6 month old team player

Posted on July 23, 2009

Had a great session last Sunday and I promised a sneak peek this week so I better deliver! Actually, I’ve been dying to get to these because I loved them the moment they hit my computer screen. Talk about a great little model!

You know, when my husband passes by me and sees me working on photos, he normally doesn’t say much about what he sees (unless the photos are of our own children of course!). But when he saw that set above, HE even exclaimed at how beautiful this little guy is.

And of course, mom and dad already knew that.

Dad is quite the sports fanatic, from what mom says, and taking some sort of sports theme related photos were a must.

And then off to this AWESOME park in Costa Mesa that I am so grateful for being introduced to…

One of my favorite shots~

What a beautiful little family ~
Mom reminded me of someone and I was thinking about it the whole time we were together. I told her this at the end of our session and she said the same thing about me. We couldn’t figure it out though. Funny how that happens sometimes and I can’t help but wonder if the feeling of familiarity is just a connection you are feeling with a person. I am definitely a believer of kindred spirits.

It was no surprise that this little guy konked out in the car ride back home. He worked hard for us and was just wonderful.

Mom and dad, I truly had a wonderful time getting to know you and photographing your little son-shine. Thank you for asking me in your lives for those couple hours and I’ll look forward to showing you the rest of your photos soon!

neglected

Posted on July 18, 2009

Sometimes sessions come and go without me giving them any love here on the blog… This is one of them and I just couldn’t go another day without sharing. I love these captures although I am partial since they are of the children of two very good friends of ours. Disney friends. Special people. Adorable kids, as you will soon see.

You might have noticed that we were heavy on the photos of their little girl and that is absolutely how it was. And how we expected it to be. But I think we all were thrilled with what we got of the two of them together and that certainly counts for a lot. At least in my book it does, knowing how hard it is to get the two of mine cooperating for sibling shots.

I just love how these came out and how they captured these beautiful kids at this time in their young little lives. And once again how honored I feel that my friends ask me to do this for them. What a blessing.

some more favorites

Posted on July 17, 2009

…from the last session. I just can’t help myself.

Learning to share at such a young age ~

So many favorites… It was hard not sharing the whole gallery!

near and dear (a sneak peek)

Posted on July 10, 2009

My first official “baby planner” just turned one. It has been a wonderful journey watching her grow and capturing those milestones in her first year of life. She is absolutely near and dear to my heart, just as her mother has been for many years now herself.

So, I think her mother would agree that the one year session is the most difficult. One year olds are ON THE GO! And this beautiful little one was no different last weekend. Had to start off with this image because she was relentless at pulling out her hair clips, but mom matched her in that game and just as mom said would happen, she eventually forgot about it, as you will see in the rest of our photos.

As the photographer you really have to let go of the idea that you’re going to get lots of posed shots where the child is sitting perfectly or looking at you with every little noise you can come up with. I adore the shot above.

And hey, for a brief moment I found a noise that made her look at me.

Another shot I adore~

So what I haven’t mentioned is that this pretty little thing has recently gotten into modeling. No doubt, huh?And I was just thinking about how when she is famous how honored I will feel to know that I was her first official photographer. I have absolutely loved every moment of it.

And when we got back to the house we had cake! Or, she had cake. Well, no, she really didn’t either. But she had great fun playing with the cake~

I hope you weren’t too worried Nikki about us not getting anything. Can’t wait to share the rest with you! Thanks for the honor of photographing little “T” for her first year. I was so happy to do that for you, my dear friend. And thanks for the super yummy lunch after this session. I can’t wait to try the recipes myself!

cousins (a sneak peek)

Posted on July 9, 2009

I’m just a sneak peeking fool lately, aren’t I? Makes me feel good that I can share what I’m doing with you as I go along. I truly have the best job ever. I get to do what I love and in that process meet wonderful people who are just so happy to have their families captured forever in photos. It is a very rewarding and fulfilling job, this thing that I do.

When I think about the last couple weeks with the death of Michael Jackson, we were all taken back to how powerful his music was. I think its awesome that we were able to put all the other negative, icky stuff aside and just focus on what his music gave us and how it moved us. But then, wasn’t it also awesome that we had all the wonderful and powerful images of him to take us back to that time as well? I LOVED seeing all those images again.

Photos are powerful too.

Anyway, focus Debbie, focus.

This session was a combined session with a family that I have seen many times and absolutely ADORE being with, and a second family, related to the first, who were just so thankful and excited about having their photos taken. Made my day. I think I counted four or five times this lovely mom hugged me, thanking me for taking photos of them that day ~(Just so you know guys, I’m holding out on you because we have a few family shots where Ian was smiling too, thanks to Missy and her sillyness.)

Their precious little boy ~I don’t think he quite knew what to make of what we were doing, but he was a trooper and was actually very mellow. I was told that wasn’t always the case, but hey, he picked the right day! Such a beautiful little boy.

And here is one of my favorite little girls in all her 18 month glory~
I think I have seen this child more than any other child I’ve been photographing over the last couple years! I couldn’t get over how different she looked through my lens, in only 5 months. She just gets prettier and prettier all the time.

And one more of the kids together~

Thanks guys! I had a great time and I loved shooting in a new location! Will go back there for sure. And thanks for the pizza… and Coke! Wow, I had a long weekend and that Coke hit the spot! You guys are the best!

a sneak peek for my sis

Posted on July 9, 2009

It isn’t always my family members get any lovin’ here on the business blog when we do “official Debbie Lee” photos, but I’m trying to be better about that… starting NOW!

The real reason for doing photos was to capture my little cutie patootie niece at her three year mark ~
And that we did. She is just full of personality and charm.

But we included her mom and sister in the session too!
Yep, that’s my lovely sister there on the right. Love her so much.

There is nothing like a sister… Especially when there is enough of an age gap that both sisters can just openly adore and love each other. It is very special what these two have ~

We had such beautiful weather that day ~

I probably should have shown this last shot in black/white because I think my sister might like it, but I love the blue too much…

I’ve been a good blogger lately, haven’t I? So proud of myself. And more to come tomorrow! (Or today, depending on how you look at it!)

“today you are you” (sneak peek)

Posted on July 7, 2009

I recently had the pleasure of photographing a fun and sweet little two year old boy…

There was lots of running involved as well as giving the strange lady with a camera pretty flowers and other things found along the way.

We for sure let him explore and be the cute little two year old boy that he is.

And there was LOTS of bribing involved when it became necessary. Actually, the candy treats (Smarties) worked very well with this guy, but the challenge for me as the photographer was getting shots between the chewing.

This quote by Dr. Seuss kept popping in my head as I played with these photos so I knew I had to use it.

Mom was really anxious to have these photos of her baby boy because in less than two months he will no longer be the baby of the family… Yep, he will have the proud new role of big brother.

Thanks for sharing your little guy with me and I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek!

product highlight: coffee table book

Posted on July 7, 2009

Wow, I have been doing so many coffee table books lately! In fact, just dropped one off last Friday night and received another by the man in brown today. I am always happy for my clients when they tell me they want a coffee table book because number one, I know they are going to love it, and number two, I know they are going to have a wonderful keepsake from their session. Something they will always treasure. What better way to tell your story?

This particular couple (seen in the previous post on their wedding day and also up there in my header…) ordered a 10×10 book from their engagement session to be used as a guest sign-in book at their wedding reception. It is truly truly one of my favorite books so far ~
Almost all of the pages were left with plenty of white space for guests to sign, yearbook style.

Coffee table books are hinged which allows the pages to lie flat. I LOVE this! I normally order my book pages as standard press-print paper with UV coating. The UV coating gives them a beautifully finished glossy look… But it also offers durability and extra protection from hands flipping through it. I highly recommend it. The outside cover is a sleek matte finish that truly is stunning.

I will be ordering this very book soon as a sample so if you are an upcoming client, especially a wedding client doing an engagement session with me, ask me about it. I’d love to share it with you!