The other Pinsons

I have the best models!  I got to photograph my sister's family at the Old Poway Park.  I had never been and they really wanted me to see this place so in exchange for showing me the park, I did a session for them.  My niece Elliana is a CRAZY ball of cute, and my nephew Harrasen is such a sweetie.  They quickly lost interest in me and wanted to run and wander whilst allowing me snap a pose or action shot here and there.  Take a look!

The Fishmans

A couple weeks ago I was so lucky!  I got to photograph a princess and her Mommy and Daddy. Princess Sofia is such a cutie.  And with the promise of going to a restaurant for dinner she was very hammy for me, which is such a joyful thing to work with!  Have a peak below.  Anyone want to guess which princess/queen might be her favorite right now?

some Mommy cuddles

A gift for mom, Elijah and Sofia

Elijah and Sofia wanted to do something special for their mom this Christmas, so with the help of a few of Santa's helpers they were able to get in contact with me and have some pictures done for her.  Really sweet kids, Sofia loves math and Elijah really likes science...just don't try and convince him to be a scientist because he has his heart set on being a veterinarian.  Here is a little sample of our afternoon together.

The Giglios

Giant dogs are always an interesting subject to photograph.  So I thought a session with the biggest dog I know would be fun.  Micheil and Peter were nice enough to sign up for a session with their lovely harlequin dane appropriately named Harley.  She was so happy to run around and play she did great with the camera and though she was a little excited she took commands well that afternoon, here is a little peek of what I photographed that day.

Last week I met up with some future models for a session with their mom.  My nieces Georgia and Madi are spunky young ladies who wanted to try out all kinds of fun poses (so many that I didn't have time to do them all!).  There was lots of jumping, pulling faces, and striking of poses with attitude!  Their mom, Erin, Made them all matching hot pink hair bows for their pictures, she makes all kinds of neat bows and tutus you can order from her here

Pulling faces ^

The Hansens

I had the privilege this week to photograph an awesome and adorable family, the Hansens.  Dana and Josh with their two littles Marriner and Indiana, the twins that win the award for biggest eyes ever.  It was so much fun! They just wanted to play once they got comfortable with the camera and even took a few pictures themselves.  Here is a little sample of our session together.
                                             

                                                 

And I couldn't finish this post without one of the boys pictures. 

This one was taken by Indie. Not bad for a 2 year old.

I’ve been asked by a few of my subjects what to wear for their portraits.  So I thought maybe I should do a little list on here to give some ideas.   

• ·         Follow the neutral-neutral-pop rule, pick two neutral colors (denim, black, ivory, tan, white, etc.) and then one other non-neutral color (pink, red, yellow, etc.) and dress everyone in these colors across the board.    
• ·         Shoes and belts are accessories and don’t have to match the neutral-neutral pop rule, but they should still be a neutral color.
• ·         Prints like plaids and stripes look great but avoid any loud prints, simple geometrics (argyle, stripes, plaid, polka dots) are good as long as the colors coordinate.  And not everyone in the picture should be wearing prints, pick one or two people to have a printed top or skirt/shorts.    
• ·         This one is a bit tricky: The neutral-neutral-pop rule can also be done by everyone wearing coordinating neutrals while everyone wears their own complimenting pop of color.  For example, everyone wears a black top and jeans, then each person pics another color of their own (pink, turquoise, yellow), but be sure that these colors complement each other

Below is a chart showing how to find complimentary colors that work well and make the other’s standout.

For some easy ideas of color schemes and what to wear visit my pinterest page I've started specifically for this here.

If you've got any questions post them in the comments or on Facebook, and always feel free to ask my advice before a session.  Thanks!

A few weeks back I called up my sister and said, "Hey, wanna bring the kids over and try to take some pictures".  I said "try" because all four kids are 3 and under, so corralling them into a pose like formation was something I was pretty sure wasn't going to happen.  Khora refused to cooperate, as a matter of fact the only two pictures I got of her that day were one of her running out of focus, and the other of her laying on the ground legs kicked up and hands across her face, to say the least these did not make the cut for the blog, however I did manage to get 4 pictures I liked quite a bit of my niece Elliana, my nephew Harrasen, and my youngest Oliver.

The boys sharing a little joke

  

My gorgeous, and boisterous niece in a sweet moment

I love this picture, my little nephew looks like a gorilla!  A sweet cuddly gorilla at that

And of course my Oliver

P.S. what do you think of the signature?

Last Tuesday I had the fortunate opportunity to do my first family portrait session with a dear friend and a very photogenic family.  Jen, Gianna, and Enzo were fantastic models, even with Enzo bouncing around the park and off and on his bike with the vigor of his age (you try getting a 3 year old boy to sit still for a photo), I was still able to get some great shots.  Thank you my wonderful friends for being so supportive and modeling for me, I hope you like them, and had as much fun as I did that day.

And then we had a little Christmas fun!