facebook (you know that place I live sometimes?) and she's since moved back home! Yay!! And double yay, she's beautifully pregnant with her fifth baby, and her only girl, Ever.  I was so happy to be able to take picutures of her, her man, and her adorable baby (belly), Ever. 

There is nothing more romantic and sweet, then the love in a daddy's eyes.  You can tell this man lives and breathes for his family, and I am sure as most men aren't, he isn't perfect- but I know he and Ashley are very much in love with each other, with their sons, and with their daughter.  I was shocked at how his eyes were translated in this picture.

He was such a good sport... Here is a triptych (Thanks CoffeeShop Blog) of a sweet series.... I had the idea to do this three set when I was taking these, and I think they came out just like I saw it in my head... Ash was just silly when it came to picking out the right color lipstick for her hubs... Lipstick applied, kiss(hollllld)kiss, and voila.  Ever's first kiss.

Again, another silly fun pose for these love birds... He's measuring her tummy, and she was just laughing, literally out loud. These are the shots I love to capture... She couldn't help it, and the emotion is just so real and true.  It comes together for a special image.

I have done photo's similar to this in other maternity sessions, but this composition has got to be one of my favorites.  Its Ever's 4D ultra sound, and her kicking back in the belly  behind. 

I told you she was beautiful... I love this image, and black and white was def the way to go.  I told her to bring her hubs guitar.  I loveLOVElove how the shape of the guitar mimics the shape of her belly! Her hubs is a great guitar player, and Ever is sure to get lots of lullabies.  Ash, you are one rockin' mama!

One of the last images of the day, love the capture.

And last, but not least, my most favorite (I think) of the series... Its just a simply beautiful shot. 

Thank you Ashley, Nate & Ever for a super fun maternity session.  I can't wait to meet your daughter.

This picture makes me smile, oh wait, this one too...

So for the second time in baby C's life, he got the opportunity to meet me.  That kid is cute... but what's even cuter? His parents! Wow, I was teasing them about how affectionate they were.  I hope they didn't take it the wrong way, but they were so in love with each other, its like his heart skipped a beat every time he looked at her.  Just a super sweet couple, with an adorable, very well loved son.  Here are a few previews of my personal faves from the session...

They were picture perfect... This session was done in Riverside, near the Norco border... For some reason, the Channel Seven News was there.  It was pretty odd to see a news van in the middle of the dusty parking lot! All in all a really cool location...

Love this image.... Its similar to one I took in a newborn session with this family... I think this could be our signature pose! Cute! He was just peeking through, and I happened to catch a great "what are you looking at?" expression.

Ahhh... I don't know what to say about this image- but for some reason, for me, its an exhaling kind of picture.  I really love the simplicity, the naturalness of it.  Its as if I stole a moment... This shot inspires me to take it to the next level with this same kind of shot.. Just thinking out loud here, but yes... this image makes me smile, too.