Exhibit A: my nieces and nephew.

I hadn’t taken pictures of them in a while, and decided to “borrow” them for an impromptu shoot. Their hair was a mess, and they weren’t dressed to impress, but that was okay. I captured them as they really were at the moment.

I put them in charge of finding the “cool” places to take pictures in front of, and so we wandered through the neighborhood, playing tag along the way. And this was what I saw…

I love being able to capture beautiful pictures of them in their “natural habitat.” I love that we PLAY along the way, so that they can relax enough for me to have the chance to capture their natural smiles, not the forced ones you so often see when the camera comes out.

And then there are the true “quirks.” These aren’t necessarily the photos that will be hanging on the wall of your home, but these are the ones that you can look back on with a sense of nostalgia, and see the kids as they REALLY were at that age.

Here are my favorite QUIRKS from the shoot:

She makes this face a lot when she is pondering something. It’s her “whaaaaaat?” face.

She makes this face a lot, too. (ugh.) She thinks that it’s hysterical.

He likes to show off his muscles.

And here, I think he is a bull. Or maybe it was a monster. Whatever it was, it was L-O-U-D!

Ah, yes… the attitude of a “tween.” It’s coming out more and more lately. Gotta love it, right? RIGHT?!

She started to get frustrated. Ah, yes… the first signs of meltdown. But I’m a PRO in deactivating those types of bombs. The solution for the moment was to give her even more control of the situation. How? By handing over my camera.

I gave her a quick lesson and let her take a few shots…  and they turned out to be A-MAZ-ING! What can I say? The girl’s got a great eye.  (I think I might have to HIRE her in the near future!) Here are the faves, as captured by my 10-year old niece:

(p.s.: must give thanks to my husband for helping to wrangle the kids along the way; no one is as magical to them as their “Tio.”)

Okay, my turn with the camera again. Some favorite family shots. I love to see the connections between the 3 of them.

And when you play, and just let the kids be KIDS… that’s when the magic happens.

I’ll leave you with my absolute FAVORITE of the day…

I got the call on Friday evening, while hanging out with my best friends. Fortunately, I’d warned them ahead of time that this might happen, and that I just might end up having to bail on them. I raced home to meet my husband, at which point we raced on to the hospital. And then time stood still.

The entire family was gathered in the lobby of the hospital, trying to pass the time and ease our minds. Some played cards, others read. One even sat and watched a movie on a portable dvd player. But we were all waiting.

It was just after 11:00 pm and my in-laws were about to give up for the evening and take the kiddos home. One of the girls pleaded… please try again? So a call was made, and it had been made just in time. He was coming down to get us.

Armed with a video camera that was already recording what our reactions would be, he said… It’s… a BABY. um, yeah, we know. A grandparent asked, is it healthy? And breathed a sigh of relief when the answer was yes. And so we waited for him to speak again…

it’s…. a… BOY!

The siblings jumped for joy, while the rest of us teared up a bit.

I had a new nephew! I could hardly believe it. Now the score is even… 2 girls and 2 boys. A perfectly matching set.

We all floated up in the elevator, excited to see my sis-in-law and visit the new little boy for the first time. Tried to wait as patiently as possible out in the hall, taking turns so as not to overwhelm them. First the siblings. Then one set of grandparents. And then another. And us. It was as if everyone was holding their breath, trying not to wake up from this beautiful moment. And, of course, I asked if I could capture it with my camera.

We didn’t overstay our welcome that night, but came back in groups to visit the next day.

And at that time, we finally learned his name…  Andrew.

I think I’m in love…

(in the photo above, we can’t tell if he’s doing his “thinking” pose, or practicing saying “call me.”)

Mother and baby went home the next day. And I was able to capture these sweet shots of the siblings holding their new baby brother. They are all so enchanted with him.

(Um, yeah… the one on the right isn’t one of the siblings. That’s my husband, saying hello to his new nephew…)

And look how amazingly sweet the girls are… notice the tiny felt toys piled upon Andrew? There’s a blue puppy and a brown bear… those were sewn by the girls, so that their new baby brother would have his first toys. Too, too adorable.

I’ll leave you with an image of him gripping his teddy bear. And I can guarantee that if his fingers weren’t tucked away safely in his little sleeves, he’d be sucking on them.

I am excited to announce my participation in this year’s Baby & Child Portrait Contest, hosted by Miller’s Professional Imaging.

Here’s how it works:

Schedule & complete a session with me before June 21, 2010.  This can be a newborn session, family session, child session, etc. (sorry… maternity sessions don’t count).  As long as you’ve got a kid involved who is 12 years old or younger, you are eligible to participate!  I pick the best image of your kiddo, and enter it into the contest (one image per child). That’s it. Simple, huh?

Prizes/How to WIN:

There are 4 categories:  humorous, color, black & white/sepia, and special needs. Each month the top 5 images in each category (as voted by Miller’s Imaging customers) will make it to the final round in July.  These images (20 in each category) will be  judged by a separate panel of esteemed photographers.  The 3rd place winners will win $750, 2nd place winners $1,000 and the first place winners in each category will win $2,000!!!  There will also be a GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the whole contest who will win $5,000 CASH!!!  (click here for official rules)

THE FAMILY OF THE WINNING CHILD’S PORTRAIT GET THE CASH PRIZE!!!

So… what are you waiting for???! Book your winning portrait session with me now!

We headed to Americana at Brand in Glendale to capture the shots. Wow. VERY cool setting with a beautiful fountain, playground, and even a trolley. The stores surround a central area, with housing above some of the stores. Finishing touches were being added to the holiday decorations in the area, so it must look even more fabulous now than the day we were there. It was fun to just wander around the area. I’d never been there before, so it was fun to explore. (We even made sure to take a ride in the super-tall elevator before we left, to get an aerial view of the place.)

As for the photo shoot itself, it was a lot of fun. You never know what to expect when working with kids, but the twins couldn’t have been more fabulous! Entranced by all the different sights around them, they never seemed to get fussy at all… and didn’t even seem to mind the camera being constantly pointed in their direction. It was wonderful to just sit back and watch the family’s interactions with one another. The little kisses and smiles, the silly faces and “airplane” rides. It was so easy to see the love shared between them all (even the twinsies grasping hands every once in awhile).  So awesome to be a part of.

So, without further ado, are some of my favorite images captured from the day:

My mother-in-law is a very talented woman, if I do say so myself (flashback: she even created my wedding dress from scratch), and comes up with the most wonderful creations. Her grandkids love the fact that they can be whatever they choose; that their costume options are pretty much limitless. This year, my eldest niece decided to be a fairy, my other niece decided on a flower, and my nephew decided to be a Jedi (which made my husband INCREDIBLY proud). Wanting to document it all, my sis-in-law set up an afternoon photoshoot in the park so that we could capture the kids in their costumes. Wow. Here are a few of my favorite shots from that:

And, of course, I played dress-up, too. Here is me as Velma, and Jasper as Scooby Doo (he has no idea he’s actually a teeny, tiny dog. shhhhhhh… )

Later that night, my husband and I ventured out to Pierce St. Annex for their annual Halloween celebration. We got there just in time for the costume contest… which turned out to be a WONDERFUL thing. Dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, he ended up winning FIRST PLACE!!! (The prize was $200 cash and $200 in gift certificates to Pierce St. Annex!) That absolutely made his night even better than it already was. And it was already a good night… we love to people watch, and here was plenty of interesting eye-candy there that night. Making our way through the crowds, not only was Tony dressed as Jack Sparrow, but also played the part very well… completely keeping in character whenever possible (with the walk, the talk, everything). It was simply entertaining to watch! Here are a few pics of Tony (taken with the little camera; sorry for the not-so-good quality):

Till next year… happy hauntings!!!

Here are a few favorite shots that I was able to snag along the way:

Michael and his Mama (my sis-in-law, and also my 2nd shooter, Maria)

This was Grace’s favorite ride of the year… she must have gone on it at least THREE times… and that was just while we were there that one night.  (This was their 3rd day at the fair).  Called the “Tornado,” it was almost like Disneyland’s teacups ride, but raised up a bit. She didn’t want to spin her area, though… she even rode separately from her sister so that her sister could spin her own seat, cuz Grace just didn’t want to spin. It wasn’t until my husband (Tony) joined her for the last ride that she finally gave in and practically BEGGED him to spin it faster and faster and faster! (Ah… the magic that is “Tio.”) Grace had a blast… Tony was dizzy.

Michael and “Tio.” They are soooo cute together.

Ah, the ferris wheel. We didn’t get to ride, but it’s a beautiful thing.

Now, THIS one was interesting… my other niece, Laura, pretty much BEGGED me to go on it with her. I turned her down because I didn’t want to waste any of their ride tickets on myself. But she was pretty adamant. She was willing to give up going on another ride so that I could come with her on this one. Sweet kid. So, I went handgliding with her. And HOLY COW this ride was SOOOOOOO FUN! (Though I was incredibly dizzy for a LONG time afterwards, but it was totally worth it.)

I held the camera out in front of me the entire time… here are a few shots of what it looked like from ON the ride:

And, here is my niece, singing “I believe I can fly!” (over and over and over again…)

The sun started to set on our day…

“FAIR” thee well….

And, FYI… my mother-in-law made all of their costumes.

Here are a few favorite photos from the afternoon:

(And here comes Batgirl…as she reaches for the monkey bars, and crouches in preparation to jump:)