Well, technically these portraits were taken before either April or May….spring comes fairly early to Southern California. But the flowers surely were beautiful for this March session at Sage Ranch…The beautiful weather outside to day inspired me to get these posted on my blog tonight. Happy Spring to everyone!
I mean the love in the air. And the excitement. And the fun. All essential ingredients for a successful session with the “Y” twins! What made it even more fun is that this was the 4th mini session with the twins. You can see how they’ve grown over the years by checking out their past Valentine Sessions here:
Although technically this was a “mini” session, there was nothing “mini” about it. We combined with a couple of other families and went all out on everything – props, locations, settings and time. And there’s no more beautiful and versatile setting to shoot in than Sage Ranch in Temecula. My biggest challenge on this session was narrowing down the images and choosing what to share…you can see more fun images of the girls on my Facebook fan page here!
For now, enjoy your “Sneak Peek” Renee!
This session is “vintage” in so many ways… beginning with how long it has sat on my computer’s external hard drive without ever seeing the light of day (well the light of this blog anyways). Which is too bad, because it was one of my favorite sessions ever! This meticulously styled session was done for my client’s 2009 Halloween Portraits at the field by Turtle Ridge in Irvine. Another client asked me to see the details for her upcoming session to get some ideas of what to plan for, so it was the perfect excuse to post this long lost session! Far from being a sneak peek (it’s only two years after the fact), this is more an example given to showcase a fabulous and unique location and also to show how beautiful the results with just a little care and planning going into it…It’s so fun to see how the girls have grown too! Enjoy!
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be featured in a documentary on your own special family? Maybe featured in the “Day in the Life of America” coffee table book? Or do you have kids or a husband who dreads the yearly family portrait session because of the stuffy clothes and poses? How can you make capturing the essence of your family so you can remember the milestones and relationships between you years from now… fun?
This year, instead of having a more traditional portrait session, consider making things fun and different by planning “Day in the Life” photography session to tell the story of your family. These sessions usually last from 2 – 4 hours and take on more of a documentary feel. Some images may be set up (so you have one perfect image to put on the holiday card), but most images will be capturing your life as it happens. There are many activities you can plan on doing – from hanging out around the house together to going out for ice cream and window shopping downtown! Or playing in Balboa’s fun zone and then heading down to the pier. The activities can and should be as unique as your family is.. if you would like, I can help you plan something original and fun for your family. The best part is, everyone can have a great time and enjoy themselves and one another – nothing photographs better! Or captures the essense of the relationship you enjoy!
Day in the Life Sessions are $200 for the session only or $1000 for a session plus a 10×10 exquisite Fine Art Coffee Table Book. And for all Day in the Life Book sessions scheduled by September, I will include a free additional 7×7 companion book – a perfect holiday gift for grandparents, etc.
I know you are all just dying to meet the brainchild behind the magic of my recently posted butterfly session. You may not realize how much work goes into planning a “picture perfect” photo shoot – especially one that tells a story, has a theme running through it, or is even just has that personal touch to convey more than just a likeness of a person or a family… With just a little bit of extra effort and attention to details, your portraits can be not just likenesses of the people (or pets) you love, but true works of Fine Art.
There are decisions to make (how can we best express who we really are, or who my child really is? do we want to commemorate a special event that we want to remember?), locations to find, often there are arrangements that must be made with the locations, a suitable wardrobe to choose, accessories to consider, and oftentimes props to choose and purchase to make things really personal. It can sometimes be very overwhelming. Wouldn’t it be great to have an expert put together your entire session for you? Someone who knows a lot of great locations, who know where to find unique and classy props (often at a discount) , someone with a great sense of style to help you figure out what to wear and what looks good – and mostly someone to bounce off all of your ideas and come up with some pretty creative ideas as well. If you are looking for just such a person to take all of the headache out of planning your photos session, resulting in a product that is uniquely “you,” I know just the person.
Renee can help you come up with a great idea for your session and works closely with me to pick the ideal location, wardrobe and “props” to help you tell your story. She’s also great at finding awesome deals and ways to save! And to top everything off, she comes to your session with you and makes sure everything runs so smoothly – she brings brushes, keeps surprises for the kids, has makeup for touchup, helps me to get the great shots, etc. She began a couple of years ago when planning theme sessions for her own adorable twins – with the idea to really tell a story and allow them to explore, grow and experience new things while having their portraits taken (the other bonus is that the girls really look forward to their fun times with “Miss Vanessa” as they always get to do something new and interesting – much better than dreading sitting still in a stuffy studio – although there is a place for that too). Together we have come up with so many fun ideas that translate into beautiful images that tell the story of their childhood. And she sends out the most beautiful press-printed cards for each holiday – a treat that friends and family look forward to! But the thoughts are always coming, and there are only so many photo shoots one can do with their own family in a year (just ask my own kids!) So she has decided to offer her creative juices and her services to others who would appreciate a no-stress, beautiful session.
For the months of May and June, all Photo Styling services will be discounted – a great opportunity for you to take advantage of the help at a reduced price!
Just to give you an idea of the things she comes up with -
For the butterfly session:
This is Renee, wearing her very handy “Photo Stylist Apron” – and two of her great ideas – the jar with cheesecloth & flowers to hold the first butterflies the girls got to hold, and the basket full of flowers to carry the butterflies to be released.
