Youth Talent Connection Mini Shoots :: Part 1

A very good friend of mine, Heather Baldwin is the owner of an awesome talent agency, Youth Talent Connection located in Orange County. I offered to do headshot mini shoots exclusively for Youth Talent Connection clients a few weeks ago. Sooo on a bright Sunday, I did 12 shoots with tons of adorable kids! Since there are so many I'm doing this as a three part blog.

Heather was gracious enough to come out and be my "assistant" and I know I couldn't have done it without her! The first three kids were all under two years old and I'm surprised I could keep up with them without my morning coffee. Thank goodness we had bubbles and I'm so glad Heather had a natural talent for blowing lots of bubbles!

These were all shot at a park near my house so the challenge for me was to not have the same shots for each session. They are some great headshot shots that I've included but for the blog I wanted to post more of the fun candid shots. Enjoy!


The first session of the day, at 9 AM was with Brent. He is full of energy and he definitely helped me wake up (FYI, I'm not a morning person). I'm sure he will book a lot of jobs with his big blue eyes!






Next was Payton. I'm going to start sounding like a broken record because all of these kids are totally adorable but look at her... do they come any cuter! Payton's mom has an awesome company, Bellissimo Bows, that makes handmade bows, headbands, and hats... you have to check out the cutest bows ever!!


She has the cutest expressions!




Ava and Audrey are twins, as if you can't tell, and their personalities are as different as can be. The first shot is one of the first I took. After that, it was a challenge to get them to stay together.

So cute!

I love this one... they are looking at flower pedals in their laps.


Ryder was the last of the morning shoots and I had so much fun with him. He was older than the first three so it was nice to have a break from chasing babies. haha
This is one of my favorite shots. He is so adorable and trendy... and a super good listener!






Playing catch with his dad.


Almost caught it!


Stay tuned for parts two and three coming soon!

Chad and Amanda :: Engagement

Ok, I will say it, it's true... I'm a terrible blogger. As much as I love sharing the great people I get to work with, I'm just not good at getting the blogs up in a timely manner. There, I've admitted it and feel better now... phew.

Moving on... I'm so excited to share with you Chad and Amanda and their awesome engagement session. We had so much fun wandering around the Orange Circle and Chapman University (where they both received their MA in film). We found some really cool spots and even found an open door to the theater on campus. There was only one light bulb, on stage, on a stand, lighting the entire theater. Talk about challenging lighting!

Chad and Amanda are a really awesome couple and will be getting married in May back home in Illinois. You can see how in love they are from the photos. Aren't they cute together...




This was taken at the center of the circle. This was suppose to be a "warm up" shot but it looks like they were all ready confortable in front of the camera!




Funny huh?



Seriously, aren't they so sweet together?

This is in the theater with one light bulb. I believe I actually used a flash on this shot. I was standing on the stage, where the light was, and had the stand laying down so it was on Chad and Amanda.

My favorite shot! This was shot on the stage with the light behind them. No flash was used.


Ever seen the movie Dave? For some reason this shot reminds me of the movie.


Our last stop was over to a cool area by the railroad tracks... although you can't really tell in these last two shots. Trust me, it's a cool spot!


I love the hand holding ring shot. It's one of my favs!




Chad and Amanda- I had a ton of fun with you guys! We should do a trash the dress shoot when you get back from your honeymoon!

Roberta Victoria :: HS Senior

Roberta Victoria, better known as "Beeve" to her friends and family, has been my skating student since she was 8 years old. She is now almost 17 and a high school senior! Beeve was one of my first skating students (I was only 20) and we have grown together the last 8 years. She is competing at the senior level this year which is a huge accomplishment. Not only is she a great skater but she is an amazing girl. She is one of the sweetest most level headed teenagers and I know she will be successful in whatever she chooses to do in her life. I could go on and on about Beeve and her family but I won't... if you would like to hear her life story, feel free to email me. =)

Beeve has grown up in Riverside so I thought doing her senior shoot at the Mission Inn would be appropriate. I'd never been there but I had heard it was pretty cool. Her mom has been a docent there so I knew she would show me all the good spots... which she did and I got a brief history too! It's a really amazing place and if you haven't been there I'd recommend checking it out. It would make for a great weekend getaway!

Here are a few of my favorites:


Ok, so this isn't from the shoot but this is Beeve (and me in the background) at one of her first competitions. So cute!! (Sorry for the poor quality but this is a picture of a picture)

She's all grown up!




The architecture was beautiful! It felt like somewhere in Europe.




I love all the colors in this shot. There were so many cool spots!


Love this one!


The laughing photo... gotta love it!


Beeve is part of an international synchronized skating team so we did a few shots in her Team USA jacket.


Such a pretty girl!


Love this... she looks like a model!

Adam, Noa and a Webshow!

I've been waiting for awhile to post this blog and I'm so excited I can now! A few months back I was asked by my interior designer friend, Kelly Lafosse, to shoot two adorable kids for large black and white canvases in a home she was designing. The cool part is that it was for a webshow! To see the show and the canvases go to Jen and Barb Mom Life. The show is about two LA moms and their view on motherhood. The episode is called "Are you embarrassed by your house?" so be sure to check it out. Kelly gives some great design advice!

So back to these cuties, Adam and Noa. We headed out to a park near their home where we played and I took a "few" pictures. The first two shots are the ones they chose for the canvases. They looked great in the newly designed room! If you need an awesome interior designer let me know and I'll put you in contact with Kelly.

Adam- Canvas 1


Noa- Canvas 2


Having fun on the swings!


Adam is showing me the results of playing in the chalk from the baseball field


The lollipop! Oh, how they loved the lollipops!


The cutest big brown eyes ever!







Noa loved her lollipop too!







My favorite shot!

Emily... at Night!

I'm so excited that my good friend Emily and her husband moved down the street from me! Although they only lived about 6 miles away before it is much more convenient being able to walk to visit. Another perk is that we can do mini photoshoots anytime. We headed out to a really cool gazebo area down the street. I've noticed how pretty it is lit up at night so I thought it would be fun to play around. Here are some of the results:


I love having beautiful friends!


A little more of the gazebo shows in this one... and her super cute shoes!


This is the only one I used flash on. All the others are natural light.


I'm sure she is having deep thoughts in this moment


I love the top of the gazebo


She's got the whole... moon in her hands


We have a very cool shoot coming soon... there will be trashing of something but it's not a dress!

Check back soon for a blog on my Grandma's 90th birthday, a senior shoot or two and an engagement session. There is a lot coming up this month so there will be much more blogging than last month!