Archive for October, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN: San Francisco Family Portrait Session

October 31st, 2011

Wow!  It’s October 31!  I cannot believe it!  It will be November tomorrow!  This year is just flying by.  Funny how that happens when you get a little older.  When you want time to stand still it flies and when you were younger all you wanted was to blink and have the time flash.  So, [...]


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Wow!  It’s October 31!  I cannot believe it!  It will be November tomorrow!  This year is just flying by.  Funny how that happens when you get a little older.  When you want time to stand still it flies and when you were younger all you wanted was to blink and have the time flash.  So, I’ll do what I do best and go off on a tangent here — you know there’s a theory on that.  I guess it just feels faster because you’ve experienced more years when you’re older vs when you’re younger.  Interesting huh?  Anyway…

So, I decided to that since time seems to fly and I hadn’t seen my good friend L and her little one in about 6 or so months, it was time for a visit.  L and I met on the first day of graduate school.  We did those class ice breaker things and she was my new friend I got to introduce and I, hers.  We talked a little and I knew right off the bat — she was a brilliant and amazing gal.  Throughout graduate school we were each other’s sounding boards — okay, mostly she was my sounding board.  We studied together and bonded over a period of about 3.5 years.  So, upon graduation, we continued to do visits, but I have to admit, as our lives got more and more crazy with work and for her, motherhood, I wasn’t as good as I had been about keeping in touch.  One of the things I have decided to work on recently is to make sure I continue doing a good job doing this with ALL of my friends (all your other pals out there — I’m working on this!  I promise!!!!)

Of course, I had to bring my camera and I snagged a few shots of her daughter, K.  I have not seen K since she was about 6 weeks old.  She has changed so much and she is so active.  This little girl can move (FYI – she has leg warmers and it’s the cutest thing EVER)!  She was barreling down the hallway before I could even get to the end to snag some snapshots of her.  She was so curious and playful — one of the reasons I LOVE photographing kids.

 

Those are totally HER eyes.  I did minimal touch ups on these photos.  The light just hit those eyes just right and they lit up for us!  I couldn’t believe it!  She is one gorgeous little peanut!

We got to spend the day catching up and I got to get to know little Miss K better too.  We ate food from my favorite restaurant from the city, and hung out at the park.  I also got to hang with one of my favorite little pups, Chimi!!!

She’s cute, isn’t she????  So, anyway, it was a great day and I had a ton of fun in the city!  I always enjoy my time with L because we just end up being goofy.  We spend a ton of time laughing, which is one of my most favorite things to do.

I sent L some photos and we talked a little about the photos I took.  You know, when I do shoots like this, I’m not so concerned with the perfect smiley shot where the hair is absolutely perfect and everyone is centered.  I think there is definitely a time and a place for it, and I have done these shoots in the past.  My most favorite shoots are the lifestyle shoots I get to do — both event (wedding) and portraits.  How I envision photography and it’s purpose is to freeze a memory – a moment in time.  I know there are rare occasions where my hair is absolutely perfect and we’re all facing forward.  It’s great to have some of those shots, because I can pretend that I actually look like I’m completely put together for once — haha.  BUT, I want a photo of me playing with my niece or laughing with my nephew.  I want a photo the not only brings back a memory, but an emotion.  I don’t currently have children, but when I do, I would love to have a few of those posed portraits, but I want that look on my kid’s face when they smear cake all over their face for the first time or that funny look on their face when they eat get a little bit of lemon in their food.  Those are the things you love to have frozen in time.  That’s just what I think.  I snagged a few of just these kinds of moments when I was with the J family and I just think that they are precious.  I think that it’s awesome to just get a little be of the “Day in the life…” kind of thing going!  These are the moments we live for after a long day of work or a crummy day.

Papa H and his baby girl definitely have a special relationship!  They have such a blast together!

 

 

This is my most favorite family portrait!

So, thanks J family!  I had a great time, as usual!!!  When are we doing it again???!!!!  Love you guys!

 

 

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Sacramento Children’s Photography: The McL Family Sneak Peek

October 17th, 2011

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  It wasn’t excessively warm, it wasn’t raining.  It was what left like a pleasant 75 degrees.  I had this session planned for the better part of a couple of weeks, so I was so glad that weather was cooperating.  I met the McL folks through another one of my clients.  [...]


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Yesterday was a beautiful day.  It wasn’t excessively warm, it wasn’t raining.  It was what left like a pleasant 75 degrees.  I had this session planned for the better part of a couple of weeks, so I was so glad that weather was cooperating.  I met the McL folks through another one of my clients.  I pulled up to their home to find two super sweet kiddos playing in their drive way.  Li and Lo are little athletes!  They like to play soccer and basketball.  Lo was playing with this soccer contraption (I never played soccer before much) that you tie to your waist and kick.  Yeah, all you soccer folks out there are laughing at me right now aren’t you???  Li likes basketball too and we actually found out that we shared the same offensive position in basketball:  point guard. I thought that was cool.  Of course, I was a point guard [inaudible mumbling] years ago, so I’m sure it’s a little different now.

Anyway, I thought this thing was going to come back and hit me in the face.  But, I suppose it teaches you to rely on your quick reflexes and reaction time.  Hahaha.  Anyway, we ended up cruising around and got some fun shots for their holiday card!  Li and Lo were such good sports with me and they were so well behaved!  Thank you McL family for inviting me to your home and allowing me to photograph Li and Lo!  Li and Lo, thanks for showing me a great time!  Good luck with your basketball and soccer games/tournaments!

 

 

I asked Li and Lo to make each other laugh — they were laughing while trying to make each other laugh.  Super cute!

 

 

 

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Apple iPhone 4S and Camera + app

October 16th, 2011

I did it.  I actually did it.  After 3 years of using my trusty iPhone 3G, I have FINALLY upgraded to the iPhone 4s.  My 3G was on it’s last leg.  It was constantly freezing up and apps would crash.  I had to restart my phone several times a day.  It was time.  So, Friday [...]

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I did it.  I actually did it.  After 3 years of using my trusty iPhone 3G, I have FINALLY upgraded to the iPhone 4s.  My 3G was on it’s last leg.  It was constantly freezing up and apps would crash.  I had to restart my phone several times a day.  It was time.  So, Friday morning, I had some change in plans, so I thought, “What the heck.  I’m going to head over to AT&T to see what it looks like.  It was surprisingly mellow there.  I’m not sure if it’s because many opted to pre-order or not, but I thought, “Eh, line is fairly short, I’ll go for it.”  It took me about 2 hours total to get my phone.  I heard their servers had a little bit of a malfunction causing some delay.  The AT&T folks were great.  They offered up games and trivia questions while we waited.  We were reassured that there were plenty of phones to go around.

What did I pick you ask?  Well, I opted for the 32GB White phone.  I really struggled with this decision.  My previous phone was an 8GB phone.  I remember when I bought it, I just thought anyone who got more than 8GB was silly.  Ooops!  I ran out of space so quick.  I like to carry slideshows on my phone to show potential clients, so my space was quickly used up.  I also started adding movies to my phone so I could watch them while I was waiting for my personal appointments.  I quickly realized 8GB was not much space.  With the HD 1080p capabilities of the 4S, I thought it better to go bigger.  It is likely I’ll keep this phone for another 3 years, so I better make it worthwhile.

I thought with the new iOS, I would download a photography app and try it out with the new 8MB f2.4 camera they have built.  I decided to try the Camera + app.  I’ll play around with it to see if there is anything fun or if another app would be better.

One of the coolest features is Siri.  I think I had downloaded this app before, but it may have been too sophisticated for my 3G.  This thing is awesome.  I put it to the test and had my friends give me questions to ask her.  FYI:  She CANNOT teach me how to Dougie.  I know, I was bummed too!  BUT, she’s got super clever answers to a few questions!  It’s quite entertaining.   On a more practical note, she was able to tell me when Easter would be in 2012 as well as Passover.  She was able to text a message for me to my husband that said my Siri was better than his.  I’m going to see what other fun things I can do with this thing.  I think it will definitely help me in conducting my business.

I hope this gives you a little insight from me as to what the phone is like.  I’m noticing a HUGE difference, but remember that I upgraded from the 3G.  It’s kind of a big deal!!!! I’ll also keep you posted on the camera app and the fun new camera and HD video recording!

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Downtown Sacramento: Fashion Styled Shoot

October 13th, 2011

I finally got to take a look at these images and they’re definitely not my usual photos – well, at least the one’s with off camera lighting.  Take a peek and let me know what you think! A couple weeks ago another photographer friend of mine told me about a fashion shoot that was going [...]


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I finally got to take a look at these images and they’re definitely not my usual photos – well, at least the one’s with off camera lighting.  Take a peek and let me know what you think!

A couple weeks ago another photographer friend of mine told me about a fashion shoot that was going to be held in Old Town Sacramento.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to work on some dramatic lighting or try some things that I don’t normally do.  I wanted to challenge myself on that day and do things out of my comfort zone.  I love natural light.  For quite some time I hated using flash mostly because I shot babies and children and generally speaking, you don’t use flash with them.  I just didn’t like the look of the flash…until recently.  I did a budoir shoot and decided to bring an off camera flash and play with some lighting and I was in love!!!  The shoot came out gorgeous and so I wanted to explore using the light in situations where I didn’t necessarily need it, but wanted it for dramatic affect.

This meet up was great because the organizer brought models for us to photograph, but of course there was a large group of us, so we ended up using some photographers as models.  Some of us are better than others at that — you will RARELY catch me in front of the camera.  I will do it from time to time, but I generally like to hang out behind the camera.  You’re always safe if you’re holding the camera…hahaha.  So, you camera-phobes out there — I’m feeling your pain right now!!! I also like these meet ups because I get to meet other wonderful photographers and we get to learn from each other.  What works or what doesn’t work.  We get to exchange info and help each other out.

 

So, I warmed up with some natural light photos that I loved.  This gal, D,  just had the best blue eyes that were accentuated by her make up, I think!  I really that these were great!

She did such a fab job modeling for us.  D is one of those who do great in front of and behind the camera.  So not fair, right????!!!!

This next gal, C, could work it with the best of them.  Look out because she will steal the show.  She was such a joy to work with.  She really did anything we asked her to do, which made it fun to shoot.  We started out with some natural light stuff and then we decided to find an alley to work in so we could create that dark alley feel with the harsh directional light and dark shadows.  This was a lot of fun to do and I would definitely be eager to try something like this again soon!

 

 

 

We had another model L.  L was super fun to work with.  She was like C in that she would do whatever we wanted and that just made for a super fun experience.  She was snagged by some other photographers while we were warming up with natural light, so I wasn’t able to get any of her.  She was super patient while we set up our equipment and decided what direction we wanted our light to come from.

 

 

This was a truly fun experience!  Thank you to all the models and photographers who were there!  Let’s do this again sometime!!

Models:  If you would like to see more of your images, please contact me at info@victoriaflowerphoto.com.  I’ll be happy to show the rest of your images!  Thank you again for being so patient with us!  It really was a blast!

 

 

 

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Introducing….the Buzz Club

October 13th, 2011

For those of you who don’t know, I was in a car accident recently.  This car accident forced me to go back onto the vehicle purchasing market.  Ugh!  Let me tell you it’s not a fun journey.  What this made me do is really think about the role of the consumer.  In the past 5 [...]


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For those of you who don’t know, I was in a car accident recently.  This car accident forced me to go back onto the vehicle purchasing market.  Ugh!  Let me tell you it’s not a fun journey.  What this made me do is really think about the role of the consumer.  In the past 5 years for one reason or another, I had to purchase 4 cars.  Yes, 4.  The last 3 were purchased all at the same place and from the same sales person.  I liked him and he was honest and took good care of me.  On my last purchase when I went in there and was later ready to buy, he took care of me again and his finance guy noted that I was about to purchase my third vehicle with them.  When it came time to buy some extras, he hooked me up!  I got big discounts on the best warranty package, a free key (not just a regular key, but one of those fancy new fangled things), and I think I got one other security device for free.  I remembered thinking, “Wow!  These guys really know us!  I’m definitely going to point people their way”.  It really taught me the value of rewarding loyal and enthusiastic clients – the type that I would be honored and flattered to have.  So, I came home and started brainstorming.  I wanted to do something like this for my clients to reward them for being so loyal and for creating buzz around my photography.

I came up with the Buzz Club.  The Buzz Club is a rewards program.  It is free to be apart of and one of the major perks is that these folks are THE ONLY ones with the dish on my current running specials.  My specials will not be posted on my blog or on my website.  I will tell be telling members of the Buzz Club about these specials only.  They will then tell others about it or others who are not interested in being in the Buzz Club will have to find a Buzz Club member to get the dish on the details.  Now, why join the buzz club?  Well, the perks include discounts off full portrait sessions.  I already have a special going on and running out there, so see if you can get out there and find who these folks are, you’ll score on a screaming deal — not something I do often, but in the spirit of giving thanks and the approaching holiday season, I thought I would do it.  There are about 5 Buzz Club members out there right now.  Buzz Club folks earn points for every client that books with me.  Those points can then be used on a FULL portrait session (excludes mini sessions, prints, or digital images).  So, thank you to my wonderful clients who are so very loyal and for your continued support!  My gratitude truly goes beyond words.

I will tell you that any FULL sessions booked in November will get a special treat from Annabelle’s Chocolate Lounge.  I’m seriously obsessed with this stuff.  Find out how I really feel on my previous blog post.

 

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Hello world…again and Kidaround Fall 2011 Issue

October 10th, 2011

Yes, I’ve moved the blog.  Though I know my WordPress home was pretty new for me, I wanted to do some more customization to my blog, so I found myself here.  It’s taken me a while to figure some of this out, but I did it and here it is.  Please forgive me as I [...]


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Yes, I’ve moved the blog.  Though I know my WordPress home was pretty new for me, I wanted to do some more customization to my blog, so I found myself here.  It’s taken me a while to figure some of this out, but I did it and here it is.  Please forgive me as I try to navigate some customization options within this blog!  I hope you’ll come back and check for changes and see how this blog evolves.

Should you be interested, my old blog can be found here.

Today, I’m super excited to finally talk about the Kidaround Magazine Fall 2011 issue.  I’ve been a little wrapped up in a few other things (car accidents are not fun), so I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk about this.  So, I am SUPER DUPER lucky to have been given the opportunity to shoot for Kidaround.  It’s a great magazine!  I was asked to do the home section where I worked with Cara Crowley of Cara Crowley Interiors and Diana Westerberg of DW Designs.  Let me tell you…these are geniuses at work.  It was such an experience to watch this clean slate be transformed into something so amazing.

Cara and did such an amazing job on the door!  Those boots were so cute!  To see her put all these great fall colors together was so cool.  We did the shoot in August, so the light was warm, which was great.  It really put me in the fall mood.  Make sure you pick up a copy of this issue so that you can use some of her great ideas for your own door!

 

About a week later, Diana Westerberg and I worked on the mantle and dining room together.  I came over to the shoot and the table had already been finished.  The room was stunning!  She really is a mastermind!  The colors she used were so amazing and definitely festive.  I felt as thought it was already the holiday season.  We then headed over to do the mantle.  I walked over and she had just started putting the mantle together.  It’s funny that they could be done minutes apart with a completely different feel — a more living mantle kind of theme.

To be honest, I could not do any of these women justice if I even tried to articulate what I saw.  Pick up a copy of Kidaround and read more about their creations!

thank you to Kidaround, Cara Crowley, and Diana Westerberg for the opportunity to work with you!  You guys are all rock stars!  I hope we call all collaborate again soon!

 

 

 

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