At the Beach, At the Park, Creative sessions, In a field, In home, kids modeling, Kids Photography, Orange County Photography, Portrait Photography

Fun Valentine’s Day Photo Ideas

I’m having so much fun shooting Valentine’s Day themed photos this season. These kids (most of them are kids anyway) are just too adorable. It makes you realize how precious and pure the love of a child is. Below is some inspiration for your Valentine’s Day photos.

Check out these ideas (and photos) by yours truly. And get ready for cuteness overload. ;)

Kisses & Hugs

It’s so fun to get siblings to show some love, their character shows through in wonderful candid shots. These first two are my babies.

You’ve got my heart on a string…

The beautiful sisters above are a great segway to “hearts!” Hanging some glittering hearts all around in the studio gives Valentine’s photos a fun, whimsical feel.

Props

Props and accessories are so much fun for Valentine’s Day photos. Let’s start with some X’s and O’s!

Okay, we just can’t get enough of hearts–how about these different takes on the lovely shape?

How about some fun glasses, and maybe just the right book?

A family’s home decor can be a nice touch, especially with babies–this wall art provides the perfect scale for baby and carries the theme of love.

Let’s play…dress up!

These little cuties look so adorable, in these fun, candid photos because they were having fun playing while we shot.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas and photos. That’s all I have for now, but we’ll blow you one last kiss, goodbye!

In a field, Pregnancy portraits, Studio photo session

Maternity Session: Laguna Canyon

People often ask me, “what do you do”? My standard response is that I am a portrait photographer. That typically leads to what kind of photographer are you? Do you photograph weddings, or families or something along those lines. I tell them, while my passion is definitely kids and their families, I love photographing all people. Take the beautiful Brittany for example. We met many years ago when she hired me to shoot her wedding. The great thing about Andy and Brittany’s wedding, was that I had a lot of advance notice. We spent time planning out a fun engagement session (still one of my all time favorites) and then by the time the wedding rolled around, we were old friends.

You may think the actual wedding was the end of this story, but we continued to keep in touch. I told her if she ever got pregnant, I would love to gift her a maternity session. Soon I got the call that Brittany and Andy were expecting their first baby and Brittany wanted to incorporate vintage airplanes into a photography session. The best part was that she scouted the location, got the permits to me and got the session all set up.

That brings me to today. Brittany became a makeup artist and has been working with Blue Sky’s for over a year providing beautiful “Model for A Day” sessions, wedding makeup and makeup for my family clients. Her sweet, warm personality is a perfect addition to our Blue Sky’s staff family. And as many of you already know, she is expecting baby number two and I am so fortunate to get to photograph this beauty once again.

For this session we decided to create images of her alone that were more glamorous, but we didn’t forget to include the boys as well! Here is the sneak peak at the session. Enjoy!

Creative sessions, Family Photography, In a field, Kids Photography, Orange County Photography

Fun Themed Portrait Ideas

There are many fun ways to stay creative as a family portrait photographer. One of my favorites, is to plan a styled session. This goes beyond cute clothing and fun locations! It begins with a story!

1. Ship Wreck

I am inspired by so many things. Looking at beautiful advertising campaigns, art work and music videos provide me with tons of ideas. Over time, I became inspired by the ocean, vintage clothes and being stranded. What would that look like as an editorial session? So, I asked my good friend Denyse to help me come up with some fun clothing and props and the perfect models for a ship wrecked session. We ended up at sunrise on the beach with all of our props and clothing. The session was amazing. (See more photos from the shoot)

portrait theme ship wreck

2. Princesses

Styled sessions are often inspired by my client’s kids. Young girls so often go through the phase of being obsessed with Disney Princesses. This gorgeous gal wanted to wear a different princess outfit every day… she literally owned them all. In order to capture this fleeting time in her young life, we decided to do a style session with a Princess hanging her laundry up to dry. princess theme photo shoot

3. Vintage

Vintage nostalgia often provide a fun, classic look. As most of you know, I am obsessed with vintage cars and clothing! Here is both a family vintage portrait and beautiful high school senior photo. In both cases props, styling, and wardrobe is key. We can help with all of it.

theme-vintage-family

4. The Art of Memory

Other sessions have been motivated by a family memory. One of my clients who is an artist wanted to paint a picture of her grandmother hanging her laundry (don’t know why laundry has been a theme)… We created a set to look like her grandma’s house and took lots of great images. She then turned them into a painting. art themed photography

5. Classic Childhood

These are some of the most fun sessions! The kids get to be themselves and pretend all at the same time. The result is relaxed, unique shots.

childhood themed portaits

6. Natural Beauties.

Juxtaposing classic, vintage indoor furniture, beautiful gowns and the beauty of nature creates stunning results.

nature glamour gowns

Inspiration can come from anywhere! A favorite book, a painting, a song… you name it. These portraits are amazing because they are unique to your family. I love for the client to be really involved in telling their story through images, so we capture exactly what they imagined.

In a field, Kids Photography

Make New Friends but Keep the Old

A few years back, I was photographing an over the top, fun Bar Mitzvah at The Hyatt Huntington Beach, when I heard someone yell, “hey Krissy” from across the room. Right away I knew it was someone from high school… because other than my family and my high school and some college friends, no one calls me Krissy anymore.

And there was Jason and his wife (another Newport Harbor High alum), and it turned out they were good friends with my client. Fast forward just a few years, and the Gendron family had relocated from Newport Beach to Laguna beach and Delaney, their daughter, was in the same grade as my daughter Kasey. Not only that, but they both were on Laguna Beach’s high school swim team.

So, I was super excited when Krissy Gendron (I know right… another Krissy), called to say she wanted to surprise Jason for Father’s Day with a wall collage of the kids. We decide to give Delaney the star makeover treatment (not that she needed the hair and makeup, because she is a beautiful girl.. but lets face it, every gal likes a day of pampering). Brittanynortonartistry did a fantastic job at hair and makeup as did Deseree with styling the session.

Delaney’s brother Garrett showed up as she was finishing up, and was ready to roll! It was so crazy to see Jason and Krissy’s kids all grown up. Garrett looks just like dad did when he was a kid!

We managed to get the shoot done and all the wall art back in time for Father’s Day, but Jason just couldn’t wait and last Friday he got his early present! Here are just a few of my favorites from the session! Thanks to the Gendron’s for being so great! To see more of the session, watch the slideshow at the end. Enjoy.

Family Photography, In a field, Senior Photography

Happy Mother’s Day: Laguna Beach Family Portraits

Everyone warned me that Junior year of high school was killer. Between academics, standardize testing, school activities and trying to perform in the pool, I feel like my son Cameron never gets a break. I want time to slow down, because I know the next year or so will go by way too quickly. I am sure senior year will be filled with friends and fun and I will get limited opportunities to spend one of one time with him before he leaves for college. This has been in the forefront of my mind as I quickly get in the last of the graduating class of 2015 Senior Photography Sessions.

I am always thrilled to photographer seniors before they embark into adulthood. Really, it is the last opportunity to have a photography session planned that solely focuses on who the senior is today. It is even better when Mom gets involved. I have photographed Noelle for herself and for business in the past, and I was excited to include her in her daughter’s High School senior photography session. Since the Wheelers have unfortunately, not done many family sessions over the years, we decided to make this about all the girls in the Wheeler family and do a sister’s session as well. Here are just a few of my favorites from the session. There were really just so many beautiful images and the girls were naturals in front of the camera! Enjoy!