san diego child photographer | entering a new phase of life

My baby turned four last week and it was SO bittersweet for me. In one sense, I mourned the fact that I have no toddlers or babies around anymore to cuddle. But in the other sense, I rejoiced in the new phase of life where there aren’t poopy-diapered kids hanging on my leg and needing constant attention. I LOVE LOVE LOVE babies. Anyone who knows me, knows how much this is true. But luckily for me, I get to snuggle sweet newborns for my job and that has been wonderful to help ease the pain of being in a “baby-less” household. Well that and the fact that I am SO enjoying some new-found freedom in being able to go to book club, girls night outs, and other social outlets and not having to worry about having babies or toddlers at home at home needing me.

So, here are some captures of my rambunctious, loveable, squeezable, smooch-able four-year-old. He loves to be sneaky and his facial expressions crack me up. I love this kid to the moon and back and could not imagine our lives without him.

san marcos childrens photographer
san diego professional photographer
san diego photographer
san diego child portrait photographer
professional san diego photographer
premier photographer california
escondido childrens photographer
childrens photographer north county
child photography san diego
california professional photographer

san diego photographer | 26 on fridays | week 5

It’s time for another 26 on Friday post! The theme for our 26 Week Photography Project this week was “Can You Guess My Favorite Childhood Book?”. I had a great time with this week and I’m hoping most people will know what book this image is trying to emulate. The gorgeous girl in this image is my friend Lisa’s daughter and she was an awesome model. I enjoyed editing a little heavy-handed this week as it was quite a bit out of my norm and kind of fun to play around. Make sure you comment which children’s book you think this is from just to amuse me for the day!

 

Come see my super fabulous friend and talented Phoenix photographer Misti Dawson’s take on this week’s theme!

san diego photographer | 26 on fridays | week 4

It’s project day!!!   The theme for our 26 Week Photography Project this time around around is/was “Once Upon a Time”.  I had a couple of ideas for this theme, but was rained out on one of them. When thinking about this theme, my mind automatically kept going to a dreamy image of a child engrossed in a make-believe book of some kind. Being a young girl and reading those “Once Upon a Time” books are such a great part of childhood and the dreams of what she will become one day.

I was an AVID reader at my daughter’s age and can remember reading whenever I got the chance (since we had really had no electronic devices way back yonder. . .those were the days). I stopped reading a lot of books after I had kids, but have recently gotten into a book club with some good friends of mine. It has helped re-introduce me to my love of reading which rocks. I adore how immersing yourself in a book can take you right out of reality and put you in a whole different world. On a side note, I read a book recently called “Night Road” by Kristin Hannah and sobbed! My husband looked at me kind of funny, but it was a great book.

Anywhooooo, here is the image I took for this week!!!! I love how everything is green in our yard right now and I am always a huge fan of hazy back-light so I decided to create an image of my daughter reading one of her books about fairies.

Child Photographer

 

 

Head on over to the talented Jules Tandem | San Diego Child and Family Photographer to see her take on “Once Upon a Time”.

 

san diego newborn and family photographer | playing catch-up

As you may have noticed (or not noticed hee hee), I have not been blogging much. I made a decision last year to give up a job that I had been doing online for quite a long time. There were many reasons for doing this and at the time I was so stressed about the decision. Looking back, I really see how God was involved in that decision from the get-go. I saw that everything does happen for a reason even when you don’t understand it at the time, and now I feel like the last 6 months has given me my sanity back. I used to spend so much time on the computer that I felt this weird pull to it. Granted, I was working and making money by being on it, but I felt like my life had become sucked into that computer screen. My kids hated it, my husband hated it, and I was starting to hate the person I was becoming being consumed by being stuck in front of that computer screen all of the time. I just felt super anxious and stressed and it was not good for me at all. I thought just because I had a great opportunity in front of me that I needed to take it. I now realize how much happier I am and how much happier my family is that I am “present”. I still am running my photography business and staying busy with that, which I feel SO incredibly blessed by. The month of January was filled with the most amazing clients who truly made me realize how lucky I am to have this business. But I’ve really taken a step back from the online/social networking/computer world. I know I need to blog my sessions once in awhile as it’s always good to get my fresh work out there for clients to see. But I’m finding a great balance and I’ve been able to really get involved more in my kids’ school/activities. I have an almost 4-year-old that I’ve been able to hang out with A LOT more instead of ignore for hours a day. God really has taught me a lot about what matters this past year. Many events, some tragic, have taken place that have showed me how important it is to be present in my life and to really cultivate my relationships with my kids, my husband, and my friends. Overall, 2012 has already been an amazing year just a little over one month into it and I look forward to seeing what the rest of the year brings. Sappy. . .yes? But I had to share it.:)

With that, I give you a taste of the last sessions I’ve had. . .

Meet the scrumptiously, loveable Leo. . .

 

Up next is the deliciously sweet Tala. . .

 

The next two heart-breakers were from an awesome family session that I hope to show more of soon.  I do have one outtake to share though that just cracks me up!

 

Next up is the adorably, smooshy Asher. . .

 

And the next two are just a couple of my favs from back in December.   The little guy below belongs to one of my best friends from High School.

 

LOVED this family session. . .hope to share more from this one some day too.

San Diego Professional Photographer | 26 on Fridays | Week 3

So, I failed miserably at this project (cue sad music). My final product was much too embarrassing to post, so instead I am just posting a still-frame of the image. The theme this week was “The People Who Keep You Sane” and the technique we were working on is Cinematography. Click here for some amazing examples of cinemagraphs. My first thought was to create a cinematographic image with my friends as they are a huge element in my life for keeping me sane. But then I felt bad for excluding anyone in particular because I just love them all so much. Then I thought about using my awesome barista peeps at Starbucks because they REALLY keep me sane pretty much every day. But that proved to be too difficult. So instead, you get the Starbucks chick on the cup. Let’s just say she stands for all of those awesome Starbucks people who make my day. My husband went to get me a coffee one morning and my favorite Starbucks barista gal recognized him and wrote a lovely message on my cup. I know it’s sad, but it makes me oh so happy! I’ve decided life is too short to give up on the little things that bring happiness and joy to my life. And if an iced coffee can do that, then I’m ALL for it!

san diego photographer

Head on over to the fabulous Stephanie Moore | Tucson Baby Photographer to see her take on “The People Who Keep Me Sane”.