Thursday, August 31, 2006

Off to Hawaii

We're heading out this morning for Nicki and Kate's first trip to Hawaii. We'll be going to the big island and I'll be teaching here next week at the University of Nations in their photo program. Should be a great time.

We'll be back here on the 9th, but should have access to the internet as well as on my cellular 310.344.9692.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Little Miss Sassy








Kate turns 8 months tomorrow and she is really starting to assert herself.

She is starting to climb, crawl, and continues to grunt, babble. When she wakes up from her nap, like in the first image, she tries to scale her crib and when we open the door we typically find a scene like this.

Continuing our theme of Kate in Camo, she blends in with green gingham.

I love the little expressions she makes with her face and includes her body. The black and white image shows a pensive little Kate.

Mealtime is usually a bit of a mess. Mornings can be really bad especially if she's tired and rubbing her eyes --with her cereal. Here she enjoys her carrots, even though most of it appears to be on her rather than in her.

This morning, she was incredibly tired and just couldn't sleep and was a bit grumpy. Nicki just took her on an errand and she instantly fell asleep in the car. She needed it.

I'm certain all first time parents experience these things. We are constantly amazed and sometimes surprised at the changes that take place seemingly from day to day.

And we're loving every minute. Well almost every minute :)

Heather & Mike's Engagement Portraits





We had an amazing evening recently at the beach as I photographed Heather & Mike. Everything just worked: great couple, great scenery and great light.

They are getting married in Hawaii on September 6th. You guys look so happy and thanks for letting me photograph you!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

the new baby car seat -- out of africa!




Nicki saw this car seat and had to get it...we definitely don't want Kate to neglect her African roots !!!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

New Kate Pics







Kate keeps growing and changing. The two teeth that first came in late June are now getting huge and a couple more pushed through this past week. I was gone for only a few days at the first of the month, and in that time she started talking more, rolling, crawling, pulling up -- even in that short period of time the changes were striking.

The teething, though, has been making Kate a bit fussy so we've tried to soothe her using some homeopathic teething drops, ora-gel, or children's tylenol (if all else fails). I am not certain any of it works, but it just gives her a new thing to focus on, a new sensation so it usually works to get her to stop crying. (ETA: thanks for the suggestions on the teething rings, I forgot we have a couple of them, though I must remember to keep them cold! She loves them, btw).

She's had a pretty fun week. She absolutely loves this bungee jumper that Nicki got for her. She could play in that for about an hour if we let her, she just pushes off and smiles. I thought that the color photo of her looking up me almost looks like she's in some Bruce Lee, martial arts pose.

The bath pics were from tonight. I was editing a wedding and Nicki called me in and asked me to shoot some more pics of Kate. I had promised my Mom after speaking with her today that I would post some pics on the blog tonight--plus Nicki wants to keep the S. African and world contingent up to speed, and rightly so.

I'm glad she did. It reminds me of those times shooting projects when I was in newspapers. Everytime I would go and continue work on a project (and these photos of Kate are my life-long project) there's always something that happens that is always a pay back for stepping out and taking some frames. Today was no exception.

We had a hectic weekend. The exterior of the house was painted starting early yesterday and finished today and it looks great. Our house is almost five years old and the original paint had started to fade due to the harsh sun and because of the last two winters which were particularly wet. There's a wave of repainting happening in our neighborhood, which is one of the first built in Ladera.

We've been in a huge home improvement mode as well. In addition to the exterior, the painters came back today and finished the last four walls needing paint (Nicki painted EVERYTHING else throughout the house including the red dining room walls which required five coats of paint and did an amazing job--even the painters were impressed!). These walls are huge going up the two stories and I didn't want either one of us to do it -- this one was a job for the pros.

We're also going through the process of renovating the garage. The floors are going to be acid stained and sealed, the walls painted and cabinets and shelving placed in there. It's a slow process gathering the quotes but we're so excited that things are moving forward and we should have everything completed by mid September.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Angela & Deven's Engagement Portraits - August 6, 2006







Sunday evening I spent some time with Angela and Deven from San Diego who are getting married in early October. They are a terrific couple -- fun and confident -- and I have enjoyed getting to know them since our first meeting earlier this year.

Plus, as a photographer, I'm always happy to work with a couple as committed to great photography from their event as are Angela and Deven.

I'm looking forward to the big day, of course, and also getting to know their family and friends. It's nice being a part of the planning and hearing how the preparation is going -- the day will be here in no time!

Thanks you two, for spending so much time with me at the beach because we were able to work through all different types of lighting and hope you enjoy the images as much as I do.

Hope you had a safe trip home!

Kaitlin & Tim Get Married - August 5, 2006!














Kaitlin and Tim had a fantastic day and a beautiful setting right here in Ladera Ranch for their wedding this past Saturday.

Such a great couple, and so very much in love. They were so much fun to be around, and their family and friends made us feel like we were a part of the family.

I feel very lucky that all of my clients make me feel this way. This level of connection to my subjects is one of the reasons that I started documenting weddings after doing journalism. It was the kind of thing that we always wanted to have with our newspaper and magazine assignments and I find it in abundance with weddings.

These events are so very personal and just being able to know the couple before hand (in fact we did a great engagement session in late July) just makes it all the better.

Sharon Gall coordinated the wedding and the day's events went off smoothly, like clockwork. This was my first time working with her and I hope we'll be able to work again soon.

I love how the Covenant Hills Clubhouse was decorated -- the hanging lanterns were a fantastic touch, and I loved watching how they looked against the sky after sunset. Before sunset, I had high hopes that it would look great as the sun set, and I was not disappointed. It just kept getting better and better.

Have a great honeymoon you guys!