"New" Relatives!

On our way back from Jamacia we stayed in the Seattle area for a couple days. The second night we got to meet one of my second cousins (whom I had never met) and his family! I wasn't planning on taking out my camera but in the morning I noticed the wonderful light coming in their dining room window and couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a few shots of Casie, my cousin's daughter. I think these turned out great and I am glad I broke out the camera for this quick 2-minute "session!"

Catching Up!!!

Well, I am a bit behind on posting here on my blog. We had a family vacation the first part of April and met three other families in Jamacia! We took our time getting there (not really by choice).... driving to Seattle April 1st, flying out April 2nd to Dallas for a one-night layover, and then getting into Jamacia on April 3rd just to get on a shuttle for 2 1/2 hours to get to the resort! But once we were there it was great and the highlight was definitely seeing our good friends from when we lived in San Jose, CA!

Here are some scenic shots of our surroundings for the week. Not bad....!!




This was the beautiful view from our room. It was very relaxing sitting on the couch with the sliding doors open and the breeze and ocean noises gently rolling in!

Sunny Outdoor Session!

This past weekend I had a Master Photographer come to assist me with some professional development. One of the things we worked on was tough lighting situations. These Environmental Portraits were taken at 10am - not your best time for outdoor portraits! But we worked with the light and added some fill flash and/or a reflector to make these spectacular portraits! A special thank you to Judy and Sam for helping us out on this beautiful day!

It is hard to tell in these small samples (as Environmental Portraits are meant to be printed BIG!!) but there is a twinkle in Judy's and Sam's eyes in each portrait and they look great!

Now in Ella Bella!

I now have three large prints displayed in Ella Bella! The store is located in the same shopping center as Tony Roma's on Gage Blvd, next to Costco. Please stop in to see the results as I think they look very nice displayed over some of Ella Bella's premeire cribs! These are the images that made it onto the wall!

Birthday Party Portraits!

Well, my daugther had her 4th birthday party the last weekend in February! The theme was a makeup party and each girl came in a pretty dress then we painted nails and applied a "light dusting" of makeup. As one of my thank yous for the parents I took a couple pictures of each of the girls and will print out a few images for them to have. I think they turned out super cute and here are some of the results!

Unfortuately with all the shuffling of kids into the studio I didn't even notice my own daughter didn't make it in for a portrait. (Big sad face!)

Boy Baby Session!

And here is Mr. Little Man from last week. He was a mover but I managed to catch him in a relaxed pose and looking at the camera - double bonus!!! His mom thought he should have lasted longer during the session but he got cranky quickly. Well, it turns out he was coming down with the current flu bug and spiked a rather high temperature later that evening!

This image and the image in my previous post have a special purpose - they will be featured hanging in Ella Bella, a local childrens' botique, sometime in early February! I am very excited about this and will post more later on this topic!

Girl Baby Session!

This little sweethart had a pretty big audience "egging" her on. Mom, sister, great-grandma and an adult cousin! I don't think she knew quite where to look at first, but she definitely liked my flashing lights!!! She would look up and grin at those lights and then look back at her audience and be all proud of herself! But I think my favoite of the session was when I got her attention in a moment (if possible for a baby) of quite contemplation! This image was processed with a "Half Sepia" technique to give it a little more of an antique feel but also retain some of the warm colors. Check back soon, I will be adding more from this session!