The Highest Heights

This shoot by far turned out to be one of my favorite photo shoots! A few weeks ago I got a whole Saturday morning (all by myself!!!) to do some location scouting. I felt like I had over-used the places around my neighborhood and needed to venture out a bit more. When I first chatted with Jen about doing maternity photos, I immediately pictured her standing on a mountain with crazy views behind her like she was on top of the world. So off I went in search of that very mountain and I ended up back in an old hiking spot I used to love in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It starts off on this big grassy hill and winds down into a canyon full of trails and Oak Trees. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Jen has a bigger-than-life, joyful spirit about her and it fit perfectly to have her show off that gorgeous belly up above it all. AND she is every photographer's dream of a subject, up-for-anything, gorgeous and totally comfortable with the camera. We both decided she will be my model for any future scouting I need to do! Thanks in advance Jen ;)! 

We set off in the AM for the beautiful first hour of daylight, and I am love with this morning's sun. 

Click on any of her photos to see the entire gallery. And click here if you'd like to check out Jen's great blog!

Doux Doux and the Family

This growing family and I had a wonderful time together! The sun going down over the lake was providing some beautiful reflections! I've been messing around with incorporating some VSCO filters in my editing, and I enjoyed putting a bit of a vintage film-feel on these.

"Doux Doux", the lovey-blanket, turned out to be a star in the beginning of the show. I think it is so fun to incorporate a child's lovey or stuffed animal into the photoshoot. It can seem like it might be an eyesore, but I think it can truly add to the nostalgia when you look back on the photos in the years to come and remember how they never used to let that lovey out of their sight. How you always had to figure out creative ways to find the time to wash it, or buy extra and keep them equally rotated, so no "doux doux," was ever more noticeably worn or different than the others.

I had a "doux doux" and I still look back fondly on it :). 

Click on any of their photos to see their entire gallery.

One More Makes Four

My Mom-friends and I like to try out a new park every Monday, to change things up for the littles and keep them guessing. I found a gem of a park just a mile from my house, complete with a donkey corral, a small creek and roosters crowing all day long. It's a park in the middle of Palo Alto, but you feel like you're on a farm in the mountains. The minute we got there I knew this park would be a great location for a photo shoot. And I had just the right one in mind :).

My friend Rachel has a little one that is about a year and a half old and she is expecting her second in a few months. We wanted to get some fun family photos and a lot of good belly documentation. Rachel has an amazing pair of cowboy boots that we used to inspire the shoot, and we even found a few old tractor parts around the park to get into the pictures! Perfection :).

You can click on any of the pictures to see their whole gallery!

Oh The Places You'll Go...

I have about 12+ pregnant friends at the moment and we've been waiting for all the bumps to grow round enough to photograph well. My dear friend, Kathleen, is having her second and her beautiful baby bump was prime for photos. I was aiming for a quiet, intimate and whimsical feel. I had a beautiful subject and we had a wonderful time. Here is a glimpse at her photo shoot, click on any of the pictures to see her full gallery.