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.

Round two of our castle senior sessions this time starring Kyla, a ballerina.  I will admit, it did take some coaxing to talk Kyla’s mom into a senior portrait session in a dilapidated castle but when she arrived, she knew we were all in for something special.

It took no coaxing at all however for Kyla to dance and float about room to room (yes including the haunted one) and give a stunning performance in front of the lens.  The light and texture of this place is always incredible and it contrasted fantastically with Kyla’s wardrobe.  We photographed until dark (even a bit later than that) and still didn’t even scratch the surface of this enormous building.

Thank you Kyla for your gracefulness and your fearless attitude, it was another magical day for me.

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:

Thought we would share a few photographs from our trip to Orlando.  First stop was the World of Harry Potter.  This small area of Universal Studios gives the best parts of Disneyland a run for the money.  Every attention to detail was just incredible.  There were lots of things to do, but highest on the list for the girls was a trip to Ollivander’s (for a magic wand), and a tall glass of Butterbeer (Reilly managed two glasses).  Low on the list was the food….Hogwarts tavern was without question the worst food I have ever eaten served at a restaurant.  Check out Miss T’s face at the table below…that sums it up.  We of course went lots of other places at Universal, but this area just caught my eye.  Here are some favorites from the day.

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…:-).

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  Here are a few highlights from our recent Vintage Valentine event.  Thanks again to all who came!

Contrary to popular belief, I still photograph our girls.  However, as time goes by, it becomes increasingly on their terms.  This time it took some fancy dresses that we asked them to “model” for us, and they were in…especially Miss T.  I wish I had filmed the whole process, they just were floating about on the logs and in the grass. Here are a few favorites.