Maddie and Drew

Oso Creek was so beautiful last week! I was so excited when Maddie and Drew's mom chose this spot to do their session. Not only was it gorgeous, but it gave me a great opportunity to practice what I had learned at our last MWAC meetup. Maddie and Drew were so much fun to photograph, I've never seen so much energy in a photo shoot. I think the two of them ran everywhere we went. They are so sweet together. I hope Mom and Dad got some good sleep out of them that night! This is a large post because there were so many images I loved.

A little love...


Drew in the flowers.


Maddie chose this spot in front of the tiled wall. Beautiful colors!


A little nature walk...


A beautiful little girl!



Trying something a little different here...going for a summery vintage feel:).



Talking about Star Wars brings out some smiles for Drew!


Getting silly...


Getting serious...

Mom's With A Camera at Oso Creek

This week we had an awesome MWAC meeting with professional photographer Jenny Stafford from Red Loft Studios. We did a practice shoot at Oso Creek in Mission Viejo and she was amazing. We all learned so much about posing, camera settings, and finding good light. It also didn't hurt that we all went out to dinner and had a Mom's Night Out afterwards:). Here are a few of my favorites of our meeting.

Our lovely models, who were so patient with us.

First Studio Session

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do my first studio session with my boys. It was so much fun, and so much easier to do than trying to photograph them at the park or beach. They actually stayed in one spot for a little while! I took some of the two of them together, then some with their favorite things. I hope to do this at least once a year so when we look back at the photos they can remember what toys they could not live without at that time :).

Some brotherly love.




G's favorite things: Dinosaurs and bugs!



C's favorites: Cars...

...and lollipops!


G was the more willing model, so here's a few more!

Trains in SJC

We have been super busy...how is it May already? We got out and about today with our photography group and explored downtown San Juan Capistrano. This is the most amazing place for photography, it is gorgeous! We visit often to take the kids to Zoomar's, but it was so nice to take the time to walk around and soak it in. We also had an unexpected surprise, the Santa Fe Steam Locomotive 3751 was passing through on it's way to L.A. from San Diego. We were standing right behind the railroad crossing gates as it came through - and any hopes I had for photos was long gone. I was holding on to G with all my strength - that train is huge and fast!

G hanging out behind the Red Caboose


Another of G on the Red Caboose


The one photo I managed to get before it felt like it was on top of us:).


C has been missing in my posts lately, mainly because he has been rocking the 3 hour nap. Here is some of his cuteness with his new backpack.

Flowers.

We (okay....I) have been on a quest to find a field of flowers for some spring photos. We've had a few rainy days and the flowers are beautiful but finding a good spot is tough. I've found that they are either too close to a road, or we would have to trespass to get to them:). This weekend we drove to the little overlook above Laguna Niguel Regional Park for the first time. It is a big spot for model plane enthusiasts so the boys loved it...and it had fields of yellow flowers. Just be careful of those planes, they fly low:)!

Little boys and trains...

I had the opportunity to photograph my friends Shelly and Keith with their boys last week. It was my first official family session, and those little boys made it very easy for me! They are two smiley and happy little guys with beautiful blue eyes. We went to the Irvine Railroad at the Regional Park. It's a nice setting, but be careful about taking little boys who love trains....especially after the train is closed! Probably not my best idea ;). Here are some of my favorites from the session. Thanks Shelly and Keith, I had a great time!

Easter...and Spring Break!!

I haven't blogged in a long time, so this post is super-sized. It has been a crazy week! Easter was so much fun, it's funny when you have kids a holiday turns in to a week long celebration. The boys went on a total of four egg hunts. By the fourth one G just wanted to stop and eat the candy, but C was really hitting his stride. That boy can hunt some eggs:).

C is on the hunt...


A pause to scan for more eggs...


Nana Easter Bunny stopped by for a visit and left some tracks...


We're off school this week so we went to the Wild Animal Park. The boys loved it so much we got the annual pass. We're going back next week to see the butterflies.

C really bonded with this big guy. I took this one with my new 50mm/1.4 lens. I'm in ♥.


I took this with my 75-300 zoom. I wouldn't have gotten many shots here with my primes, but I 70-200 is next on the wish list! I still am drawn to the birds...I really miss my zookeeping days *sigh*.