Falling Leaves. Scarf-wearing weather. Steaming Coffee. My warm bed. Holiday Portraits. Hugs. These are some of the things I love about Autumn in Southern California. I wanted to share a few images from a Holiday Family Portrait I did recently for a family very near and dear to my heart. Family shoots like theirs leave everyone more excited about life, more in love with each person in the family… and they’re pictures to look back on and feel all the warm fuzzies of the holidays over and over again. I loved shooting with the Armando Family for many reasons, but what I loved most was their vision for the portraits. They wanted creative, but traditional photos with a “not so traditional” flair. They coordinated themselves perfectly and not all “matchy-matchy”. They brought props to help achieve their vision…. and they’re just a fun and laid back type of family… so great! The weather turned out perfectly, though it had rained the night before… and the light was truly…. delicious. Check out my favorite few from the shoot….

Armando Family, You made my day and it was so fun spending time with you to document 2010. You’re a beautiful family whose love for each other inspires hope… for real. Have a wonderful holiday season!

It’s always been the assumption that I got the creativity gene from my Aunt Karen. (Even though technically, it would have run through my dad’s genes as well) She’s the artist….. a stinkin’ good one. Many fond memories from my childhood are the times Auntie Karen taught me how to make something cool….. like an origami jumping frog and how to hold a paint brush when I watercolored. She’s pretty  much the epitome of Creativity… and I LOVE IT!

She recently had a milestone birthday and asked me to shoot some pictures of her in this new stage of life. We laughed as she got used to having a camera in her face… and enjoyed the crispy colorful winter weather. The colors were delicious and I wanted to soak up as much of them as I could!

Here’s just a few shots from the afternoon…

In going shopping for a proper birthday gift, I came across a beautiful card with a pink glittery bird on the front. One the inside, it said simply, “You’re a rare Bird.” It was the perfect card and I couldn’t wait to give it to her! As I continued shopping, the creative gene kicked in and I decided I was going to decorate in a “Rare Bird” theme (since it’s my job at family parties to add my artistic flair to the decor)… and I found some sweet decorations. I used some old teacups, some branches and flowers from the bushes outside our house, an old jar, lots of candles, some super cute magnetic glittery birds from Papersource, string and paper hearts, and some fake daisies.

Here’s a collage of the birthday party and decor….

Be like Aunt Karen.

Be your beautiful self.

Do the things you love with all you’ve got in you.

Choose to Love…. always.

Be joyful in all circumstances.

Have the courage to jump off your branch… take risks.

You might just find that you remember how to fly.

Nowadays, There aren’t many birds who have the courage to do what they were made to do.

Be a Rare Bird.

Saturday morning, a dream took flight and landed in Great Britain. Everything she’s worked for since the day she started school has finally come to fruition… and as she prepares for her first day… we all get to watch as a new chapter in life opens and blooms in the morning sun of a new year.

My closest friend since 4th grade starts Medical School this month, and there are no words to describe how proud I am.

We started as friends in a 4th grade classroom. As time moved on and we were promoted to the 7th grade in a new school, our friendship grew and tightened as the seemingly impossible junior high experience closed in on us. We battled boys and our middle school’s GATE program together… competed in school track meets and laughed our way through it all. High School brought many ups and downs, AP classes, and high school sports. She ran Cross Country and Track. I swam and played soccer and water polo. She was the genius who breezed through AP Calculus our Senior year… and I was the random student who took 4 years of ceramics, some spanish, and a multitude of science classes. I did okay…

Though we defined ourselves differently and had our separate interests, we always connected as best friend “twin sisters” when it came down to the wire. Even through college, our visits grew less and less, but we always kept tabs on each other and championed each other thru the really tough stages. She never thought she could do it…. she never thought she would go to Medical School. I knew though. I knew she was brilliant when she helped me understand subtraction in elementary school. I knew she was brilliant when she always beat my test scores in our Bio-Medical class in high school. I knew she was brilliant when she got into one of the top Biology programs at a leading UC school. She had the periodic table memorized in 4th grade for crying out loud!

So when she told me she was leaving on Saturday to go to medical school… I told her we HAD to spend some time together…. and that I HAD to shoot some pictures of her beautiful face before she left. She agreed and we spent all day together. We got asian pastries at 85*C… we shot some sweet pictures…. we took a nice walk in the park… and we talked. That was my favorite part.

So Kimber, I know you don’t like pictures of yourself… but I think these shots are BEAUTIFUL… and SO you! I hope you’re getting settled in nicely in British Land… and I hope you know that I love you and I’m your biggest fan! Go Get ‘Em Girl!

Here’s some of my favorites from the afternoon….

Side Note: Kim has this ridiculously sappy love for her French Bull Dog named Wyler. She REALLY wanted him in the pictures with her… And yes, he’s real.

I’m sorry (not really)… but Kim, you are GORGEOUS!!!

Some shots from the park…

Okay… so these next shots are the product of an experiment on my end. Kim is such a fashionable person… something I strive to become one day. So I thought we could experiment with some off camera lighting self portrait style. These were SO fun to do… and I love the attitude!! What do you think? A little different than what I usually shoot, hey?

Favorite!

Another favorite…and another…

We had some good ol’ fashioned fun that day… I miss my girl already…