Archive for December, 2011

Folsom Lifestyle Portraits: J and J

December 10th, 2011

I first met JH about 2 years ago at the gym.  He was this nice guy seemingly obsessed with his chest and biceps — it’s a running joke, people, I’m really not that mean, I promise!  Anyway, over the span of 2 years we hung out more, worked out together more, did some break dance [...]


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I first met JH about 2 years ago at the gym.  He was this nice guy seemingly obsessed with his chest and biceps — it’s a running joke, people, I’m really not that mean, I promise!  Anyway, over the span of 2 years we hung out more, worked out together more, did some break dance fighting, and really got to know each other.  He is like the brother I never had!!!  He’s always looking out for me and I totally appreciate it!  He’s a really gentle giant and all around good guy — beautiful person inside and out.  For these reasons, he’s an absolute PERFECT match for JL.  I met JL a few months after JH, but we really didn’t get to know each other until about a year ago when she and JH became an item!  She is genuine — what you see is what you get.  She is kind — she will give you the shirt off her back!  She is beautiful — inside and out – her soul just radiates from her inner core.  She is always there for me.  Always with an open arms and a strong shoulder to lean on.  Never judgmental.  Wow!  Really, what could you ask for in a girlfriend.  She accepts me for who I am and how I am (I’m a liiiiiiiittle neurotic), but she reminds me to put things in perspective.  She gets me.

Uh — enough with the mushy stuff or I’m going to start tearing up.  So, a few weeks ago, J and J asked me to photograph them for their very first holiday card together.  I was shocked!  I couldn’t believe they wanted ME.  ME!!!!  I may have asked if they were sure, hahha!  I’m always so grateful and honored when people CHOOSE me to be their photographer!  I get it — people have choices in photography — there are a million of us around.

So, we picked a day to go out and shoot.  So, here’s the funny thing, JH is like an inner fierce model.  When we joke around at the gym and just take fun photos he’s always got it turned on.  We have this photo of him stretching out on the ground one day and I walked by and snapped a photo.  I could really embarrass him right now, but I won’t H, I won’t.  I captioned the photo, “Hi my name is JH and I’m a scorpio.  I like candle lit dinners, moonlit walks along the beach, and puppies.”  I think as a gag gift it was made into a shirt — hilarious!!!!  So, needless to say he was going to turn on the cheese.  But, I also wanted to tap into his fierce GQ side for the shoot, which I didn’t think was going to be too hard.  JL is beautiful, like, just beautiful.  I can’t even handle it.  I don’t think it’s fair to be that beautiful inside and out — should I hate her or something?  Hahahaha!  No, I think it’s great and we definitely need more people in the world and around us who are that amazing.

Yeah, I know.  I don’t even want to talk about how stunning these two are.  So, I’ve done a lot of talking about how wonderful they are separately, but together, they are even MORE amazing if you can believe it!  It’s like, they’re a Transformer or something.  Separately, they’re pretty awesome, but together they’re some super powered robot.  Hahaha — bad analogy, I think.  Anyway, they really are just the perfect together.  They’re so wonderfully supportive of each other, but never really forgetting not to take themselves too seriously.  I think they probably razz each other better than I ever could, though, I’ve thrown in some zingers from time to time.  I have to give myself credit!

So, they just bought a home and we decided to do their shoot around their property to so we could, one, explore the property, and two, get a fun little walk in.  This place was beautiful.  The light was gorgeous and it really was perfect day for photos.  I told them to be patient with me because I was actually going to take this opportunity to challenge myself with a few different things and I figured who better to test it on then this gorgeous duo!  We started our walk and saw this big beautiful tree with the sun shining through the tree juuuuuust right.  It was beautiful and I thought we have to stop here!

Gorgeous, right?  Absolutely gorgeous!  I just couldn’t even handle it.  One of my favorite shots of the day for sure and we just got started.  We continued our walk over to this bridge.  I thought it would be fun to to some photos there.  It’s where you see their individual photos above, but we got some other great ones there too!

 

 

 

Oh, yeah.  Girlfriend is got it down!!!!  She knew exactly what I wanted and how to deliver it!!!  Hahaha.  JH is definitely holding his own with her!  At one point he was working it so hard we totally ended up laughing because did this whole Elvis lip thing.  It was so funny!

Stop it JL.  Seriously, just stop.  She made my job just so stinking easy!

 

These last two photos really speak to who they are.  Really just a fun loving couple who enjoy life and each other’s company!

Thank you JH and JL for letting me document this time in your life together.  You’re such amazing people and I really am lucky to have you in my life.  In the words of our friend, CS, It’s real!

 

 

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Fair Oaks Children’s Photography: Fair Oaks Preschool

December 9th, 2011

Last month I was given the opportunity to photography some pretty amazing kiddos at the Fair Oaks Parks and Recreation’s Preschool.  There were about 50ish or so little tykes 3-4 years old that I got to hang out with over the span of 2 days.  Their teacher, Miss L, was gracious enough to allow me [...]


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Last month I was given the opportunity to photography some pretty amazing kiddos at the Fair Oaks Parks and Recreation’s Preschool.  There were about 50ish or so little tykes 3-4 years old that I got to hang out with over the span of 2 days.  Their teacher, Miss L, was gracious enough to allow me into her class room and totally rearrange her day, so a big THANK YOU to Miss L for being so awesome!!!  The parents were phenomenal!  They acted as assistants last minute and did such a fabulous job.  The kiddos — uh — the kiddos were AMAZING.  Simply, amazing.  They just knew how to turn it on.  I think in the age of the digital camera that all parents have the whole idea of doing a shoot doesn’t bother kids…as much anymore.  So, one of the things I like about going to people’s homes or traveling to a location of a client’s choice is that this is THEIR home base.  Especially for kids.  I’m just one person coming into THEIR territory.  I let them guide the session rather than have it be photographer led — it’s that human development background talking right now — hahaha.  There are a few photos and stories I wanted to share with you from my wonderful visit to the school.

First up, I want to share with you, little Miss C.

She is cute as a button, right?  Like, SO stinking cute!!!  Mom had mentioned that she hadn’t had a ton of success in the past with photographers.  Yeah, I know, you would have never known looking at the photo above, huh?  Anyway, I made sure to approach carefully.  With the volume of children I had, I also had to move quickly.  What we did here was different from your traditional school portrait, which is fine by me because I like to stray from the conventional sometimes!  :-).  I had about 5 minutes with each child, so based on my experience with kids, I allowed them to take the lead, but providing some guidance in the background.  When I met little Miss C she was quite and a little shy, but we talked about some of her favorite areas to play in the play yard.  The swings were one of them – I used to LOVE the swings as a kid and had photos of me near my favorite swing set so I thought it was a great place to start.  I had her standing by the swing support and we just started out nice and easy and I just talked to her.

Yeah, pretty unbelievably cute, right?  Oh and we were just getting started!!!

Hands down – my most favorite shot of the day!!!!

This was mostly Little C.  I asked her to go stand by the ladder and I put her arm up and she flashed me this uber cute smile and she was ready for the camera!  Hahah.  At the end of the day, she asked me to take some more photos after I finished everyone else’s.  We went back over to the swings and played around some more and it appears that she was comfortable which is all I could ever ask for!  I just want these kids to have a good time while being photographed and I just wanted to create some great images for their families.  C, I want to thank you for giving me the chance to photograph you!  You did so great!!!!  Mama, thanks for being there to help out!  That had a lot to do with it, I’m sure!

Next, we have the twins B and S.  Now, mama, you have to forgive me because I can’t remember who is older!!!  Little B was so nervous about the whole process we thought we’d keep her with her sis to help her ease the anxiety – thanks for the extra help Miss L!!!  I did the same thing with the kiddos and they mentioned that they loved the swings so we headed back over.  This time, I thought I would put them in the swings.  We had S go first and she was so fabulous, so turned it on big time and really tried to show B that it could be fun.  How adorable is this kid, I mean, c’mon, right?

 

We then went over to the school house together to take some photos because I thought it was a cool little building, but little B still hadn’t relaxed yet and I could tell I hadn’t gotten a real B smile!  So, it was recess because you can only keep so many 3-4 year olds cooped up in a room for so long before everyone goes bonkers :-) .  We went outside and I thought I would take the approach of my lifestyle portrait sessions.  I went to her while she was playing and just took a back step and THERE IT WAS!!  THE B SMILE!  I saw it!  So, Miss L was there to help me get ideal lighting and I got ready and she looked up again while Miss L was talking to her and…click!

We got it!  She was in her element and happy to be there, so I had no reason to want to pluck her out of it to stick her somewhere else.  I think parents really just want to freeze their child in time.  I mean, this is what B is about – playing in the sand and having a good time.  I was so glad to get these and so appreciative of the extra help I got from Miss L.  Mama S, you’re such a rock star!  Thanks for being such a super parent throughout this process!!!  You are absolutely amazing!!  S and B, you’re mom’s awesome!

Lastly, I have miss S.  Miss S was ready like Miss S from above.  She came out and was ready to rock and roll!  We started off by the swing set, because she liked playing on the swings.  She was darling — absolutely darling — I mean her nail polish matched her outfit!  I’m telling you, these kids were just too much fun to be around!

I wanted to find a way to showcase that her nail polish matched her outfit (because that’s adorable!!!!) and got the shot above.  Plus, I like the flowers on her dress for obvious reasons!!!  She was super easy to photograph.  You could tell she was a mellow child and after speaking with both mom and dad, I can see where she gets it from.  This whole family was just a joy to work with throughout this process — so, thanks!!!  You guys are amazing.

Another favorite area for the kiddos to play in were the slides so we headed over to the slides where I battled the light coming in and I had awesome parents helping me.  I got this little gem.  I just had her sit on the ladder and she came up with this.

I mean, seriously, right?  So cute!!!!  Thanks, little S for showing me that I love my job and making it that much more fun with you kiddos!

Miss L:  You’re an amazing teacher.  The Fair Oaks Parks and Recreation District and these lovely families are so lucky to have such a kind and caring teacher like yourself!  Thank you for setting an amazing foundation for future educators!!!  These kids definitely have a leg up!!  :-)

For the parents who are still wanting to order, I sent out your e-mail with your galleries and passwords about 3 weeks ago.  Make sure you check your junk e-mail.  Sometimes, for some reason, my emails end up there for some folks.  If  you did not receive an e-mail regarding your gallery, I did not have your e-mail on file.  Please e-mail me for details.  Any parents with any questions, please feel free to contact me and I’ll be glad to assist you!!!  info@victoriaflowerphoto.com

To all the parents, Miss L, and Miss J for helping!  I can’t thank you enough!!!  You guys were so amazing and I’m so grateful that you were there helping!  I think the munchkins were definitely more at ease with so many familiar faces.  I can’t wait to do this again!!!

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