First off, our apologies for the lack of updates lately–we spent the last week in San Diego with James’ entire family, celebrating his grandmother’s 90th birthday and just generally having fun.  Stay tuned for images from that, as well as more updates about what else has been taking up a good deal of our time lately–moving into the new Enchanted studio (again, stay tuned for images!).

Now that I have that off my chest, on to more important things, like the lovely Perdue family.  We knew photographing this family would be a fun challenge, as they described wanting anything but “typical.”  They showed up fabulously frocked and up for anything; when I say anything, I mean anything.  Their session was on one of the windiest days in recent memory.  Thankfully a little wind and chill didn’t intimidate them!  We ended up down by the train tracks, and found a spot under the bridge that we first went to in an effort to block the wind, but found out it had more merit than just blocking the wind.  Just for fun at the end, we went further down the tracks.  Literally a minute or two after telling them that trains never come by when we’re down there, lo and behold, a train began approaching.  Jackpot!  Our favorite images (and theirs) of the day came as a result of this happy accident.  I should also mention, even though obvious through the images, that miss S was quite the show-stopper.  Thanks to the Perdue family for sticking with us through the cold and wind–it was worth it!  In fact, we loved one of their images so much that it is hanging in the gallery of our new studio…

It’s always a bittersweet thing when one of our Bebe Collection members turns one.  We grow to know and love these families over baby’s first year and know we get to see them every few months.  Then the baby turns one, and we know we won’t see them every few months anymore….:-(  Miss A is such a sweet girl and made every session even more fun than the last.  Her one-year session turned out to be quite a blustery day, but it didn’t seem to phase her.  We want to thank Briana & James for entrusting A’s precious first year portraits to us–you guys are the best!

We first met the Armijo’s last summer thanks to some of our other clients.  The Armijo’s opened up the first Dailey Method studio in our area, and we are so thrilled for lots of reasons!  We first found out about them because of the rave reviews we heard about this unique exercise studio, and then we were so excited when they asked us to do some of the photography for their studio, and then, their own family.  We have been loyal to the Dailey Method every since (minus a couple of interruptions due to surgery and broken wrists for me–Stef…).  We were thrilled when Adam & Stacey asked us to photograph their family at Folsom Lake, where they like to spend time as a family.  Little Mr. R. was so cute and we loved watching him enjoy his surroundings.  We have been fortunate to get to know this family in several settings, and are proud to introduce them here.  Meet the Armijo family:

We met the Wu family a while back after they placed the winning bid on a session we donated to the St. Alban’s annual auction.  We were so glad they did because they were so fun to work with!  We kind of felt bad for big brother (as we often do) because Miss A had such amazing outfits and kind of stole the show.  It was great, though, that we got to capture that awesome empty space where a tooth once was on big brother.  Meet the captivating Wu family:

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” – Billy Crystal

Kasie & Thomas may not have known each other very long by “traditional” standards, but spend an afternoon with them, and you’d think they have been together a lifetime.  I was thrilled when they asked us to capture this time in their lives.

They decided to have their engagement photographs made at some of their favorite places on Folsom lake.  The day was chilly and beautifully cloudy, perfect!  As we walked, Kasie told me the story of how they met at Granite Bay Country Club (that’s a whole separate post!) and how quickly their relationship took off.  Lots of laughs, and lots of hugs, it was a wonderful afternoon with them.

Here are some faves.

It’s that time of year again!  We’re excited to announce our 3rd annual Mommy & Me Portraits for the Cure event, where we raise money to support breast cancer research.  This year we’re keeping it local and donating the proceeds to the Placer Breast Cancer Endowment.  As usual, the event will be held at The Silver Spoon children’s boutique.  No appointments are needed, so just come in while we’re there!  The portraits will be made like those you see here, so dark colors will photograph the best.  We want to say a special “thank you” to the three lovely women and their kids who are featured here and have each been affected by breast cancer in different ways.  You are all strong, courageous, and deserve to be celebrated!

We thoroughly enjoyed the Speaking family for many reasons, one of which included their great wardrobe!  When we saw little Miss A’s adorable pink outfit, we knew she’s be stealing the show.  That is until, we saw mom’s shoes (and dress, and hair, and make-up)!  Dad wasn’t too shabby either (don’t want to make him feel left out…:-).  A was such a happy, sparkly-eyed little girl, and we couldn’t have been more thrilled with this session and getting to know this lovely family.  Meet the Speaking’s:

When Miss S and her mom showed up for their last session, we were overwhelmed with the amount of amazing clothing options we had to choose from.  We knew we wanted to capture some of the beautiful fall leaves, but the weather was not on our side–the ground was completely soaked, and there was no way we were going to sit her down in her gorgeous silk dress–so we decided to haul a chair outside and improvise!  It started raining moments after we got what we wanted, so we ventured in to the much warmer (and drier!) studio to finish off her session.  Even though S had an incredible wardrobe for such a little peanut, I think my favorite image from the entire session is this first one, where she’s wearing nothing but her headband.  Just goes to show a little accessory can go a long way!  Meet Miss S (again….):

When we first spoke with the Waterbury’s and learned they wanted their family to be photographed in a rice field, we were so intrigued!  It turns out they are rice farmers and this wide expanse of land is all theirs, and it was close to harvest time.  Their idea was to schedule the portrait session in early fall, right before the harvest.  We were so excited and thankful that they had a couple of spots in mind, because our heads were spinning with the overwhelming options.  Laura did such a great job planning their clothing, as she had one set of clothes to be photographed with one look, by their neighbors totally awesome barn, and then another set of clothes for the rice field images (little S’s great dress was from the Silver Spoon).  It was so special watching the kids run around free on their land, something so few children today can experience.  Capturing the relationships of a family is always important, but documenting this time in their life on their farm, that they plant and harvest, which defines so much about their lives, was amazing and truly an honor for us.  Thank you so much to the Waterbury’s for sharing their ideas, land, and precious children with us for a few hours.  (it should also be noted that very soon after these photographs were taken, brother decided to give little sis a haircut…:-).

We first met the Pope’s during an extended family session in Napa, when they were just newly expecting.  They live on the other side of the country, so we were thrilled to get the call that they would be visiting family here in town and wanted to bring their sweet baby girl in for a session.  Miss V was the perfect little subject and could not have been any cuter.  When we then got the news that they will soon be moving to California, we were even more excited (hoping that this is not the last time we are fortunate enough to photograph this lovely family…:-).  Wishing you a very smooth and uneventful move!