On Holiday!
Hello! I’ve been quiet this week on the blog because I’ve been in Maryland visiting my family. This handsome fella is the reason for my absence. :)
Be back next week!
Baby Ben
For his one year birthday, I had another portrait session with Baby “Fetch me my cigar” Ben, along with his parents and grandparents. Last time he had just figured out crawling, and this time he had just figured out walking!
These moments are rare and happen in a split second, and boy am I happy to catch them.
Not a fan of walking on grass. Haha.
Impromptu family photo!
I personally love family photos taken in front of the house. It reminds me of my old family photos that we used to take.
And then Ben will do something awesome like this.
Playtime with the grandparents.
At one point, they were bringing Bella in for a photo, when Ben, excited to see his canine sibling, decided to hug and snuggle Bella.
Lily & Family in Portland
Lily and her family moved to Germany last spring, but before they left, we made sure to get some photos of them in downtown Portland, walking around their NW neighborhood, and hanging out at home. Downtown Portland proved to be too exciting to hold Lily’s attention for long (playing a game of asking where I was worked to trick her into looking my way), but she had great fun walking around her neighborhood and showing me her room.
Lily, where am I?
Watching the kayakers
Monkey jumping on the bed.
Nicole, Lily’s mom, is an amazing tennis player. No doubt, they’re starting early with this one.
My favorite photo of the day, taken at the very end. She looked up from reading the book and gave me this hilarious giggle.
Lily holds a special place in my heart because while being hilarious and adorable, she was also the first child I ever “officially” photographed! (And because she has a very adorable chipmunk photo that obviously I’m attached to). I’m sad that they’ve moved to Germany, but I’m so excited for their opportunity (Mom & family are from Germany). I’m also *doubly* excited for their addition of twins that are soon to come!
My 2010 Favorites: Portraits
Next up for my 2010 Favorites series: Portraits, Children’s Portraits to be specific.
1. Hi Magdalena. This is a favorite because the experience was so awesome. Magdalena crawled into my lap, because she’s that friendly and easy going, and said “Hi!”
2. Lily at the Park. Many things I like about this photo. First of all, I like that it’s in focus, no easy task with a swing at this angle. Second, I like the blue found in the photo. And third, I love the hair.
3. Lucia at the Park. I’m a big fan of kids walking along walls.
4. Ada’s Smile. This baby girl would not stop smiling at me, it was awesome. And [geek alert!] this room was filled with harsh overhead lighting, and I managed to use this giant white kiddie table as a reflector.
5. Deegan Hiding. I like shy kids that hide from the camera.
6. Fetch Me My Cigar. The lucky result of a toddler’s attempt to roll out of his chair and crawl on the ground.
7. Paloma and Chloe. I love their expressions, and their outfits are awesome too.
8. Blue Steel. Derek Zoolander has nothing on these kids.
9. Kai on the Run. I find this photo awesome due to his expression, and the memory of him running like crazy away and then towards us.
10. Lily the Chipmunk. I have a special, special, attachment to this. Oh, and [geek alert!] I definitely thought I had enhanced her eyes when I looked back at this photo, but no, that’s how it was. Go Chipmunks!
And… for a bonus, of course, another photo of Yohan! One of my many favorites of him.
Baby Ben’s Portraits
I did a 6/7-month-old portrait session with Baby Ben. He had just started crawling, so keeping him in once place wasn’t easy. You’ll see in the last photo the awesome result of a baby maneuvering to get out of a chair so he can move about.
Benny also happened to be teething, and I’m not sure what the following sequence means, but he definitely doesn’t look pleased with his impromptu teething toy.
And here it is, my favorite:
Happy Birthday Yohan!
My nephew turns 2 today!! To celebrate, here are photos of Yohan from this past year.
WPPI
Next stop on the February Awesomeness Train: WPPI in Las Vegas!
Thanks to Leather Craftsmen, I got to go to the WPPI Convention in Las Vegas. Some classes were disappointing, while others were awesome. I tried to go to as many classes as possible, attending classes from 8am to 8pm, and only straying to visit the exhibitor booths at the Trade Show and eat. I was on a mission at the Trade Show to do as much research on album companies (of which there were 50-60 companies) . Mornings started at 7am (waiting in long coffee lines) and dinners weren’t finished until 11pm. Everyone was excited to be around fellow photo geeks, so we stayed up late talking for hours about photography, photo gear, courses we’d been to, and courses we wanted to go to. I’m pretty sure I averaged less than four hours of sleep a night and about 10 miles of walking a day. I was exhausted by the end of the convention, but the amount of knowledge I gained (more on that in another post) and the friends I made was worth it.
Kayso came along to classes in my bag, but I told him that he had to stay behind for the Awards show. He tried to convince me otherwise by dressing up for the event.
Portrait Session with Wen Shu
Last week, while still in California, Wen Shu and I did a quick portrait session for his profile photo on Canopy’s website. Canopy is a non-profit environmental organization focusing on urban forestry. They work to bring trees to the urban Palo Alto area, while also educating people about forest care through tree walks. I like! So we, Mr. “Member of the Board of Directors” Wen Shu and I went for a walk and found some (urban) trees to take portraits against.
Portraits of Magdalena
I got to do a portrait session with the adorable Magdalena. Magdalena is all smiles and and laughs, so it wasn’t difficult to snag a cute photo of her, that is, when I could catch up to her (this girl could MOVE).
The following two photos are my absolute favorites. I was sitting on the ground taking pictures of her when she crawled into my lap and gave me the sweetest serious look.
Still in my lap, she turned to me and gave me her signature look: a very cheery, “Hi!”
ADORABLE!
K-kun the Little Samurai
Had a portrait session chasing K all around. He got to see lots of sakana (fish), and I learned some sign language!
L’ at the Park
Went to the park for L’s portrait session. It was cold, so we played around as much as we could before heading inside for some shots of her playing at home.
