Oh, this kid, seriously. She is absolutely one of the coolest kids around and so much fun! While I was in CA a few weeks ago I spent an afternoon with PJ and her sweet Mom in downtown San Diego. We ran all over – shooting in really fun locations with PJ in the coolest clothes. I swear, she has a better wardrobe that anyone I know. I am jealous…of an 8 year old! Ha!
Thanks for hanging out guys. I can’t wait until next time!!
xo
I’m out in California for a couple of weeks and just had a weekend visit with my dear friend Leah and her awesome family. On my first night there we went out to dinner at an amazing restaurant called Gabbi’s in downtown Orange. Seriously the best shrimp enchiladas and margaritas EVER! But I digress…
After our yummy meal we popped in to the army/navy store where twins, Kate and Joe, saw the hats and sunglasses they just HAD to have! They were feeling super cool so naturally I had to stop them and take a few photos along with their big brother,Ben. I just love these guys — such characters!
Stay tuned for more from my visit with them. 
Oh this family. They are 5 of the most awesome people I know and I am so blessed to be able to call them my friends. I just returned last night from a week long visit with them at their home in Tampa, Florida… a way too short week long visit I might add. I took these photos in a span of about 15 minutes during the last light of the day right out in front of their home. Nothing fancy, just them being who they are and loving each other. In my opinion, these are some of the very best kind of images.
It doesn’t matter what you are wearing or whether or not you have had time to get your hair done or if you have some perfect location in mind….it is just important to capture and document the love your family shares. I promise you will be so glad you did.
Thanks again Schwedhelm family. I miss you already.
xoxo
This is the 2nd time I have had the privilege of photographing 9 year old Ivy. The day was running a bit late so we were struggling with lack of light at the end but all-in-all I think we got some great stuff! Although, I was super bummed to realize that all of the files had not transferred from my camera to computer so I lost the last set up we did. It was SUPER cute. I’ll just have to go back out to CA again soon and try again The up-side is that pretty much any set-up you do with Ivy is a super cute one.
Catch Ivy in the new Old Navy commercial with Joan Rivers and Mario Cantone. Pretty exciting!!!
Thanks for coming out Ivy and Amy!! See you again soon!
My nearly two weeks in Tampa was filled with a lot of rainy days. This past Friday evening with the threat of Tropical Storm Isaac looming, Deb and I took the kids out for a little photo shoot down at the bay. I had planned on taking photos ON the beach so as soon as the kids jumped in the water I automatically put my camera down and assumed I was finished shooting. Deb, while in the water with her camera fully submerged and protected in its underwater housing, looked at me and said “What are you doing? Get your camera!” Since the conditions were just right, calm waters, photographers kids trained to understand what a sin splashing your camera truly is… I forged into the water (only about knee deep mind you because well, you know, sharks). I am SO glad I did because just look at what I got! The light was absolutely beautiful as you can see my models were absolutely stunning as well. Every time I visit with this family I am amazed at how beautiful each and every one of them is, inside and out.
Also, keep visiting Deb’s blog for a post with her images from this day. I think it is really fun to see how differently 2 people can see the same thing. It just shows that everyone has their own perfectly unique view of the world.
Thank you again Schwedhelm’s. I love you guys oh so much and can’t wait until the next visit!!
I am currently in Tampa visiting my dear friend, Deb, and her family. There has been a pretty steady flow of rain since my arrival, so there has not been many chances for photographs. Yesterday we decided we were tired of it.So Deb (armed with her underwater gear) and I (armed with a zip lock bag around my camera) headed out with her kids to play in the puddles. I guess we will have to get used to embracing the raininess since there is a hurricane headed our way. Although, I don’t think my camera can survive rain storms and 80mph winds wrapped in a zip loc bag so maybe I will stay indoors. 
Thanks for having me Schwedhelm crew! Love you guys!!
I have been busy at work trying to put together my new website. While searching for images to place in the galleries, I ran across my folder with all of my photographs from Australia and New Zealand. I got completely lost in the memories that those images brought back to me. That is why I just love photography, you don’t realize how much you forget as time passes. Browsing through images from my trip takes me right back there to that place and with those people that I love. I also realized that I never finished blogging the Aus/NZ images so I am starting it up again where I left off.
These images were taken on a typical day in my friend’s household. We took the twins to their kindy orientation (kindy is their word for pre-school) and then out for a little treat (a babyccino) afterwards. Such a beautiful, normal day that I never ever want to forget.
I just got back from an awesome trip to Chicago to visit my friend, Julia. We went to school together at Brooks and have been the best of friends ever since. Even though it has been months since we last saw each other, we seem to pick up right where we left off.
We love to shoot together and I remembered that my brother-in-law’s sister lived in Chicago with her husband and adorable little girl, Scarlett. I called them up and asked if they would like to meet us downtown for a little urban shoot! We had so much fun!!!! I don’t get a chance to do much shooting in urban areas so this was a real treat. Chicago is filled with so many great textures and backgrounds.
Thank you so much Lindsay and Ryan for letting Julia and I play with Scarlett! Hopefully we can do it again sometime!
Enjoy your sneak peek!
I promise that one day I will get caught up on my Australia/New Zealand blog posts! The images below were taken on a day of adventure out in the city of Melbourne with my dear friend, Rachel Devine and her beautiful family. I absolutely adore this city. So many interesting things to see and do and very easy to get around. I wish I lived somewhere like that. We took the train from their little suburb into the CBD and then walked to a cafe where I had the yummiest hot chocolate (and most creatively decorated I might add). The kids all had a treat very popular amongst Aussie kids known as a “babyccino”(a cup of steamed milk, foam and sprinkle of cinnamon). I swear I do not know why we have not picked up on this in the states. Although – now that I just typed that – I googled babyccino and found that it is becoming all the rage with NYC kids and families so I guess it is only a matter of time before it shows up all over.
After we finished our little treats we stepped outside and into the coolest alley way where Rachel I and both just had to take some photos! We even managed to get a super fun family shot that was later used for their holiday card!
We really did have a great day with lots of fond memories to look back on. Love you guys. Thanks for sharing your city with me
Stay tuned for another blog post full of images of our special day in the city with just Rachel’s oldest daughter, Gemma. xo
