I can’t think of a better way to make an entrance into the blogging world again then with this shoot. (For those of you who don’t know, we moved to our first home…and yes,that is a blog post in the works. So needless to say, “house” has consumed my mind and time for over a month, but I am SO glad to be back!)

To say that I am excited to share these pictures with you is the UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR.  You see how I did that? ALL CAPS.  That is so you can feel just an inkling of my excitement!!

I don’t know if you are a Johnny Depp fan, or a Tim Burton fan, but I am a fan of both. I have always thought the idea of an artist having a “muse” is a little strange. But for the first time in my many years as an artist, I get it. Sometimes there is just someone who seems to make your dreams, creations, visions come alive, by well, just being them. I am certain that Johnny Depp is Tim Burton’s muse. And I am starting to think that just maybe this family might be mine.  (Is that an awkward thing to share?  Oooo…I hope not.  What is that you say, no one reads this part any way?  Phew.)  The truth is they just have a knack for making my photography dreams come to life and I am hoping that Lydia wouldn’t mind being referred to as a “goddess that inspires the arts”.

This photo shoot was a little bit of a baby of mine. After browsing Anthropolgie catalogs and stores for clients of mine, it became a fun little dream of mine to do a shoot like this.  There is just something wonderful and romantic and perfectly whimsical to me about bringing living spaces out into God’s living spaces.  I love the dreamy quality of it and longed to try and pull something like that together.  Long dreamed. Lots of coordination to pull it off.  AND birthed into a DREAM COME TRUE with the help of Lydia and James and Ruby.

When I came to Lydia and said, “I have an idea, so you need to hire me to take pictures of you and your family again!!” I wasn’t sure how she would respond to my bold request.  But she was excited!! and that made my excitement spin out of control into utter elation.  And thank God for James and Ruby who were willing to go along for the ride. After much coordinating, me robbing her house of almost all of it’s insides, and a lot of patience and dreaming together, we pulled it off.  And it was all totally worth it. I am over the moon.  I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

We started with some photos with Lydia’s parents in the flowers. They were visiting and I was so glad that they got to tag along for a bit! Got to capture the grandparents when you can, and these two were the sweetest grandparents ever!

After that came the vision….

I just love old books.

Soft sunlight.

Quilts that feel like they have a story in every stitch.

Pillows that saw the face of a new marriage and fresh love.

A lampshade where it doesn’t belong.

An old stained glass window that makes the sunlight dance.

Here is the space that I envisioned and the family that just seemed to know how to bring it to life with their love, laughter, and joy.

When the laughter fades, it gives a moment for the love to intensify…

Thank you so much for coming along on this dream with me….

“I just want you to capture who we ACTUALLY ARE.” her voice rang over the phone, and I let out a sigh of relief.  ”That is what I LOVE to do.” I replied.

I have attempted for many years to seem more perfect than I actually am.  But something happened when I had Dayla. I realized that there is joy in just being who you are, messed up, full of little errors, but still “just right” in the eyes of God.

The older I get the more I attempt to leave in the dust my perfectionist ways, and the more I LOVE to surround myself with non-perfectionist types.   I admire them.  And I always seem to let out a sigh of relief when hanging out with them.  My shoulders relax.  I feel at ease. When I got off the phone with Kristin, she seemed to me like one of those let-out-a-sigh-of-relief-just-relax-and-be-yourself kind of people.  I just felt so perfectly comfortable and at ease after talking to her, and I was SO excited to capture her family just as they “actually are”.

Hayden is HILARIOUS.  A performer.  Full of spunk and not a shy bone in his body.  He had me laughing out loud as he showed me all his “tricks”.  He could spin, jump the highest, and most definitely lead his brother with confidence.  A natural born leader.

Jordon is shyer, but by no means a push-over.  He seems as though he will be the silent strong one.  He had no problem following his brother, letting him have the lead, but also was confident in who he was.  He was not lost in his brother’s shadow, just content there. As he pushed his mom’s hair out of her face, and then paused lovingly before he planted a kiss on her cheek, I could see that he is also the gentle, thoughtful one.

Each brother was so different from the other, but each one “just right” in who they were.

I love my job.  I love falling in love with these families and having the challenge of capturing all that is “them” in just a short two hours.  I love meeting new people and feeling like I get to be a part of their family for just a brief time.  I love getting to know guys like Gary who are fighting for us overseas, a guy who sacrifices his family time so we can have ours.

Kristin, Gary, Hayden and Jordan, thank you SO much! I had so much fun laughing with you guys and attempting to capture all the beauty and uniqueness that radiates from your perfect (or should I say, “just right”) family!  Thank you!

Meet Jordan…

Introducing Hayden (look at those eye brows!? AWESOME skill!)

Jordan and Dad. I love the *real* smiles…we caught one!

Brothers on Dads shoulders.

I love being able to capture couples too! This is a game I like to play that I like to call, “Who is better?” I believe we each bring something fun and unique and important to the relationship, so why not recognize it once in a while? I love to see how couples respond. And you can see Gary is a humble guy. Hahaha!

Okay, I LOVE this shot! I have wanted to try this pose for a while, but have been saving it for just the right fun couple. Kristin and Gary totally fit the bill! Fun, right? (And you have to give props to Kristin, cause that takes some ab muscles!)

Kristin told me she wanted green grass and loves bright colors (MEEE TOO!)
That being said, it is no surprise that I LOVE THIS SERIES! AH. And add in two cute little brothers who are the sweetest….. *swoon*


And mama loves her boys!

FAMILY lolllipop time! Bring it. Here is where I told them to hide behind their lollipops and I totally loved that Jordan kept turning his upside down. Couldn’t have planned it better myself.



Lastly, dad and his boys!

Nothing quite melts my heart like a dad who is willing to snuggle or kiss their little one for the camera. It not only melts my heart, but I also believe that never does a man look so strong as he does when he is not afraid to be soft, affectionate and loving with his children.  I LOVE my job and love every time I have the honor of capturing a “daddy”.

To all my awesome dads and all the dads out there…..Happy Father’s Day!

In celebration, here are just a few of some of my favorite captures of the dads and fatherhood:

[ And of course a quick shout out for my husband!  I was so excited to see who he would be as a father, and he is a better dad to Dayla then I ever could have imagined.  To one of the best dad's I know...to my husband...to the love of my life and one of the greatest blessings God has ever brought into my life...truly my better half.....Happy Father's Day babe!]

I had forgotten how CUTE her little laugh is.  If I had recorded it, I would post it.  It is to die for.  Deep as a fog horn, from the gut, and with a whole lot of enthusiasm.  She has the kind of laugh that makes everyone around laugh….the best kind of laugh if you ask me.

I got to do a photo shoot with Mallery when she was a newborn and again when she was 9 months, and then again a few weeks ago!  I can’t believe how big she is now at 18 months, and how much personality she has!  She is a total hoot who loves her mama and has a laugh the lights up the room… and I wanted to eat her up! If you were to ask me what my “goal for success” is as a photographer, it would be to have families that call me every time they need a picture, families that I would get to watch grow, year by year, and see their little personalities come out and shine.  Nothing sounds like more of a dream job to me than that. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that I have gotten to capture little Mallery from newborn to now…a true gift if you ask me.

Jen and Jeff and Mallery were actually the reason that I got to travel up to Sacramento for a work weekend back in May.  Jen has been a friend of mine forever and so when she told me that she had friends who loved my photography and wanted me to take their family photos, I didn’t believe her.  I mean, that is what every good girl friend is supposed to tell you, right?  That you are good at what you do.  I knew she was exaggerating.  So when I told her to go ahead and see if she could arrange a group of families on one weekend and that I would come up and hang out with her if she did, I was certain it was a long shot.  Much to my surprise, she totally pulled it off! And it was AMAZING!   To top off all the awesome families I got to meet up there, we had a weekend of bonding, girl time, and re-living all sorts of old memories from when we were kids, as well as trading mom tips for the here and now.  AND she made me watch Twilight (and I totally loved it).  Everything that a perfect weekend with a best girl friend is supposed to be.

To top it all off, we did a photo shoot so I could capture her little Mallery again!  Just wait til you see this little girl!

Because I was staying with Jen and Jeff, I got to snap a few pictures of Mallery in their home, just being her (my favorite kind of shoot!)  And I don’t know what it is about little babies showing skin, but I think it is the cutest!

Mallery is truly one of the smartest 18 mo. olds I have ever met…and I am not just saying that because she outsmarted me several times. (My mantra for the weekend became, “I AM smarter than an 18 mo old, YES I AM”.) All my usual 18 mo. old tricks got me the face below. I don’t know what you see in her expression, but I see, “This lady has got to be kidding me.”

Luckily, mom knew all the tricks!

I LOVE this set below! Just relaxing in the sun. Maybe it is my inner cat….but relaxing in the sun pictures just make me smile.

The next pictures have the pleasure of coming with a brief story.

I have thought for a while about doing a photo shoot in a field of flowers, or fruit trees, or corn….but those are all hard to come by in San Diego. You know, it is a desert down here, so fields are a few an far between. That being said, when I saw this giant field of mustard flowers on the side of the hwy, I started to drool. Literally. Jen had to get me a towel. So I did what every photographer does, put on my “please make my dream come true and I will beg and plead until you come with me” act, and I dragged the family to a mustard field that we passed on the side of the road. Needless to say, these last ones are all my favorites (but I am a little biased!)
I LOVE MUSTARD FIELDS!


I have always thought Jen would make an awesome model….can you see what I see here? She’s hot. Work it girl.

Got to love those large lollipops!

But ending with my very favorite….snuggles for mom.

Thanks so much you guys for making my weekend amazing! Getting to capture your little Mallery one more time was totally the highlight to me! AND THANK YOU for being willing to go out and make my mustard field DREAM SHOOT come true too! Love you all so much!

I took Dayla to a birthday party last week at a cool little place in called Kidsville. Ginette was at a shoot that morning so I wasn’t planning on taking any pictures. She showed up partway through the party with a camera so I snapped a few shots. Mostly I wanted to test the IS capabilities of our new 70-200 F4 IS.

This is the birthday boy with a good friend sitting in a plastic fire truck. To be honest I did yell “Kiss her!” I didn’t think he actually would.