A girl and her dog(s).

Meet Molly and her two dogs Dexter and Penny.  Meet me, the photographer who loves nothing more than kids with their dogs.   Yeah, so maybe I was totally in my happy place - despite Dexter  The Great Dane Puppy being a royal spastic nutball.  :)

Seriously, I thought I had the world's biggest, dopiest, goofiest dog on the planet - until I met Dexter.   His ears and tongue have an agenda of their own, which has nothing to do with anything else the rest of his body is doing.  Naturally, I completely fell head over heels in love with him.  I loved Penny The Smiliest Labrador too, of course! 

And, you know, Dexter and Penny's family weren't too shabby either.... lol!   I've known this family for ages.  Even though our last shoot together was about 8 years ago we have stayed in touch as friends and I've peripherally watched Molly grow up but it was still a bit of a shock to the old (key word OLD) system to see her so young lady like.  Oooof.  My heart.

The shoot was absolute chaos because of the dogs who definitely did not have the same agenda that we had, but we all know by now that I thrive on chaos!  BRING IT!

It was a most marvelous shoot!  Susan, Phillip and Molly, it was an absolute pleasure spending time photographing you all again!  And congratulations on Dexter, he is a most delightful addition to the family! ENJOY your sneak peek!

Ellie, Ben, Annabel, Trixie and Teddy

This is one of my absolute FAVORITE families.  I've always joked about how leading up to my shoots I will drink as many cups of coffee as there are children in the family.  It's my "go to" formula.   With this family I would, in theory, need 5 cups which could potentially result in me being a complete and utter spaz during the shoot.  Luckily, these 5 kids are among the most cooperative, charming, delightful and easy to photograph EVER.  So, my rule of thumb goes out the window with them, they are just such a pleasure to be around.    We did the shoot at their beautiful home and even got images with their pups and their new kittens at the end but for brevity's sake I had to narrow down to just head shots for the sneak peek, you know, what with the five children and all! HA!  This year is Ellie's senior year in High School so I grabbed a few extra with her at the end.  I would have shot forever but the thick, wet fog rolled in too fast and things got bleary light-wise pretty quickly.  J & N, I hope you LOVE your sneak peek.  Thank you for the honor of documenting your family.  xoxo

Connor, Michaella & Isabelle

I often remark on how incredible it is to me that I get to photograph the same families year after year after year and have the distinct honor and privilege of watching the kids grow up.  Well, this certainly hits me the hardest when the kids I have been documenting go off to COLLEGE... WHAT!?  Argh.  This family is a long time client and we've become friends over the years and I've seen the family change and evolve and grow.  Connor is now away at college and came back for this shoot - with his adorable girlfriend!  Michaella and Isabelle were tickled pink to have their big brother around and Isabelle in particular just could not stop climbing on him and clinging to him incessantly.  They absolutely ADORE their big brother.  This time though, she had some competition for his affections... ha! This family is always full of fun, laughter, lively antics and dramatic displays and I couldn't possibly love that about them more.  It makes for a fast paced and fun filled shoot.  I can always rely on Isabelle to be the class clown and on Michaella to be the dependable and reasonable one.  And all the kids know that dad is a complete nutball so his antics practically go unnoticed at this point! HA!  I just can't get enough of them and I was particularly thrilled to be shooting in a location that I had moved away from and had not shot at in ages but have now moved back closer to and had forgotten just how gorgeous the light is there.  Made for a fabulous shoot!  Here is a "little" sneak peek!  Love you guys!

Nikita's new family

I don't usually make the blog header title the name of the family dog but this family is so crazy about their new pup - much like we are about our beloved pooch in my little family - that I kinda felt compelled to.   Nikita is the new addition to this wonderful family whom I've photographed before.    I will readily admit to being extremely partial to families with large breed dogs who consider their pets a member of the family and couldn't IMAGINE not including their dog in their family photos! HA!    To this day, my favorite image ever of my kids and I includes our beloved Kooper.  This beautiful, loving, high energy foursome wanted to do the shoot at the historic covered bridge park, a location I had not shot at in YEARS.  I had forgotten how lovely that bridge is.  We had a really fun shoot and I'm delighted to show them their sneak peek here on the blog.  Nikita has definitely stolen all their hearts, as she did mine during the couple hours we all played together.    It was quite fortuitous that I happened to have dog treats in my car!  That's what you get for hiring a dog loving/owning photographer!   Pete, Jeanne, Ruby and Petey (& Nikita of course!), it was such a pleasure hanging out with you all!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Grant

I met this family when I photographed their first born Ian a little over 7 years ago.  Five years ago, brother Sam came along.  Then, out of the blue, I get an email from Amy saying "Surprise! We need you again!"  And what a perfect, adorable, fantastic little surprise Mister Grant is!  I'm so glad I was able to squeeze them into my schedule because I just ADORE this family and I can so tangibly feel the love they all have for each other.   Amy is such a great mom and when she saw one of the pictures on the back of my camera of her and Grant cuddling she started crying, which, in turn, made me start crying which resulted in Ian and Sam looking at us like we are two crazy ladies....  I gotta admit, I just have such a soft spot for these newborn sessions....  My womb aches for weeks afterwards.

 I was able to spend some quality time with Ian and Sam while mom was nursing Grant.  You can tell from the pictures that this family likes to laugh and have fun, so we all had a grand ole time!  You'll also see the requisite soccer ball accessory since they are a BIG TIME soccer family and we couldn't possibly NOT include a soccer ball SOMEHOW into the shoot! :)

It was great fun seeing you all again!  I'm delighted I was able to continue our newborn tradition with this fabulous, happy, and wonderful surprise which is Grant.  I can just tell already how he completes your family and just adds a whole new layer of love to add to the love-fest which already existed!  xoxo

Ellie

It is fitting that I should feel inspired and compelled by my daughter to do a personal project shoot when I am in the throes of being overwhelmed with work and struggling with the kids underfoot for summer break.  Only she could have the power to make me pull out my camera on the ONE day off I have from shooting this week.  She is my muse.  Always has been, and always will be.

Last week I succumbed to my 41st birthday (ouch) and went camping up near Half Moon Bay to celebrate the event.  During that camping trip I discovered a somewhat secluded beach with a gorgeous path to reach said beach.   I was so smitten with the locale and the light that I vowed to come back with my daughter "some day".  Well, when I told my daughter about it over dinner she insisted we go.  Right now.  So, we did.  :)

These are the results of the hour and a half we spent together playing around with the gorgeous California coastal light which never fails to make my heart sing.   Ellie, naturally, was utterly fantastic in every possible respect.  This location was so perfect for her.   She is my wild thing.   My fierce and ferocious little bird.   She cannot be caged in.  She cannot be restrained.  She does best when she is allowed to not just fly, but SOAR.    She lives on the edge at all times, in a creative whirlwind of emotions, passion, intensity and zest that can just as easily bring me to my knees as it can make my soul tremble with pride and joy.   She is your quintessential artist type personality; incredibly sensitive, deeply emotional, highly reactive, keenly observant, living only in the extremes of highs and lows as she navigates the constant influx of creativity flowing through her body and soul at all times.   Equal parts ridiculously confident and totally insecure.  At the same time.  She doesn't just feel things, she experiences them.  For good or for bad.

She will likely render me completely insane by the time she hits her teens, but it will all have been worth it because I cannot imagine my life without her in it.  She ignites my world with her high voltage personality and has single handedly taught me the definition of unconditional love.

Whereas her brother is my connection to the earth: grounded and stable, pensive and thoughtful, giving and warm, reliable and pragmatic.   She is my connection to the sun, the stars and the moon: bright and fiery, mysterious and mesmerizing, powerful and intense, wild and unpredictable.

My life is so much richer and more interesting thanks to those two and I can't imagine it any other way.

Halina

I met Halina's mom through a mutual friend whom we both adore so it made sense that we would hit it off right away.   Several months after being introduced, Tina contacted me to do a special birthday shoot for her daughter Halina's 11th birthday.    I'm completely in love with that age range right now (which could be because my kids are 9 and 11 yrs old...) but really it's just a superb age.   I was excited to meet Halina based on how Tina described her, and she exceeded my expectations.   Halina is a vibrant, self assured, secure, funny, smart, delightful young lady and an absolute dream for a photographer to shoot.  My camera LOVED her.  We had a splendid day by the beach and I very much enjoyed my time with Halina and Tina.  I hope they both love their sneak peek!  Halina, you are an absolute gem, keep being you - through and through!

Kenzi & Bodi

I get to see this gorgeous family a few times a year since before they were born which means that by now I am practically family to these kids.   We just HAVE FUN!   Mom and Dad know my style and approach and trust me implicitly so we just go with the flow.  It's become a very organic process and I very much look forward to seeing them every shoot.  Mom has an eye for colors and matching outfits perfectly with everyone's skin tones and each other, I don't even bother sending her advice/suggestions/recommendations.  She knows exactly what she's doing.  I just show up and we play.  :)

Always a pleasure Elisa and Peter, enjoy your sneak peek!  xoxoxo

Oliver

I've been photographing Oliver since he was a mere baby.  I've watched him grow over the years, but always against the consistent landscape of his curly mass of fabulous hair atop his gorgeous olive skin and his mischievous grin.   He's always been a very active kid and our shoots thus involve a near constant marathon of chasing him around.  I consider it my workout for the day!  This shoot was no different with regard to the energy levels (I seem to attract a much higher percentage of highly active kids over super mellow kids but quite frankly I wouldn't have it any other way, I love vibrant kids!) but this was the first time I took pause and realized just how "grown up" he seemed to me all of a sudden.  He wasn't a toddler or a little boy anymore.   He was distinctly coming into his own.  I think the confidence he has gained from being deeply committed to his swim team (practices every day!) has helped him mature along with his sudden growth spurt.   His swimming is so important to him and so representative of him at this stage in his life that mom and dad wanted to start the shoot off at the athletic club where he swims and then finish off the shoot on the grounds around the club.    It was a great way to capture Oliver as he is right now, doing something he is deeply passionate about and thriving in.   He even swam every day after breaking his arm roller skating - now that is dedication!  I can't imagine swimming with my arm in a cast and I was a competitive swimmer much of my life.  Major props to Oliver!    As you'll see in these images, he truly doesn't ever stop moving so we just went with the flow.  Besides, you can't take a bad picture of this kid, he's CRAZY photogenic!  Enjoy your sneak peek Patricia and Leo, it was a pleasure as always!!!

Zoe & Alex

It's so exciting to meet a new family on shoot day!  I can only hope that the family will warm up to me quickly and trust me enough to let their true selves shine through.  I couldn't have asked for more with this family!  The kids flew out of the car to greet me; Zoe wearing her Princess Elsa dress and Alex parroting everything his big sister said and did.  And did I mention dimples?  And big huge smiles?  Yeah, heaven.  Dad is the family photographer, and a knowledgeable one at that, so the focus on this shoot was family photos that included him for a change!  The kids were all smiles and super high energy practically the entire shoot.  Which, you know, could have been the trip to Penny Ice Creamery right before the shoot or perhaps the birthday party earlier in the day... (ha!) but other than me needing a really fast shutter speed for Zoe (that girl does not stop moving/jumping/running for one nanosecond!) I was completely in my element!  Mom and dad had no problem just having fun and running around with the kids and ENJOYING each other as well as the process of the shoot.  That's all I ever ask for.  Just be yourselves and have fun; and that's exactly what they did.  The result is some truly vibrant and fun images that capture this beautiful family's playful and engaging nature.  By the end Alex was more interested in sitting on my lap while I was taking pictures which, as you can imagine, was quite endearing.  Zoe has a smile that could light up the Universe and the only time I saw it fade the whole time we were shooting was when the shoot was over and it was time to walk back to the car.  I'll take that as a compliment!  All in all, a super fun shoot with a truly delightful family!  Guy & Bay, thank you for choosing me for this family photo shoot, ENJOY your sneak peek!