It’s a precious time right before school starts, and I’m always a little sad during this time. My sense of nostalgia was really strong, and I really wanted to capture my kids authentically at this threshold. We always love the beach, and it’s a treat for us. So, we headed there for our last hoorah of the summer.

Naturally, the beach was freezing, as is typical for San Francisco area beaches! We started out wrapped up in our towels to stay warm, but we soon shed them as we started to explore and play.

A little more grown up. A little more serious. Yet, still a little young and silly. I love to capture all the different expressions that my children show.

My oldest always loves to make things with her hands.

She tunes out the crazy mud fight between her brother and sister until her creation is finished.

Meanwhile, these two run around slinging mud at each other. They think it’s hilarious! (I do, too.)

I love the wind in their messy hair.

He got so dirty that I was cleaning sand out of his ears at the end of the day!

He still has chubby cheeks and peach fuzz.

A day is not complete until sand gets between his toes.

I love the drama of this.

They are so big.

But, I’ll always remember them like this.

I love the dreamy quality of this. It’s like a memory that’s not clear anymore. Rather than being about details, this image is about a feeling.

A time of childhood ends. A new year begins.

It’s become my mission to tell stories—stories that can help families remember the love they experienced together. Children are little for only so long. They grow less chubby each day. They say fewer hilariously innocent and disarming things each day. They grow in indepedence so quickly. And, I hate to be morbid, but we, as parents, are here for only so long. When we are growing up (and even after we’ve “finished” growing up), it’s so easy to lose heart and confidence as a result of the things that happen in our daily lives. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little token to remind ourselves of exactly how much we are loved and how important we are to our family? This intense desire to create these things for my own family and children has risen up and is ready to permeate into the work I do for my clients.

Here is what I’ve created for the M. Family. This is what’s called by the photography industry a “fusion slideshow.” Fusion slideshows incorporate video with still photography. Fusion has taken hold to a limited extent with wedding photographers, but not not so much with portrait photographers. Still photography is still the main subject, but video is added to move the story along and add extra dimension.

The M. Family’s photography slideshow is baking-inspired. It shows how the little ones have endeavored to bake some cookies by themselves, with a little help and with lots of love. Enjoy!

I have always thought of photographs as love notes. They say something about the subject of the photographs, of course. They say something about the photogapher. And from the viewer’s perspective, when she is drawn in to pondering the subject, she is pulled into a triangle of emotions between subject, photographer, and viewer. Today is the perfect day to send these love notes. These are mine to my own child, to my family, and to you. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Here’s Z.

She’s my 8-year-old daughter’s best friend. Or, as my daughter likes to say, “best, best, best, best friend in the world.” Z. will be moving to Florida very soon, and we’re all very sad to see her go. Ever since she was a baby, Z. has spent so much time with and been so close to her grandma. Z.’s grandma wanted me to photograph her granddaughter at her house, doing some of her favorite things.

When I was picking out images to blog, the thing that stood out to me was how the different facets of Z.’s personality were captured. Serious and grown-up. Yet, young and child-like. Mischievous. Funny. Giggly. So, so active.

Z., you will be missed very much. You are a gem.

Some time ago, I was packaging up some goodies for a client, and I happened to make these pretty blue boxes with my logo on the front in black. They really resonated with my own aesthetic sense and with the direction I wanted my business to head, so they became the inspiration for the new website design that you see before you.

My site is still very much a blogsite (a website-and-blog combo), because I believe in staying current in today’s technology and social media environment. However, I needed just a little more pizazz on the front page, so I ended up moving a portfolio preview to the front and my blog to the “second” page. The good thing is that everything is integrated into one site, my blog is still accessible with one easy click, and you don’t have to endure any annoying pop-up windows. There’s music, too! You get to choose if you hear it. You don’t have to worry about music clashing with your own or getting icy glares from your coworkers.

Explore my site and see all the great changes. Keep your eyes on this blog. An easy way to do this is to add my RSS feed to your blog reader. I will be announcing something exciting very soon!

A blog post here is not complete without a picture, so here is one with all the new Spring greenery.

By the way, I just love these fancy headbands!!

Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Chinese New Year!

Here’s a little something, Strobist style.

Aren’t they just so peaceful, cute, and huggable when they are asleep?? If only I could bottle this up and keep it forever.