girlie & marion: family portrait

i was so excited about these pictures, that i am blogging about this before putting together the slideshow. my cousin asked me to photograph her family for holiday portraits and cards and such. she asked if they could do more than one wardrobe change, and i said, sure! whatever you want!

little did i know that she was going to represent every season! you'll see!!! 

capturing the personality of families is something i strive to do at every shoot. and these pictures reflect the humor and laughter of this family. well, my cousin's laughter. guess which one is my cousin...

anyway, it was our pleasure to take their photographs. and a personal note to my cousin, "girlie, i don't know how you're going to pick just one! they're all cute!"

stay tuned for their family slideshow!

introducing the newest member of my family...

here she is, just 2 days old!! JAYLYN.if you haven't seen her slideshow (with cameos of her older cousins), click here!

summer is here...

every summer i do a lil' "summer cleaning." i had a whole schedule laid out this week. one day. one room. one room at a time. well, it seemed like a good plan. but organizing and rearranging furniture in my living room is taking more time than i planned. and i haven't visited the pool yet.

the good thing is that the weather has cooled somewhat. these are the days that i love where i live. i can enjoy the neighborhood. stay out a lil' later, because of the nights are cool, and i don't have to be anywhere in particular. i have a few days before i get back into "photog" mode. so i'm enjoying it. although i woke up in a sweat after waking up from a nightmare that my flash and camera were not working, and i was trying to shoot this wedding. ugh...sigh.

so my goal this summer is to 1) organize my house (aka:declutter!), 2) retrain my puppy, Popo, because he's getting a lil' bratty, and 3) do well in all my shoots this summer.

so, now the schedule is to just get through organizing/decluttering the living room and kitchen for this week. then, attack the rest of the house, next week. then, SHOP (yay!!) for the house the following week. i hope to have some guests over before the end of july.

hope everyone has a wonderful, cool, week!!!

The Sweetest Gift

...my latest maternity shoot...my cousin's!!

Check out her album showcase!

a ventura family portrait

what did daddy ventura do to deserve 4 lovely ladies, surrounding him? well, he must have done something good. the ventura household is full of life, ladies, and lots of love (okay, i wasn't aiming for alliteration, but it works!). enter the newest lady of the bunch, breya! 

portraiture has changed, with something called lifestyle portraiture. portraits are taken in the home to portray a naturalistic environment that speaks to the personality of the subjects, in this case, the family. it was a gloomy day, drizzling all day, but we were able to capture some bright, happy portraits within the home. 

thank you ventura family for welcoming us in your home! you have a beautiful family!

it's an animal party

not among the wildest parties that i've been to, have i experienced this. this was indeed, the "wildest." this little girl's 4th birthday had wild animals, like possums, snakes, lizards, a scorpion, millipedes, and...a kangaroo!!! 

she was so brave with all those different creepy crawlies. i was so curious about them, i took so many pictures of these creatures, up close. so much so, i was starting to get creeped out myself! 

everyone seemed to be having a blast! kids and parents, alike! here's an example of a photo book/album that i've been working on!