Vanessa Honda Photography

First, I have to apologize for the tardiness of this post – and many others. This has been a super busy time of year as always, with sessions every day (and sometimes more than one a day).  And to top things off, I had a little medical emergency that sent me to the hospital for a bit this week and that set me back even further. So I appreciate everyone’s patience as I get the blog updated and your sessions online!  As I am playing a bit of catchup, I will limiting my “sneak peaks” to just a few pictures.  That way, I will hopefully get everyone’s portraits up all the sooner!

This was such a fun family!  Little “E” was in my daughter’s preschool class this year and they became quite the little friends.  So it was a joy and a pleasure to have the opportunity to photograph their family!  Enjoy your sneak peak, and know that your session gallery will be up in a matter of days!

Meet Charlie. The adorable 15 week old Sheltie Puppy with tons of personality.

Meet Henry and Annie – the very lucky new “puppy parents!”

Together they are one adorable family!

I’m just the very lucky photographer who got the chance to capture such a beautiful couple and their cute as can be puppy!  What more can I ask for?

This is their brand new house!  Yeah for them!

Don’t you just want to take him home? I sure did!

So Fierce!  And so cuddly at the same time!

Enjoy your sneak peak with your family H & A & C!  Your gallery will be up before you know it!

Little Xander is growing up! I can’t believe he has turned 2!  My fabulous sister-in-law came down to do my hair and brought little “X” along for his two-year pics. She had the greatest idea – put him in the little sailor suit that my brother (his dad) was photographed in at the same age.  She bought a frame that would hold both pictures (father and son in the same outfit) and gave it to Brandon for Father’s Day…  We were planning on taking these pics at the beach, but suprise surprise – it was raining in the morning when they arrived. So we hopped on down to my studio for a very quick photo session.  One bonus – the studio is in a pet store, and there are always adoption pets available for making little guys and gals happy and excited!

I am just getting ready to go take portraits at the girl’s 3rd birthday party this morning, and I thought I would post these images we took for their b-day invites!  They are having a ballerina themed party (obviously), and knowing their mom, it will be tutu cute!  Looking forward to seeing them today – happy birthday girls – we’ll see you soon!

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.

And of course, the perfect Monarch butterflies and the butterfly nets – one for each girl.  Also note the bracelet!:

She also arranged for and brought the flowers, basket, and picnic blanket…

And attention to the smallest details  – such as the butterfly necklace to tie the theme together:

Renee will also help you plan your wardrobe and clothing choices – either helping you with what you already have, ordering online, or finding great places to get that perfect look! She can even take you shopping! Here is Renee, on the job at our session last Thursday!

And just to give you some ideas of other shoots she has planned – here is a small sampling of images from the last year or two with her girls!

Halloween/Thanksgiving 2008

Christmas 2008

Valentine’s 2009

Spring/Easter 2009

Birthday Celebrations – Summer 2009

Halloween 2009

Christmas 2009

Horseback Riding Lessons:

Valentine’s  2010

February Showers

March Flowers/Easter

The girls will have such wonderful Fine Art books to look back on and remember their childhood years!

Call me at (949) 553-2434 to find out more about having a professionally styled shoot! Or email me at vanessa@hondaphotoart.com today!

It’s so funny because I am not at my most creative at 11:30 at night when I have been up since 4:00 in the morning, so I just threw down the first title that came to mind for this blog post.  The funny part came in when I looked at the title of her blog post last spring…It must be an apt description for this darling child!  Sophie really is so much fun to photograph and I have had several opportunities in the last year to do so – Lucky Me!  I love it when my clients get to know me so well their little children run to me and call me by name – as Sophie did upon our meeting at the flower fields in Irvine last week!  She had so many things she wanted to show me – her exuberance for life takes me back to my own childhood.  And she was so well dressed – I love the Matilda Jane line of clothing – it was perfect for our Spring mini session in the flowers!  Sorry this post is so long in coming, Julie…. I had meant to have it up last week but Spring break did not allow for much work getting done – just lots of playing with the kids!  So now I am playing catch-up double time!  There are lots of cute images to choose from – Enjoy!

I had a most wonderful session with a most wonderful family this last Saturday!  I had the pleasure of photographing them for their holiday cards last year, and when little “E” got out of the car, he ran to greet me and said, “You take the best pictures ever Miss Vanessa,”  followed shortly thereafter with “I’m going to try really hard not to get dirty and be a good listener.”  What recently turned 4-year-old says things like that?  This little guy lived up to his promise – he didn’t get anything dirty and he was such a good listener.  So well behaved.  What I wouldn’t give to have my own dear children (who are actually pretty good kids – until the camera comes out) to behave like this on a photo shoot…

But the focus of our session was little miss “A,” who was too small to sit up and play with me at our last session. Mom wanted to capture the last of her “babyness” before she began toddling off into toddlerhood.  This was supposed to be just a “kids session,” but the location was so dreamy that I talked the parents into just a couple of shots with the whole family. I hope they don’t regret it.  I love the romantic feel of this location so much that I think I will have to drag my own little ones back here for a family session.  I so enjoyed my time with the “E” family, and I can’t wait to share the rest of their images with them in their gallery.  I had a difficult time narrowing down -but since this is just a “sneak peak,” I couldn’t give away all the surprises!  So here you go…

In the beginning of February we had a fun Valentine’s Day mini session event at the Passionate Pet store in Irvine, CA.  So many fun people came in for some cute pictures of their pets and themselves for Valentine’s day!  This Saturday we are having another event for Easter portraits.  Call the Studio at 949.553.2434 to book your specially priced $25 mini session for your pet.  For an additional $10 you can add your family or children to the session!  And Passionate Pet is also offering specially reduced pricing on their grooming/bath packages when combined with a photo session.   Check out the cute pictures we got at our last event and start planning your Easter/Spring pictures for this Saturday!

Just a couple of sneak peaks from my sessions yesterday at Passionate Pet.  I was just going in for an equipment check, but these dogs were too cute to pass up – luckily I had my camera with me!  They were not together, but it would be cute if they were, wouldn’t it?  Just for the name’s sake?

Enjoy the sneak peak!

First Lily:

And now Stitch…

Before and after I told him to “say cheese” and smile