Day at the Park

Just some fun shots from our afternoon at the park...

The Sanchez Girls

I had so much fun on the School Picture Redo mini-session with these two beautiful sisters and the cool retro car we found in their backyard. The girls are energetic and funny and very fashionable (loved their boots). Hold a camera up and they positively glow. My only complaint? Their mother introduced me to possibly the most addictive cheese spread ever. I'm going to have to go to some sort of hypnotherapy to try to not eat it constantly.

The McCormicks

For Myself

Editing more but enjoying it less? It's easy to get caught up in pleasing others and making sure that photos look, well, like photos. I just decided to play a bit yesterday... All the textures are from my textures set.

Just for fun

I've admired a certain amazing shot of John Mayer for a while now. Jake had some StarWars tattoos on and it reminded me of it.

Used my textures for the background. This was shot against a white wall here in my kitchen this morning.

Travel Town

His first trip to see the trains. He loved it so much. Honestly, went there for the pony rides (he's a horse fanatic) but he wanted *nothing to do* with sitting on the horse when it got right down to it. One of those (many) days I'm so happy my husband works at home, we got to experience it with him together.

This photo uses the free texture up on my textures blog. If you'd like it, go here.

Nikki Lang

Nikki Lang is a singer and songwriter. I had the pleasure of taking some pictures of her Sunday evening. Drop-dead good looking and talented as well. Check out her MySpace to hear some of the music from her previous album. When the new one comes out, I'll try and update here...

For any interested photographers, all the photos shown include my textures. You can purchase them here.

Miss N

Turns out that Miss N is the first school picture redo. And she never even took a school picture! You know, I'm not a stickler for rules, even on my own promotions.

School Picture Redos

It honestly would have never occurred to me to offer two mini-session promotions simultaneously, but then yesterday, my friend Cindy came over to show me her son Eli's school pictures. (You'll remember that adorable little cherub from the full portrait session his parents purchased this fall). Well, we got to talking about how funny it would be to juxtapose the two images and I could not resist. I absolutely had to do this for the marketing alone.

To give Life-Touch Studios the credit they deserve, the main photo selected is not glaringly horrible. I mean, they are shooting like 700 kids in a day, so you're not gonna get Annie Leibovitz. But the suggested images that they'd like for you to purchase as an add on? The tie-dyed terror, the bokeh explosion, coupled with Eli's look of sheer horror??? Too, too much. I just about peed my pants. (It should be noted here that being the nurturing, supportive individuals we are, we did not howl with laughter in Eli's presence).

So here's the deal:

One 15 minute session. No sitting fee. No minimum, standard ala carte pricing applies. (I'll send you a PDF of the price list if you email me). Burbank shoots only. Only ONE kid in the picture. Three pictures to choose from in the online gallery. If you have any other questions, please contact me :-)

Announcing Holiday Mini-Sessions

I'm offering 5 Holiday mini-sessions until December 1st. Two families have already committed, leaving 3 spots available. The deal includes 50 Christmas (or Hanukkah) cards and envelopes. If you're interested, please email me for the details.

Eli & Lillye (Sibling Session)

Eli & Lillye are 9 years apart in age. She is an artist and Eli, at six, could best be described as a sorcerer-Jedi-adventurer. Lillye comes acress as introspective and shy whereas her brother is outgoing and exuberant. Both are completely charming and very attached to one another, despite their differences in age and temperament.

The session was about as laid back as they come (their mom supplied a glass of fabulous red wine) and the shots were taken in their yard.















The kitty was too cute not to take a quick snap of.

Album Cover (Portraits)

A perk of living in LA is getting to work with really talented people on their projects. Tim P. is a successful composer and musician (he and his business partner create music for television and film, including Reno 911, The Mind of Mencia and Larry the Cable Guy). Tim is putting out his own album of harmonica & voice called "The Tim P. Distorto Blues" and asked me to take some photos of him blowing for his CD cover.

Baby Vincent (Newborn Session)

There's nothing quite like a newborn... It is always so amazing just how tiny and absolutely perfect they are. Had a great time with this little man. Only pooped on one blanket, not bad at all.

The Haras' (Family Session)

Most honest photographers will tell you that shooting a two year old can be a challenge. Add in "smart, active, male two year old" to the equation and you can quickly have your hands full. Lucky for me, his parents were cool customers who could go with the flow. In fact, about 20 minutes into the session, the little guy decided that he just wanted to run in the wilderness so we ended up shooting the rest of the photos in my front yard. (Cropped out of the pictures are my own 2 boys who were angling for the shoot to turn into a playdate).

A couple of other random thoughts on the session:

1) Contrary to the old saying, NEVER, NEVER try taking candy from a baby. The whole line about it being easy is a big fat lie.

2) These parents should be awarded the red badge of courage for sitting on a very grubby park picnic table.

But seriously, when I was editing the photos, I kept finding myself smiling back like a complete goober at the family in the pictures. I think it was because they were so genuine and their love for each other was so clearly on display. They are all truly nice people. I had a great time, I think they did too. :-)

Darkening Sky (Portraits)

O.K. so this gig was groovy. Basically the job description was to visit the set of Darkening Sky, hang with the cast and crew and take some photos for the film's promotion. Living in Los Angeles, I've seen my share of productions, but never this intimately. It was really eye-opening seeing how deeply everything has to be thought out and how much hard work goes into each step of the process. I also have to admit that getting to shoot people this beautiful was quite a treat. Danielle Keaton has perhaps the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Ryder Strong was a super-nice guy and I know now what a huge group of admiring fans he has. He deserves it. I'll try to follow up and let you know when the film comes out so that you can look for it.