[going home]

My husband's cousin Shawn is a single mom with 2 boys. I've know them since the boys were younger than my kids are now, so they're a constant reminder on how fast kids grow up. I am so happy for her and the boys for they are making a huge change in their lives, and starting a brand new chapter. They're moving to Maui! I know, what a sacrafice right?? LOL. But this is the place in Shawn's heart where she calls home and where she has the fondest memories of her childhood. So even though I am going to miss seeing her everyday and having our daily discussions and bouncing off ideas, I am more  happy than sad for her because I know exactly how she feels. She is so brave to take this leap, to purge all her belongings and for the fact that the boys are wholeheartedly supporting her decision. 

I'm so honored to capture these pics of her and the boys to remember their time here in California. We also took some for Billy's senior portraits. 

I can't believe how much they've grown just from their last photoshoot!

http://alexandrafrankel.blogspot.com/2008/10/brothers.html

Here's Billy, a senior this year. He was only 6 when I met him. Talk about feeling old! So wonderful to see how his matured and grown to be handsome young adult.

And little Brandon is not so little anymore, he can finally beat up on his big brother, I am sure he is well due for some payback! Not bad looking either. Watch out Maui!!

Side by side...

How long will this take? Well... as long as it takes. I'm sure his thinking of a million other things he'd rather be doing. hahaha.

And Shawnee... she's such an inspiration, she's been so strong through all the tough times, keeping a roof over their head and  doing it all on her own.  In the past 18 months I've watched her make huge lifestyle changes in health & fitness, that has been so inspiring, I can't even tell you how her iron her will power has been to eat right and exercise daily. She totally rocks the ZUMBA thing too and knows how to have some fun. 

 

Shawn's baby... haha... adorable!

Brothers forever.

Sun flares make me happy. Love these.

I hope it won't be long before we can come visit you all in your new home.  We'll trade in the barns and fields for sand and ocean! I can't WAIT! Last one... my favorite of all...

Shawn, Billy & Brandon, I wish you every happiness and lots of good fortune and may your homecoming be everything you've dreamed of and much more. Love you all tons! XOXOXOXOX

[mother nature has a hot flash]

When Isabelle's mom contacted me 5 months ago to photograph her newborn baby she REALLY wanted to have her newborn shoot outdoors! I said that is no problem! Then she said her baby is due November 16th!! Now, I said that unless mother nature has a hot flash, we will have to prepare for an indoor shoot. Well... fast forward November 15th (Bela came early) and how lucky is she? The temps outside were 75 degrees! Only in California (and Australia and Hawaii) but she got her wish and I was much happier shooting outdoors. We got some pretty cute pictures if I do say so myself. 

Here's Isabella at 8 days old with her brother.

 So sweet. I love this one, cause I am a sucker for puckered lips. 

While mommy soothed baby into deep sleep, I got some snaps of newly promoted "BIG" brother, who is just itty bitty himself at 22months. Love his little smile and he loved his car! Boys and their toys! Hehe.

My cousin Shawn gave me this awesome stool which is so PERFECT for shoots.  I didn't have time to give it a fresh coat of paint but I LOVE it. And how cool are those sun flares!

She also gave me this gorgeous hand-carved wooden bowl that was a perfect fit!! Thanks Shawn!  I  know a lot of photographers photoshop away new babies flaking skin, but I love them, to me they just scream "I am brand new", and that's a beautiful thing. Oh she was so sweet, so beautiful, 6lbs 3oz of pure perfection.

She kept one eye open almost the entire shoot, she really wanted to keep on eye on things, hahaha... but finally our patience wore her out and she fell into deep sleep...

And after I did a bit of a happy dance, I got these.... I seriously could have photographed her all day long. It made me long for those days when my girls were this small, and regret terribly that I wasn't the photographer I am today, I didn't even know then that people even photographed babies that way, back then Anne Geddes was the only person I knew who photographed babies, and I was not about to call and ask her rates! LOL! If only I could turn back time... but I'll just pretend she's mine for a bit.

 Little Bela came all the way from the Bay area to have one on one lens time with me, and I want to thank her mom Ruth for allowing me this opportunity and I can't even tell you how excited I am to be able to photograph her again in 6 months and in 12 months!!!

Lastly I had to include one of Isabella's first sun-bathing event... like her mommy said "no tan lines!" LOL! Ah... boy did she liked it in the sun, it put her right to sleep... I was worried she'd get sunburn - in NOVEMBER! Oh love love loving California lately.

But that was last week, and right now as I am posting this, its raining and FREEZING outside, which is perfect for me to sit and process pics. I hope these eye candy pics keeps you warm this winter. I still have a few more sessions I'm dying to share with you, but I have wrapped up shooting for this season, and I am ready to hibernate! Thanks for stopping by... xoxoxox

[a breathe of fresh air]

Meet our new friends from MN, they are very busy with two spunky boys. Stephanie and Eero moved to sunny CA so that Eero can join the Coversant team. This is their first family photoshoot EVER! Stephanie did an amazing job styling her boys for the shoot. 

LOVE LOVE LOVE the boys outfits and that anthropologie jacket is to die for!  I love her urban style and her laid back attitude, she's so much fun and such a breathe of fresh air to our little town.  The colors in this shoot are amazing to me... 

Stephanie is a super talented writer and has an awesome blog where she shares her daily happenings and provides information to help those who suffer from mental illness, you can check out her witty memos at http://blog.mommyvsmadness.com/. Oh and she has great taste in shoes too. :-) Here's my fav. pic of her... so beautiful.

 This is Cameron, oh what a handsome boy! So photogenic, did I mention he LIKES to wear ties!?!? AND likes to POSE for pictures???? where can I get a boy like that? LOVE HIM!!!!!!

So great to have Eero on board, he has been a great asset to us and he even plays pool! And you can tell from the pics that he is a great dad too.

And meet Felix... his about 20 months old and runs 20 miles a minute! But his SOOOO CUTE! Here's what most of my images of Felix are... him flying by me and his cute tush as he tries to scale walls to get away from me. LOL!

I also got a bunch of pics of his family trying to rein him in but he always manages to squirm away. but....

Aaahhh... sigh... a split second pause (I think he hears a dog barking - my perfect imitation of my lhaso_yorkie) yay... love these super cute expressions.

And then off he goes again, with one quick look back as if to say 'sorry but I gotta run!' LOL!!

Then we send brother off to catch him... and he wasn't too happy about that...

And a couple in B&W... cause I have a feeling Stephanie would appreciate that.

I  think we did great for a lightning fast 40 minute shoot! When I got home my girls said "You're back already? Did it not go so well?" HAAHAHHAH...  Hope you love them as much as I do. Lots more on your gallery shortly. So great to have you in the neighborhood, I hope we'll get to hang out some more soon.

[the red barn revisited]

I must admit I have kind of avoided this barn all year... I thought perhaps I wouldn't even shoot there this whole year...  But when it was requested for this family photoshoot,  I got to go back and see it in a whole new light and I have to say it is still one of my favorite locations in town. 

So much so I went back two more times in one week! 

Oh how cute is he? Loving his red hair. I guess some people are just lucky like that.

And again... Northern California has the BEST sunsets in the WORLD! Love that light and the fall colors. Almost all of my family sessions this year were done in September and it was very warm. But these really capture the turning colors.

And I am reminded I know nothing about boys.... how they love sticks?...

And how they make you laugh so hard you find that a bunch of your images turn out blurry....  exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Oh my goodness... "I can't shoot under this pressure!" LOL! Little Ryder would not let me take a picture of his mommy and daddy alone! He would jump in before I could even shoot!

But I did manage to get one.... cause I have a wickedly fast trigger finger! LOL!

And I HAD to take some of Alisa by herself, cause she's just gorgeous and TALENTED, owner of the amazing http://www.snugglemez.com!

And here's little brother... so many cute pics of him but here are my absolute favs... Color or black&white?? 

Okay... color. Definitely color. LOL!

Thanks guys for a FANTASTIC photo session! How much fun was that? And we were done in less than an hour!