San Mateo, CA Family Photographer: Sorry I’m not sorry!
It’s remarkable to think back and remember that these guys are the very first family I ever photographed. I almost want to link you to that first session with them, but looking back on my work I’m almost a little embarrassed to do so. You see, just as these kids have grown in the past five years so has my photography. So if you’re dedicated enough, go back and see for yourself 🙂
They help to make kick off my mini session season this year. We met on the quiet campus of San Mateo Adult School and took advantage of the totally rad architecture of the grounds and the freedom to run loose on an empty week-end campus.
M and J asked for some photographs alone from our session. I was happy to oblige, and honestly, (since them) am making more of an effort to get some photographs of just the adults together. This works when you have older kids, that can self-entertain (or watch out for one another) for the 3 minutes we take for just mom & dad. I mean the last time (most of us) got photographed sans kids was at our weddings. Sure there are the party/restaurant selfies and all that, but those don’t really turn out frame-quality too often, right? So, if you and your other-half would like a couple’s portrait to round out your family and child photographs, let me know. I might nudge you into it too ;p
After I presented M the portraits from our session, she told me she had a problem: there were too many she liked. Also too many different photos the grandparents liked. This is one of the few times I take pleasure in saying “Sorry, I’m not sorry!” It’s simply a problem I strive for all of you to have.
San Mateo, CA Child & Family Photographer: A little different
These faces should look familiar to you guys. They were some of the first families to allow me to photograph them (in their jammies, none-the-less) and have stuck with me ever since.
Most of our portrait sessions, so far, have been outdoors. We’ve done woodsy… we’ve done golden fields. I was ready for something a little different and as always, they were trusting enough to let me pull out a spot from my “location library” that I’ve been dying to try out for awhile.
I drove by this San Mateo building the last time I had jury duty. The red wall… the bench… the stairs… (the super easy parking)… I kinda fell in love! I’m going through a “color crush” period right now, and the colors of this space just made my heart go pitter-pat. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
As the years go by, it’s been interesting to see how kids react to my camera over time. Now granted, these guys probably see more of me than they like, but K was really into having her photos taken. As a matter of fact, any photograph she was NOT in, she wanted replicated so that she can be in it too. I actually kinda dug this: my oldest still needs to be bribed for pictures, so this is refreshing for sure. Getting genuine giggles out of her though was a bit more of a struggle, and I appreciate that her daddy left his humility in the car and endeared us with some bootay shaking.
All in all, that evening was a fantastic way to kick-off mini session season. Stay tuned for more (lots more) coming to you over the next couple of months. Meanwhile, if you’re still looking to book a mini-session for this season, I still have two slots left. Check out details on the where & when, and drop me a note if you’re interested.
Bay Area, CA Photographer: 2014 Fall Mini Sessions!
They’re here!!!!
I am now accepting bookings for mini sessions this 2014 fall.
If you’re interested in reserving a portrait session for your family, read on here for full details on how to reserve, available session dates, times and locations.
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What are mini-sessions?
Mini-sessions are a great way to capture your family in portraits. You can use them for your family albums, updating your walls, and many families choose to use the images from these events for their holiday greeting cards. Similar to regular sessions, you will receive a personal use release, and the ability to print from any lab you like. Of course, you are welcome to print through my fantastic lab, but you have options. They differ from regular sessions, because mini appointments only last 20 minutes — this is great for young children, or those of you with constrained schedules, or some of you looking for a more affordable alternative. See examples of my past mini sessions.
How many family members can I bring?
As mini-sessions are relatively short, it’s best to keep groups to 5 or less.
How quickly will I receive my photos?
Your should have the photos from our mini-session events within 2-3 weeks of our session. They will be available for download via an online gallery.
Can I bring my pet?
Fur-kids are welcome as long as they are comfortable outdoors, and being leashed! Unfortunately, some of the locations for our mini-sessions do not permit pets, so please note the pet permissibility in the locations above.
Can you provide holiday cards?
Absolutely! I partner with TinyPrints.com to offer you an incredible array of card options for you to use as announcements, invitations and holiday greetings. All clients that book a mini-session will have their selected images from our session uploaded to a private TinyPrints gallery, complimentary. My upload to TinyPrints on your behalf is my Thanx to you for booking with me this season.
How much?
As always, all session costs are listed on my pricing page!
Palo Alto, CA Child Photographer: Grace
This was my third family portrait session for There With Care. Every family I’ve met with, over the years, has been so incredible. I’ve walked away feeling energized and grateful. In turn, I hope to have contributed, at least a little, in each family’s healing. While the logistics are always a little harder to arrange, it’s such a worth-while experience for me. Meeting J and her family was no exception.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick I become selfish. Woe is me, and I want to lie around the house feeling sorry for myself. I want a TV remote in my hand staring off until I fall asleep, wallowing in how crummy I feel. Yet, I look at J, and as she’s undergoing chemotherapy AND radiation, she runs, she dances, she helps out her siblings and picks up her little cousin to keep her from running too far away. That, my friends I call perspective… and grace. On this day, a 9 year old reminded me of that simple word: grace.
J has 4 sisters. Her family was blessed with not one, but two sets of twins. And each girl is beautiful, and fun, and silly. They came out with their younger cousins. I haven’t done a session with 7 kids in a looong time. Usually, the idea of this many kids all at once raises my blood pressure a tad, but these guys were so sweet. Even down to little 18-month old A, and her 3-year old brother. They listened to my ideas, and there was very little chasing (on my end) to be had. In turn we got some incredible photographs and the kids just got to be kids.
I noticed too, that all the girls brought dolls with them… and each doll had an identical dress as their girl. Their hair styles even matched! How cool is that? It’s the kind of attention to detail from these young ladies that just blows me away.
I hope you enjoy their portraits. If you’re a photographer, please consider giving a little of your time to families like J’s, and if you’re local to the Bay Area Peninsula, please assist There With Care with any support that you can. It makes a difference. I promise!
Want to see more sessions with There With Care families? Check them out now.
Belmont, CA Child Photographer: Before & After
I tend to like very clean, simple editing in my photography. While I touch every image that comes out of my camera, rarely do I bring in elements and textures into the composition that weren’t originally part of the scene. But every once in a while, I know that a little bit of extra can bring a pretty good image to something so much more.
Today, I want to show you one of these examples, and tell you a little bit of what I did to get from the original to the final result.
A few months ago, I posted the final of these two images on facebook. I was just so pleased with it. As the mom of the two monkeys this photograph is probably in my top favorite of them to date. I was shocked that they cooperated enough for me to take it, and other than the fact I had originally envisioned they would be sitting on the log behind them, this is actually pretty close to the vision I had in my head.
This (original) image was taken in Foster City, in the inlet facing Coyote Point. If you come out to kite-board or watch the kite-boarders, this is where they lay out their gear to dry, or set-up. The sunset that day didn’t quite have the deep color in it, so… I gave it some help.
My first step was to do color correction, adjust the exposure, and bring in some of the blown-out highlights back. This helped re-shape the boys’ heads and bring back the outline of their shoulders too.
The next step was to introduce a better sky photo. It was critical that I matched the direction of the sun to the original. If you’re trying to do something similar yourself, in the absence of an image of your own that matches what you want, you can turn to stock photography. BUT…. you have to be careful what you get. Your stock image usage rights must allow modification. In my case, I would also want one that allows commercial use if I ever want to share it on this site.
I had to carefully mask out my foreground and boys. In some regards, shooting back-lit really helped here, because halos are part of back-lit setups, and if I missed any bit, it still looked natural.
At this stage things were looking pretty good, but now things felt too washed out. I turned down exposure a tad.
Lastly, I went through to give this image a summer-kissed, later evening feel, by making it a bit more golden all-around. Added just a little bit of sun-haze to the left as well.
And there you have it! Post-processing magic. Don’t ask me how many hours this took, but it was worth it 🙂