Melissa, Patrick, and Ivy

I met Melissa on a photography forum and we discovered that we were just two hours away from each-other (she is from Reno). She, her husband, and her 14 month old daughter drove all the way to Old Folsom to meet for our photography swap- I did photos for her, and she did photos for me. Ah, the benefits of being a photographer, huh? :) We are so often behind the camera and then look back and realize that we aren't in any of our own family photos. Well, Melissa and I changed that this weekend! I have to tell you about my new favorite store in all of Folsom - Melange! It's an awesome shabby chic/antique store and basically every girl's dream. Frillyness and girlishness galore! I ended up talking to the owner about my photography business and she offered to let us shoot in their shop. I was bouncing off the walls at the opportunity! Fellow photographers would appreciate the plethora of chairs, fabrics, mirrors, chandeliers, dolls, and everything mini- ideal for child portraits! Special THANK YOU to Stacy and Terri for letting us "make ourselves at home"!

Baby "P3" - First Birthday Session with Mom & Dad!

Let's call him "P3" - yes, the adorable little guy below! I met P3 and his parents through baby Summer's mom. I made the trek to San Francisco for this shoot. I love a good adventure and I happened to luck out on this one- not only did I make the drive for a fabulous session, but also for an AMAZING day. If you've ever been to SF you know that 80 degree days are few and far between. I've lived in CA for 18+ years, have been to the city a few dozen times, and I have never seen a day like the one we had on Saturday. I met P3 and his parents near the famous Lombard Street. We did a few there with the Coit Tower serving as our backdrop. We snuck a few in of Alcatraz, a few with the trolly, a few in the random allys (uhm, to die for GORGEOUS!), and then we were off to the BEACH! We almost got lost, but we made it. The temperature was a tad cooler on the exposed side of the coast, but we were still greeted by hundreds of other folks enjoying the perfect day.

P3 is quite possibly the calmest, most laid back, and most observant 1 year old that I have ever met. He did such a great job! Not a peep out of him the whole time...oh, wait...except for when he took a little face plant into the sand, but who can blame him?! Sand + mouth = yuck.

Thank you again to Mommy W & Daddy P for letting me shoot your adorable little family in such a world class setting. I had a blast!

Smashcake/1st birthday session with Summer!

I met Summer's mum (they are Austrailian!) on a mommy board that I belong to with kiddos who were born in September 2008. Tam and Summer drove all the way from Walnut Creek for our session. Little Summer is a DOLL and I was super excited to shoot her! Tam baked a gorgeous cake for Summer to make a mess with. In case you have never heard of it, a "smashcake" session is simply a session where you capture a 1 year old in action as they dig into a cake! Fun, right?! Heck yeah! Summer definitely did a good job of destroying the cake. She took a couple bites, but was more interested in sliding around in the frosting (because unlike my son, she walks!)

After we got Summer cleaned up, it was time for some cute tutu photos. Another mutual friend of ours, Astrid, made the gorgeous outfit. Yes, she MADE it! Summer was getting a little tired of posing for the camera, so off to the park we went! I have found that once kiddos are done posing and you still want more pics, just take them to a park and snap away! Some of my favorite shots of the day came about in this part of the session.

Before you indulge in some adorable photos (below) you MUST check out Astrid's site!  SIGnature Creations by Astrid is her shop - tutus, shirts, hair bows, pacifier clips, and diaper cakes! Astrid is a new mom of triplets - how she finds the time to do such gorgeous work is beyond me, but I am so glad she does!