These beautiful girls were turning eight and three and their mom wanted some colorful spring birthday pictures. We took them to my favorite lovely spot armed with bouquets of ranunculus and sunflowers which just happened to match their adorable outfits perfectly. These sisters were so sweet too. We sat them on the couch together and they automatically wrapped their arms around each other and gave us huge smiles. Love it. And you would never know that this was a cold windy day. It started out nice and sunny and then the cold wind came in. But these girls were great. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Here is Chloe in a in-between moment trying to get warm. I love this shot too.

I love, love this girl. She is so much fun. I’ve taken pictures of her before here with her pony honey bun and she is a little goofball and always joking and laughing but she gives me those wistful, pensive looks I love so much. I’ve had my eye on this patch of wild daisies for a while now and knew it would be perfect for her. More to come.

Here is a really cool example of how to look at which size to choose when ordering prints. Size definitely matters. When ordering prints after a session most people order a bunch of 5×7′s and a few “big” 8×10′s because most people think 8×10 is big. But if you’re investing in custom photography for you and your family, something you’re going to treasure forever, you want to display those photos. Hang them up for everyone to see!

In this example an 8×10 is teeny tiny above the couch. You wouldn’t see any details at all, you would barely see her face actually. You want that image to stand out.

My weekly photo group’s theme last week was “Reflection”. I had so many ideas for this but a yet again uncooperative model. This is what I came up with.

“You belong among the wildflowers, You belong somewhere close to me.  Far away from your trouble and worries, You belong somewhere you feel free.”   Every Spring, as soon as the wildflowers start blooming, this song by Tom Petty runs through my head non-stop.  It’s been a favorite for many years now, and it always conjures ethereal images of  running through a field of wildflowers.  I discovered this location in Temecula wine country a few weeks back.  It’s overgrown with tall grass and the wildflowers are waist high in some places.  I knew this was perfect to make my vision become a reality.  I found some amazing dresses, very ballerina-looking, and bought one for my daughter and another for my niece.  Armed with fresh cut flowers from the Temecula Farmer’s Market, we spent the afternoon with the cousins “among the wildflowers”.

I have a friend who bought a place with hundreds of organic macadamia trees. And now she is a nut farmer. The mac nuts are so insanely delicious. Have you ever tasted a freshly picked macadamia nut? My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It’s so fun too, to go see her and see the process. The coolest part though is how much fun her kiddos are having being part of the nut farm. They find humming bird nests and ride bikes over mac nut husks. They gather nuts and even help sort them. And the best part is they get to eat those yummy nuts all the time. When I go there she is always offering mac nut cookies, ice cream….yum.  Life is good at the nut farm and here are her beautiful children.

Still working on my fun little wildflower project. Sometimes I wish I had all day to edit but my days are filled with preschool, a one year old, and trying to ignore my messy house. Last night the house won. I’ll be burning the midnight oil though this weekend.

I love spring around here. There are wildflowers everywhere. My sis and I were driving all around town looking for the perfect spot for a recent session and we found it. We call it the magic meadow. Yellow and purple flowers, that tall white grass that lights up when the sun hits it, hill in the background placed perfectly for back lighting during sunset….ahhh….  So we bought matching ballerina dresses for my niece and my kiddo and let them run wild. Yes, this is what we do for fun when when mommy and auntie take pictures. But I love little projects like this. Now I have to find time to edit all these fun pictures. Haven’t decided the look I want yet. My word of the week has been ethereal. Here is K. in the flowers. More to come…….

My sister is so insanely creative and awesome! She surprised me with this Peeps diorama of our Easter Mini Session set up this morning. She told me she was going to do one but told me it was a surprise and I love it! It made my day.