Little Miss B visited us for her 2nd Bebe session (her 3rd actual session since we also did mom’s maternity!) and was sweet as can be.  We had some fun in the studio first (and mom and dad really know what I mean when I say “fun”….you had to be there!), and then ventured outside to show off her awesome winter outfit, full of color and texture, which we absolutely loved.  We always have a blast with the Zander family, especially since Dr. Zander happens to be our dentist…it’s a treat to get to see him when we’re not laying on our backs with our mouths wide open!

You might have seen our earlier post with the fun images James shot while having fun with the Good Day Sacramento folks, and now we finally have the video clips to share.  Good Day invited James down last month to talk about the many awards he brought home from the SPA (Senior Portrait Artists) event in San Diego, as well as do a mock senior photo session with their weekends anchors on air.  I guess they must have liked it, because they invited him back the following weekend to share the images he took of them on air.  The clips below are in order and include his appearances on both weekends.  James had a blast and absolutely loved everything about the fun group at Good Day Sacramento.  Thanks to their entire team for making it such a great experience!  We’ve also included his winning high school senior folio that garnered the most awards at the SPA event.  Click on the clips below to see his TV debut…

Good Day Sacramento pt. 1 from james on Vimeo.

Good Day Sacramento pt. 2 from james on Vimeo.

Good Day Sacramento pt. 3 from james on Vimeo.

Good Day Sacramento pt. 4 from james on Vimeo.

We knew from the first consultation that this was going to be a fun maternity session.  S mentioned that she really wanted to go outside and by the railroad tracks with the bridge, so our minds immediately switched gears from a “traditional” maternity session.  S & J had some of their wedding photographs taken by this very same stretch of tracks near our studio and thought it would be fun to go out there again and document this next exciting stage in their lives.  We still did some studio work with them, and that was a blast, too.  You can see below that we turned the “fashion fan” on her to help bring out her inner diva. Our favorites from the day, though, were definitely the last few images we got by the tracks.  I just love the connection you can see between them, anticipating the arrival of their baby boy.  A few short weeks later they welcomed their son.  Meet the Bierer’s…

As many of you know, we held our first annual Vintage Valentine portrait event at the Silver Spoon children’s boutique a few weeks ago.  As this was our first go at this particular “theme” if you will, we had no idea how it would go, especially given that they were 15 minute mini-sessions.  Much to our delight, we had an overwhelming response, completely filled every available spot and then some, and the images turned out–magical.  We provided tutus, pettiskirts, tanks, and hair accessories for the girls (and thanks to the Silver Spoon for adding to the selection, as well as our talented friend who provided the amazing hand-made flower headbands-you can find her one-of-a-kind pieces on her Etsy store, Wrapped in Clover), but the boys were on their own this time around, with some suggestions to guide their choices.  As you can see from these examples, the boys looked adorable, too!  I wish we could post everything, including all of the delicious Valentine cards and custom montages people ordered, because they were all just too cute for words!  This event was such a fun experience for us and everyone who came out, that I’m sure this will not be the last…we’re already thinking of next year’s Valentine event.  We’ve chosen a few faves to post here, but it was painful to only show a sampling; if we had posted everything I wanted to, it would have pretty much been every image from every session!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Last weekend we were fortunate to have been asked by our good friends to join them at their family lodge in S. Lake Tahoe for some winter fun (and superbowl).  We were thrilled and jumped at the invite, as poor Teagan has never been to the snow (she’s 4 1/2!), and it’s been so long I doubt Reilly even remembers it.  We were a bit nervous about how the weather conditions would affect our drive up, but just like magic, the clouds parted, the roads were clear, and there was no traffic!  Then, as is we had control over it, a ton of new snow fell all day Saturday, creating the most gorgeous winter wonderland you could imagine.  There was so much snow the kids were able to sled in the front yard right off the new hill that was once just a flowerbed of bushes.  In a word, the kids loved the snow!  Teagan was particularly fond of a giant snowball she found in the yard (see below).  We could not have asked for a better weekend–great friends, great weather, great fun.  Then, to top it off, the sun came out Monday when it was time to drive home.  In a word–amazing!  Thanks to Ann & Matt for being such gracious hosts!

We met the lovely Cubias family last fall (pretty sad that it’s February and we’re still not finished blogging from before Christmas!) and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them and their adorable kiddos.  Mom did an awesome job on their wardrobe selections, and we just loved the girls’ hats and big brother’s colorful scarf.  The girls were like supermodels and seemed to quite enjoy being photographed; I think they would have stayed longer if we had let them!  A fun fact we learned is that their daughter goes to the same pre-school as Teagan (our youngest), so we often see each other there during morning drop-off.  Meet the Cubias family:

We’ve been photographing this family since big brother was 2, I believe, and now little sis is going to be 2 later this spring!  They came for their annual family holiday portrait, as well as to capture Miss G’s new skill–standing!  We always have the best time with them and are so thrilled to see them each and every time.  The kids are always in a good mood….I wonder if there are good bribes involved?? Just kidding…they’re awesome kids no matter what!  Meet the Pham family (again):

Miss K is one of our Bebe Collection cuties, and she was especially adorable for this session.  The looks she gave us seemed far beyond her age, seeming to have some “secret” the rest of us weren’t in on.  Maybe that secret had something to do with the fact that she was faster than all of us and kept me and her parents on our toes!  While I love all of the images from her session, this first one on the sofa gets me every time I look at it!

When we met with Natasha last fall to discuss the portraits she wanted to have made of her family, we were excited on so many levels; first off, she is sort of family–she is my (Stef) aunt’s step-granddaughter; and second, she brought the coolest clothes to her consultation!  We knew if was going to be fun when she had so many ideas of looks that she liked, not to mention the fact that on the day of the session, she and and her daughter went to our friends at Article Salon (in the Fountains) to have their hair done especially for their portraits.  On the day of the session, the weather was perfect and the kids were superstars.  Miss A was a mini-supermodel and was up for changing clothes and looks as many times as she could squeeze in.  Little N was not quite as into being a supermodel as his sister, but he still did awesome nonetheless!  If I remember correctly, this session ended not because we ran out of outfits to change into, but because we ran out of light outside!  They were such a fun family to photograph and it shows.  Meet the Vasilopoulos family:

Last week James and I were in San Diego for the SPA event 2010 (SPA is short for Senior Portrait Artists).  This organization attracts some of the most talented high school senior photographers in the country and hosts one of the premier educational (and social!) events of the year for photographers.  After James attended last year’s SPA event in Las Vegas without me and came home completely fired up, there was no way I was missing this one (especially because it was at the beautiful Hotel del Coronado).  Aside from meeting up with hundreds of others talented photogs and hearing loads of great speakers, a main attraction and highlight of the event is the competition, which many of the attendees enter each year.  This was the first time James entered the SPA competition, which included categories for senior girl and senior boy folio (a composite of multiple images from the same subject) as well as a single-image kids competition this year.  Now, James has entered and done well in competitions before, but never anything quite like this.  After all of the folios and prints have been judged, they are displayed all over tables so everyone can look at all of the entries.  James felt quite intimidated when he saw the caliber of artists entering the competition.  You can imagine the thrill we both felt when his name was called not only once, but SEVEN times at the awards ceremony!  I thought he might pass out from the excitement (or the weight of all of those beautiful statues!)!  I’ve included a photo of James with six of his gorgeous (and heavy) glass statues (the biggest one shattered in shipping and is being replaced), as well as a few of the winners.  The awards he won are as follows:  Top scoring folio; First Place girl folio; Judge’s Choice senior folio; People’s Choice folio; People’s choice single image; 2nd & 3rd place single image kids.  James is so humble and if you know him, you know that he would never go out of his way to tell you about this amazing honor, but I can’t help myself, mainly because he works so hard and I think it’s so well deserved.  Way to go babe!