It was so great to see this family after a few years! Its now time for sister to go off to high school!

She really is so beautiful and how great do they all look?

We had a good time here this day… I love to see families laugh together and you just know that they really have fun just being together.

Who cant resist the love between a mom and her son? That one just melted me.

I just love the mission. It truly is one of my fav places to shoot. Spring is always great here, however with all the garden angels

as they call the volunteers who tend to the gardens it pretty much stays nice all year.

The fee to shoot here is just $50 since I am a member. So if you are looking for that special place this just might be it!

I can tell you that it was SUCH a pleasure to get to photograph this sweet girl, who is soon going off to college, away from home. What a gift for mom to have this memory of her in her last times as a child.

I know for sure in my own case just the thought of my lil one going into 7th grade in 2.5 mo is mind boggling. I really dont know where the time goes?

One of my clients said that nowadays we are SO connected that many of us don’t shut down or turn off anymore. Meaning that we are constantly on our smart phones and emails texts for work. I know that I am to blame for this.

Long ago when it was the weekend we were off no contact with our work and vacations… vacations were a vacation. We did not have contact but only with those we are with. Ahhhhh beautiful were those days.

So that is my theory of where the time goes. I pray that my lil Emily will also go away to college like Kimmy… experience life away form home is good for all kids.

Thank you for choosing me to gather these times for you both. I truly loved this shoot and was SO blown away at her beauty inside and out.

Here are a few of my favs from a mini shoot I did last weekend.

Everyone looked so cute, and boy did some of these kids grow bigger since the last time I saw them!!! wow!

This was just done in my studio with a cute backdrop I made thanks to a few ideas i molded together on pinterest.

I love doing these as a filler for my clients in between their family sessions for the year.

So I get an email from the on line publicist for NBC universal Seana Johnson, that they are doing a junket for the movie This Is 40.

I have NO idea what the movie is since I have not been to the movies since she invited me to a screening of the Lorax. (sad right)

WELL…. This is 40. Raising kids not getting away with your husband to do much in life, as we are so busy with the kids.

Being a taxi, dealing with hormones, school, sports, parties you name it.  Well I missed the screening of this movie BUT I truly cant wait to see it now, the whole time I was listening to the writer talk (Judd Apatow) I was thinking this is SO my life.

TMI possibly????… even the hemorrhoid scene (OMG)

So what NBC does is, they invite the biggest blogs all over the U.S.

The ones who have the largest followers to come and interview the talent on these movies.

Then my job is to take photos of the talent with the bloggers. So here in the 1st shot is me….

So here is the princess Seana Johnson (in the middle) who makes all  the magic happen.

(who I can’t wait to see again!)

Then here is the talent I am sure you recognize…The ever so hilarious  Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd 

Here is Leslie Mann’s husband the writer/producer ( who also wrote soooooo many hilarious movies)  Judd Apatow.

Did you know their daughters are in the movie playing  the kids? Just too excited to see this!

So get out there and see this movie! I hear that we all can relate and have an enormous laugh too.

Took my son out of school this day and was debating where to take my Mr. scientist to see this fly by us.

I knew higher ground was going to be the best… San Pedro? Palos Verdes?

Well we ended up at the top of the parking structure of the Long Beach aquarium.

Turns out this was a great place… however it was hazy as to not make for clear shots, as I wanted, but here they are.

I can say what a neat experience it was…

Hearts racing, the pride you felt being an American, and just the awe of the shuttle on top of a NASA plane.

It was crowded and we had waited up there since 9:30 am with our good parking spot to see this happen.

Finally at 12:30 it was coming at us in the distance… Flying slower as it passed us.

I am so thankful that we had such a great date, my Mr. 9 year old  scientist and I.

I have SO many book templates. Some I bought, some I make…

I truly wish I had more time to have an online store to sell some like the other photogs do.

I have my favorite shops to buy digital templates.

This book is going to be too sweet!

I originally bought it for a family with toddlers or older kids but this totally works

I will have to get one for a studio sample to touch and feel. I have SO much here at the studio to look at. We highly recommend coming

into the studio to place your order so you can do just that.  This brings me to another subject….

Now what do you think this client would enjoy better this amazing album

OR a round silver thing that sits in her drawer at home? YES that disk that WE all want….

For what? to share on FB send to grandma?

Did you know that I give you that? I give every client that wants one {the archival disk} But you know…. most don’t ever ask.

You know why? Because when they come into my studio and see all I have to offer they could NEVER get at costco

or anywhere online, let alone size it right to get it to look amazing. So you can have your disk… Yep you can.

But I can guarantee that you will want it all when you come in for a visit!!!

and he has a lil something to say….

Well here is a family I can say that I have been photographing before they were married.

I first met Erin when her mom hired me to photograph her and her brother (who was a few post back under meet Emma with his new family)

Then there came that AWESOME wedding, that still makes me cry when I show the dvd of that first meeting… the 2 of you before you walked down the isle.

Then came cpt america aka Korben. Now we are on the #2 baby boy,and I JUST cant wait!

What a night… I still get the jitters when I think of the snake. EWWWWW!!!!

Thank God daddy was calm I don’t think I would have been if he was not there.

I love you all and I am SO thankful to you and all your years of loyalty!

xoxoxo

Its been almost 2 months since I have posted… been recovering from major surgery… but I am BAAAACK!!!

feels good to be back and looking forward to a  few newborn shoots this week!

Here is an idea I came up with since my Emily is off to middle school this year and leaving her awesome elementary school teachers she loved.

Pots are from home depot and the plants well… I have SO many succulents (I just clipped from my yard).

That is the beauty of them is, you can just clip a stem and stick it in the dirt and in just a few weeks it starts to root!

I used to plant all kinds of flowers and about every few months I would be out there pulling them up and paying for more and starting over.

Geez…. I remember coming home from Rogers gardens (more times than I can count) and my hubby having a fit at the $300 plus bill!

Dont get me wrong… I still love my flowers but I love the succulents so much more… I feel they are just a bit more funky modern looking and go with my decor.

Anyhow… I just used a bbq stick and hot glued the tag I printed on the computer.

It says “Thank you for helping me grow” She gave them to all her teachers she loved thru the 6 years she was there.

I thought I shot these with the “happy summer” tag I made… oh well you get the idea

I got this idea from my kids favorite store in Catalina.

Of corse the candy store… what else would it be? They had them a bit bigger than this and fuller,

however I did not want to sugar the kids up too much and make the parents mad. (hehe)

This is just a BBQ skewer and sour gummies stuck thru it. Smart and final is the best place to buy candy in bulk.

Any how… I am trying with my busy life to shoot more things like this that I do

My client are LOVING this so much!

Some are just doing 1/2 the wall some are doing 3/4 of the wall and lots of them have added another side to it.

Its something that will go with ANY decor wether you are traditional, modern, or just a mixture of california casual.

Truly makes a statement and I recommend doing this for just one  photo shoot.

something to cherish forever!