Christmas Portraits

It's hard to believe that it has been 6 months since Michaela's newborn session.  This girl has grown so much and ready for her first Christmas!

Newborn Session

Congratulations to the McMillen family.  Their daughter arrived just in time to celebrate Veteran's Day, honoring her dad who served this country.   We also decided to get some Christmas themed photos for their Christmas card this year.  I crocheted a long-tail Christmas hat just in time for the session.

I love her little feet

Proud and loving big brother.  No one messes with her!

Happy Veteran's Day to Dad

Senior Session - Alexis and Kaitlynn

Alexis and Kaitlynn are twins and both are super stars on their soccer team.  As part of their senior portrait session, they wanted "action shots" from their last regular season game.  Soccer has been a very big part of their lives and brings out the best in them.

Firefighter Water Fight!

It's water fight time at the Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival in Sonoma!  Consider this the firefighter's version of tug of war but so much more fun with water and high-pressure hoses.  Here are some images from the event this year.

You can view the full gallery here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Kids enjoying the water more than the water fight itself.  Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Getting soaked!!  Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Cincinnati Skyline

My wonderful husband is starting a blog and wanted a picture of Cincinnati.  That motivated me to go take some pictures of Cincinnati's skyline.  We do live in a beautiful city here.

You can view the full gallery here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Great American Ballpark.  Go Reds!

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Purchase a limited edition of this photo here

Family Session - A summer morning in the park

What a fun session with Laura and her two daughters!  During the initial consultation, we talked about different looks and feel for family portraits.  Laura wanted photos of daily family life with genuine emotions rather than posed, standard family portraits.  She also wanted more pictures of her daughters than herself. We decided to shoot the session at their favorite park, which is what they love to do.

Newborn Session - homemade quilt and crib

Congratulations to the Cox family.  What a beautiful baby boy.  This session is unlike others in that most of the props came from the family.  The quilt was handmade by the paternal grandmother.  The crib was handmade by the paternal grandfather more than 30 years ago when the father was a baby.  This is a family heirloom now handed down from father to son.  How special!

Sleeping so peacefully

Quilt made by grandma

Proud parents

Mom's touch

Dad's crib made by grandpa.

Newborn session

I love taking pictures of newborns. They are so adorable and always looked peaceful and content. They are also very cooperative models in my opinion when compared to mobile toddlers with stranger anxiety.  Below are a few images I recently took for a friend. Congrats on their new bundle of joy!

I love her little feet!

Sleeping so contently.

And she smiled!  How rare for a newborn.

Fun with photoshop elements

I love black and white photos and sometimes, leaving a splash a color can add a lot to an image as well.  I discovered how to select out an area to preserve the color and covert the rest of the image to black and white quickly on Photoshop Elements.  I love the results!

Raindrop on my rose bush

My awesome hubby at Saturday brunch

Newborn - 8-day old