Adrea: Santa Barbara Shoot Part Two

Of course now I need a new vision for the next time... actually well... I already have it... now all I need is a lake and a row boat... and Jen - you find a really artsy romantic type dress.

Adrea: Santa Barbara Shoot Part One

Oddly enough, we really didn't feel that out of place with Jen in a rainbow tutu in Santa Barbara - go figure. So the truth is, I've just been dying to do really really artsy crazy model shoots, but I've figured out a "deep" alternative meaning to these. Jen's hair IS coming back in, but it can cause some people to give her some odd looks as she walks around mostly bald. So the tutu you see is a further clash with the norm - 'hey, if you're going to stare at me, then stare at this'
I have to say - free and open as Santa Barbara is, not many people could have pulled this off with just the right attitude. But Jen's always had a bit of punk to her.

Sarah: Grass

These just might be my favorite pictures of 2009.

Adrea: After Midnight

Adrea: Mom

And rounding out my immediate family portraits, the most cantankerous but lovely of all my family: my mom

Sarah: don't eat the fruit

What you can barely see... 

just beyond the sign... is a dead rat... 

and a choke chain collar for a dog... 

I'm not sure whether the rat ate the fruit and the dog was sent after him... OR if it's all just a prop to keep us from eating the fruit... but either way... 

don't eat the fruit.

Adrea: New Clothes

Apparently it doesn't matter if you're 5 or 35... a girl just feels nice in new clothes... and a nice fuzzy bathrobe...

Sarah: What brought me to the rosemary...

Adrea: Playgroup

I get in moods people. And it only seems natural to carry them through an entire shoot. Sometimes I realize what path I'm on, sometimes it just sort of takes over. For this shoot of TWELVE kids and their respective mothers, I apparently felt the need to take things down to fundamentals... close up... detail portraits. It's not what I thought I'd be doing there. I thought I'd be getting all these gorgeously candid artsy shots of the kids running through this fantastic back yard. But for whatever reason the kids weren't playing where I thought they would - or I wasn't in the right place - whatever happened, I ended up with a ton of portraits. But I like portraits, so it worked out for me.

Sarah: Baby Hudson

Adrea: Trees

Adrea: Flashing

Being generally a self conscious person, I feel the need to practice any idea I might have well before I bring it to a photo session. Of course, I'm getting better at sneaking in my art shots in my shoots, but using a FLASH? That just seemed crazy. So, while Steve and Matt watched Sportscenter and lovingly discussed the foibles of their favorite sports, Elissa and I went out front for a bit of flashing...

(ha, get your minds out of the gutter! as in testing my brand new Christmas flash)

Adrea: Abby On her Own

Yup, it's the age-old question - color or black and white? Anyone want to put their two cents in? Personally I like the grittiness of the black and white - how you can see Abby's almost invisible freckles. But the color is intentionally interesting... seemed like the point of the picture...




I know, I'm posting a lot of Abby recently. It's not just that things have slowed down now that the Christmas card rush is out - it's also that in the last two months I've had a few beautiful Abby shots and haven't had the time to tweak or manage or post them.