Cassandra, Sabine & Zoe

This particular family I've been photographing since the twins were itty bitty babies and they've watched me evolve as a photographer over the years as much as I've watched their family grow and evolve.  Jolene and I share a very similiar sense of style and artistic sensability.  We are completely in sync when it comes to locations, lighting, clothing etc...  She always comes up with totally rad new locations for our shoots which help push and challenge me as a photographer but also provide me with a virtual "playground" for me to just unleash my creative juices.  This year she dressed everyone in a grey and black "steampunk meets Burning Man" theme and I was absolutely beyond smitten!   The girls are fabulously wild and free spirited and ridiculously independent, and we always joke about how it's akin to trying to herd cats to get them all wrangled and under control at the same time but you'd honestly never know looking at the pictures!  I especially love how Jolene and Peter have always given me full freedom to go with my gut during the shoot and they willingly go along with whatever crazy ideas or suggestions I come up with in my wacky little head.  Jolene always manages to choose locations and outfits and vibes that I'm incredibly drawn to stylistically.  Plus, I get to hang out with these 3 amazing little kiddos for a couple hours and I just love getting to know them and their unique personalities more and more with every passing year.  It's always incredibly stimulating and even though I had a bad case of the flu during this shoot, I was completely energized by the girl's buzzing vibrant spirits and the excitement of shooting at such a superb location.   Jolene & Peter had two lovely friends who kindly allowed us to do the shoot at their working quarry in Santa Cruz and boy did we have fun!   At the end, we had to also grab a couple shots of the family with their beloved Westfalia van! It's practically the cornerstone of their "off work" life!   I had so many favorites from this shoot it was really hard narrowing it down for the blog.  I think I was on eye candy overload!

Jolene & Peter, enjoy your sneak peek!! I can't wait to see what you come up with for next year!!!

Kenzi & Bodi

This shoot was scheduled on Kenzi's 4th birthday which was kind of blowing my mind because I've been taking pictures of her since mama's maternity shoot with her!  Elisa was not messing around with the Christmas theme this year!  She showed up with everyone decked out in green and red, 3 foot tall REAL candy canes (I have never seen a real candy cane that enormous in my life!), banners, customized cupcakes, santa hats & mistletoe.  She was embracing the Holiday spirit!!!  She also came bearing cupcakes for my kids, which was crazy sweet and much appreciated by my spawn, so thank you Elisa!!!  We somehow managed to incorporate all the props (small miracle in and of itself) and keep everyone happy while doing it!  Bodi started off very serious but when I started playfully fake-crying he decided that was the funniest thing EVER and was all smiles every time I threw a fake "crying fit"... too funny!  The weather and sunset were unbelievable that night.  It was well over 70 degrees and after the ridiculous cold spell (26 degrees! in CALIFORNIA PEOPLE!?!?), this warmth was well appreciated let me tell you!  We lucked out on the timing too because the very next day the entire area was covered in smoke from the Big Sur fires and the images would not have had this incredible glow and stunning light.  Speaking of which, my heart goes out to all those affected by the fires, that is such a gorgeous area, one of my favorite places in the world to visit and the loss of home and land for those who live there is just heartbreaking.

It should be noted that when you bring cupcakes to a shoot, and hand them to the children, the children will ONLY look at the cupcakes from that point forward! HA!  It was hilarious.  We had to take them away temporarily... at the very end of the shoot, we gave them back their cupcakes with free reign to devour them.  I fully expected Kenzi and Bodi to eat them, well, how I eat a cupcake, you know, which is to attempt to smoosh the entire thing in your mouth at once, isn't that how everyone eats a cupcake???  Well, nope.  They were so clean, and polite, and poised while taking tiny little licks and nibbles.  Clearly I was raised by wolves....  :)

Elisa & Peter, such a delight seeing you again this year, I adore you guys and can't wait until our next adventure!  ENJOY your sneak peek!!!

Eli

Grandma (Pixie) was actually the one who initially contacted me, in advance, for this newborn shoot.  You see, she's the wonderful "fairy godmother" who gifts these newborn shoots to her children, of her grandchildren, and in my humble opinon this is the very best gift you could ever grant a new family.  Babies will outgrow STUFF.  They don't need THINGS.  But newborn images will stand the test of time and be the gift that keeps on giving, as the child grows up and delights in seeing their own newborn pictures, and then has the immense pleasure of being able to show them to their children and grandchildren down the road.  Not to mention, this newborn stage goes by SO incredibly quickly.  It's truly a blink of an eye in this beautiful life we are granted.  

When I first arrived at Michelle & Stephen's house and met little Eli I was completely enamored with his FULL HEAD of luscious hair!  That and the fact that he was one CHUNKY 10 lb 10 day old!  So squishable!  My own children had been warned that I was going to a newborn shoot that day.  They know this means that all I'm going to talk about over dinner later that night is the ridiculously cute baby... and that's exactly what transpired.  At least they were warned!

Little Eli was SO good.  He slept nearly the ENTIRE shoot and was so easily soothed and would instantly settle back down in between poses.  Just a complete angel.  We almost even got through the entire shoot without a single "accident" but, inevitably, the  very second I pointed that out, he pooped all over dad.    Poor Stepehen.  Michelle and I were laughing so hard at the timing that we nearly fell over ourselves cracking up and it took us a few minutes to come to his aid...  Shame on us! :)

This trio was just an absolute delight to spend time with!  Little Eli is so deeply loved and cherished by his parents and they work so well as a team, so relaxed and chill for first time parents.  This is gonna be a breeze for them!  I can't wait to see the whole family evolve and grow as they embark on this new journey as a threesome!  Much love to you guys and the whole extended family!  Hope you love this sneak peek, too, Grandma Pixie!  Thanks for making it happen!  xoxo