The A Family [Sothern California Outdoor Photographer]

I always ask what you plan on wearing to the photoshoot. Some backgrounds look better with certain clothing. I suggested this location because of the red leaves that would look complimentary with their clothing selection. Oh how I love these red leaves.

Damask Overlay

I did this beautiful woman's family photos this past weekend and thought she was so gorgeous that I decided to give her a post of her own.

The C Family [Simi Valley Kid Photographer]

In efforts to get some happy faces, I asked for a silly face and thought this was so precious. These are photos of a good friend of mine's kids. And really cute kids might I add.









Even I didn't know how BLUE their eyes were until I started processing the photos. Gorgeous! Her little guy was born a month before mine.

Session Tips

Think of what you want out of these photographs. Is there a style you are trying to achieve? Do you want something more country, urban, rustic, traditional? As you browse my gallery, what photos are you drawn to and why? Is it the colors, the clothing, the backgrounds, the editing effect, the pose, the angle? Feel free to be very specific in what you want.

What to Wear

If you are going for fancy, fancy, ties and lace, that is fine. But I find that your "everyday best" photographs really well in most outdoor locations. Accessories can add a lot of visual interest and really make your photos pop. (think scarves, jewelry, hats,etc.) Wear nice shoes. They do get photographed and I've seen a bad pair of shoes ruin the photos.

You want to be Coordinated with one another, not matchy-matchy. Pick 3 or 5 colors and then try to incorporate them within your outfits. An example of this would be:

Don't be scared of bright colors, they can really make a great impact.

I do not reccomend graphics and wording on clothing. Mixing more than 1 pattern can be fun, but beware of your clothes appearing to busy.

And of course, keep in mind the little things like trimmed fingernails, moisturized skin, lip gloss, etc.


For Family Sessions
We can always do the 'posed, stand-up-straight, look-at-the-camera-and-smile' type of photos, but some of the best photographs are the candid ones of your family. Imagine your family on an outing having a good time together, and I am just there capturing those moments for you.
It is always fun to shoot a family doing an activity, so please let me know if you would like me to photograph you in action (on a row boat, playing croquet, flying kites, washing the car, the possibilities are endless. Your photos turn out better when you are having fun with one another, trust me.

For Kids
Prepare your kids in advance. You don't want to feel rushed to get to the shoot on time. You will only be frustrated and it WILL show in the photos. Get them excited about looking their best. I want to capture your kids being themselves and getting genuine smiles.
Kids tend to get more excited about the shoot when props are involved. I love props, so bring anything you want (a chair, an umbrella, hats, scarves, violin, sport equipment,etc.)

For Seniors
I don't put a limit on clothing changes, so feel free to bring extra clothes and acessories. Sometimes the parents want a nice formal pic, and the senior wants to wear their everyday clothes. So go ahead, bring both. Don't forget make-up and hair!

For Newborns
I like to do newborn shots within the first 10 days of life. We can schedule a tentative shoot date, and give ourselves a little flexibility for when baby decides to come.
Not all babies want to strip down to their birthday suit, so if that is what you would like, have a space heater available or turn your heat on to make baby comfortable.

Katie and Textures

------------Naked Image-------------------------------------Edited Image----------


I do not do this often, but here is the SOOC (straight out of the camer image). Although there is much work done in the actual photo taking, you can see from the image below that much work is done in editing to make a photo pop, even prior to adding the texture. I feel that showing the SOOC image is like standing in front of you all NAKED, so I usually call SOOC images the naked images.

I took this texture below at 70% opacity and added it on top of the photo of katie using blending mode 'screen', with a layer mask added to mask out the texture from eyes, skin, clothing,etc.

Loving textures these days. This one is from ShadowHouse, thanks Jerry.

Happy Holidays!

These are the holiday cards I am sending out this year. Usually I have photos of me and my husband, but I decided to let the two girls be the highlight this year. My oldest is almost 4 and my baby was 3.5 months in this photo.
Credits to digital scrapbooking elements for brushes and paper to make layout.

Ok, So I Broke the Rules

So the "rules of photography" say that you shouldn't cut a person off at the joints. Well, I have to agree. The composition looks better on the shots that I got of his whole body, rather than cropped at the knees. But with a cute face like that, I'll just throw the rules in the trash.









I know this is a little small, but I just love the look on this little boys face in the first of the four pics. He is looking up at his dad and you can see the love and trust in his expression.

Throwing Leaves

My old Boss hired me to shoot her little family. How cute is this 3-year old. He sure earned his "4 cars". I think every parent goes into a photoshoot with a bribe, right? She chose the location, which is Paramount Ranch outside of Agoura/Calabasas

My Sweet Girls-'Yes, they belong to me!'

Blue Eyes

H Family [California Family Photographer]

I was adjusting my camera settings for this particular spot and the mom just happened to be looking at the camera when I was test shooting. Since it already had a nice sun glare, I added a vintage effect and love the results. It looks like a clothing catalog shot.

I have to admit I was a little nervous when I first got to the location because it was super windy and the sunlight wasn't exactly ideal.....but I am happy with the results.

Another gorgeous family. You wouldn't know it, but standing directly behind me were booth after booth from the big CAR SHOW in Moorpark. We had to squeeze to get a small spot to take photos of, in front of this brick building. But this family was so great and didn't let the crowds distract them.

Throwing Grass

Trying to capture a 2-year old is never easy.........they are constantly on the run. But with a fast shutter speed I was able to get some shots of this DARLING little guy. Seriously he had the cutest little laugh and smile ever.




To keep him focused, mom and dad had him count to 3 and then throw the grass up in the air. He was loving it, so I had to post one of him throwing the grass.

8 weeks old-A Baby Blessing

Chalk

Vintage.............Poloroids

Zuma Beach

Tayvlee

Grad Shots-CB

Red Heels