All The Way From San Jose…

This awesome family flew down for a vacation/photo shoot all the way from the SF Bay Area. I love, love, LOVE sessions like these. They were up for anything and everything. This included sitting on dirty floors, letting their kiddos have ice cream *before dinner*, getting super messy, having a late dinner (after the shoot), getting sandy and wet on the beach, etc, etc. Despite all of the “torture” I put them through, there was never a complaint, weird look, etc. Everything I suggested was followed by a “Sure! :) or “Of course!”. That makes my job so much easier…..and let’s be honest, kids have WAY more fun when they aren’t forced to sit/stay/smile/stay clean. Photo shoots should be FUN….and kids should remember running around, playing, having ice cream, etc. Clothes can be washed, bodies can be bathed, dessert before dinner can be quite a treat…..and in the end, it’s the memories captured that you and your family will remember. If you want fun/happy/carefree pics, stray away from the norm and live a little ;) Colton will be 4 next month, and is such an adorable charmer. We had many conversations about superheroes, and flies wearing polka dot ties. I can guarantee that Colton will remember having a FUN time at the shoot (Sorry Mara, he might expect ice cream, etc at future shoots ;) haha). He had the best time having ice cream and even more so, running around on the beach (which I believe they are at right now, since they didn’t realize how much he loved it). Tanner is 15 months and immediately drew me in with his awesome eyes and adorable little pumpkin grin. Poor Tanner has some new molars breaking in, so he wanted his mama most of the shoot (minus the ice cream part ;) haha), but he did amazing considering he wasn’t feeling 100% :) For sure, his favorite part was the ice cream ;) hahaha. Also, just a pre-warning….i’m posting a TON of sneaks (yes, i’m aware that this is an entire “album” for some photographers. Sorry…too many I loved) :)

Bella (age 2)…

Every once in a while, you meet someone who changes a part of you. I knew before Bella’s session (with her mom, aunt (who is pregnant and due with a little girl cousin for Bella soon!) and grandma) that Bella was recently diagnosed with cancer. I had no idea how the shoot would go. She had just gotten out of the hospital the day before the shoot, so I wasn’t sure if she would be sick, not feeling well, in pain, etc. I was a huge ball of emotions (nervous, happy (to be meeting them), sad, afraid that I would spend the shoot in tears, etc). Well out from the car comes the most gorgeous little girl with the biggest smile ever. Bella was so ridiculously fun, giggly, sweet and full of life. Besides the hair that she recently lost due to chemo, you would have NO idea that this sweet pea had cancer. I had an amazing time watching her run around, pick flowers and proceed to pick off petals, saying “He loooves me. He loves me not. He loooves me. He loves me not” and my goodness, she chatted on in full sentences about everything and anything :) During the shoot, her mom and aunt played songs (including her favorite song “American Honey” by Lady Antebellum”) and sang (crazy good, I might add) to Bella. Before I get to Bella’s photos, I would love to ask all of you to *please* keep this sweet pea in your thoughts and prayers. Here is some info about Bella (along with some photos), from her mom:

“Bella was diagnosed with nueroblastoma 2 weeks after her 2nd birthday, her right eye had been being pushed up and it made her eye look lazy, which led to 2 opthamologists and eventually an MRI that found two tumors in her head. The following scans and tests over a 10 day stretch in the hospital revealed the main tumor on her left adrenal gland (which has since been removed).”

Those little red curls remind me of Disney’s newest “princess” (Merida) in the movie “Brave” :)

Hair or no hair, Bella is absolutely gorgeous. Grandma said it best at the shoot…”bald is beautiful”!…

Happy Mother’s Day…

I have a special post coming on Monday or Tuesday, but I wanted to post some of my favorite “Mother” shots from the past few years :) I hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day!! Here are just some of the many, amazing mothers I have met throughout the years….

Miranda (1 year old)…

I know i’ve said it many times, but I absolutely LOVE watching my clients grow. I first met Miranda (and her super sweet parents) when she was just 12 days old. The next time I saw her was for fall mini sessions, when she was a little over 6 months old. Last week, I saw her the day before she turned 1!…..and my, oh my….she gets even cuter each time. Miranda is one of the most laid back and sweet babies I have ever met. Not ONCE during the shoot did she cry, whine, cling, etc. She just sat there, playing coy…and doing some model poses (no joke, there were many times that I SWEAR she would pose, look right at me as if to say “Are you getting this?”) ;) I just love this little girl!

*BOOK NOW* – Fall *MINI* sessions (Sept/Oct/Nov)…

Yes, I know it seems crazy to be booking Fall MINI sessions already, but i’ve had a waiting list for quite some time, and I prefer planning ahead…..so here we go! Please don’t wait til the last minute to try and book a “holiday shoot”……once these are gone….they are gone :) Each date has 4 spots available and I will be trying to edit as spots go. Thanks! :)

MINI session DETAILS:
PRICING: $475 (session *AND* disc of all edited images)
*30 minute session for up to 2 people ($30 per additional person(s))
*Approximately 15-20 images
*Access to online password protected gallery for proofing, sharing with friends & family and ordering.
*DVD with all professionally edited images in high resolution & print release (where you are free to take wherever you like for prints, holiday cards, canvases, gifts, etc).

*SEPTEMBER*…
Sunday- September 30th *PARK* – 4 3 spots available

*OCTOBER*…
Sunday – October 7th *URBAN/STREET* – 4 3 2 spots available
Saturday – October 13th *FIELD/OUTDOOR* – 4 3 2 spots available

*NOVEMBER*…
Saturday – November 10th *FIELD/OUTDOOR* – 4 3 2 1 ****ALL BOOKED**** ZERO spots available
Saturday – November 11th *URBAN* – 4 3 2 spots available

To book one of these spots, please email me at julie@lot116.com

Here are some photos of each “type” (meaning these might not be the EXACT confirmed locations I will choose, but possibly) of location:

FIELD/OUTDOOR……

URBAN……

PARK……

Luca (3) and Rhys (8 months)…

I’ve had the pleasure of photographing this family since Luca was just a few days old. He just turned 3, and this was my 4th shoot with them….and this time I got to meet his baby brother, Rhys! :) Both of these boys are just SO darn adorable. Luca chatted my ear off the whole shoot…and I LOVED it. He is such a fun and silly boy….not to mention drop dead gorgeous. I’ve told his parents since his newborn shoot that something about him reminds me of Superman…and it’s still true. Rhys is 8 months old now and wasn’t quite sure what to think about being in a random field, in a crate (which Luca decided he should squeeze into as well ;) haha), etc. He’s starting to get some adorable little pumpkin teeth…and I love that stage! I’d say the weather was our only challenge that day. One second it would be totally grey/dark, and the next, the sun would be SO bright that we were all squinting. Lots of camera setting changes, back and forth, but at least it wasn’t freezing or super hot :)

Clickin’ Moms…

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PJ and June…

For our 3rd year in a row, Cindy (of Orange Turtle Photography) and I have taken our “babies” out for spring/Easter photos. If you missed last year’s, or the previous year, you can see them *here*, *here* and *here*. I must say that now that PJ is older, a feel a lot more comfortable with her holding June. Each time I see photos of kids (especially toddlers and babies) with little bunnies (or any animal, actually), I feel really bad for the animals because babies, toddlers and some kids don’t understand how fragile these little animals are, and i’ve heard stories of animals getting hurt and/or even killed just for the sake of “spring photos”. Definitely not ok in my book. June (Cindy’s bunny) was adopted from the San Diego House Rabbit Society years ago. She is by NO means a “prop”. She is “family” :) June is very much like a dog or cat, and I’ve never seen a bunny so well behaved and sweet (and yes, growing up, we had 3 bunnies (one of whom we called “Killer” because it was crazy mean! LOL). PJ just adores June! Anyway, we had a blast at this shoot! We ended up having to move locations twice (one was WAY too windy, and another closed), but it ended up working out great and giving us a good variety of looks/location :) Plus, PJ was super excited that the “Dandelion Meadow” that she drew on the map kind of existed (tons of flowers)! Hahaha. Hopefully we can keep the annual “PJ and June” photos coming for many more years :) Oh and yes, Cindy even made June her very own aviator cap ;)

This shoot was a little mix of adventure, treasure and of course one of my favorite movies, “Up”. On that note, here is one of my favorite parts of the movie (with the names changed, of course):

PJ: What are you doing!? Don’t you know this is an exclusive club? Only explorers get in here! Not just any kid bunny off the street with a helmet and a pair of goggles! Do you think you’ve got what it takes? Well, do you??
June: …
PJ: All right, you’re in! Welcome aboard!

Gage (3 weeks old)…

You might remember this adorable family from their maternity session back in January. Well, their newest little guy, Gage, arrived on March 7th….and man, oh man, is he a sweetheart. He was the perfect newborn model for me! Big brother Ashton (age 2) was SO cute, because as I was loading up my car, he saw me carrying a basket (which Gage was in a few minutes before), and he pointed to it and asked for Gage. I told him I was taking him home with me….and Ashton let out the most adorable and worried “Nooooooo!” :) Of course I told him I was kidding, and he immediately smiled…but it was just so cute that he was worried and wanted his brother. Mom borrowed a little wagon that she wanted photos of Gage in, got an adorable little bunny hat (for a few Easter pics), and along with a perfect wall & table in their dining room, we had an instant backdrop ;) You’ll also see a few photos with a Dodgers baseball helmet….that’s because their grandpa (Dave Stewart) once played for the Dodgers, as well as a few other MLB teams :) Oh and of course I had to include Lucky (their dog) if a few shots ;)

Birthday Balloons For PJ…..

A few years back, (I believe on Tara Whitney’s blog?), I saw the adorable idea of sneaking a bunch of balloons into your kiddo’s room while they slept, so that on the morning of their birthday, they would wake up to a room full of birthday balloons. I thought about doing it each year, but thought she was either still a little too young (I was always afraid one might pop in the middle of the night and scare the bejeezus out of her! LOL)…or forgot. Last year for her birthday at school, I brought in balloons for each of her classmates (along with popped popcorn in little carnival style popcorn bags). So this year, I wanted to get the most bang for my buck, by using them to surprise her….AND handing them out tot her classmates. I finally did it! I made sure to order the balloons with “Hi-Float”, which makes regular balloons last up to 25 times longer (and yes, ours are still up….and I got them on Thursday evening). I wanted to make sure that they would not only last throughout the night, but also throughout the day and until it was time to pass them out. With Hi-Float, I knew they would last. Anyway, I picked up the 30 balloons (26 for classmates and a few extras, just in case any popped (which one did) and for her to give to a few of her friends who aren’t in her class) on Thursday night after she went to sleep. I won’t lie, I felt like Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible) while sneaking in 2 balloons at a time…trying to be as quiet as possible (and why is it that when you do that, you feel SO loud? You can hear your heart pounding, your breath (as if you were running), every body part cracking and squeaking, etc HAHAHA. Luckily, she slept through each of my knees, toes, etc cracking, the sound of balloons “hitting” the ceiling, me tripping over the ribbons a few times, the camera, etc.

Here is a shot from my little point and shoot (in pitch black, so this was with the flash going off….which again, she slept through about 10 shots of flash ;))…..and you can see, she’s fast asleep (with Gilbert (her giraffe) of course) in her bed ;)

Anyways, she LOOOOVED it and said it reminded her of “Up” (and like my previous blog post mentioned, she of course thanked me for them many times throughout the day :)). At lunchtime, I took her to lunch with me, and then we ran home to pick up the balloons. I only had about 2 minutes to snap photos because we needed to get back to school, but it was long enough to get the shots I needed. I just love balloons :)

….and of course, we had to do another jumping shot (like last year) before heading in the car (the balloon strings weren’t working with her jumps…but oh well) :)