Then, without warning, she perked up, every ounce of “tired” disappeared from her face, and she beamed as she said the words that not only rang in my ears, but rang in my heart.

“I just love to be with my family.”

There was a pause. A reflection.  Then the conversation took a quick turn to other things, “Did you know I just turned 88?” “No!” I replied, “That sounds like a fun year! Double 8′s!” “Yes! I didn’t think of it that way, I like it!” Then we quipped about how 8′s were great and that made her pretty great. Unsurprisingly not even five minutes went by when the conversation turned back toward her children and her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. “I just love being with my family” she reflected again as her eyes twinkled with an outpouring of love.

I think Nana knows something I still have yet to truly appreciate.

As the “busy” of life whirlwinds around us, as we sweep our children off to dance and swim and music, as we obsess about offering every opportunity that we never had, as we strive to work extra hours so we can afford that trip to Disneyland…..sometimes we have to stop and reflect, does it all matter? Or is life really just about loving those around us, and spending time with those who we love.

I think Nana knows.

This is biggest group of people I have ever done a photo shoot with, all 23 of them! Coming from a family of seven children myself (we also reflect the wonderful number 23 when we all get together!), the chaos didn’t scare me as much as it just made me feel at home. And this family was nothing short of FANTASTIC!

We also got a chance to break into smaller groups and capture the smaller family units. I was a little nervous about trying to capture so many different families (okay, a lot nervous…). I was so excited that we were able to have some fun and capture some genuine laughs. These are some of my favorites….

The cousins with Nana

Four Generations of Women

The joy of being grandparents

Some of the kids. The “posed candid” shots are always my very favorite!

A little maternity shoot on the side was a ton of fun too! Love the belly! Love the doors! Love the hugs! Love these!

To me, there is nothing like being able to step away from the kids for a bit and just be together.  Some fun moments to capture.

Thanks so much to you all for making Sundin Photography part of your reunion! I can’t think of a bigger honor then to capture so many generations, and so much love!

I don’t know what wrong with me the day of her shoot, but I was like, CRAZY tired.  I mean, like I just wanted to close my eyes and fall asleep right on my camera.  No joke.  On my camera. BUT THEN Kristi got in front of my camera and we snapped some shots.  She was a natural in front of the lens!! (you know, cause she didn’t practice modeling as a little girl, like the rest of us did) ..and THAT was when I suddenly forgot how tired I was.   My heart started racing, my blood was pumping, my eyes opened up, and I was SO EXCITED.  If you asked Kristi she would probably verify the story.  I went from strangely sluggish and sleepy-eyed into a giddy school girl, squealing with delight.  Cause that is just how I get when I know we are going to have fun and get some great shots!

A beautiful girl with a gorgeous maternity glow, who is a natural in front of the camera, in a stunning downtown setting, that is the recipe for AWESOMENESS.

Then Mike met up with us and the recipe went to WAY AWESOMENESS.  Two naturals. Two of the most laid back, coolest, and fun people ever.  And to top it all off, Kristi is pregnant with TWINS.  Doesn’t that just add to their total awesomeness?  It does.  I know.

This little spot is a hidden pot of gold right in the middle of downtown. I was dying to shoot here, and I LOVE LOVE the images we got! Totally my style…fresh…clean…kinda Crate and Barrel -ish, no? I want to get pregnant if only to do my own maternity photography session here!  The one above and the next 3 are all in the same little spot!

Like this one. LOVE. I am in LOVE with this image. If I could, I would marry it.

Isn’t this brick wall the coolest looking ? I have driven by it at all times of day, wishing and dreaming the light would hit it right, with no luck. On Kristi’s photo shoot day, the day was overcast…and I said…BRICK WALL here we come! Overcast skies is a like a photographer’s candy.

And lots of color? Yes please.

Told you she is a natural. Just look at this girl.  Stunning. WORK IT GIRL.

(and yes she is laying on the street downtown…but that is just one of the many reasons that Kristi became my hero that Saturday)

We passed this patio and I loved the way it looked so I asked Kristi to jump in for a shot. I totally love this, the urban nature of it, and the way she looks like she is on a movie set or something. Then I realized we were totally on the patio of a BAR and she is PREGNANT. Whoops. But still, I love this picture…..

Next we headed to Seaport Village and met up with Kristi’s husband Mike.

Who knew that Seaport Village had these awesome trees? These roots rocked my world.

This is right after we got kicked out of Seaport Village since apparently there is no “professional photography allowed” there (who knew?).  That is when Kristi became my hero…but that is a whole other story.  The ending….we kept on shooting…and got some of my favorite maternity images of ALL TIME.  I mean, who says that lollipops have to only be for toddlers?  That is right, I brought a lollipop to a maternity shoot…cause I thought it just might be this awesome.



And here it is…ending with my very favorite maternity image of all time. A vision that came life just the way I hoped.

Another BIG canvas to put up in my office one day. *LOVE*

Thanks to you both for a ton of fun and being stunning models that I had the pleasure of capturing! I am SO excited for you and the journey and blessing you have ahead!

Happy Mother’s Day!

In celebration, here are just a few of some of my favorite captures of motherhood:

Happy Mother’s Day …and wishing you many more smiles, hugs, kisses, laughter, love and joy…

Thank you Denay and Greg for a photo shoot filled beauty and love!  Many Blessings to you!

But let’s be honest, mixed in with the feelings of love and joy are feelings of insecurity and fear.  It is also a time of a LOAD OF HORMONES, aches and pains and tests of patience.  You are overwhelmed with questions, reading material, and opinions from websites and doctors and family and friends.  And let me tell you, nine months to prepare?  Psh!  That nine months FLIES BY!  I remember being  so stressed but too tired to want to do anything.  The first time I walked into Babies R Us, I cried.  Yep, right there in the store.  The tears flowed.  (Phew, never thought I would admit that to the public…but sometimes you have to own your tears)

Ever wonder what life would be like with a “Baby Planner”?  Ever think about how great it would be to have someone do all the baby planning, preparing and research for you? Well girl, take a deep breath, let out all the stress and fears, put your feet back up on the couch.  Let me introduce you to Joanne with Bliss Nine!  (yep a baby planner to your rescue)

When I walked up to Chili’s to meet Joanne the first thing I noticed was her warm smile.  Within minutes we were laughing our way through lunch.  Joanne is incredible.  She is one of those people that you just click with immediately.  She is warm and kind and full of life’s joy.  Her passion and excitement for her business is overflowing.  And I have to say my favorite part about Joanne, she is a laminator.  That’s right.  Those of you out there who are like me can truly appreciate someone who likes to be organized and laminate.  :)

I am so excited and honored to announce that I will be working with Joanne and Bliss Nine as one of her suggested photographers.  Go to her website here  and check out all the services that she offers!  (If you check out her blog page…you can see Sundin Photography featured on it!  Yay!)  AND if you book your Sundin Photography session through Bliss Nine…you can get a 10% discount.  Who doesn’t LOVE getting a discount?

Of course, I will  leave you with a photo.  Family of boots…

If you ask Kristy where she is from she will tell you that she is from a small town in Texas. When you meet Kristy you know that this girl is also from heaven. She is someone who is easy to describe as sweet, loving, compassionate, kind, and thoughtful. She is easy to be around. She is filled with passion and loves God more then most people I have met. And she is know doubt a Texan. When she put on a cowboy hat and boots for her maternity photo shoot, she came alive. We had such a blast that it no longer seemed to matter to either of us that we were in a valley that had a temperature reading of 38 degrees. Thanks Kristy for a wonderful day! I can’t wait to meet your little angel girl.

Then I asked Kristy to show me a line dance. Gotta love a girl who is willing to dance for the camera! Yee-haw.

When I met up with Julian I was so excited to hear that she too is a lover of Ikea. I was overjoyed that we could do a photo shoot in one of my favorite places in La Jolla (The Salk Institute) to capture some fresh, clean and modern pregnancy photos. To say the least, I love her photos. I am thinking of putting them up in my living room.

The moment I met Lydia I was completely taken aback by her eyes (and then SO SO excited to take her picture!)  but it didn’t take long for me also to fall in love with her easy-going, generous (thanks for the coffee!), and genuine personality.    And to top it off this girl is amazingly artistic. I mean seriously talented.  You should check out her site. See? What did I tell you. You are falling in love aren’t you?

To Lydia’s husband.  We love your girl. 

When I was doing a maternity photo shoot the other day in North Park we had a brief engagement with a very friendly older man.  I asked him to jump in the picture and he did.  I loved it.  Something about that encounter just  made me want to go and ride the bus again. 

Here is the picture I snapped.

This girl is awesome.  Ashley was one tough cookie cause she was up for anything during our photo shoot (ummmm…like doing a photo shoot in 45 degree weather….at 7:15 am……and climbing into trees pregnant….and hiking with the bugs….and trespassing into others peoples yards to get the shot….and she randomly broke into dancing in the middle of our photo shoot).  Yeah she is awesome.  And…to top it off…she keeps giving me shout outs on her FB page and her blog.  The thesaurus in my head is broken.  I can think of no other words for Ashley but, well, awesome.  Thanks Ashley!