And then the car wouldn’t start.

Isn’t it funny when we try to make plans, but life has something else in store?

It kind of reminds me of this little guy’s entrance into the world. Just over a year ago, my dear friend Danielle was shocked when she went into labor five weeks early. God had different plans for little Judah’s arrival and I just have a feeling that He also has some pretty big plans for his future. I just love this little guy!

And seriously–what a gorgeous family!

I know it’s a struggle for a lot of photographers to define their style, and once they find it, they often feel limited by it. I, for one, pretty easily define my style as bright, clean, and classic. I know that I want my pictures to be timeless, that’s why I don’t do a lot of textures or use lots of actions on my images. That’s just my personal preference. Don’t get me wrong–I love a good image with a grungy, texturized feel. I’ve just found that every time I try this style on my own, I end up preferring my original edit.

But lately I’ve been stretching myself–trying new things. I’m really loving distortion, especially when photographing children (glance up at the image of my sweet Abby in the orchard at the top of this blog and you’ll see what I mean). And I’ve enjoyed playing around with sunflare, too. And black and white images? I never used to like them. My style is all about bold, bright color, right? Well, done correctly, you can really achieve a bold and bright feel in a black and white image.

So when I was going through the images from this session of adorable Miss {A}, I knew that I wanted to try a few new things. I loved the haze that I was getting from the evening sun coming through the grasses and thought that these pictures would look great edited with a vintage feel. To me, they look like they could be pulled out of a Crewcuts ad with her adorable jumper and accessories. And I just love the black and white edits. Her dark hair and eyes contrast so beautifully against her creamy skin.

This session is one of my favorites not only because I had such a great time hanging out with {A}–who, by the way, came up to me out of the blue and hugged me–love that! But it’s also a favorite because of the emotion that the images convey. I love how they aren’t all just of {A} looking at the camera, posing, and smiling. I love the strands of hair on her face, I love her profile defined by the setting sun behind her, I love that they make you feel something when you look at them. And I love that I’ve given myself the creative freedom to try something new. Something to enhance my style. Something to help me grow as a photographer and as an artist.

And yes, we did get some traditional shots for the relatives. But I really love these ones that tell a story. And just look at those eyes! I have a feeling that these little guys will get out of many situations throughout their lives by their adorable puppy dog eyes alone. I know they have me wrapped around their little fingers!
Mom–thank you again for such a wonderful afternoon. I have so many more great images that I just can’t wait to edit. I’ll let you know as soon as your gallery is up!

I get nervous.

Whew. I feel much better now that that’s out there.

But seriously, I do. I get nervous. I still get nervous before every photography session.

But I look at that as a good sign. I get nervous because I know how important the images I’m about to take are. They will represent one second in time that can never be duplicated. They will hang on someone’s wall. They will become works of art.

And for today’s session I was a bit more nervous than usual. When Mom contacted me to take pictures of her six week old little guy we knew {C} was on the older side for newborn images. We talked over the details, knowing that we would have to work hard to get those sleepy, snuggly images. Well, turns out we hardly had to work at all. {C} was the perfect little model. He was still and alert and made great eye contact for all of his awake images. And usually for newborns we need to feed, snuggle, burp (and then feed some more) to lull them into dreamland. Not so for {C}. He fell alseep all on his own in my green bucket of all places! It was truly hysterical–we placed him in the bucket and then watched as his eyelids got heavier and heavier until he was out like a light.

So once again my nerves were for nothing since {C} was a champ and our session was awesome. Here are a few of my favorites.

I had a great time meeting up with {Z} for his two year old session this week. We decided to meet at Artbeast, a local children’s art studio in downtown Sacramento. It proved to be the perfect setting with all the bold colors and fun activities for kids. I just love these images of {Z}–especially the last one with paint and water all over his face. It’s difficult to get two year olds to sit still for formal portraits at this age, so I think this is the perfect place for toddlers. I’m all about creative locations for children’s photography and I think Artbeast is one of my new favorites.