Little Kyle made his modeling debut at six days old and was a perfect angel...he has such a sweet and quiet disposition and his parents are clearly smitten with him. : )
His mama decorated an adorable nursery for him. These elephants had to get in some shots.
I loved this elephant blanket, too.
He looked so sweet while he was sleeping.
Welcome to the world, little Kyle. It was a pleasure to meet you!
about baby lips.
and the rest of babies, too. : ) This little (big) guy was 10 days old for our session and a perfect angel...
He looks just like his daddy so we made sure to get photos of them together. Even more special is that daddy has a pose of him holding his daughter this same way.
There was lots of big sister love going on... so sweet!
Thank you for a wonderful morning! : )
This is one of the shoots we had to schedule and reschedule during the busy holiday season...I was so glad we could make it happen! I met Teresa a few years ago when I joined a running group, and we instantly clicked. The first thing that worked in our friendship is that we run at the same pace, but there's much more to it than that. An unexpected benefit to training for a marathon is that there is plenty of time to get to know your running partner as you're logging the miles! She is a fantastic friend, and I am so lucky to call her mine. She has a great family too. I was so happy that we could capture this time in their lives. Connor, as most teenagers can be, was less than enthusiastic about this family photoshoot endeavor and especially didn't want to be doing anything too embarrassing in front of lots of people or passing cars on this downtown shoot. But within seconds I had him sitting in the doorway of a record shop and he was a great sport about it! I am going to cut this short and get to the photos as Teresa and her awesome husband are both high school English teachers and I get self conscious when I have to write something they may read. Don't get out the red pens, guys!
It's 2011... and I have survived the busiest holiday season ever at Christie Spencer Photography! It was a whirlwind of scheduling shoots, rescheduling them due to rainy weather that only happened on days when I had shoots scheduled, finally getting to do the shoots, editing, designing holiday cards and calendars, ordering, packaging, delivering...it was a regular Santa's workshop around here. It was crazy, but I loved every minute of it. Combine all of this with working another full time job and holding down the home front, and I gave up on trying to update the blog along the way!
I am determined to catch up on all the sessions that never made the blog...for now I'll start with the last session of the year. I take this little one's photo a lot, but it's hard to catch her sisters around. With her oldest sister home from college for winter break, we did a quick shoot to commemorate the occasion.
The last time we did a shoot with all three sisters they looked like this:
The time sure flies. I'm so glad we took the time to capture this moment between these sisters.
More blog posts to follow...I am determined to get them all on here!!
In the span of just a couple of weeks she went from belly to baby. The weather went from unseasonably warm to unseasonably cold. And this family went from a house of daughters to adding a son. We had a scheduling challenge to get this session done before the c-section date, but these are the things you move heaven and earth around for - this is the good stuff in life. : )
Not long after, I returned to get some shots of the new little one. Once again it was an impressive juggling of schedules for both of us and it was so, so worth it. Seeing the girls so smitten with their baby brother. Watching this family settle in to their new normal. Cuddling and marveling at a brand new baby. We laughed as he peed and pooped so much during my visit that it just didn't seem possible. I am so lucky to be able to share in people's lives and milestones. Thank you, for letting me in.
The girls weren't too sure about the idea of a brother before he arrived. I think he's won them over.
I want to make a giant canvas of the one below for myself. Sorry about the mitt! I think we got it all cleaned up : )
What a beautiful family.
I think that shot above would be perfect in the new holiday card format I am offering this year; the ornament card! It's round has a hole at the top for threading ribbon through it so it can hang.
Wouldn't this be a great card?
I hope this sneak peek tides you over until the gallery is up... I am excited for you all to see it!
"What should we wear?" It's a commonly asked question, especially at this time of year with so many family photoshoots on the calendar. I whipped up this what to wear guide as one example. Enjoy!
I was super excited to have the opportunity to photograph Jason Mraz on the set of the latest commerical for California Tourism. It's amazing to see the amount of people - and gear - and food! it takes to get a few seconds of a commercial shot. Adding to the pressure was the fact that this shot was at magic hour - the golden light before the sun goes down. There is no asking the sun to come back up for another take! Because filming took longer than expected, the portrait shoot I was there to do had to be done in brief moments in between filming - no pressure! But in the end, I got the shots the client needed. And Mr. Mraz could not have been a nicer, more genuine guy. He had gone surfing right before coming to the set, and brought along his visiting young niece. After a long day of demands on his time, he happily spent quite a long time with some young fans that waited all day to get to meet him. I love that! The commercial has just hit the airwaves. You can also see it on the California website here: http://www.visitcalifornia.com/misconceptions
I could use so many words to describe these three siblings, but the word lovely is the one that keeps coming to mind. They were articulate, funny, thoughtful, helpful...and so, so lovely! It was obvious from watching them that they enjoy each other's company. There were lots of laughs and shared looks among them and it was a delight watch them interact. But enough gushing from me... I know Mom is waiting anxiously to see some sneak peeks. This was a mystery session of sorts, where I picked the kids up from their house and took them out for a bit and delivered them home - so these shots will be a complete surprise. There are so many great ones, but here are just a few to tide you over until your full gallery is ready. S, F and L, thanks for a wonderful afternoon. It was...lovely.
I have had the pleasure of photographing Gracie for most of her life for all sorts of fun occasions. But every year we schedule a shoot to capture this moment in time right before her birthday. This year we headed over to the park and from the moment she leaped out of the car, Miss Grace was like a bird, flitting from one spot to the next. Cries of, "Tricked you! Can't catch me!" rang out through the park as I did my best to keep up. Luckily my shutter was faster than she was - barely. : )
To make this session even more fun, Grace's friends joined us for the rest of the session! Watching these three girls play, run, twirl and laugh in the sunset was such a joy.
I love this last shot; it was taken as I was headed to the ground while being tackled by two little girls!
I have been horrible about keeping this blog up to date...but this post marks the start of a new leaf I am turning over. I hereby promise to put sessions up in a timely manner! Sessions that haven't been shown here including an adorable newborn, a handsome senior, a pair of sisters, and a famous singer! Stay tuned to see those in the coming days...
I had the opportunity to photograph some great people from California Travel & Tourism recently. The California brand is relaxed and laid-back, so their corporate headshots should be, too. It makes so much sense that if you're representing our great state, your portrait should showcase you in that lovely landscape - not in front of a studio background!
These guys and gals had been in an all day meeting and were ready to call it a day - and then add to it the fact that it was well over 100 degrees that evening. There was a lack of enthusiasm at first for having to be in front of the lens - but I told everyone that it would be fun and fast, and I had believers by the end. Everyone was such great sports! Thank you all for a wonderful time!
