You know when you feel like you’re just waiting and waiting and waiting (all you pregnant ladies out there… you know exactly what I’m talking about 
)? Luca was like that for me. I feel like I’ve been waiting and waiting for him to arrive. Often, people around me are pregnant for what seems like mere seconds, then their baby is born. I have been anticipating this little one for quite some time now!!! His wonderful parents are dear friends of ours, and we were pregnant together for a bit. So, I’ve been waiting on Sophie’s little friend to arrive! And he is just the sweetest, most peaceful little man. I’m so excited I get a chance to see this one grow up. And also enjoyable is witnessing your friends become new parents 
Jeffrey and Kathrine, I knew you guys would make amazing parents, and I was right. I’m so beyond thrilled for the addition to your family!!!
So, this beauty was finally born (just a tad overdue). I had been waiting and waiting for that call On pins and needles I tell you! I have this soft spot in my heart for moms with overdue babies, possibly because mine have all been early and I would think, how on earth can anyone possibly go any further than this!!!! Ha. Those moms are absolute troopers Proverbial hats off to you all! Meet Kenleigh, the first daughter and first born to my lovely friend, Kalin and her husband, Kyle. It’s such a hard process waiting, but when they finally come, so worth the wait!!! She was absolutely gorgeous and oh so tiny! Here are just a few shots of her squishy, delicious, newborn goodness Enjoy!
Ok, so I love maternity shoots. I guess it’s my thing. Seriously. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. And I know what you’re thinking. It totally looks fake. How does one go about having a belly so GREAT with child that looks like it’s just strapped onto an adorable tiny little normal sized body? How does one accomplish that? I wish I knew… Ha. So this is Tiffany, less than 2 weeks from giving birth to her 3rd and 4th children. Having just gone through a pregnancy myself (ok, so it’s been 7 months…), I felt bad making her even walk, much less shimmying under fences (which, I have no clue how she could even do that…. She’s amazing). But she walked, shimmied, and lightly hiked for me. Hehe. And it was a blast (for me). I knew this would be a belly worth capturing. And it sooooo was. I’m so excited to share my first captured twin belly!!! Enjoy!
It seems as though I’ve been doing a lot of new things lately. First a senior, and now THIS!!! Can you believe this was my very first time shooting at THEE Old Shasta ruins? I mean, these ruins are on every Redding photographer’s radar. This is the go-to spot! My husband had his 8th grade pictures taken here, for crying out loud! And honestly, I’ve been wanting to shoot here, because the light is so divine. Every time I drive by (usually on the way to the lake) I think, too bad we’re all lakey, otherwise I’d stop and do a mini shoot of the kids… Too bad… Until now. So, this is the wonderful Pearson family. Aaaaand, we just so happen to be related These are Nathan’s (my hubs) Aunt, Uncle, and cousins (along with spouses and kids). And Uncle Dave, after tons of thought and consideration, wanted their pictures taken here. Good choice Uncle Dave!!! Good choice! You finally got me to bite the bullet and shoot in this popular location. And hopefully I took somewhat of a newish spin on it Maybe I’ll have to shoot here again and see all the potential this place has to offer. P.S. I had a great time with these guys. It can be intimidating to shoot family But, no, not them. We laughed our heads off and have some new insider jokes…. Hehe. Enjoy!
What a treat to get a repeat on this lovely family!!! Two years ago, I met them for the first time and did a family portrait session with them. It was freezing cold, only minutes after a hail storm. This time around I thought I’d repeat the excitement and take them on a mountain hike!!! Actually, it was completely unintentional to have them trekking through 6 inches of dust up there, but so worth it to catch the sunset (at least in my opinion, hehe), and they were such great sports This is really part two of Trey’s session (see previous blog). We did his senior portraits followed by the family meeting up with us for the grand finale. Thank you so much for adventuring with me, you guys!!! I always have such fun with you all. So much personality in this big family!
So this may come as a surprise, but this was my very first senior portrait shoot! How have I missed the glory that is senior portraits? It was great. It was fun. Trey was very laid back about the whole thing (I mean, this is really all for mom, right?). He wasn’t intimidated by paparazzi (aka, me) following him around, snapping away as he told me about his plans for next year (songwriting/deejaying/rapping or something of that nature, college, fashion design, in a nutshell) and his current hobby (football). Heck, we even talked about the ridiculous gas prices,racing go carts, and the fact that he was named after a character from the movie “Boyz in the Hood”. Conversation, strike a pose, conversation, strike a pose. It was rad I could get used to this senior portrait action. But this was really just part one. We actually met up with his family for the second half and did the whole lot of ‘em on another adventure that I will blog separately. Thanks Trey! You were a great first senior to break me in. I wish you all the best on your life journey! Who knows, maybe I’ll be coming to you for fashion advice in 10 years…
I have been so beyond excited to share the photos from this collection of my dear friend Kathrine (and a few of her husband Jeffrey). This was like a dream shoot I was slightly out of my usual element of outdoor photography and I absolutely LOVED every second of it!!! When she told me she wanted to do the shoot at home, I was thrilled for the opportunity. Their home is amazing and made for the best backdrop to showcase her beautiful belly! Nothing gets the creative juices flowing like stepping outside of your usual box. And of course, there’s nothing more inspiring than having a gorgeous pregnant model to work with!!! So, I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I did creating them.
My best friend growing up lived in the coolest place ever. She had a GIANT attic bedroom (the kind with a ceiling pitched high in the middle and edges low enough to only allow for crawling) and a balcony (which was most definitely also a fire escape) nestled in the branches of lush mountain forest. We often camped out on this balcony during the summer and sneakily called out to passersby below. Her parents managed a summer resort on the lake and they lived on location. In the off-season, we played hide and seek in the convenience store next door. I can remember the icy cold floors under my fuzzy socked little feet. We played office in the closet of the ACTUAL office that overlooked the store. We “ice-skated” on the air hockey table in the arcade. Yes, my bff had an arcade in her basement. We would borrow pedal boats and explore the “coastline”. In the winter, we had crazy sled runs down the vacant campground roads. We would crawl through the tunnels created by snow falling off the roof and piling so high on the ground that it met the roof. You know that space in between the wall and the snow (for all you snow buffs)? Yep, there It was very igloo-esque. Did I mention my best friend grew up in the coolest place ever??? Oh yes, yes I did The story gets a crazy little twist of fate when I end up marrying her second cousin, but that’s for another day, I suppose. THIS particular story is about the cute little miss that followed us around on our adventures. THIS one is about her kid sister, Kalin! Oh sweet little Kalin. I’m fairly certain that I can say she was always a short distance behind us. I mean, we were awesome. What doting 4 year old wouldn’t want to follow us around? I remember her little golden pigtails like it was yesterday. So, here we are a good 20+ years down the road, and Kalin is expecting her first baby. I was beyond excited that she asked me to capture this momentous occasion. She is officially all grown up and I find myself wondering how old I am these days… Apparently pretty darn old Anyway, we had a great time. And she brought along her husband and her first child (the dog). It couldn’t have been more perfect. Thank you so much you two! And Kalin, can I just say that your skin is amazingly flawless and I need to know your secrets! Enjoy!
“Outbreak 2011″ ran loudly through our minds as we pulled up the steep mountain driveway, maneuvering the fog blanketed landscape. Maybe this year would be different. Maybe our annual family vacation wouldn’t be tainted by the sounds of a campsite ravaged by the stomach flu. Let me just tell you that camping and the stomach flu are not a good mix. I mean, stomach flu and ANYTHING are not a good mix… But add camping into the equation and you run the risk of NEVER WANTING TO CAMP EVER, EVER, EVER AGAIN!!!!!! EVER. Yep, it was that bad. So bad, in fact, that we don’t often talk about “Outbreak 2011″. We don’t like to be reminded. So, fast forward to this year. The thought of camping… Well, have you ever eaten your favorite meal, only to “taste” it again on it’s way back out? I’m not trying to paint TOO mental of a picture, but I want you all to understand how the thought of camping feels to us now. Not gonna lie, it’s a little scary. Baby steps may need to be taken to get back up on that horse. So, Nathan’s sister’s family was given a weeklong stay at this rad 3-story log “cabin” that was 2 stones throw away from the ocean in Oregon. They extended the invitation to the whole crew. We didn’t give camping a second thought. Case closed. We’ll have to decide next year if we’re over “Outbreak 2011″. There will be much prayer and fasting involved. It’s kind of a big decision… Ha!
Sooooooo, yes. The house. It sits on a mountain side, nestled in a foggy blanket that is surrounded by redwoods, and meadows, and daisies, and amazingness. It was literally (and I really do mean literally) half the temperature of Redding. Not sure that’s saying much, since it was 112 degrees the day we left… But we like to think of it as our winter vacation in the summer. We wore hoodies, built fires in the woodstove, and hung out on the beach!!! It was great! My kids talk about Oregon often. “Mom, lets bring this new toy at Oregon” – Hahn (who thinks we should go there every weekend).The stuff memories are made from does not include (at least in my book) the stomach flu. Yay Oregon! We love you and will miss you as we do not have our own 3-story awesome log cabin. But maybe we should start shopping for one because you are THAT awesome. I will hold this trip forever in my heart Thank you for taking the time to read about the flu. I’m sure it changed your life Turns out, it was also a fabulous place to take family photos (which is really what this blog comes down to). So, we did the Millers this time. It was tough tearing the cousins apart for the whole 30 minutes that we did this. But they survived. And here is the fruit. Enjoy!
Holy smokes!!! Our city, as of late, has been completely inundated with SMOKE!!!! That’s right, a crazy, thick veil has been clouding our valley for the past month or more. Sure makes it hard to squeeze out every last drop of summer (no, kids, we can’t go swimming today because I don’t want you to hack up a lung…). Also on the list of hard things to do: plan a photo shoot. One day it will look as though the smoke has cleared and you can indeed see some blue up there. Other days, not gonna lie, it feels like a rock concert… A very smoky rock concert without the wonderful lights that look really cool when backed by smoke! So really, what I should’ve done was plan some amazing lights to bring out into the haze… Next time perhaps. But on this particular day, the smoke was only half bad and we got a lovely pinkish cast to work with. Yay for that. Much better than campfire chic… At least I think… Plus, I always love when pregnant women hike through the brush, climb on small things, get in impossible-to-stand-back-up-from sitting positions, inhale ridiculous amounts of campfire smell, all for a glorious shot of belly remembrance. Anything for the shot!!!! That should be my motto Lacy was great. I know how horribly uncomfortable I was while pregnant, so, kudos to her!!!!! And doesn’t she look so amazing??? Um, yes, she does. P.S. Lacy is also a photographer, so it’s always especially fun seeing how others do in front of the camera when being so used to being behind it. She didn’t bat an eye. Thank you Lacy! Your shoot made me happy
Leave A Comment