pascale wowak photoblog

Maggie, Conor & Charlotte

This wonderful family lives several states away but they come back to visit family in California (where I first met them and they became clients of mine) every year for Christmas.  So, we always schedule a family shoot during Christmas week while they are in town so we can continue our annual tradition!  It's such a treat to see how much the children have grown and changed in a year's time span.  Last time Annelys was pregnant and this time I got to meet baby Charlotte!   The poor little thing was under the weather and not anywhere close to her usual effervescent self and yet, despite this, she was BEYOND adorable and cute!  

I was also able to meet their Au Pair, Gretchen, and get some pictures of her with the kids and family as well.   It was, admittedly, a slightly chaotic shoot but with three adults, two rambunctious kids, a ridiculously cute little baby and one high energy photographer, we totally pulled it off!

Annelys and Sean, I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Lily, Maya & Rowan

This is another long time client family of mine whom I just recently had the pleasure of visiting again for the arrival of yet another little girl in the family!  Three gorgeous girls!   I think I captured approximately three BILLION amazing images, so it was really incredibly hard to narrow down the sneak peek.  I had to just accept that many personal favorites would just have to wait for their eyes to see them when they get the CD package.   Lily and Maya could not have been more cooperative and ridiculously cute.  I was able to get an inordinate amount of stunning sibling shots which can be (let's be honest here!) incredibly hard with a 4 day old newborn, a 2 year old and a 4 year old.  But they were DELIGHTFUL and fun and responded so fantastically well to my antics. In fact, mom had warned me that Maya refuses to have her picture taken and when I initially asked her to let me take her picture she responded with an emphatic NO!  Two minutes later she was mugging like crazy for my camera.  So, yeah, that was certainly rewarding!  :)

Kim and Doug, thank you for welcoming me into your loving home a mere 4 days after giving birth to little Rowan!   I had a great time with you all and hope you are thrilled with the images we created that day!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

Brayden

This was such a fantastic session!  I instantly fell in love with Brayden, which of course, was so easy to do because LOOK AT HIM!  But besides being the perfectly plump newborn, he also had  the most mellow disposition.  I was able to do so much with him!  And after spending some time with his parents, it's easy to see why he has such a chill disposition.  Mom and Dad could not be more relaxed and easy going.  In fact, Robin is hands down the most relaxed first time mom I've ever met.  Nothing fazed them and they just went with the flow and were totally comfortable leaving me and Brayden to do our thing!  I love that!  I was extra thrilled when I found out dad is a firefighter and wanted to get a shot of Brayden in his helmet as this is a shot I had wanted to do for a while now but never had a baby as cooperative as Brayden to make it happen.   He was such a rockstar.  As a side note, I want to make sure it is VERY clear that there were two hands on Brayden in that position AT ALL TIMES.  Mom was holding him from behind and dad was holding the helmet from the side and was photoshopped/cropped out.   Safety is paramount in newborn sessions and I don't want someone seeing these images and thinking you can just plop a baby in a helmet and snap away.  I've seen some scary stuff out there on the web with regard to newborns and inexperienced photographers and I just really want to make a point here.  Safety, comfort and common sense....  Brayden was an angel and totally cool with everything so we knew we could pull this off.   Robin and Christopher, thanks for welcoming me into your home and allowing me to capture this special time in your family's journey.  It was an absolute pleasure meeting you both and spending some quality time with the most mellow baby on the planet!  My womb is still aching.....  :)

ENJOY your sneak peek!

Kenzi& Bodi

I just adore this family to bits!  We always do our shoots at a new location and since we do several shoots a year, that means we get to go on lots of adventures together!  This just may be my favorite one with them (with the possible exception of our very first shoot together when Elisa was pregnant with Kenzi, which I hold near and dear to my heart).  We did the shoot at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

I need to give MAJOR props to the director and staff at the museum because they were uncharacteristically accomodating and welcoming.  The director even gave us a mini tour to show us some spots with good light seeing as all the gallery areas are obviously too dark for natural light shooting and flash isn't allowed in the gallery rooms.  There is usually so much resistance from museums and I've experienced some really unfriendly staff at other places but they were absolutely wonderful here.  I plan on coming back with my kids during Christmas break because the museum is STUNNING (designed by the same architect who did the Musee D'orsay in Paris, which happens to be my favorite museum in Paris) and the exhibits running right now are fabulous.  So, I'll be back in a couple weeks for personal reasons!

I absolutely loved this venue and although you wouldn't think a museum would be the best place for a almost 2 year old and infant, we somehow totally rocked this session.  Kenzi does this crazy cute stuff with her mouth/tongue and I captured several of what I call "the  many faces of Kenzi."   Her baby brother could not possibly be any cuter either.  Elisa and Peter, I hope you love this sneak peek.  I can't wait til our next adventure!

Danielle

I've had the tremendous honor of documenting my friends Dave and Kristy's "journey" together from their engagement, to their wedding, then pregnancy, then newborn pics of little Dani, then family photos and Dani photos a couple times a year since her birth.    They are near and dear to me and Dani always makes it highly enertaining.  She is quite the fiesty little thing and now that she is 2 her favorite word is "NO", but she says it SO incredibly sweetly with a little high pitched sing-song voice that you can't help but giggle even though she flat out refuses to do anything you ask her to!  Ha!  

I know Kristy was really worried that I hadn't been able to get anything due to the (very normal) terrible 2's behavior but in between the tears, protests and tantrums we actually had some very lovely, fun, happy and delightful moments!  2 yr olds are all over the place emotionally and it's quite entertaining (when you aren;t the parent of said 2 yr old!) to watch them go through their wide range of emotions and erratic behavior.  It also didn't help that it was almost 100 degrees outside and we were all melting!  And yet, we still got GREAT shots!  How can you not with a little girl who has a smile like Dani's!?

We were able to use the same venue for this shoot as where they were married and that was an extra special treat.  I love the Saratoga Mountain Winery!  Such a gorgeous location!   A couple quick notes too, the picture of Kristy's legs and the pendant is to honor her MAJOR accomplishment of completing the Half Moon Bay 26.2 miles marathon just 3 days prior to the shoot.  Talk about AMAZING.   I could never EVER do that.  Aside from my right knee never having recovered from my big injury last year and me not being able to run anymore, even when I WAS running quite regularly, the most I could ever do was 8 miles and that was on a really good day at a really slow pace on a really flat course!  26.2 miles is superhuman to me.  And so MAJOR props to her.   And, clearly, the end result of all that training is those FANTASTIC legs of her.....I'm insanely jealous.   In fact, with every passing year she just looks more and more stunning and fabulous.  Motherhood suits her well!  

Without further ado, a few favorites from our session:

Norah, Leah & Caleb

This is one of my long time favorite families!  I just lurrrves them so much!  Norah and Leah are always in RARE form and I can predictably expect a FULL array of expressions and antics.   The girls are lively, funny, witty and always give me more than enough "material" to work with.  They feed off me and I feed off them and together we create magic!  Also, as you will see, the girls have the most INSANELY GORGEOUS eyes you will probably ever see on this planet.  I have NOT in any way enhanced the color of their eyes.  This is the real deal folks.  Truly mesmerizing.

Also, this time there was a new little brother in the mix!  The family welcomed little Caleb just three weeks prior to the shoot (which is not an age I usually photograph for newborns for a variety of reasons, one of which we discovered when this big boy couldn't fit in any of the baskets, hahaha!) but Amanda didn't want a highly stylized newborn shoot, rather she wanted images of Caleb seamlessly integrated into the family shots and a much more natural, intimate approach, so that's what we focused on and I loved it.

Amanda & Andy, I know you know how much I adore you guys but thought I'd mention it again here just to make it all official-like.  :)

I hope you love your sneak peek!

CONGRATULATIONS again on Mr. Caleb, he's absolute perfection.  May I have him?  (*smile*)

*** CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW ***

Elisa, Peter, Kenzi and.... ?

Kenzi's little baby brother doesn't have a name and it's killing me because I WANT to KNOW!  Because, clearly, it's all about me....  Hahahaha! :)

My devoted blog followers will instantly recognize this beautiful family as I get to photograph them at least 3 times a year.  I captured Kenzi in utero, so to speak, and then as a newborn and every few months afterwards.  SUCH an honor and delight to be able to do that.  I feel like I really KNOW Kenzi and her parents and we are all so comfortable around each other, it's just a whole lot of fun!

For their second pregnancy shoot we decided to go to Stanford University as they are both alumni and the campus holds special meaning to them.   It was a gorgeous day and not too packed with tourists.  Elisa has a knack for making pregnancy look GOOD.  She is so glowing and at ease and confident well into the end of her pregnancy.  She just exudes such calm confidence about it.  She's a natural.  I joked that she should have "plenty more babies" and I think I saw Peter clutch his chest in a mock panic attack... :)

Elisa and Peter, here's your little sneak peek, I hope you love them, and I cannot wait to meet Kenzi's little baby brother!  I hope he has the same amazing head of hair that Kenzi had!  See you soon!

Side note:  the picture of Kenzi pitching a fit near the end is hands down my favorite image I've taken this year.   Seriously, if that doesn't perfectly represent the terrible two's then I don't know what does.  I particularly LOVE how Elisa is cracking up watching Kenzi's little drama-fest.  Fantastic!  :)

Elliott, his mom & a lavender farm in full bloom....

Sounds pretty dreamy huh!?   Well, it most certainly was!!!   This was one of the most magical shoots I've been on.  Everything about it was just pure joy, light, happiness, love, and sheer beauty from start to finish.  Driving up to this private lavender farm near Carmel I was mesmerized by the wild turkeys crossing the road, the rolling hills, the beautiful horses etc...  And then after the final turn on this 100 acre piece of property, I landed at the lavender fields which were in FULL bloom and about to be harvested (the very next day!).   I could SMELL the lavender before I could actually see it.  I was in heaven!

And then I walked up the steps to the adorable little green cottage at the top of the lavender farm field and was greeted by the adorable 20 month old Elliott and his super sweet mama.   Elliott is SUCH a happy boy!  He was absolutely delightful the entire shoot and just charmed me beyond words.  Nicole and I instantly hit it off and I ended up spending two hours just having a wonderful time photographing them and wandering around the property on this fantastic little Kubota RTV that the property owner graciously let us use for the shoot.   The whole session was just TOO much fun.  

Elliott was one of the most expressive and communicative little toddlers I have ever met.  Very focused and attentive and SO receptive to our direction and engagement with him.  Nicole and Elliott are incredibly in tune with each other and I really enjoyed watching their loving and playful dynamic.

I ended up with a RIDICULOUS amount of FANTASTIC images from this shoot so it was very very hard to narrow it down to just a few favorites for the sneak peek blog post!  Hopefully this will give you and idea as to how fabulous the shoot was!  I was able to really play with a variety of different lighting techniques and at the end I just relied on nature's gorgeous, perfect, natural sunset light.

A few notes:  

1) The little green house at the top of the hill in the last few shots is their cottage and I positioned everything so that it would be in the frame, I love including elements that have personal attachment/meaning.

2) No kittens were harmed in the process of taking the kitten shots, PROMISE!

3) If you don't know what a Kubota RTV is, google it, it's like the coolest thing on the planet and I want one.  Well, first I need 100 acres of land, but then, once I have that, I want a Kubota too.  HA! :)

Nicole, enjoy the sneak peek! 

Quinn, Reilly and Tyler

This family was my SECOND ever "real" clients when I officially launched my business 6+ years ago.  I *instantly* fell in love with them and hoped beyond hope that they would love their pictures enough to hire me again (even though I truly had a lot yet to learn about photography).  Fortunately, there was enough "heart and soul" in my image creating process to make up for my lack of technical expertise and they did hire me again.  Phew!  In fact, I've been able to photograph them a few times a year every year since that first wonderful shoot.  I've been able to chronicle and document every major milestone for their now THREE kids (!) and it's been the biggest honor for me to be able to do that.  I am VERY bonded to those kidlets and simply adore mom and dad.  I consider myself very blessed that they found me.  :)

Little Tyler has gone through a really rough year medically speaking and so it was just so fabulous to see her bust out some of her famously HUGE smiles.  They are truly contagious.  You can't look at that girl smile and not be grinning ear to ear yourself.   She still has a long recovery ahead of her but she just keeps getting better each time I see her and it warms my heart to witness the undeniably strong and powerful love there is in this family, across every family member.  And it also extends beyond their tightly unit family unit, so much so that the grandparents have been huge sources of emotional support throughout the stress of the past year.  It just so happened that Bryan's parents were in town when we did this shoot (they had been visiting for several weeks all the way from South Carolina!) so we were able to include them in the shoot as well!  It was a pleasure meeting them and I hope they love the images we captured despite all the chaos! Ha! :)

Bryan and Tara, you know how dear your family is to me.  Thanks for letting me play the small role I get to play in the journaling of your family's memories!

ENJOY!

 

Kenzi

It is such a special blessing when I get to see a family as often as I get to see Kenzi and her parents.  I've had the unique privilege of being able to photographically chronicle her journey in life, every major milestone, since she was in uteri! Being able to capture her every few months has allowed me to really get to know her, her family, and watch first hand as her personality (and her chunky little body) grows and changes.  Kenzi has always been the quiet, composed, introspective type.  She was an amazing newborn to photograph because she was so calm and mellow.  When she looks at you, she doesn't just look at you, she GLARES INTO YOUR SOUL!  She is a very self assured little girl and you can always tell that she is processing everything that is going on around her.   This session, I particularly enjoyed watching mom and dad communicate with her in sign language (something I also did with my first born) and seeing how well it worked to ease her communications.  She has so much to say and the sign language is vital to her being able to feel "heard."  Kenzi's smiles don't come easily as she is far too busy taking in everything that going on around her.   She is not easily distracted from the task at hand (in her case, exploring) or her own agenda (which rarely coincides with her parent's agenda! Ha!)  I know this personality type well.  Ellie was very much like that too.  Smart, passionate, willful little girls who will eventually rule the world....  :)  

Kenzi is unknowingly expecting a little brother in her life fairly soon (the pregnancy shoot is in just a few weeks!) and I'm incredibly excited to be able to continue chronicling this family's journey as they welcome a new family member into the mix!  Elisa & Peter, enjoy your sneak peek and I'll be seeing you guys again real soon! :)

Alice, May & Baby Clara

It's become quite clear that every time I get to photograph this family, magic happens.    The entire family is an absolute delight to photograph but my relationship with the girls is truly something special.  It's just seamless from beginning to end.  The girls are full of vibrancy, joy and BIG personalities.  I can't get enough of them!  This time was particularly bittersweet for me because I was able to meet the latest addition to the family, little baby Clara, and also say goodbye to all of them as they are moving back to England in a few short weeks.   This just gives me one more reason to visit England next year, as far as I'm concerned....

We started out at their beautiful home and then headed over to The Elizabeth Gamble Gardens and finished off at Stanford, which has special meaning to Richard and Marta.   I was also blessed to have my own personal sherpa on-hand as Marta's brother was visiting from Europe and he graciously lugged all my equipment to alleviate my knee (which is in a brace from my knee injury/fracture/nerve damage etc..)   He was an absolute sweetheart, and so amazing with the girls.  He also happens to be Clara's godfather so we had to get some shots of the two of them together.  The girls clearly ADORE him so it was extra fun having him around.

We had so many amazing images that I put together another slideshow for them, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.   I am definitely going to miss you guys!!!

ENJOY your images! (be patient with loading, it's a biggie)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW.

 

Dani @ 15 months

For you long time readers, I know Dani will look very familiar.  I've photographed her journey into her parent's lives since before she was even a twinkle in their eye!  Kristy and Dave are dear, long time friends of mine and I've had the unique honor and privilege to document their engagement, wedding, pregnancy, newborn shoot, multiple family shoots and just recently a mini shoot celebrating Dani's highly mobile state at 15 months!   Kristy also needed a few new headshots for her business so we grabbed some of those too!  (side note: if you are looking for a FABULOUS wedding coordinator, definitely check out Kristy's blog HERE)

Dani, as per usual, was completely averse to my camera.   When the camera is gone, she is all smiles, laughter and giggles.  As soon as the camera comes into view she either glares at me (at which point she looks frighteningly like her father....hahahahah) or runs away.  She is a tricky one.  But, despite her constant attempts to evade me, and her newly highly mobile state, I still managed to capture her being her adorable self and even got some with that radiant smile of hers.  You now what that means Dani?   That means I win.  So there.   Hahahahaha!  :)

Here's a few favorites from our mini session together.  LOVE YOU GUYS!

Dani refused to sit in my little chair, sit in or on my colorful bucket, wear my super cute hat I brought her, or let me use my OCF set up due to her running in every which direction, but all is forgiven because, well, hello, how cute is she!?

Kassidy Rose

My shoot with this lovely family had been rescheduled a couple times already due to bad weather and on this particular day, although the entire previous week had been a torrential downpour, and the entire following week was also supposed to rain, this day was supposed to have sun!  In fact, when we arrived it was BLUE SKIES ABOVE and I was utterly convinced we would be *just fine*.....

Within moments of starting the shoot, the blue skies were quickly replaced with dark, dreary cloud cover and drizzle.  This quickly turned to RAIN.   In the 6+ years that I have been shooting professionally I have NEVER been rained out.   I have to give HUGE credit to Boris and Briana for not panicking and being willing to go hide out in a lobby for about 15 mn and wait out the rain.   I don't think most people would have been that optimistic or willing to just roll with it and see what happens.

As luck would have it, that series of rainclouds DID pass through and we expeditiously ran outside and down to the beach to grab whatever sunlight we would be granted!  Turned out we only got about 20 mn of sunshine but boy did we make the most of it!  

After that, another series of stormy clouds and freezing cold winds swept through.  By that point poor little Kassidy was chilled to the bone and none too happy about everything that we had put her through (including outfit changes! Sweet thing!).  I have to point out that Kassidy is hands down the happiest baby I have ever encountered.  ALL smiles.  Despite the fact that she was so cold and her nose was running from the frigid temps.  I don't know many babies who would have been so pleasant under the adverse weather conditions that we had.   That sweet little girl was an absolute ANGEL.

When the second set of rainclouds came in we decided to take shelter indoors at a local pub/restaurant where Briana used to work a long time ago and a place that has a lot of personal meaning to both Boris and Briana.   It was like walking into the Cheers bar, everyone saying Hi to Boris and Briana and fawning over Kassidy!  Absolutely adorable.   I moved a table into a spot with some window light, boosted my ISO to 1600, changed lenses in order to be able to shoot wide open at f1.8 and basically, just made it work.   I'm delighted with what we were able to capture in there and Kassidy was much, much happier after thawing out a little bit! Ha! :)

Boris and Briana, thanks for being so incredibly flexible and just going with the flow and trusting me to make it happen.  We are a great team!  Kassidy is absolutely precious, you are very blessed! :)

ENJOY your sneak peek!

Navia

First things first, I just adore the name Navia!  I did a shoot 3 years with Navia's older brother (who is the youngest of her three older brothers!) commemorating his 1 yr birthday.  The family has a tradition of doing a shoot for that (utterly adorable) age.  I have mentioned before how it is my absolute favorite age to photograph.

Navia looked just like the female version of Russell!  It was total deja-vu for me!  (I actually have a shot from his session in my blog banner, look up, with the tag Discovery).  The family's (incredible) home was full of window light so I was able to do the entire shoot using only natural light and one lens: my 35mm f1.4L.  It's my go to lens for all my newborn and indoor baby shoots.  It's fast, light, sharp and a great focal length to work with.  I love love love how it lets me get really close to the babies to tickle them, play peekaboo and interact with them.  I am able to get them engaged in the shoot and with me, resulting in a great connection where I can get those delicious (new) toothy grins.  LOVE!

Navia's jet black curly locks (a gift from her beautiful mama) and soulful eyes are hard to resist.  I couldn't get enough of her!  :)

The shoot was primarily Navia but we also got a few of her and mom since that was what we did last time with Russell.  The Hungry Caterpillar book has been in every child's 1 yr photo shoot so there was quite a bit of emotional attachment and tradition in those shots.

Here are just a few favorites from our session.  Erika and Bernie, ENJOY!  :)

Audrey (aka The Gerber Baby)

I defy you to look at this 6 month old baby and not immediately think of the Gerber baby.  I mean, it's uncanny.  Down to the dimples and melt-your-heart smile.  It's fairly easy to see where she got her adorable good looks!  I had such a wonderful time photographing this new family.  The love they all have for each other is absolutely palpable.  Watching the joy in their eyes as they looked at their daughter was so touching.  Nat is so tender and sweet with Audrey and Kelly lights up around her little girl.  As a unit, they are just completely in sync and over the moon for each other.  It was quite adorable to watch unfold as I documented their interactions.  Needless to say, Audrey was just about the easiest baby I've ever had the pleasure to photograph.  That, combined with her super sweet parents and perfect weather/light, resulted in a most delighted shoot!  The best part, perhaps, was that Audrey has *just* mastered the art of sitting up alone.  The timing on this shoot, which had been scheduled months ago, was absolutely perfect! :)

Nat and Kelly, thanks for hanging out with me on such a gorgeous day and letting me capture these images. Here is your sneak peek (and there's TONS more on the CD's)!  ENJOY!!!

(as a side note, this shoot was gifted to them by someone who loves them very much.  I can truly think of no greater "tangible" gift to give a new family!)

Kenzi & Evie

This is my 5th shoot with Kenzi in the span of a year (if you count the pregnancy shoot!) and it's been such a delight watching her grow and being able to document it for her parents.  They change SO much even in just a few short months, it's absolutely amazing.  That first year is just one of so much growth and development.  It's fantastic to be able to chronicle all those changes and "firsts" for Kenzi.   We had scheduled this shoot to coincide with mom Elisa's twin sister Erica, and her daughter Evelyn, being in town so we could get some great shots of the cousins together.  Naturally, Elisa and her twin are very close.  So, it's pretty cool that their daughters are so close in age (only 5 months apart) as they grow up with a similar bond as well.   

The weather was a bummer though.  We had intermittent rain the whole day and rescheduling was not an option.  So we had to come up with an indoor location.  We decided on the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Luckily for us it was mid week during "slow" season so the place was not its usual packed self, but even then, it was still very busy.  In retrospect, that location was probably not the best for this age range but despite the challenges it (and the weather, and the crowds, and the light) presented to us, we absolutely made it work and still ended up with fantastic images! YIPPPEEEEE! As a side note, that Kenzi girl can EAT!  She is a *machine*! (a girl after my own heart, I must say)

Erica and Evie, it was an absolute pleasure meeting you both!  Thank you for powering through such a long session! You were rockstars!  Elisa and Peter, thank you for allowing me the privilege of capturing this first year of Kenzi's life.  I can't wait to continue to watch her grow and change over the years, she is a doll! :)

I decided to put together a little slideshow for you this time. ENJOY!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SLIDESHOW

 

Chloe - mini session

Little Miss Chloe has the biggest brown eyes you've ever seen and the cutest little mouth!  Unfortunately, the day of our shoot she was really sick (which neither mom nor I knew until we started the shoot) and therefore she was not herself.  Combine a sick little 1 year old with some major separation anxiety and we definitely had our hands full!  

But mom and I rallied and persevered and we wiped lots and lots of snot and, in the end, we managed to find moments of Chloe's normally effervescent, bubbly and happy personality - in between all the tears! :)

I look forward to photographing Chloe on a day when she is feeling like herself so I can take full advantage of her complete adorableness! 

Here are a few favorites from our mini session.

Estelle and Sebastian

This shoot was scheduled to be Estelle's annual shoot to celebrate her 3rd birthday.  We had planned it to happen just before her baby brother's arrival but *someone* decided to show up quite early!  So, we decided to make it a family shoot instead!  And while baby brother was only 2 weeks old and as fresh as they come, mom and dad did NOT want a "naked baby newborn" shoot.  They wanted the focus to still be primarily on Estelle and to also capture some images of the new family unit as a whole.  No solo baby posed shots desired.  Rather, capturing some loving, tender moments of the new family and especially Estelle and Sebastian together connecting with each other!

This family lives in an amazing house that leaves me spellbound every time I visit them.  You can check out their site HERE.  Daniel and Nancy produce every conceivable fruit and vegetable on their acres of land in the Los Gatos mountains and have all kinds of animals roaming on the property as well including their beloved dog Sartaj whom I first met as a tiny little puppy when Estelle was just a little baby herself.

Here are just a few favorites from our session.  CONGRATULATIONS to the family on the early arrival of Mister Sebastian!  He is absolutely adorable.  And a big thank you to Grandma who was visiting.  Her extra set of hands were incredibly helpful during the shoot! (and I'm sure the rest of the time too!)

Kianna (and a momentary Jaxson sighting)

I have known Jenny since before she was even married, let alone a mother of two young children.  Her spirit and energy draw people to her and you just can't help but feel happy around her.  She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  And motherhood suits her well!

I had the opportunity to do a mini shoot for her new little girl, Kianna, to celebrate her being 9 months old (which is, by the way, the most delightful age to photograph - hands down!).  We also intended on getting images of Kianna's 3 year old brother Jaxson, but he had other ideas....  No matter what we did (or didn't do for that matter) he categorically refused to participate in the process.  And not in a rude way, just in a "no, thank you, I'll pass" kinda way.   It was pretty remarkable considering we went through every trick known to mankind and even went through the whole realm of making it fun, offering incentives, backing off, focusing on Kianna hoping he'd want to join in on the fun, bribing with much coveted jelly beans, not paying any attention, positive reinforcement... I mean, you name it, we tried it.  NADA.  He absolutely would not relent on his stance that I was NOT going to take a single picture of him, with or without his sister.  The end.  

So, I got a ton of fantastic shots of Miss Kianna while Jenny and I chatted and then I packed all my equipment up in my car since the sun was setting and the light was quickly disappearing and, literally, just as I said goodbye and headed out to my car....yup, guess who decided he was willing to be photographed now?!  

So, I grabbed my camera (with no time for any other equipment), boosted my ISO to over 2000 and grabbed a handful of sibling shots.  Too funny!

Kianna is such a flirty little girly-girl.  I just could not get enough of her!  She loves the camera and the camera loves her! :)

Kenzi

I first photographed Kenzi "in utero", then a few weeks later as a 'fresh' little newborn, then a few months later and now again a few months later.  I will get to see her once more before the end of this year which means I will have been able to photograph her five times this year.   This privilege has allowed me to literally watch her grow right before my eyes.  I've seen every little developmental milestone and I suspect she will be walking in December when we do our next session which is absolutely mind boggling to me.  That first year is HUGE.  There is just SO MUCH that they learn during the span of 12 short months.  I'm thrilled I have been able to chronicle this for Elisa and Peter.  One day little Kenzi will be able to show these images of her first year to HER children (and grand children...!).

Kenzi is a very active "on the go" baby so I didn't even bother with any off camera flash set up and used all natural light and reflectors.  She also had two brand new expressions (just *that* day no less!) which I will call her 'oooooooh' face and her 'pucker up' face.   They make me want to squeeze her and kiss her all over.

We started off with a few family shots.  Here are just a *few* favorites from our session!

Juliette, Adrianna and Joshua

This is one of my VERY first clients!  Juliette was born just two weeks apart from my Ellie and I photographed Juliette when she was just a few months old.  I had just launched my business.  Deborah and I became fast friends and I was so sad when they moved to Carmel.  So, although I get to see them a couple times a year with our shoots and Deborah and I get to escape together for the occasional lunch, it's not quite the same.  I guess the solution is me moving to Carmel?! Ha! :)

Their house is absolutely stunning and the kids are really happy there so we decided to do the shoot in their front and backyard.  I brought my whole off camera flash with softbox set up knowing that for an active, always in motion family of five with quickly disappearing light in a gorgeous backyard where I wanted to showcase the luscious landscaping I would need lots and lots of light.  It was a life saver!

Juliette is the big sister.  She is quite the precocious little girl and always has me in stitches with her little quirps.  She has JUST lost her first tooth the night before.  She starts Kindergarten this year and it's so cute listening to her talk about it with all that giddy anticipation.   She is also my little muse being that she is far from camera shy.

 

 

 

Miss Lily

 Oh Lily! Such a little bundle of energy!  This little one kept us on our toes! As she always does might I add.  I would expect no less, which is precisely why I got myself an big ole iced double espresso on my way to the shoot.  It's the only way to keep up with her!  And keep up we did. :)

I'm thrilled that we were able to bring out her feisty, lively, BIG personality because she initially started out being very shy and withdrawn.  But, within minutes, the real Lily came out in full force and we were able to get some of the most delightful and charming REAL smiles I've ever seen.  That's the way I like them. :)

The main focus for this shoot was Lily but we did also get quite a few wonderful family images\ in as well.   This little girl is loved beyond words and there is no doubt in my mind that she is gonna put her daddy through the wringer when she hits her teens.  Good luck, Art.  May the force be with you....  :) 

Lily and her gorgeous mama.

 

Baby Nicholas aka sweet cheeks

Oh me oh my!  How I love this age!  Nicholas was as cute and mellow as they come.  I used to work with his dad many moons ago.  I was able to shoot Scott and Vicki's engagement session a while back but was not available to shoot their wedding (such a bummer for me!).  Fortunately, I got to delight in the amazing wedding venue since that's where we went to do their family session.   Scott and Vicki got married at Villa Montalvo near the Los Gatos/Saratoga border.   Truly a photographer's playground.  A warning to my local photographer friends: you MUST obtain a permit IN ADVANCE from Montalvo in order to shoot on this property!  

We had such a blast walking all over the property, exploring all the little hidden gems and nooks and crannies.  There is just so much to see and use for a photographer.  Then you throw in a perfectly chubby, content, happy baby and it's pretty much smooth sailing!  Every time I looked at Nicholas I kept thinking of the Gerber Baby!  :)

Here's a sneak peek of a few favorites! I had the hardest time narrowing it down for the blog!

   

Danielle

It is SUCH a joy being able to photograph my friends.  It's basically me hanging out with them and taking pictures at the same time.  Just FUN!  These guys are especially near and dear to my heart.  I've known David for ages, we also used to work together a long time ago.  When he met Kristy, I fell in love with her too and was crossing my fingers that it would lead to this.....  "This" being baby Dani.   

I have been able to document their entire journey, from their engagement photos, to their wedding, to their pregnancy and their newborn shoot.   And now, 6 months after her arrival into their lives, I get to document this adorable age!  

Dani was such a kick.  This girl knows what she likes and knows what she doesn't like.  She was like this as a five day old newborn too!   She was cracking us up with that little quivering lower lip! 

We started out with this outfit and tub and she quickly decided that she did NOT like it one bit.    

 

Kenzi

I had the pleasure of photographing Kenzi's parents when they were expecting her and then again when she was just a few days old and then I got to see her at 6 months old and WOW, she has grown!  What a happy, chunky little buddha baby!  I can't wait to see them again in a few months!  

Kenzi was *almost* sitting up on her own but just not quite there yet so we used an accoutrement of tricks of the trade to get a variety of different shots of her.  She is very expressive and her facial expressions were constantly changing and making us laugh.  I don't think I got the same face/look from her twice during the entire shoot. She didn't fuss or cry once.  Total zen baby.

Here's a few favorites from the shoot:

   

Rylan

I've said this before but it's worth mentioning again: my FAVORITE age to photograph is the 6-9 months stage.  Oh be still my heart when I get to photograph some chunky, happy, little baby who is just sitting up on their own.  LOVE every second of it.  

Rylan here was *beyond* delightful to photograph.  He is quite possibly the cutest, sweetest, happiest one of them all.  The best part is that he belongs to a family I have been photographing regularly for years and who have become good friends ever since I photographed their pregnancy shoot with their first born, Luci.  I count my blessings daily because I have the most amazing clients on the planet.  Being able to be in sync with your clients who share your creative vision is the greatest gift for a photographer.  

I had brought one of my tubs from Brody and Ma knowing it would be perfect for Rylan...and it was!  Emily makes these amazing tubs, and I've got more on the way from her soon!

Look at this little guy and tell me you aren't completely in love with him!?

 

Look at that smile!!!  *swoon*

 

This next one melts my heart.

  

 

 This is one of my favorites from the entire session:

 
 The rolls! The lashes! The cheeks! OH MY!

  

 We tried this little bench (mind you, mom was well within arms reach for safety purposes) but Rylan was not too sure about it.

 
Still uncertain!  So, we ditched the bench idea!  But he sure does look cute, even when he is uncertain!

  

Trying out the grass for the very first time!

 

So far so good!

 

He likes it!

 

 

This guy is going to be such a charmer! Watch out ladies! :)

 

But, his undying love is for his mama through and through!!!  :)

 

 Kathy, such a pleasure seeing you and Rylan again!!

Alex & Tess

I had the opportunity to meet and photograph a new family yesterday morning. I was greeted at the door by a very vibrant and energetic little boy named Alex.  And, as I peered in, I saw the cutest little baby girl ever.  Between these two beauties you couldn't go wrong.  When I saw the different outfits mom had laid out and wanted photographed I knew right away that I wanted to do the red themed outfit in front of their awesome green front door.  Very Christmas-y!  So, that's where we started!

  

 

 

I love how apprehensive about the whole process kids are when we first start out and then two seconds later they are back to being themselves!

 

all warmed up!

 

 

The best lashes EVER.

 

 

  

 

This morning light was GORGEOUS.

 

Such a charming smile. :)

 

 

 

  

I told mom this is my favorite age to photograph.  Isn't she lovely!?  Sweet little Tess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Alex suddenly decided he wanted to "strike a pose" for me and I couldn't have been more delighted!

 

 

Being tackle-kissed by Tess.  SO CUTE!

 

 

  

 

 

And for the third Tess outfit we went with a soft white top with white background and red chair to have some cool contrast and accent colors.  Love it!

  

 

 

 

 

 

Isaac

I had the opportunity to do a mini shoot with Isaac to celebrate his first birthday.  This little guy was ALL SMILES!  So incredibly happy and cute.  And those doe-eyes....swoon!  I just love da babies.  Because we got so many great shots in the same locations, I decided to do a few collages to showcase all his different, funny and adorable expressions.  He is a very animated little guy.  Mom had a strong preference for color images but I did throw in a few B&W's that I really loved!

Rachelle and Steven, it was a pleasure meeting you and little Isaac.  I hope you love your images, cherish every second with your little man. 

 

This next set of 4 images just rocks my world.

Easton M.

I did a little mini shoot with Easton the other day.  I have been photographing this family FOREVER!  I've been able to watch their family grow and we always have a great time.  Shannon does an impeccable job with the outfits and we just rock it from there.  Little Easton is almost a year old.  It shocks me really.  Seems like just yesterday I did his newborn shoot... and his older brother's newborn shoot!  

Easton was totally digging the plush animal horse he got for Christmas.  We started out with some of those.  He was being a total superstar!

and then tragedy struck... he was so excited he started clapping his hands and before we even knew what happened...he had fallen off head first.  This next shot was taken a NANO second before he fell... We felt so bad!  We were RIGHT THERE... After that, Easton was none to keen on the whole "being apart from my mother's body" aspect of the shoot...  But we persevered and after a series of little breaks we rocked out the rest of the session!

Baseball fans.. I LOVE these!

Jaxson

I had the distinct pleasure of photographing his mommy and daddy when baby Jaxson was in utero! He is now almost one years old!!  Mommy is a fabulous local esthetician (highly recommend her!) and friend.

We had really icky yucky light conditions for this shoot but we made the most of it. Jaxson was highly entertained by daddy's antics and mommy's very funny "nee-ner-nee-ner" song (which, thanks a lot Jenny, I was singing the rest of the evening...).

He is a super crawler on the verge of walking and was moving FAST and not all that interested in sitting still (typical of that age) so there was a lot of picking up and repositioning!

He lasted a really long time and when he was done he made it clear he was done!  Despite the lack of verbal skills at this age, they can most certainly make their feelings known!

Jaxson is cute as a button and when he laughs, he LAUGHS, very very heartily and it would make me bust up every time.  He has the most contagious smile!

Enjoy!

 

we were calling this his austin powers "one million dollars" pose! :)

Logan

This is such a great age to photograph!  Logan was soooo sweet.  He is a very alert, focused, determined little dude.  He was not remotely distracted by mom and dad's attempts to get his attention and was instead quite intent on getting just about ANYTHING in his mouth! Can you say "teething"? :)

Despite it being a rough time of day for this age, he did just beautifully, going from place to place, pose to pose.  We were graced with plenty of flirty little smiles and adorable expressions from him but no big guttural laughter.

It wasn't until the last few minutes of the shoot that I decided to pull out the last resort and do an all out tickle fest on the poor little guy to get some real big laughs out of him.  It worked :)

It was a pleasure meeting you all!  Enjoy your images!

I'm going to start calling this the teething fence!  

This tongue action is apparently his little "thing" he does - so cute!!

my favorite of the entire shoot is right below...

a behind-the-scenes look as to how these last images were accomplished.  Behold the gentle mommy-finger poking in the ribs and wiggling, see the daddy hands holding up the little guy who just wants to crawl away...  so funny!

Louie

I just absolutely adore this family!  The last time I did a shoot with them (with the exception of them being in the bridal party of a wedding I shot recently and me sneaking in some shots at that time!) was when Louie was a newborn.  And we're talking 10+ lb baby here (all hail to Allison!).  They drove all the way down from the north bay to hang out with me and boy did we have fun!

The weather was *perfect* and everyone did awesome.  The little John Deer tractor ones with the big real John Deere in the background are hilarious and the ones where he is peaking through the grape vines just melt my heart (stunning pocket of light there!).  I had to narrow it down for this post but there are a TON more on the CD's!  

Enjoy!!! 

this next pictures rocks my world.

this next one looks equally awesome in all the formats I gave them (color, B&W and vintage) so I randomly just picked B&W to show!

Declan

Ok, so there's "happy baby"and then there's Declan!  This little dude is in a category of his own.  He woke up from his too short car nap SMILING.  And he didn't stop smiling and laughing practically the entire shoot!  I wanted to gobble him up.  If I could guarantee my next baby would be like this, I'd have another one right now.  Seriously.  He was just the happiest little dude. No warm up time required, he took right to having my camera in his face and just look at that smile of his! So cute!!!

The last set of photos just makes me swoon.  The antique toy airplane, the soft glowy sunset light, the outfit, the killer hat, the adorable baby... my goodness, it just doesn't get much better than that. These small format posts do not do these images justice but the colors are fabulous and I was able to play around with the toning to really accentuate the vintagey prop. I posted a lot of those airplane ones to show the different looks you can get from different light directionality at the same time of day.  The first set is front lit, the second set is side lit and the last set is backlit.  Those who have taken my class will understand what that all entails and really see how the positioning in regards to the source of light totally changes the look of a photograph even though the entire series was done in about 10 mn and under the exact same lighting conditions.

I hope grandpa (the retired pilot) adores those last images, they were done just for him :)

ENJOY!!!

Luci

Luci and I go WAY back... I photographed her parents when they were pregnant with her and have been blessed with being able to photograph her quite frequently since then, I have really been able to watch her grow up.  It's been such a treat!  She is now a year old and such a little character.  I just can't get enough of her.  I'm insanely happy with these images.  The light and location were perfect and she was in such a great mood and everything went so smoothly.  We all just had so much fun and that makes for the best images.  Look at these expressions of hers.  So charming!!

I love ya little Luci! :)

Lily Noel

Lily is such a cutie pie!  Total Gerber Baby.  I just kept wanting to gobble her up.  This is hands down the BEST age to photograph and even more so when you have a delightfully happy little one like Lily.  Her expressions were so adorable and those rolls, those thighs, that chub factor was insanely cute.  Honestly, I couldn't get enough of her.  And since I know I'll get emails asking about this: no, I did not use any artificial lighting or flash at all.  I accomplished those killer catchlights using window light for the indoor shots and a simple round reflector for the outdoor shots.  That's it!  No studio needed, folks, all you need is a really cute baby!  [oh, and me, I guess]  :)

  I hope her mom enjoys these, we certainly had such a fun time getting these images!  It was a pleasure meeting you both, ENJOY!

Luci

I've been fortunate enough to be taking pictures of Luci since she was in utero!  I also photographed her when she was just a few days old and was amazed at how ALERT she was, so in tune with her parents and aware of her surroundings.  She's a pondering/observing/thinking kinda baby..  I am so lucky to get to photograph her every few months as I really get to be witness to her rapid developmental stages (not to mention growth!).  This time, Luci was far too busy observing her surroundings and trying to figure out where she was that even mom's fantastic little dog and pony show just wasn't cutting it.  We could NOT get a smile out of her. Plenty of adorable faces and taunting smirks...but no big smiles... Thing is, Luci smiles ALOT, just not when a camera is pointed at her!  :)

Finally, after a loooong time, Mom says to Luci "Ok, I guess we're all done here, let's pack it up."  And wouldn't you know little miss smartie pants then decides it's time to let the laughter roll...  Little bugger!  We finally got some smiles. Phew.  Enjoy the pictures Kathy, you earned it! :)

I should also point out that none of these were taken with any flash or studio lighting.  All natural light from a large window.  So, you can easily get the studio "look" without the harsh lights and flashing bulbs that both scare and upset your baby... some beautiful window light is all you need.  (And me.)  :)

Che

I photographed little Che when he was a tiny little baby and I couldn't believe how "smiley" he was back then. He just smiled and smiled and smiled throughout the ENTIRE photo session.  So I was definitely curious to see if he'd have the same disposition at this next session.  Well...he did!  Between his huge doe eyes, hilarious smile and chipmunk cheeks all I could think while photographing him was 'gobble-gobble-gobble'...I just wanted to eat him right up!  He's truly delectable, see for yourself... and no, you can't have him, I'm first in line!