Luck. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad.

If you’re Stanford and it comes in the form of Andrew, then it’s good. VERY good! Looking forward to seeing him in action this weekend when we beat Oregon (Sorry, Dad!) Ack! A few lines in to this post and I’m already digressing. This blog isn’t about college football! That’s my other one. Yeah, right. Sorry. Let’s start over.

Luck. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad.

Heading in to last Friday’s photo session, our luck seemed bad. Terrible, in fact! While it rarely rains here in good ol’ Southern California, the two times this client and I have scheduled a session, we have had to battle RAIN! All day long, our phones were busy sending and receiving texts. Should we move forward? How’s it look over there? Is it sprinkling right now? Are there clouds? The sun’s peeking out here. What about over there? What’s the internet say about the next shower? How’s your schedule look next week? In the end, we decided to push forward … and as LUCK would have it, the rain clouds parted just long enough to squeeze in a session. In exchange for our faith and perseverance, the weather gods gave us gorgeous lighting to photograph this beautiful family.

K&T, your family is absolutely beautiful – inside and out! It was such a treasure to spend time with you guys and watch you guys interact with each other. You guys are playful, fun, adoring, sweet, successful, kind and loving. There’s something magnetic about your personalities that makes others want to spend time with you. Probably in the hopes that some of your charm and enthusiasm will rub off on them! Thanks for staying flexible amidst your busy and chaotic schedules and having a great attitude about everything (including the way our session ended!) I feel incredibly LUCKY to call you my clients, but more importantly, my friends.

Love to you both! Enjoy this peek at your photos.

This family portrait here isn’t my typical style. I thought I’d push myself and try something a little different. What do you think? I am loving it!

Have a great week!

My little guy has a heart of gold. So full of love and compassion.

The purity of his heart brings me so much more joy and satisfaction than any of his soccer goals, stripes on his karate belt or gold stars on his worksheets ever could. (Although don’t get me wrong … I am quite proud of all of those things, too!)

In first grade, the kids have to do home reading every night. A few weeks ago, he read a book about being a leader and doing the “right” things. I was floored (not really) when he read the page below and without prompting, he told me what he would do “if that boy were real.”

I share this on my blog not to boast about my kid (well, yeah … I admittedly am kinda am doing that a little bit) but to illustrate how you can use photography to capture a feeling, a fleeting moment in time. Even after the fact.

Sometimes, you happen to have your camera with you right when something special or spectacular happens. More often than not, however, you find yourself saying, “I wish I had had my camera!” In some instances, I find it’s actually worthwhile to recreate a moment for documentation purposes. In this example, I knew that I wanted to remember this moment when Nate showed his compassionate self. I wanted to document it so twenty years from now, I could remember how even back in first grade, he was always such a lover. So after Nate was finished with his book reading, I grabbed my camera, flipped the book back to the appropriate page and made Nate read the page again. And then I snapped this photo and added the caption.

There’s something about seeing the image that really helps cement this memory into my brain. I know I won’t ever forget that he has a heart of gold, but every time I look at this photo, I relive that little moment with my son. And it makes me smile.

On the surface, she seems soft-spoken … demure … shy. The kind of girl who pleads with her eyes to have her mom answer questions from strangers or people she doesn’t know well. Yes, that’s how things appear … on the surface. But don’t let that fool you!

With a lot of time on our hands and a beautiful setting in which to talk, explore and play all sorts of silly games, it really wasn’t long before I was personally witnessing her spunk, her spirit, her confidence and zest for life. At one point during the evening I remember declaring to her parents, “She may be wearing a dress right now, but I know who wears the pants in this family!”

And really, it’s no surprise how warm and lively this little girl is. After all, her mom is someone that always – and I mean always! – has a smile on her face and her dad – well, I am just starting to get to know him , but hey … someone who markets Fireman’s Brew for a living has got to be a cool and fun loving guy, right?! Keep your eye out for the brew; I hear it may be stocked in our local stores soon!

Enough with the text … it’s time for some PHOTOS! That’s really why you’re all here anyway.

We started off with some candid portraits.

And then I had some fun capturing the little one’s playfulness:

And then her serious side:

Ummmm, can you say gorgeous?!

And now a stubborn one:

And last but not least, two of my favorite photos from the entire night. So awesome!

Someone dumped a ton of water in with my good (read: expensive!) conditioner while in the shower the other day.

That someone is a couple days shy of turning five and has also perfected his I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about look.

Are we there yet?
How many more miles do we have?
How high are we?
Are we there yet?
How fast are you going?
Are we there yet?
How many more minutes?
What time is it?
Are we there yet?
Repeat ad naseum three zillion more times.
Then it will be just like you were sitting in the car with us as we drove up to Mammoth Mountain this weekend.

The four of us trekked up to the Sierras this weekend to introduce the boys to the sport of skiing. And yeah … the amount of time logged in the car was a little on the painful side, but I would do it again (and I know we will!) in a heartbeat.

I was amazed at – and proud of – how quickly the boys picked up skiing. Soon, however, that sense of pride turned into a little fear as I saw how quickly the boys wanted to graduate from the poma and move onto the chairlift, speed down the slopes and try the jumps. It’s not gonna be long before my boys are gonna wanna do crazy stunts!! But I’ll worry about that another day. For now, I’ll revel in the fact that we get to ski down the slopes as a family of four.

Here are my boys on our short walk from cabin to slopes.

From Mammoth Mountain Ski Weekend

And with a gentle nudge from their private instructor, they’re off!

From

From Mammoth Mountain Ski Weekend

From Mammoth Mountain Ski Weekend

In between runs, we made time for snowball fights.

From Mammoth Mountain Ski Weekend

And after a nice day of skiing, we made time for lightsaber battles and force pushing. (And hanging out with our friends whom we shared the cabin with.)

From Mammoth Mountain Ski Weekend

Lucky for us, the weather gods were very generous with their degrees and their sunshine. We got a lot of both! (Which is why the boys got to see a few “California Girls” skiing with “bikinis on top”) Perfect conditions for the boys’ first ski experience. Goodbye, Mammoth! See you next year!!

From Mammoth Mountain Ski Weekend

We took a lot of video footage on Day 2. Which is probably pretty boring to everyone except immediate family. (And even that is debatable.) So I tried to spice it up and condense the footage in a short clip. First little iMovie project on my Mac. (Probably not my last.)

This is the last year our family will have a kid in preschool. And as excited as I am for Lincoln to start kindergarten, the thought of no longer having ties to preschool makes me a bit weepy. Preschool has been such a nurturing, fun, and wonderful experience for my boys. I’m really going to miss it (and all of our fabulous teachers)! Already, I’m starting to count the ‘lasts’ … the last pajama ‘n pancakes day, the last mud day, the last reptile day, etc.

So when reptile day arrived last week, I marked it on my calendar and scheduled my workload and meetings around it. I was going to attend reptile day – always a huge hit with Nate and Linc – to document this favorite preschool event for our family photo albums. I’m so glad I did!

By and large, the majority of the kids had a fantastic time checking out all the creepy crawlies.* Lincoln, most definitely, fell in that camp. He wanted to touch every single reptile. As many times as possible. Me? Not so much. I get grossed out and freaked out when I come across anything slimy, scaly or of the eight leg genre.

A few snaps of the boy who doesn’t share my I-get-grossed-out-by-reptiles gene.

*If your kids are in Lincoln’s class and I have your email, I’ll be sending you a link in the next day or two with lots of fun photos for you to enjoy! Stay tuned …

We’re not a baseball family by design. Erich didn’t play baseball growing up and the sport wasn’t big in my household growing up. So when Nate decided he wanted to try his hand at baseball this spring, we, as parents, were very happy that he wanted to try something new and fun. Although heading into signups I’d been warned that the league was pretty organized and serious, I still found myself surprised and a bit intimidated when we showed up to the first practice. We had four coaches (which I have since come to realize is SO awesome given all the drills they work on with the kids!). All the kids (5 and 6 years old) were already so good!! They had all the equipment (helmets, bats, bat bags, etc.). They knew all the rules (where as Nate … did Nate even know what an ‘out’ was, let alone how many you get?) They already had the basic skills (catching, batting, etc.) Needless to say, Mommy was feeling a bit inadequate on behalf of her son. Thank goodness, kids are kids and don’t have that self-imposed pressure or self-consciousness. At least not yet. Or at least not Nate.

In between practices, Erich and I (mostly Erich) worked at home with Nate on his skills, hoping to help with some of the basics. I think it did help. He’s still got a ways to go but he’s doing alright. And he’s trying hard. That is all we can ask for. The most important thing is that he is having a ton of fun and absolutely loves being a part of his baseball team.

On Saturday, we had our first baseball game. Not knowing what to expect, I was nervous for Nate. Especially as he stepped up to home plate for his first time at bat. I knew that whatever happened would probably set the tone for him and the rest of the season in terms of confidence. I was soooooo relieved when he hit that little ball! Phew. It was icing on the cake to see him hit each time and to watch him go after the ball in the outfield as well. I think he’ll get the hang of this game.

In summary, we enjoyed an awesome afternoon in the sun, watching Nate learn and play a new sport. Getting a better feel for the league and getting to know his teammates, the coaches, and the other parents. Looking forward to a fun season ahead! And fun opportunities to photograph (guess who is the team photographer?) cute kids having fun.

Here’s my big boy on opening day:

Excited for his first game:

First time at bat!

Batting in action:

SUPER excited to get the first game ball!

So when I first introduced my special mini-session offerings last year, I was nervous. Would anyone be interested? Would anyone bite? Would my Facebook announcement sit there, looking lonely and without comments for one and all to see? (Yes, that is my typical worrywart thought process – the hope-for-the-best-but-prepare-for-the-worst mentality my mind often follows.) Fortunately, for me, this wonderful family snapped up my first slot! Within SIX minutes of me making the initial announcement! I was totally thrilled. I wiped a bead of sweat from my brow and danced a little jig. This little special might actually work! Hooray.

I love getting together with this wonderful family. And it’s especially fun and special for me to see a family with two brothers. I love to see how they poke, they prod, they giggle, they fight, they play. It gives me an idea of how my boys may act together five or six years down the road. And if my boys grow up to be anything remotely like these sweet, well mannered and playful boys, I will be thrilled.

Here are a few faves.

We love basketball.
And we intend to get a “real”hoop.
But we haven’t plunked down the $ to pick up a new hoop yet.
Soooo … what is this basketball-loving family to do in the meantime?

With the help of our friend, Mr. Duct Tape, we give an old baby/toddler toy an extended life.

It’s not pretty.

But it’s functional.

The boys get to work practicing their shots.

I can only imagine how much fun we’re going to have when we get a real hoop!

For the past three years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with this wonderful family. Not only do I love these sweet children, but I have a blast working with Mom and Dad. Mom, because she always has a very specific vision for her shoot (and the resulting output, whether it be in the form of a custom holiday card or canvas collage) and Dad, because he laughs and chills when Mom and I collaborate over every little detail – the placement of a bow, the size of a snowflake, the color of a border. It’s wonderful working with clients who put as much thought into a shoot as I do. It truly makes me feel honored when someone with a specific vision – and high expectations – will trust me to pull it off!!

This year, we went for a more formal, traditional, fancy, elegant feel. I think I was able to execute her vision while staying true to my personal style. Here are a few highlights: