One Camera. One Lens. One Photo a Day.

Roses and Painting…

This afternoon the beautiful late afternoon light bounced off Kevin and Aren’s house and created this light on the white roses Nicki picked from the front yard this weekend.  In the background Kate is intent on her painting.  She’s been on a kick lately of making cards for everyone…Christmas cards, Valentines Day cards…all occasions and all delivered right away.

We just love to see that she simply loves to draw and create.

Kate and Eva rest at the end of a playdate…

Neighbors and friends Kate and Eva enjoy a late afternoon popsicle after a tough playdate today that included: soccer (kicking the ball for all of five minutes), then a much longer game of hide the soccer ball (aided by Eva’s Dad John), and finally softball.

A very cool way to spend a Sunday.

Nightly prayers…

A ritual at our house is for Kate to say her prayers after we read a book to her (sometimes two).  Tonight she added an extra bit of flourish as she requested to wear one of her princess crowns while saying prayers.

Of course Nicki in the room had to have one and I even had to wear one of them too.

Roses are just ready to burst forth…

When we got back from S. Africa, the roses were barely there.  No flowers had emerged, and the buds were fairly small.

In just this short time the change is amazing.  In two more weeks it’s going to be even more alive.

Nicki had a low key playdate with the kids and our neighbors Chris and Stephanie and their daughter Rhiannon as well as Erin and Eva.

When I came over to join the gathering, I saw this photograph — Nicki is at left and Spark is dressed in his stylin’ sweats which he needed as it got quite chilly this afternoon.

Earlier in the day was my second session at Marbella Montessori and the Spring Portrait Event Sessions.  Lots of really sweet frames of great kids today!

Today was a great day doing portraits at Marbella Montessori in San Juan Capistrano.

I’ve been doing a special spring portrait event for the school and will be photographing there at various times this week and next.

It’s been enjoyable being here at the school — wonderful teachers and delightful kids.

Back in school!

Kate could not wait for school to start today.

After last week’s Easter recess, she had been away from school and her friends for almost five weeks.

We got to school early and her good friend Charlie did too and it was so sweet to see them run toward each other and give each other a big big hug before running off to school.

It’s nice to be home.

Spring has been making an appearance around here lately, and it’s beautiful.

Spring is always my favorite time of year.  That probably stems from growing up in the midwest.  After six months of cold and gray, spring always meant that winter was going away (finally), summer vacation was ahead (yeah!) and the Cubs were going to try to get to the World Series (yet again).

Two out of three isn’t bad.

The Swirl…

I simply love this little guy’s head and the feel of his hair.  I’m always looking for images similar to this when I photograph for my clients and it’s so nice to be able to make a photo like this of my own little Sparkman.

Yeah!

A big milestone…100 photos a day, all made with a 50mm lens!!

Today’s photo came while I was up in Newport for an engagement portrait session with Christine and Mark.  This is actually their dog Max and their friend Sunny who came down from LA to help take care of Max if necessary during the session (Max loves Sunny and the feeling is mutual — it made for an easy session).

We went to The Fun Zone and had a sweet time — the light was great, Christine and Mark were relaxed and it made for a great start to the wedding season.