brother & sister

fingers crossed, these two kids will be adopted into a most loving family this year.  the most adoring parents.  rooms filled with books and toys.  they greeted me with smiles, the older one wondering if he could take ronin to his room and show him all his toys. beautiful, beautiful kids (aren't her eyes ridiculous??). they hugged me and kissed ro before we left, after an afternoon with candy all over their faces and bubbles galore.  i'm excited to hang out again since we are practically neighbors!

{update: they were approved for adoption - hurrah!!}

sneak peek

story behind these 2 cute kids coming soon.

aunt rachel took some photos

at the hospital. i'm so grateful that she took the time to do this. i love the moments she captured that i couldn't. thank you, thank you. please visit us soon. ro-ro misses you guys. click here to see more.

photo of jan & ronin via rach

wkend update

well, i wish this weekend had been more eventful (hint hint, baby), but it was pretty mellow. jan had to work parts of sat & sunday to help with military events, and his cousin (whom i've known since kindergarten) came into town and stayed with us and helped pass the time. saturday we finally got to the annenburg photography exhibit and it was amazing. absolutely incredible modern space, photography, video presentations, everything. so many moving photos. if you are in los angeles, go. it's free. it's so worth it. we all left touched & inspired. they are going to have new work every year, so we'll definitely be back.

ps. a primary girl looked at me on sun. and said, you're still pregnant? yeah, tell me about it.

bad blogger - cute photos

Apologies for the bad blogging, it has been a zoo since J came home. I will try to be better this week! In the meantime, enjoy these photos from my 4th. Good friends from Indiana and my darling niece & nephew.

the back story

i love, love this idea. i'm always thinking of new ways to display images in our house without screaming, hey, look, it's us on the wall, big!! i have some silhouettes, but feel like something new w/more pattern would stand out and act as abstract art as well as a portrait of sorts. along comes ReadyMade mag, with the genious idea of the backs of heads as your art. i'll shoot ours this summer, and add our new addition once he can hold his head up. places like paper-source always have pretty paper to tape on your wall as a backdrop. i am going to do some profile shots of extended family this summer too as a project - i'll keep you posted. i think they would look great on smaller canvases grouped together.

editing today

editing again! stay tuned for a link to my photo blog coming with photos of little m who's turning one this weekend. i am super behind on my photoblog - but am trying to catch up. hopefully later today i can finally post a few easter pics too. oh, picked up an adorable sweater for mango at liz's shop, baby hank. she's having a sale right now, so check it out!

{update: view more photos of malia and baby clay in my photo blog!)

editing today

editing shoots today. a kids shoot from up north and headshots from last weekend (welcome to LA). busy weeks make me happy.

letter book

i love, love this idea for a letter book, seen on party perfect. if anyone see's old wooden letters like this at a thrift shop or garage sale, let me know! i just checked ebay, but only saw the old wooden blocks w/color. it's a great inspiration for photography as well as a personal teaching tool for your kids. or anything - places you and your husband /bf have visited, gone on dates to, family recipes, etc. Sarah did a great job. I'm excited to see her version of family - I had talked about doing one as well for my future kids to look at during church. and now i have a future kid!

japanese inspiration

i've been swamped with so much design/illustration freelance work lately that my photography is lacking! i shot a few things for Blush over thanksgiving, but want to make some new goals in the new year to shoot consistantly. i just ordered the new canon 50d, as i have to wait for the husband to graduate and make some $ before i can go full professional with the 5d mark II. i found these images on flickr, by Akihiro Futura. I have felt creatively stumped in the past with family portraits, because in my mind, people sitting or standing together seems a little boring, even with a more creative backdrop. These images sparked some great inspiration, for creating creative portraiture with props, matching clothes, gestures, etc. Matching outfits (ie women's dresses) was so outdated, but I think w/a modern twist it might come back and be pretty rad. These are some of my favorites. Email me to schedule January/February family portraits.

bodies as art

i am always facinated with creative photography collaborations. the site i found these on says,"Art director Willi Dorner and Photographer Lisa Rastl have collaborated on a project combining humans in odd formations and unusual locations. ‘Bodies in Urban Spaces’ sets out to explore the “relationship between body, space and architecture”. The urban based series was created as a set of human sculptures. They are currently spread throughout the city of Philadelphia." images and text found here. i would love to have a print of the first one.

shoot idea

i would love to borrow this idea for a family photoshoot. image via rodney smith

tree photography

sorry for the lack in posting. we went w/nicole & travis to his parents lake house last wkend and i've been sick since we got back. on top of that i'm helping a new firm w/a big presentation and i need to do well on it so they hire me for the future! i was browsing around and stumbled upon lens culture editions. Myong Ho Lee is a korean photographer who does something different and really cool. Backdrops behind trees. If they weren't $500/print, I would pick one up. I would really like to try this sometime. isn't the one w/the hot air umbrellas in the background beautiful?

love my vacation so far

we just did a mini shoot yesterday of the twins, clive & azalea. i have the cutest relatives!! more to come as well as a few of little syd & kate who we saw yesterday in indy.

the shoe project

i saw this at one point and loved the idea shot by Ellen Ugelstad. people, faces, and their shoes. i think i might spend a weekend and do my own version. maybe for a family? it's a great simple idea that creates a lot of visual interest when combined together like the image above.

photo crush

this image by rodney smith is hands down rad. i want to re-create this shoot someday. maybe not all yellow cabs, just random cars and the girl in a wedding dress. any takers?