Cesar--Just for Fun

Lauren Nygard and I met her friend's son Cesar for some fun practice with our flashes and evening light.  Thanks Cesar for being so cooperative! 

 

(We told all his peers who were watching suspiciously that we were 'shooting him for the cover of... (ok I can't remember the skateboarding magazine name)'--wonder if they believed us :)

Daddy's Home!

Congratulations to the W family who finally have their daddy home from a far away land pinpointed on this map in their home.  What a beautiful homecoming it was! 

Engaged!

What a fun couple! Cori and Lamont met a shooting group I am apart of down in La Jolla for an engagement session.  We dragged them around the town finding perfect places and lighting to shoot them in :)  They were such sports--especially considering Lamont had just had surgery on his knee a few days before and was hobbling on cruches the whole time!  A big thank you to them and also to Lauren Nygard of http://www.laurennygard.com/ for organizing the shootout!

 

But seriously, adorable couple inside and out and I hope these photos capture their happiness!  Congratulations on your engagement, I wish you guys all the best!

Welcome Home Mike!

I just love love love shooting homecomings!  Can I say it enough? Nope!  I just get all wrapped up in the moment every time.  For Melissa and Emma, this moment was long anticipated and certainly an amazing emotional high! 

This was incredible!  The moment the marines walked into the gym and she saw her daddy she was just screaming "DADDY" at the top of her lungs, then she looks to her mommy saying "there he is!!" So hard to wait while they stand in formation waiting to be released to the families... 

That's when my tears started!

Talk about a 'pick me up' for Emma, she was sorta 'out of sorts' while we were waiting, I couldn't get very many real smiles out of her...then daddy showed up and BAM!  Can't wipe the smile off if I tried!  That is a beautiful thing.

I don't think they let go for a long time...

Thank you again guys for including me in your moment.  I really enjoyed it all!  Congrats and thank you to Mike for all you did for our country.

Baby Sam!

LOVE little Sam.  He is a wonder!  Such a sweet little sleepy guy :)  He's my neigbor so I think I'm going to get to see a lot more of him (I hope!)!

I totally stole this pose from the photo of my family in my living room wall.  And I will continue to steal it every time because it is so so sweet.  Thanks Yvonne LeBrun for the inspiration!  Check her amazing photography out at:

yvonnelebrun.com

Congrats to you guys!  We are so very excited for you and are just in awe of how sweet little Sam is!

A New CO On Deck

These photos are part of the story of the Change of Command I was asked to photograph last week.  I just love military ceremonies, they always inspire.  Congratualtions to this lovely family in this new command adventure!  How wonderful it is for the family to enjoy the moment without being caught up with taking photos themselves during the event, but still have photos to treasure when it is over.   

Congratulations Captain!  What a moment!