Growing Up

I have some great Salinas friends that continue to call me for pictures. I really enjoy these photo shoots because I get to catch up with old friends and then I get to see their cute kids grow up.
We went to Monterey, near the Dennis the Menace park. There are a lot of really beautiful things (aka... backdrops) at that park as well as a lot of distractions (cars, telephone polls, etc). So it was a bit challenging. Because I like the close-up look, I was able to eliminate some of that distraction. There were only a few pictures I had to crop out the tree going into one of their heads. So, I think it was a successful shoot.
I have also had an opportunity to play with an online scrapbook page/video called smilebox. If most of you who read this are on my email list, I'm sure you've gotten one by now. Anyway, I tried it for the first time with this photo shoot, and I think I'm going to add it to my fee of a photo shoot. More or less a "whet your appetite" until I get all the pictures to my client. Check it out.

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Father's Day

I never know what to get my husband for Father's Day. He says he likes my photography. So I went with that angle. I took my boys and my really good friend's kids to the Fire Station and took some photos with their Dad's helmet and jacket. I love these, and will probably frame them.
From left to right: Jordan, Nathan, Devan, Ella and Zane. The only challenge for this project was to do it fast! The helmets are very heavy and their little heads/necks could barely support it. And because they are small, not to mention that it was a very hot day, they were wiggling all over. I have to say though, these turned out better than I expected. Thanks kids, you made my day great, and I know you made your Dads very happy!