Bug and Bean Blog

Yesterday’s session reaffirmed three things for Mike and I:

1) Family is EVERYTHING and we are so lucky for the big crazy happy family that we’ve been given.

2) We never want our kids to move far away from us, but if they do, we want them to know they can always come home.

3) We want to be the cool grandparents that builds a magical treehouse equipped with a zip line and pulley system to send up snacks for our grandkids.

And the 4th addendum we’ve added is that we want to be adopted by the Shankar family! Thank you for the fun morning. You have a beautiful family and we are very happy for the opportunity to meet good people.

To say that this soon to be mom carried pregnancy beautifully would be an understatement. There was such a breathtakingly stunning ease about her that resonated with each frame I took. You could feel the love and joy that this sweet couple shared as they anxiously awaited the arrival of their baby. We spent the cool spring morning walking around their neighborhood along the Embarcadero which made for an unexpectedly lovely setting.

Last month they welcomed their sweet daughter and I was so lucky to be able to photograph her at just a few days new. She is absolutely beautiful with her full head of hear, deep brown eyes and impossibly cute dimples.

Do you ever wonder if the people you see on reality shows are anything like their tv personas? I first met Bill Horn and Scout Masterson aka The Guncles of Tori and Dean’s Home Sweet Hollywood at a baby event in Los Angeles and they were just as warm and friendly as I had imagined they would be. Shortly after meeting, I was so happy to hear that they had welcomed into their family a sweet baby girl named, Simone. Recently, I had the honor of spending the afternoon at their home photographing Simone (9 months) with her daddies. Bill and Scout were so nice and down to earth helping to quickly calm my nerves. Simone had the sweetest disposition and the most pinchable muffin cheeks.  Together they make a beautiful family. It was obvious from start to finish how enamored they were with each other. Ain’t  love grand?

Thank you Bill, Scout and Simone!

xo nancy

There is something I find so comforting and familiar when photographing larger families. It probably has to do with growing up the youngest of 6 kids and the daily madness that is our life wrangling 4 kids of our own. There is a constant chaos but also a strange ease that comes with being around a large family. These days I find it rare to meet families with more than one or two children so I’m always happy for the opportunity to photograph larger families. (Don’t get me wrong, there are many days that I envy parents of one or two kids who don’t have to pack their kids like sardines in too small cars and are able to travel freely or find babysitting without having to split up your kids!)  Small family or big family, there is a lot of joy to be shared and it’s a lot of work having any number of kids.

I love capturing the dynamics between siblings and knowing first hand how difficult it can be to get a “good” family picture, I love the happiness these portraits will bring to the family.  I’ve been wanting to share this session for a while now, a favorite from last Fall.

Stay tuned for Part II later this week!

xo nancy

Mike just shared this T-Mobile “Welcome Back” flashmob ad and it made me cry. Amazing!!

These hand cut silhouette portraits by artist Karl Johnson blew us away!

Pretty amazing, right? Karl will be coming to the following Northern California locations next month:

Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 1:00pm – Cupcake, Healdsburg

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 1:00pm – Cupcake, Santa Rosa

Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 10:00am – Koukla Kids, Sacramento

Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 10:00am – Peek Aren’t You Curious, Corte Madera

Happy 10th Birthday to the little girl who started it all, our Bug, our love.