Vanessa Honda Photography

This weekend, my daughter was baptized, and what a wonderful occasion that was!  I am so proud of her and the choices she is making!  And I am so grateful for all the support of family and friends who came to witness it!  And especially grateful to my in-laws for all of their help and for my parents and siblings who helped put on such a nice dinner afterwards – I could never have done it without you!  Here are a few of “K’s” baptism portraits that were displayed at her baptism. These were mostly taken at Chapman’s Law School campus – a beautiful place for portraits!

For the family and friends who would like to, you can view a slide show of Kate’s first 8 years by CLICKING HERE!

I had a great time a couple of weeks ago, snapping some shots for some friends of the family.  Karl and my husband were roommates from freshman year in college and have kept in touch ever since. We have spent many a birthday party, 4th of July, and blessings and baptisms together.  As well, as many nights staying up late and playing games.  They had family in town for their son’s baptism and took the occasion to get some family portraits taken at the beach by the pier in Santa Monica, where they live.  It was the peak of busy season at the beach there on a hot July day, and a little bit crowded, but the weather was perfect and the light was lovely!  Enjoy your “sneak peak” you guys – we should have the rest of the pics done by the time we see you this weekend!

Eight years ago to this day, I became the mother to a daughter. What a wonderful joy and adventure this has been!  Kate is a shining light to all that know her, and one of the joys of my life.  She has a very open, giving and friendly personality.  Sharing has always come easily to her, as do enthusiasm and an exuberance for life.  Kate is growing up so fast – I can hardly believe it!  She loves to cook, read, swim, play with her friends. And she is always asking to take pictures with my cameras…or to come and help me on a photo shoot.  So for her birthday today, she got her very own point and shoot camera… waterproof, shock drop – proof, dust proof, you-name-it…  She is so excited!  In addition to loving to snap pictures herself, she is my most willing participant in family photo shoots – and the camera loves her as well!

For her birthday today, she wanted to help me bake her favorite cake: lemon meringue cake (four layers of lemon cake, with homemade lemon pie filling spread between each layer and topped with a homemade meringue topping), and her favorite ice cream: raspberry sour cream ice cream (the best ice cream recipe ever – truly!).

Afterward I took her out for an ultra-quick, 5 minute photo shoot – so we could remember what she looks like the day she turned 8!

She really, really wanted me to take an upside down picture…so I humored her. Despite the thick overcast, the light was still too bright for her to open her eyes more than 1 second!  Her eyes were closed in 90% of these pics!

Then we had a very simple party – consisting of cake, ice cream and of course opening presents with a few friends!

Then grandma whisked her and her brother and sister off to Southern Utah to spend the weekend hiking and celebrating Utah’s July 24th holiday (Pioneer Day)!  I wish I could be there now!  All in all, a pretty good day for Kate!

But now that it’s quiet in the house and the kids are gone, I can’t help but miss them and reflect on the years that have flown so quickly by!  So I lost myself looking through the years in pictures and thought I would post a few of Kate through the years.  Quick disclaimer – the first couple of years I did not have a professional camera or experience!  But I still love to reflect on those times – no matter what your equipment or your abilities as a photographer, don’t forget to capture the moments as they happen, because they go by so fast. One day I was holding Kate newly born in my arms, and the next she is running off with her friends to 3rd grade! Here she is the day she was born:

One thing that made today so special was that my littlest brother Zach, had his first child, beautiful Emery Saige , early this morning!  Kate will share her birthday with a cousin.  I shared my birthday with both my grandmother and my aunt, and I loved that!  Here is Zach, 8 years ago today, holding Kate the day she was born.  Now he holds a daughter of his own…

Kate’s eyes seem to change color every year. For the first year they were a startling blue!

On her first day of Kindergarten:

With her best friend Maren:

First day of 1st Grade:

Kate and cousin Courtney – they are such great friends!

Kate’s eyes have turned to a beautiful shade of green. We’ll see what next year brings!

So, when our good friends, the Llewellyn family, came out to visit us and bring their family to Disneyland this spring, we were so excited to see them.  And though they had a pretty packed week, I mentioned that I would be happy to fit in a photo session while they were here.  The only day available was the morning of the day they would be heading back to Utah.  Because the sun rises quickly, and the mid-morning sun can be harsh at the beach, we’d have to start early – like around 7:00 – will that work?  They were game  – but poor Lisa was up until 3:00 that morning and then had the get everyone up super early to eat breakfast, get dressed, pack up their week’s belongings and check out of their hotel at Disneyland!  And everyone had stayed late to watch the fireworks at Disneyland the night before!  So it was one tired crew that showed up at the beach that chilly May morning.  And in spite of the cold and exhaustion, everyone did great!  The boys were so well behaved and we had a great time together. My hubbie and kids came and met us at the beach after our session and we had a grand time chasing waves and collecting seashells.  Sorry for the wait to see your images Brian and Lisa – I am just finally starting to get caught up!  But I hope you will agree when you hang the prints in your home that it was all worth it!  Enjoy!

So this is my nephew Owen on his 4th birthday.  I usually bring my camera to friend and family birthday parties and snap plenty of shots while I am there.  But usually the pictures get downloaded and sit on one of my hard drives, forgotten about for years, along with most of my other personal shots. My intentions are good – I mean to edit and give the pics to their respective owners. But in reality, paying client’s pictures always take precedent over my own personal images and the fun pics I take for family and friends.  But in this case, I really OWE my AWESOME sister Brittany.  Because she agreed to take ALL of my 3 kids this week – in addition to her own 4 – so that I can finally get caught up (or at least headed that way) on work!  Our kids are best of friends and she has planned so many fun things for them to do this week.  But I also know that she has already had at least one sleepless night (maybe two), so I thought I could say “Thank You” by fishing out and editing these pics from Owen’s birthday party.  Brittany always does such a great job at planning parties – I think she should go into business!  This party was a pirate themed party – with a pirate ship pinata, a real treasure hunt, golden coins and pirate patches.  Very very fun!  And Owen was such a ham!  Owen has  a mind of his own, and usually his ideas do not include having a camera pointed in his direction. But on this day he was very obliging about looking in my general direction – even with the camera in hand!  Enjoy the pics Britt & Tyson – I will bring a disc down when I come pick up the kids!

There was a yummy yummy cupcake tree!

Owen was determined to eat his cupcake in the pool. Too bad we ate cupcakes first, ’cause you can see the effects of the cupcake eating on everyone’s faces the rest of the time!

The kids enjoyed whacking away at the pirate ship pinata!

The treasure hunt may well have been the highlight of the day..

My kids still have their patches and gold coins – the pirate booty!

Opening presents is always a great deal of fun for the birthday boy…

The thing Owen REALLY REALLY wanted for his birthday was a shiny, red, new bike… and mom and dad delivered!

Happy Birthday Owen – and have lots of fun with your cousins this week!  Aunt Vanessa Loves You!

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!

Country music sensation Collin Raye joins OCMCO’s choirs and orchestra in an all-American tribute to God, family and country!

A performing force of over 500 singers and instrumentalists including children, youth and adults, present America’s favorite spirituals, gospels, and folk songs.

June 18th and 19th in the gorgeous Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at 7:30 PM.

Orange County Performing Arts Center
Renee and Henry Segrestrom Concert Hall
600 Town Center Dr
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(just off the Bristol exit on the 405 fwy)

To purchase tickets, CLICK HERE! or Call 714.556.2787, open 10am – 9pm daily.

So, why am I telling all of you about this?

First of all, because it is going to be absolutely fabulous!  A concert you will not want to miss! I promise you will come away enlightened, uplifted and find it well worth the money and the experience!

Second of all, because I will be performing in it as well.

And to give everyone a little extra incentive to come, I am offering your choice of:  a studio credit that equals the amount of the price of your ticket on any future session (towards a session fee or prints) ~OR~ one free full resolution file of your choice (a $125 value) to download and print at any size. To cash in on the offer, just scan and email me (or bring to me in person) your ticket stub for the event. *Offer only good on one ticket per client – but please feel free to buy more tickets and bring the whole family!   This will be a family friendly activity – a fun chance to get everyone dressed up and experience fun and patriotic songs in a beautiful venue! My kids will be coming to watch, and the performers range from the ages of 4 and up!

Some of the songs we will be singing/performing include: Our National Anthem (The Star Spangled Banner), Stars and Stripes Forever, Amazing Grace, Battle Hymn of the Republic, God Bless the USA, He’s Got The Whole World in His Hands, and many many more.  I have also heard through the grapevine that Collin Raye will be performing a tribute to our Nation’s Military Forces and singing some of his well know favorites, such as “One Boy, One Girl” and “Love Me.”

Tickets start at just $16, so this is very affordable for such awesome performers and an awesome Concert Hall.  The OCMCO has sold out several performances in the past, so if you want to get in on this deal, hurry and get your tickets today!

You can purchase them at the box office, call 714.556.2787 between 10- 9, or CLICK HERE!

Now enjoy some images I took of the beautiful Segerstrom Concert Hall, and imagine yourself there in just 2 weeks!

And these are just to get you in a Patriotic mood!

From our home to yours!

I had the great pleasure of bringing my “spring session Easter chicks” in to Audrey’s preschool class for their spring party on Friday.  I am so blessed that Audrey has such a wonderful class – the best ever teachers, great classmates and great moms to help out as well!  I have had a blast photographing their events all year long – but this was one of my favorites, so I thought I would share it here…  Animals and children compliment each other so well in photography – and I love adding animals because they elicit such natural responses and genuine smiles from the children.  This was especially fun because most of the kids had never seen or held a little chick before – so this was new to them.  The chicks will be around for the next week for the last of the Spring mini sessions – and when they go to live out their lives on a ranch in Temecula at the end of the week, there will be many tears shed in our house.  The kids have loved helping me take care of these chickies and I have loved listening to their sweet chirping as I work (they live in a box under my desk right now).  Coming soon – more of the Spring mini sessions featuring the chicks in the flower fields.  But for now here is a little tribute to the happiness animals can bring to children:

The little green spots on some of their heads indicate that they were born on St. Patrick’s day!

The runaway chick!

Audrey would take pictures with these guys every day if she could. I wouldn’t even need to bribe her to sit in front of my camera.

No matter how I wish it was so, Audrey is not my baby anymore.  She is growing up way too fast.  Her sparkling personality brightens our home and brings smiles to my face every day.  She loves school and loves her family and loves her friends.  Audrey is a very talented climber and adept at gymnastics as well. She could make her way across the “big kid” monkey bars before she turned 3 and is now such a pro at them that every time we go to the park people gather around to gawk at her.  I often find her up in a tree, swinging from the branches.  Audrey turned 4 this weekend and we had a great time riding on some trains and playing with friends and family at the park.  I haven’t looked at pictures from her little party yet, but here are some pictures from the last year. The first few shots are actually from the day she turned 3, 1 year ago – I had meant to blog those last year but hadn’t even finished looking at them until today.  Oh well, better late than never right?  Happy happy birthday Audrey!