San Carlos Baby Photos: A baby break
Amongst the midst of fall mini sessions I break for newborn baby photos. When R emailed me in the summer to let me know they were expecting, I was really excited for them. New babies just make me happy: so much love, and promise come with that little package. They’re light (remember I’m living with a five and a seven year old these days, and give piggy back rides more frequently than I care to admit, so a newborn in comparison is a feather-weight), and have tiny little squeaks of a cry. It’s cute! I know that too a newborn mom those cries feel piercing, but to me, being so far removed, they’re cute. Makes me nostalgic. Not so much that I want to add another to our brood, but enough I just want to sit around holding a baby for a bit. But see, that’s one of the joys of doing what I do: I get to be around little ones.
Baby A slept for pretty much the whole time I was there. He was adorable. I’ve been bringing my own swaddles to my newborn sessions, just so that I could be sure I have some neutral, non-clashing wraps, but his monkey blanket was perfect. I just had to revisit my swaddling skills.
Now enjoy some baby snuggle shots below!
San Mateo Child Photographer: Keeping up
I don’t know about you, but both of my kids reached a stage of their napping lives where they refused to go down in their own cribs/bed, but they needed a nap as to not turn into little devils come evening. This was what I refer to as the “drive around” period. I would strap them in their car-seat and then go on a drive. Usually within 10 minutes they were out. With #2, I perfected a drive going up the hill from our home, snaking through the San Carlos hills, and ending up by the San Carlos library. Little man was usually out about a mile in. Not awesome for the environment, for sure, and I’m not too proud of this, but on the bonus side, I got to experience some new routes and pass by some neat gems that I would then visit later to see how they could work for family photo sessions. Now that napping is long gone at our home, I spend a lot of time scouring Google maps, and paying attention to what’s around me as I drive on my day to day. It’s how I’ve built up my repertoire of locations around the Peninsula. I NEED a source of new venues to keep me fresh, and excited, and also to make sure I have a good range of locations for families I see often. Like these guys.
C called me shortly after little Q was born. I believe her words to me were “We didn’t expect him to be this cute”. Oh and he is (as is his sister, as you can see for yourself)! Sadly, I wasn’t available for them for their newborn session, but I’ve been their family photographer ever since, and I get the pleasure of seeing them at least a few times a year. Because of that, I want to make sure that each time we meet we have fun, and that we don’t go to the same spot over and over again. Different spots let me be creative, so it’s important for me too. I think we’ve only covered the same location once over the past four years, and I’d say that’s a nice win for me.
I keep a Pinterest board with location ideas. They are all taken with my mobile phone on my scouring trips, but if you know what to look for you can tell the potential each of these locations has to offer. For example, I see this and I know it’s special. So glad I finally got to try it out, and these guys were the perfect ones to do it with. Don’t you agree it’s a great space?
Palo Alto Mini Session Photographer: Back-up plan
Planning for mini sessions this year has been interesting. Each mid-summer, when I sit down to figure out the session schedule plan I take into account: holidays, family/friend birthdays, travel schedule, and weather. Booking in the fall is always a risk. Yes, we’ve had quite a bit of a drought spell, which from a photographer perspective has been great, but with El Nino on the way, I’ve been careful not too over-book, and make sure I leave just enough room to accommodate a mini session re-schedule in case of rain. Sure, I have a covered back-up, but I consider that my 2nd back-up plan.
You know the shift puzzle games, where you have one square open and use that to align the remaining pieces to complete the image? Planning mini sessions is a little bit like that. In addition to considering rain, and days away, I als try my best to accommodate a family, if possible, if they need to reschedule. As long as there are still openings on the calendar moving is totally fine. Some conflict come up early and we have some time to respond. Sometimes families can’t make their appointment due to illness. (By the way, THIS is the reason you want to follow me on facebook: I post all my session availability when I need to fill a last minute opening) That’s exactly what happened with these guys. We were originally supposed to meet two weeks prior for their mini session, but little B got a cold and we had to find another time to meet. But as it turns out I had another mini session client had just told me they to cancel to due another conflict, and these guys were able to slip into that session without issue. See, shift puzzle! Honestly, I think it worked out for the best. Their original location would have been awesome, but I think this worked better, in the long run. The sun rays setting through the trees… it was perfect!
This is, genuinely one of my new favorite locations. It’s in Palo Alto, close to 280, and a great meeting spot for my South Bay clients. Doggies are welcome too, so it offers lots of flexibility. And that light? It’s awesome!
So, here’s to plan B working out better than the original.
Belmont Mini Session Photographer: Go with the fire hydrant
I vividly remember the holiday photo session I had for my family when our oldest was 4 and youngest was 2. The 4 year old? Not so much into photos. A family portrait of everyone looking at the camera? Not that year! The closest we got to having all 4 of us in the frame was when my husband and I doled out Oreo cookies and we had two mini sharks going for the cream filled, round cookie goodness. The two kids together in a shot alone? Didn’t happen. Still, it was a great session, and I love every photo. Why am I bringing this up? Because as a mom on the other side of the camera, I totally get it.
As a mini session photographer, I definitely try to get a variety of shots and combinations of family members. I want to get some of the family together, each parent with the kids, each kid on their own, and ideally one of the siblings together. That last one, is actually surprisingly hard, especially when at least one toddler is in the frame. Remember the photo of the two twins with their booties up in the air, while their sis was ready with her smile? Yeah, sometimes that’s as good as it gets.
These two little squish bugs though were pretty great. They held it together for almost all of our shots, except for the sibling one. The only time we could get the two of them in the same frame was around a fire hydrant. Hey, whatever it takes, right? I guess this is what happens, when you have a wee bit with a newly discovered affinity for speed, and freedom to move wherever he wants to go. On the bonus side, though, if you’re looking for holiday colors of red, this definitely covers it 🙂
San Carlos Family Photographer: Better each year
Coming of a Thanksgiving high, I really feel very thankful for having the opportunity to do what I do. I’ve photographed amazing moments like the births of children and their first days in our world, heartbreaking times of cancer treatment, commitments to God, commitments to ones-self, and simply families being themselves. I am so, so happy to have been invited to take part in all of these. More than that I am very thankful to see families return to me year over year, watch them grow and really become their family photographer. Many of the faces you see on my website are familiar, because of that. Honestly, one of the reasons I am committed to having all the mini session events that I do is so that I can continue being able to be there for them. Even so, I wish there were more hours in the day to do more.
Every year I meet with a past family, I get to remind myself how awesome they are. I swear families become better each year. Like these guys! They are so fun to be around. Great sense of humor, they make me laugh, and make each other laugh. Last year I got to meet P’s sisters and their families, and we had a whole afternoon full of laughter. I hope, if they had a chance to spend yesterday together, it was a great day for them all.
Their kindness is just as pervasive as how they enjoy their time with one another. The first time we met, they brought me a bottle of water. It’s a small gesture, but so incredibly welcomed. This time they left me a parting gift of their fur-legged son Arthur’s squeaker toy. His toy, guys!!! They left it for me, so I can have an easier time with the other pups I get to photograph. How sweet is that? Like, I said: better each year.
Happy holidays you guys. Thankful to know you!
