We had so much fun shooting Teresa in her last couple of weeks of pregnancy.  She wanted to do a classic beauty shot but she also wanted to try something a little different. She mentioned that she had heard of getting henna on your belly when your around 8 months pregnant.  Well, I went on a search and was referred to a wonderful woman, Ravie Kattaura.  Her work was amazing and she was one of the fastest artist I’ve ever seen.  I’ve seen Henna done before but never from such a talented artist and never done on a pregnant belly.  It was really beautiful and I loved the colors and glitter she added to the design.  I also loved how Joe, the dad, was all excited about getting his henna done on his arms.  We asked about the blessing and was told that the  patterns used are acknowledged to bring health, protection, and luck to the new mother and her child.  I just know that we were blessed to be part of it all and to be able to create some beautiful images of their first pregnancy together.

As always this turned out to be a fun and adventurous shoot as Tia and I lugged the bed and headboard out in to the grassy field, caused only a slight traffic jam as everyone was interested in what we were doing, and I didn’t even mention that little case of trespassing.  But the field was just to pretty to pass by.   Better yet, a client of mine drove by and yelled my name out. I had to laugh that someone even recognized us because it really wasn’t a part of town that I frequented very often.  She called later and said I saw someone with furniture in a field taking pictures and thought it had to be Jill Johnson.

These days you don’t see many large families so it was so fun to be able to shoot this crowd.  Yes, they are all siblings ranging from 6 months up to middle school age.   Being the youngest of 6 myself it was great to see the different dynamics among the siblings and how each of their personalities came out during the shoot. We kept busy trying to keep their attention but it was a lot of fun.  One of my favorites is them walking on the hill.  It shows alot about a big family.  I love how the one boy is making faces at the baby, the other two are occupied with each other and big sister overseeing it all. You know this house if full of fun, laughter, and I”m guessing a few disputes once in a while.

It has taken only a year for Noah’s mom and I to get our act together to photograph Noah.  But we finally did it and I love it.  I just have to say I love Noah’s hair.  It has a mind of its own and when I heard he wanted to cut it I said if we can only find 15 minutes we have to do this.  Noah did great and I have to admit he is the shyist kid that I have ever photographed but he did such a great job.  He was such a great listener and has such a sweet person he was a joy to be around.  To view some more of his session click here.

This shoot is by far the fastest kid shoot I’ve ever done in my life.  If I wouldn’t of had 4 other adults, an expedition, and a break in the weather I never would of been able to pull this one off.  We went to Minnesota to visit our good friends and their new baby.  The plan to spend some quiet days up at the cabin, relaxing and having fun.  Well of course we have to throw a photo shoot in there somewhere because why not add to the chaos.  Well we had a time and day planned but the weather didn’t agree with the schedule.  So, we were expecting rain and not sure how we were going to pull this shoot off  when low and behold while cooking dinner the sun peaked out.  I turned off the stove, looked at my friend and her mom and said “get the kids dressed asap” , the dads loaded the couch in the expedition and we were headed out within 20 minutes to a field right up the street from their family cabin.  In fact, if you look down the road that is  Uncle Ernie’s cabin.  I laugh when I say that the session was less then 20 minutes because it could of been shorter. It was all a whirl of barking out orders and doing silly things to keep the kids attention.  We had a 5 day old and three other kids under 9 with more storm clouds coming and us battling a swarm of mosquitos.  Of course we forgot to spray the kids so dad ran back to the cabin to get some OFF while I snapped and mom batted mosquitos away with a burp rag.  If someone was taking video I’m sure we would of won the $10,000 award.  As you can see from their legs and arms that they had battled the blood sucking beast all summer but what would a midwest summer be without mosquito bitten arms and legs. They are the battle scars of youth!  You have to do what you have to do.  They are only that small once in their life.  All in all it was a memory and I was blessed to be the first to take Miss Emma’s first photo shoot with her siblings.  Welcome to the Chaos Miss Emma!

Welcome baby Grace! What a fun day I had getting to know little Grace.  I’ve had the privilege of photographing her parents for their engagement, wedding, maternity, and now the beginning of their family.  She was a little doll and was fantastic for her session.  She cried at the very end but we worked her hard and she was so hungry and sleepy.  I just love it when they are this tiny.  It is so hard to believe how big they get.  I just love photographing the size comparisons of her feet with her parents and how precious her little head looks like in her daddy’s strong hands.  Moments like these just make me happy.

I love when I have a chance to go up to Sausalito.  The weather is almost always perfect and the views are amazing. There is something about seeing the skyline of San Francisco across the bay.  It is simply breathtaking.   One of the reasons I love visiting the town is one of my favorite jewelers is up there Sam from Sausalito Jewelry.  So, when Sam called me to come and photograph the newest addition to their family how could I pass it up?

I had a great afternoon getting to know Serene and her parents.  Serene was a doll and she did  well being the center of attention.    When photographing newborns I love the interaction between them and the parent.  Even if you only see a small portion of mom and dad.  There is just something special when you see a baby in her daddy’s arms or her tiny little finger wrapped around her mommy’s finger, or lips just tenderly touching her forehead.  On photos like this you can just feel the wonder and amazement a baby adds to your life.  Plus, it just reminds you how precious, innocent, and small they are when they come in to this world.  How can you not just want to squeeze her?