Having cake and eating it, too | aliso viejo child photographer

I can barely believe it. In just short of 12 hours, my "baby" will be entering Kindegarten. I am filled with joy, excitement, and a sprinkling of sadness and nervousness. Nervous because her world is opening up to more strangers and we are both going to have to ascertain which will become friends and which should not. Sad at the realization that my baby is no longer a baby. Sometimes, in short, fleeting moments, I wish I could stop time and she could stay my baby. But those moments make me cherish our photos and this job that much more. The photos capture that moment forever. And in that way, I like to think I do get to have my cake and eat it, too.

I think we're alone now | chula vista maternity photographer

(only my fellow 80s era folk will get this post's title.  lol)

Meet Tiffany.  Tiffany is wife to Kurt, mommy to (the insanely adorable) Samantha, carrying their second little girl, Charlotte, a total sweetheart and g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s to boot.  I mean seriously.  Methinks she must have been going back for seconds and thirds when they were handing out good looks.  ;) 

Here's a are just a couple of sneak peeks from her maternity session this past weekend.

One of my faves from the session...


The beautiful Sammy


Another fave...


It's a good thing she married a firefighter because she is smokin'! 

Happy Family | coronado family photographer

Riva contacted me a few weeks ago wanting to get some portraits of her family of five, but was a little hesitant.  I understand - it's a little nerve-wracking being in front of the camera.  I'm so glad she decided to just go for it because [1] children grow up so fast and [2] I got to meet this beautiful, sweet, fun family!  Twins Jeffrey and Brandon delivered exactly what I expected from twin three-year olds: LOTS of energy and play.  Baby Lauren is just the cutest, sweetest little girl; I just love her smooshy cheeks!  Riva and Scott, you have such a beautiful family - it was such a great pleasure photographing you all.  Hope you enjoy your sneak peeks!

Much to my surprise...

...a friend of mine just emailed me to tell me Sweetface Photography is on the list of nominees for this year's San Diego Parents Pick awards for family photographers!

Now that my jaw is up off of the floor I can tell you just how thrilled I am to even be on this list with some of the local photographers I admire most. I don't expect to win but to actually make the top five would be a goal I certainly wouldn't mind bragging about. ;) So, if you please, click on the ginormous logo below or just click here to nominate me!

Don't forget - you can vote every.single.day until June 13! :)

Party of three and a half | Chula Vista maternity photographer

You might recognize the beautiful family from a session we had last year, when little Bruce was just three months old. Well, the handsome little fellow is about 18 months old now, has grown so much, and will soon be a big brother. That's right - parents, Ace and Marie, are expecting another little boy in June, so we got together this weekend to celebrate this growing family. There were so many great shots that I had a hard time narrowing down some favorites to post for the sneak peek! But I had to narrow it down to just a few; take a look at some of what we got...

I just love happy families.

How cute is big brother Bruce?!

Gorgeous Marie. Gorgeous.

Finley, two weeks old | Pacific Beach newborn photographer

Finley first made her debut on this blog about a month ago, when her parents and I got together for their maternity session. I just met her this past weekend and can already say I love everything about this little girl. She is gorgeous, sweet, calm, has awesome parents, and was totally ready to be photographed - and she's only two weeks old! Here are a few of my favorite images from the newborn session with this sweet, new family of three.

See...total stunner and not even a month old yet.

What better way to start Spring than photographing a gorgeous newborn?

A walk for the mind and the spirit!

Hi readers! I am writing you today to tell you about an upcoming event that I am participating in that is both very important and very exciting to me. It is NAMIWalks for the Mind of America, NAMI’s signature walkathon event that is being held in San Diego, CA at Balboa Park: 6th / Quince / Balboa on April 17, 2010.

I will be walking with my head up; proud to know that every step helps to further research and treatment for those suffering any one or combination of the many forms of mental illness. More specifically and personally, I'll be walking with the hope that it helps get us closer to finding the cause and hopefully one day a cure for dementia and Alzheimer's - an illness that has recently begun to tighten its grip on my grandmother.

I would like to ask you to come and walk with me or to donate to support my participation in this great event. Visit my personal walker page to sign up: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks10/SDC/sweetface. There is also a link so you can donate directly to me online. Donating online is fast and secure, and I'll get immediate notification via e-mail of your donation.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all those whose lives are touched by these illnesses. This includes persons with mental illness, their families, friends, employers, the law enforcement community and policy makers. The NAMI organization is composed of approximately 1100 local affiliates, 50 state offices and a national office.

The goals of the NAMIWalks program are: to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved, and to raise funds for NAMI so that they can continue their mission.

NAMI is a 501(c)3 charity and any donation you make to support my participation in this event is tax deductible. NAMI has been rated by Worth magazine as among the top 100 charities "most likely to save the world" and has been given an "A" rating by The American Institute of Philanthropy for efficient and effective use of charitable dollars.

Thank you in advance for your support.

For more information about NAMI, please visit their website at www.nami.org

Rachel + Chad + Perfect Timing | Pacific Beach maternity photographer

This shoot was just meant to happen. Rain has been forecast for the entire weekend, but thankfully Rachel and Chad didn't let that scare them away from their maternity session this morning. When I left my house this morning, the ground was still wet but the sky looked beautiful - there was a slight sprinkle during the drive up, but I still had hope for a great shoot. Sun was shining when I arrived at their home, so we got started, first in their front yard and then we casually strolled around their neighborhood, letting the urbanscape present some location gems. And as we were finishing the shoot and walking up to their front door, the rain started. This shoot was just meant to happen. :)

Chad earning his husband-of-the-year award. Nothing like a mid-session massage!

Rachel = awesome. She has to be in order to let me shoot her in the rain - and look gorgeous doing it!

Instant fave! I seriously just *love* this photo. Rachel, you are one stunning preggie. Can't wait to meet your little girl!

Giving is Awesome - the winners | Encinitas family photographer

As some of you may remember, this past December I announced my participation in the Giving is Awesome (GIA) program - a program that affords custom photography for some very special people in our community (click here for more info). When I contacted Laural with the news of her winning, she was just weeks (if that) pregnant with their second child and knew that she would want to save her GIA session for his arrival. Well, yesterday morning I had the honor of meeting and photographing this beautiful, new family of four. I had a great time shooting with them yesterday - the weather was so perfectly gorgeous and this family just shined with love. Take a look...

Umm yeah - the eyes. Killer!

How cute is little Mason?

Gabi was just the epitome of doting big sister. She was so eager to just hold and love on her baby brother - totally melted my heart.

One last shot of this beautiful family...

I am so glad I participated in the Giving is Awesome program this year. It renewed my faith in the good that can be found in people and provided me the opportunity to meet this sweet, lovely family.

Rain, rain go away| Mission Bay family photographer

I've been watching the weather for the entirety of this last week because the threat of rain was imminent for today's session. In fact, as late (or as early, depending on your POV) as 1:00am this morning, the weather channel was still forecasting morning showers. Melissa, my client, and I decided that we'd wait until an hour prior to the session to call it - if it's raining at that time, we'll postpone; if not, we'll meet up and see what happens. Thankfully, when I peered out of my window this morning, the clouds were bright and the sun was shining! Melissa and Brian are parents to Nathan and Kira. In honor of Kira's arrival and Nathan turning three soon, we made our way out to mission bay to capture some images of this beautiful family!

Raise your hand if you're ready to see sneak peeks! ;)

Ok, so I know I say it time and time again, but I mean seriously, I *am* right. I get to shoot some really beautiful families!

Hot mom alert ;)

And I'll close out with a close up of miss Kira, in an image which is likely to make my favorite 10 of 2010 list at the end of the year.

A dozen smiles | San Diego family photographer

Today I met one of the most fun, charming, and beautiful families in all of San Diego. Seriously. I'll admit being a shade nervous anticipating my largest group yet - eight adults and four kiddos under three - but I had *such* a great time photographing all of them.

As you can imagine, shooting a large group means LOTS of pictures, so this post is going to be word light and photo HEAVY (which is how most would prefer it anyway. lol)! Let's get to the sneak peeks...

Let's start with where it all started - Roberto and Ana (and their furbabies, too!).

With their grandbabies...

The whole gang!

Check out Ruthie and Peter heating things up. Careful you two - that's how you got the lovely Valencia and Toby ;)

Definition of cute = Toby

Go ahead...melt from the sweetness! :)

Another furbaby, Cooper, getting in on the photo action...

Hayley, Eduardo, and Adrian looking fab.

I found myself a little jealous of Adrian's wardrobe ;)

Dan, Jessica, and little Sophia being beautiful together...

I swear Sophia is "smizing" like no one's business. Tyra would be proud ;)

LOVE this family. Great job guys!