BTW – for the above picture of the family’s feet, mom had in mind that this would be a B&W image, but when I saw that mommy’s toe nails just happened to be the same blue as the blanket we happened to use, I thought this image just had to be in color.  Hope you agree!

I did also capture some quieter, timeless moments and here is a little glimpse.  But I’m not going to feature them here, because it takes away from the happy color story above.

I’m getting back into the swing of posting.  Thanks for baring with me while I get my wheels turning again.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that my husband and I have been  in Los Angeles for twelve years (we moved here from London).  To most people that’s probably not a big deal, but I have never lived in one city for that long before.  So, it shouldn’t be surprising to me that now that I’ve been here so long I’m crossing paths again with people we met when we first moved here.   I mention this because the dad of this lovely family worked with my husband when we first moved here.  It was a small start-up part of the first generation during the internet bubble of the late nineties, when the internet was the Wild West and businesses had not yet figured out what business models would work in this new medium, or as my husband  might say, “how to monetize the web“.  As start-ups go, this one didn’t last, but we will forever be grateful to this man as he gave my husband his first opportunity in this new country; the first step in us following our “American  Dream“.  So when his wife contacted THOMPSON and SPRING for a shoot and I saw their name come up on my Caller ID, I couldn’t believe how we had come full circle… and after all these years, he hadn’t aged one bit!

However, in the interim, his family had significantly expanded and he now has three gorgeous kids.  It was fun doing a family portrait session with them near their home in Hancock Park.  The kids all had very distinct personalities and looks.  And, while the weather report had been threatening Los Angeles with rain, luck was on our side and we managed to have fun outdoors.

It was great seeing them again, and seeing how big their baby daughter had grown.  She was a very tall one and a half year old, walking up a storm.  Mom had warned me that she might take a while to warm up, but she was game from the minute we said go and we had fun playing around Century City, which is also where Mommy happens to work.  Mom is also expecting Number Two, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her, she looked fantastic.

I have to say I’m a sucker for blue eyes and this little girl’s one are exceptional, which she definitely inherited from Daddy. My older son has slate blue eyes that change a little depending on what he wears, but this little darling’s eyes are blue through and through and couldn’t be more gorgeous! Don’t you agree?

You probably recognize this lovely little girl from previous sessions.  She honestly keeps getting cuter and cuter.  Not just physically, but in terms of personality, as she gets more playful and self-confident.

Last year, I gave out calendars as Holiday Gifts to clients.  A couple of clients asked if I could make that a product for this year.  So here it is for a limited time.  When clients place their order, they can also choose to order a 2012 calendar with 1 or 3 photos.

Yes, I do listen

I also love the picture of the siblings together.  Prior to this shot they were literally trying to keep as far away from each other as possible.  They’re at that funny age when being close to your brother or sister is not fun or cool, but from the picture you wouldn’t know it.  I like that it foretells what will likely be their closeness in years to come.

But my absolute favorite shots are of the kids each in their own little worlds, each in context. It’s that special moment in your childhood that’s captured and frozen.

I have a picture taken of me when I was about five years old, quietly drawing (which I did all the time), and to this day it is one of my most prized.

If you’ve been following this blog you know that I am primarily a family photographer, shooting newborn, babies, families and pregnancies.  That said, I have been known to take corporate headshots in the past when asked.  Such was the case for a recent shoot that I’m dubbing “Susana’s Angels”.  Much like Charlie’s Angels (the original, not the recent remake), all of Susana’s employee are gorgeous, bright and sassy young women.  However, Susana, pictured above is not a mystery boss, she’s one of the partners at BuzzSmith, a smart social media/SEO marketing company, and much like the women who work with her, she’s smart, hardworking… and stunning.

I’ve been lucky to know Susana for twenty years as we met on our first day in college, back in New York.  Most significantly she was one of my college roommates, and we choose to live together, not once, not twice, but three times.  The last time being in a small two bedroom apartment in the heart of SoHo… Have you guessed where?  At Thompson and Spring.  We lived there when we were young and single.  SoHo was cool but not completely over run with commerce and our street was a little quieter, with cobble stones.  In fact, when we lived there there was a prime piece of real estate that was occupied by a garage, the kind where you go to get your car fixed up.  Imagine prime real estate taken up by a mechanic.  A few years later that spot was taken over by the 60 Thompson Hotel, which due to the success of the hotel became a chain of hotels…

I digress, but it just shows you how long I’ve known Susana.  I’m fortunate to call her a friend.  Being BuzzSmith’s photographer is just a bonus.

I’ll be doing more corporate headshots as I move forward.  And, while I love goofing around with kids on family shoots, now that I have two little ones, this will provide me with a little more “adult interaction” that I know I could use.

Enough complaining, here are some pictures from the newborn shoot.  As you know by now, I’m not a photographer that is big on props.  A well placed wagon here, a graphic container sure, but you wont find blooming babies with petals in their hair here.  I like to keep the babies looking natural and as often as possible use what I find in the home to compose something interesting, that way the picture is more true to its context and also more personal.  I could not have been happier when I spotted this super cool, very red rope chair; I knew the minute I saw it that it would be great.  The parents agreed and used this image for their announcements since the image was so strong.

Of course as a mom to a baby, I’m a sucker for pictures of mothers with their newborns, and this shoot is no exception.

I also love this last picture as it shows this newborn boy being completely oblivious to his older sister.  The two of them existing together, but in two completely different states of awareness.  I can relate.

And while balancing has been tough, when I see these images and I know that I’m there to capture special moments in other families‘ lives, I feel honored and blessed.  So, thank you.

There was a time, not so long ago, when pregnancy was something that you tried to conceal as much as possible, think muumuu style dresses. Then there was the more recent belly-revealing fad a la Britney Spears.  Personally I think pregnancy is beautiful, but that belly-revealing fashion should be limited to the beach or kept private, as in this maternity shoot.

For this recent pregnancy shoot, it was all about the belly, the beauty of the belly and the mother’s form.  While intimate, these images are about motherhood. I think they have a beautiful serenity about them and love the softness of the afternoon light.

I look at these images and wonder how is is possible that the beauty of pregnancy was for so long something to be concealed.  I am happy that we live in an age where we celebrate not only the miracle of birth, but the beauty of motherhood.

Hope you enjoy these images.

door photo via Patterson Maker

Here is a good example of putting together clothes for the whole family that work together and separately, nice crisp whites, sandy browns and cool blues.  All clothes and accessories featured are from Old Navy.