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 2 + 1 + 2

You start off as a couple, then you get married and have a baby.  Then 4.5 years later, your next baby is… TWINS!

Here are some photos from this morning’s shoot with Julianna and Kevin and their darling children…

Taylor

This little beauty is 6 years old and just finished Kindergarten!  Hooray for Tay!

Preston

He is one of the 18 months old twins, and he has the cutest nickname:  Boo Boo.

Sierra

She is the other 18 months old twin with the perfectly curved brows and pouty lips!

Some of my favorite moments caught on camera…

A Family Sandwich

I usually prefer candid shots, but this posed family portrait was so cute because everyone squeezed together so tightly, like a sandwich.

Plus, what are the chances of getting a 6 year old and two 18 month olds to look up at the same time… and no one is blinking, crying, or trying to get down!  

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 Urban Engagement Party

I shot another evening event last night, but this time, they were of adults only!  I know, shocking! 

Judy and Craig got engaged, and some of Craig’s friends threw them a party at the chic Paragon Restaurant in San Francisco.

I didn’t know how long it’d take to drive into SF with the usual Friday Bay Bridge traffic, so I left early and, well… arrived 40 minutes early!  The benefits of arriving early were:  less stress, time to go pee (was that TMI?), and rock star parking!

During that time, I also took preliminary location shots and made friends with a bartender who wanted to give me a shot of Bourbon!  (That would’ve guaranteed some creative shots, eh?!!)

Craig and Judy arrived later than planned and the guests arrived earlier than expected, so our original plan of leaving the restaurant to take engagement portraits was cut down to about 10 minutes!  It all worked out for the best.  Instead of walking to the waterfront, we just strolled around the block!  The result was more urban… classic San Francisco!

Here are some of my favorites from the evening…

Judy and Craig

Inside The Paragon Restaurant

This couple was so sweet.  They sat here for most of the night, just smiling and focused on one another.  Awww…

Fun Shots of the Night

I gave this guy grief for spilling mustard on his shirt (tee hee).  I told him this was the biggest ‘drama’ of the night, so I had to take a photo of it.  He was hilarious and even pointed it out for my photo!

Favorite Couple Shot

I admired this large wall mirror that sat over the bar all night and found the perfect opportunity at the end of the event…

During the party, it was hard to get Judy and Craig together for couple shots — even candid ones — since there were so many guests at the party, and Judy and Craig were busy entertaining their friends as all good hosts do.  So when I pulled them away to do one final photo of them with the party hosts at the end of the night, I had them to myself for a minute.  The result is… my favorite couple shot of the night!

The bottles below the mirror give this photo vivid colors and shape, and the white shirts that Judy and Craig wore made them stand out in the dark room.  It was almost 10pm at this time.

(FYI for photographers:  To get this shot in the mirror, I avoided flash.  In fact, most of the night I didn’t use flash because I think flash makes photos look artificial, even with my new Gary Fong diffuser.  It’s my preference and style to use the available light rather than impose flash.  I used a fast lens and bumped up my ISO for some grainy, but artsy shots in an extreme low light situation.  I also saturated the photo a tad bit to accentuate the bottles and burned the edges to make my subjects stand out even more in post-processing.)

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 Week Old Twins

Georgia and Lia were born 7 days ago!  They only weigh 4.9 lbs and 5.1 lbs.  Yep, they’re teeny tiny and so precious!

I feel so honored when I do a newborn shoot because the first couple weeks — and sometimes longer — is an adjustment period for the family.  So to invite someone into your home isn’t always easy, especially when you’re sleep-deprived!  So, thank you, K. Family, for inviting me into your home to take photos of your gorgeous girls!

Introducing Lia and Georgia

Our healthy and gorgeous momma, Lisa, whom I took maternity portraits of a few weeks ago, was on bedrest for a good portion of her pregnancy, so it is really amazing that she kept these babies cooking for 36 weeks!  (Click here to see photos from Lisa’s maternity shoot.)

The Proud Parents

Lia, Georgia and George’s ear

George made a comment about how he loved a photo of Lisa that I took from their last shoot, but his ear was in it.  So this one is for you, George!  Tee hee.

(I do like this photo though, which is why it made it into my blog!  I think Lia is thinking about how to solve our economic crisis!)

Boxer Babies

I love this photo because of Georgia’s expressive hands around her face and the twins’ legs intertwined.

Before Lia (on the left) fell asleep, she kept punching Georgia in the face.  I think Georgia’s hands are up to defend herself, like the way boxers do. 

The Cutest Baby Part

I love baby feet!  Seeing Lia kick her feet up on the edge of this basket was a moment I had to capture!

Lia reminds me of my Melia when she was a newborn because she didn’t curl up in fetal position as expected, but rather was more comfortable all spread out!

Asleep in Daddy’s Arms

Watching a sleeping baby — especially when it’s your own baby — is THE most peaceful thing in the World to see!

I love this photo because of how Lia folded her arms to her chest and the soft window lighting.  Just beautiful.

Think Fast

Baby and newborn shoots test how quickly you can think on your feet because you can’t control what they do, and expressions and positions can last only seconds.

Some surprises from today:

1)  Even at 7 days old, these twins didn’t have the “newborn curl” where they sleep with their legs pulled into their body.  Also, Lia was pretty active, so there were some set-up shots I wanted to do with them that we had to skip.

2)  The best newborn attire is their birthday suits, and well, being naked can trigger babies to go!  Let’s see… I think there were 2 poops and 3 pee sessions during our shoot, which meant several clean-ups and prop changes.  I think this is inevitable with naked babies.  Plus, with 2 babies of my own, I’ve been peed and pooped on before, so this was no big deal.  I just felt bad for Lisa and George for all the extra work they needed to do!

Yin and Yang

I absolutely love this shot of the girls in the bowl.  The head-to-feet position and the circular bowl makes them look like a Yin and Yang symbol!

The photo may appear as though they are sleeping and relaxed, but they were wiggly and Lia kept kicking Georgia in the head.  And there was also some peeing, but hey, they’re in a bowl, so everything was contained! 

Salad, Anyone?

The bowl shots are my favorite set-up twin shots, so here’s another one because I couldn’t decide which one was my favorite — the color one above or this sepia one.

I am a photographer who likes to keep things natural, so I don’t bring studio equipment, artificial lighting or background sheets to an indoor shoot.  It’s just me, my cameras, some lenses, and a couple accessories.  I use what’s available to me.

For a shoot that takes place inside someone’s home, I will walk around their house to find the best areas for photos.  Since our shoot started at 7:00am due to scheduling reasons, there was only good light in 2 areas:  the nursery and one corner of the dining room.

So this salad bowl was a perfect prop because they were on the dining table!

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