Thank you, Bakersfield City Parks Workers!

I recently had a session with the cutest little guy. We met at a local park, which was nice and green and pretty.

This is Gavin. He's very smart for a two year old and so so sweet. I couldn't get enough of his talking. He warmed right up to me and held my hand while we went for a little walk.


He was wrinkiling his nose and making his Daddy laugh. Chock full o' personality, this one is. =)


He's such a happy little boy! Here, he was laughing because his mommy and daddy (excellent photographer's assistants that they are) were counting to three and then jumping up in the air just for his entertainment. Thanks mom and dad! =)

But I bet you're wondering why I gave a special nod to the city parks workers. Well, let me tell you about that. Some of the parks in our area have these sump (not sure if that's the right word) areas where water collects in a pond-like spot. Usually these areas have long grasses and lush natural landscapes. Unfortunately, they're also surrounded by a big ugly wire fence. The park we were at had a particularly beautiful sump area with lovely colors in the vegetation and shade and lush everything-that-a-photographer-would-want-in-a-nature-y-picture.....And it had a fence. Yuck.

But we were in luck! The morning we were there, the city parks workers were also there taking care of the park. And I figured it couldn't hurt to ask if they could let us in behind the fence, right? So I ran over (literally ran because they were getting into their truck and I was afraid they were going to leave) and asked, and bless them, they said yes and I did a little happy dance!

And here's one of the images we got.


I might have to go early in the morning to see if I can catch them there again. And beg them to let me borrow the key to the padlock on the gate so I can make a copy of it. In my area of town, there just aren't a lot of lush landscapes. It's pretty suburban, with shortly mowed lawns and young trees and tract homes. So I would love to be able to use this location every now and then. =)

What a beautiful, beautiful family...

Wow, this family was amazing. Their love is so evident for each other. It was a blessing to see.

This is their newest addition and the main reason we had the session. Aren't his cheeks something else? So cute. And even though the session was focused on new baby brother, I couldn't help but snap a few of his big brother. I mean, look at him. He's beautiful with all that curly hair and those big dark eyes. (He had just woken up from a nap and was sitting in dad's lap with his favorite blankie.)

And mom and dad are obviously smitten with him. Can't you feel the joy in this picture? I love it!

A little father/son eye contact...

And one more, just to make you smile...check out the expression on baby brother (big brother's is cute, too). Isn't that so funny? You just wonder what he's thinking. It's almost like he's thinking, "Hmm."

Hey guys...sorry I haven't updated in a while...

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been taking lots of photos, but keep forgetting to get a signed model release, so I haven't been able to post any of them. I have a few coming in soon, and will update as soon as I get them. =)

Thanks for being patient with me!

Have a great week!


P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

American Child Photographer's Charity Guild (ACPCG)

I am very honored and pleased to announce that as of today I am a member of the American Child Photographers Charity Guild. The ACPCG is a non-profit, volunteer organization that provides families of extremely premature or critically ill infants and children with a free photo session. This can be done at the hospital, in the NICU, or in their home. They are then given either a 4x6 proof album or a high-resolution CD with 5x7 files of all the images from their session. All of this is free of charge.

If you know anyone who might be in need of this service, please have them call me or email me ASAP. I would love to do this for them.

If you'd like more information about the ACPCG, you can view their website here:

http://www.acpcg.com

Forgot to include this in my last post...

How could I have forgotten to share the "blowing out the candles" pictures?!

I love how he's smiling in this one.

He just came in and saw these and said, "Mommy, that's me. And I go phooooooo to blow out my candles when I turn four."

I couldn't help it if I wanted to. I totally love the kid.

What a week!

Wowzers! This has been a busy week.

This past weekend (and the first half of the week) was spent painting the boys' room. Thank God it's finally done. It only took one coat of primer and four, yes, you heard that right, four coats of red paint. (That's a total of 3 gallons of Behr California Poppy Red.) I think my right arm is going to be non-symmetrical to my left after all that rolling. Sheesh! But it looks great. And my boys are really excited about it.

Tuesday was Owen's 4th birthday and we had a lot of fun celebrating at Chuck E. Cheese with a few close friends. Chuck E. Cheese on a Tuesday night (verses a weekend) is great. It was not busy at all and we pretty much had the run of the place.

Then Thursday as I was getting to all the laundry I had put off due to painting, my father-in-law called because he was really sick (my mother-in-law is out of state taking care of her mother's last wishes) and he needed someone to drive him to the doctor. Well, his doctor's office couldn't get him in until late that evening and they told him, with as sick as he was, to go to the ER. So I went and picked up and drove him.

Apparently, the hospitals in Bakersfield are terribly overcrowded right now. There are NO beds available. There are a lot of really nasty, mean bugs floating around and our hospitals aren't equipped to handle the amount of sick people needing care. We sat in the waiting room at the ER for 3 hours before finally being called back to see a doctor. When we finally got him into a bed, it was against the wall in the hallway of the ER (along with about 12 other people). My poor FIL was so exhausted from being up sick all night that he immediately went to sleep.

We talked to the doctor for about a minute and she prescribed some anti-nausea medication and some IV fluids to be administered. So for the next few hours I just sat with him while he slept. I talked a little to the people in the room across from our hallway spot and they said that their dad had been in the ER for three days. He had been in the hall like us until that morning when they finally moved him into an ER room. They said on Tuesday he was #8 on a wait list to get a bed in the hospital. But here it was Thursday and they were still in the emergency room. I felt bad for them.

Luckily, it turned out that my FIL had a nasty bug and nothing more serious, so after some fluids, they sent him home. We had been there 8 hours at that point. I made hime come home with me and stay at our house so we'd be close by if he started going downhill again. But by morning he was feeling much better and that was the end of that.

So that's the excitement that was my week. Don't you feel informed now? =)

Baby Kyler Revisited...

I gave Kyler's mom her CD of proofs tonight, so I can share a few more favorites....


I love the moody lighting on all his little baby wrinkles...


This was my first time trying out this kind of shot. I think it turned out rather nice. =)


And this one is probably my favorite image from the whole session. He looks so sweet and new. And I love his feet.