(click here to go right to the slideshow…)

If you live in Orange County and you don’t know Kelly, you are most definitely missing out. For starters, she writes two awesome blogs – According2Kelly (her personal blog with fun ideas, crafts and great writing about motherhood, running and TONS of other unique things) and Just-Spotted.com (which is THE definitive source on everything you need to know about living in, exploring and experiencing Orange County). She is a crazy-smart businesswoman, an amazing wife and mother, an incredible athlete… and she does it all while being SO DARN NICE!

Kelly contacted me back in early January wanting to do a Valentine’s-themed photo shoot. I, of course, jumped at the chance to shoot her beautiful family! It was also a good excuse for me to let my “crafty” side out to create some fun Valentine’s props. And thanks to Pinterest (which if you haven’t already joined you should), I was able to create some really fun props to give the shoot the Valentine’s-inspiration I was looking for.

I had SO much fun on this shoot! The whole family came relaxed, smiling and ready to have fun… I mean, what’s better than that?

And have you seen a more beautiful family? Every one of them with the most gorgeous blue eyes!

And look at this little one… can she get any cuter? And her personality is so darn ADORABLE!

And these two were SO funny! See how Owen (on the left) has his hand clenched? That’s because every time we wanted to get him to smile, we would talk about Star Wars and light sabers… and he’s pretending hold his own light saber in that clenched fist!

This is one of my favorite shots….

These three were so sweet together. The boys so clearly adore their little sister….

Sometimes, don’t you just wish you could get up and DANCE!!!?? Love it!!

She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do….

She was trying to smile like “Punzy” which stands for Rapunzel. Because she IS in fact, Rapunzel!!

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Even the dog was in on the fun!!

Thanks so much Lewis Family!

(To see all the images from the shoot, you can watch the slideshow here).

This is a shoot that I look forward to every year – that’s because the Swanson family are great friends of ours, and Nicki is one of my closest friends. They are, in short — really awesome people!

First of all, they are California peeps (Aaron was born in Minnesota), but they are totally like Midwesterners…. they are so laid back and down-to-earth, they are really, really nice people, AND they love hockey! (Even though their team is the Anaheim Ducks, and NOT the much better, more talented Detroit Red Wings).

I always have such a good time when I shoot these guys… I always know that Aaron is going to pretend he doesn’t want to be there… Shane is going to make me work as hard as possible to get any shots of him, Kylie is going to be adorable, and Nicki and I are going to laugh through all of it.

Aren’t they a gorgeous family?

There is so much love in this family….

These two have an awesome marriage… so much love and respect towards each other.

And these two… they absolutely crack me up! Shane can be such a goof-ball, and it’s only a matter of time until Kylie joins in. It is so cool to see a brother and sister who get along like they do!

Shane is an AWESOME hockey player… he has some mad skills on the ice, and is one of those kids you look at and think you’ll end up seeing in the NHL someday (hopefully for a team like the RED WINGS, but I digress…). He plays for the Jr. Anaheim Ducks Squirt team, and I was lucky enough to take some shots of the future Hall-Of-Famer!

And Kylie is a dancer at South Coast Performing Arts. She will probably be on Broadway one day and I’ll be able to say I knew her when! Isn’t she the cutest?

These are two exceptional kids… from one exceptional family!

I am so lucky that I get to take pictures of people that I truly love! It’s the best job in the world!!!

Thanks Swanson Family! xoxoxo!

Here’s your slideshow!

I love this time of year – I get to hang out with such awesome families… and it’s even better when I get to bring MY family to hang with the family I’m shooting!

I have to say that I adore this family – first of all, they are just unbelievably beautiful (have you seen the beautiful eyes on these people?). Add to that extremely nice, fun, laid back… and extremely cool… so cool that Kim brought wine and snacks for after the shoot! The kids ran around being crazy monkeys and the parents drank wine and chatted until dark. Such a fun time and pretty much my dream-kind-of-shoot.

Thanks so much, Lochners! I loved every minute of it!

Here’s your slideshow!

You always know you have a great shoot when the photographer is constantly laughing along with her clients… and that was definitely the case when I shot Alex and Jake! Not only are these kids crazy-funny, but they have the whole “boy-vibe-thing” going. You know, that whole burping, farting, wrestling, trying-to-be-as-gross-as-possible, thing that all boys have…

First of all, Alex is just plain FUNNY! The kid has the most amazing facial expressions, and he is just FULL of life! He never stopped laughing or talking the entire shoot! And Jake, being in middle school, was a little more reserved…but most of the time he couldn’t help himself to jump in and join Alex in the laugh-fest…

I also got to get a few shots of the family dog, Zoe, who had just turned a year old! She was so great and easy to shoot!

I left the shoot still laughing at how fun they both were!

Thanks G Family! Here’s your slideshow!

Feel very blessed to live in Orange County.

(taken on iPhone and edited with Instagram)

I have always been intrigued by boudoir photography. If done well, it can be so beautiful, and so POWERFUL. It shows a soft but strong side of a woman that can change how she sees herself in an awesome way.

I set up my first boudoir photography session back in March. And my clients turned out to be four of the most beautiful and incredible women I could have asked for. They were enthusiastic, open-minded and incredibly excited. There was a little nervousness at the beginning of each session, but after about 10 minutes, it was all them! And they ROCKED it!

Each woman had their own reason for doing the session (anniversary, Father’s Day), but ultimately each woman said afterwards that they were doing it for THEM. And I was beyond honored to be a part of that gift to themselves.

Last night, I hosted a Boudoir Party for the four of them where they could view their photos on a big screen, order albums and prints, and to share their feelings about the session. Ultimately, the best gift I received from the night was the feedback that during their session, “they have never felt more beautiful”… and that after seeing the pictures they were able to experience that feeling all over again.

Thank you Nicki, Steph, Kathy and Kari. You guys inspire me. I love you tons!

This time of year in Orange County is SO beautiful – the weather is gorgeous, the flowers are blooming… it really is the perfect time to take family portraits. So I was super excited to get out into the sunshine and take photos of this awesome family!

And I have to say that I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED the Keitel Family! They were so relaxed and laid-back and really seemed to have fun. Of course I came to find out towards the end of the shoot that they have connections to my home state of Michigan, so it’s no wonder they are so cool!

Before the shoot I had emailed Brianna to ask her about her adorable little daughter, Holly. And she told me that she can be a bit hesitant in front of the camera, and specifically with people that she doesn’t know — not so great when you are hoping for a few smiling pictures! So while looking through my supply of kid-friendly, happy-child-making props it hit me. What do little kids love more than anything (other than candy of course)? Bigger kids! So, I checked with my 9-year old daughter, Sydney, to see if she would like to come along on my shoot (which of course she did since she begs to come to every one of my shoots).

So my secret weapon has been launched and she did a great job! She was able to get Holly to forget that she was in front of a camera (and more importantly to forget that she didn’t know the strange woman behind the camera!). She and Holly played with bubbles and Littlest Pet Shop cards and they both had a blast! In fact, I did too!

Thanks Keitel Family…  It was a ton of fun! Enjoy your slideshow!

This is not the first time that I’ve shot Claire – in fact, I’ve taken her photos more than a few times. She is so fun to take photos of because she always has so much fun and is up for anything!

I’ve known Claire since she was two years old, and I can tell you that she has grown into such a remarkable young woman. She is kind, generous and so beautiful, both inside and out. We are lucky that she has become a part of our family and my children are lucky enough that she comes over to see them so often!

I can’t even believe that she will be graduating high school already, but I know that she has a happy, promising, and exciting future ahead of her.

We love you lots, Claire!

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I loved so many of the faces that I shot in 2010.... But my favorite has to come down to this 

little cutie! Head on over to the I Heart Faces site and vote for this entry! It’s Entry number 538 (just click the icon beneath the picture starting this Wednesday)… Thanks!!

On the morning of this shoot, I woke up to dreary, cold, cloudy skies. Not what most people are looking forward to when getting their family portraits taken. So I called my friend, Margaret, to see if she wanted to go ahead with it. After much deliberation we decided just to go with it and hope for the best. And amazingly, the dreariness lifted, it stopped looking like it was going to downpour any minute… and even though the sun didn’t come out much, our shoot went ahead – and I’m glad it did!

You might recognize this family from last year… I shot just the three kids previously, and this year I got to shoot the entire gorgeous Petrie family. They are so unbelievably great in front of the camera! I am always in awe of Gracie… she’s in 2nd grade, but she has this wise, calm aura about her. It’s so fun to capture it. Aidan, the oldest, is SO photogenic – my camera LOVES this kids eyes. And Graham — well, the only thing I can say about Graham is that he is just pure joy! I mean, try NOT to smile when you see this kid. He smiles and and he just lights up everything around him!

And I have to say a special thank you to Margaret… from the time I decided embrace my passion and start this career she has been SO supportive every step of the way. So THANK YOU!

Thanks again, Petrie Family! I loved every minute of it!

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