• babies,  birth session

    baby jayson is born

    A brand new cousin! Got the call around 10pm that they were at the hospital and I could come AND I could bring my camera. Yup, all in and at the perfect time of the night for me too! Well, good thing I left right away because I figured I had at least 2 hours before the baby showed up. Yeah, no. All of a sudden after I arrived Christine was pushing and the baby was crowning. They didn’t even have time to break down the bed, the doctor had on one glove, and they didn’t even have on the big lights (which made the photography difficult at best!) And then there he was! So please excuse the shortness of the slideshow- it was really all that fast! No time for reaction shots even, just got what I could. Oh, and the doctor MADE me take a picture of the placenta (ew. really ew.) but don’t worry, thats not in the slideshow.

    How cute is this baby? My new beach buddy (he and I had a long talk at the hospital regarding the summer to come) and so glad I got to hold him within minutes of him being born. That was pretty special.

    web1web2web3

  • babies,  birth session,  children & families

    jesse is born

    Almost two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to photograph a miracle. How many people can say that? And I get to say it twice because this was my second time photographing a birth for this fabulous family. You can see now “big brother” Jake’s birth slideshow here. This go round was at a much more civilized hour- I got the text around 9:30am, and headed over to the hospital by 10am. Jesse made his way into this world by 2:13pm, and I was home by 5pm on a complete high!! Things have changed at the hospital in the four years since photographing Jake’s arrival- last time I wasn’t allowed in until the last bit of pushing. This time I hung around with Jenn and family the entire time. There was even a live concert in her labor and delivery room. No, seriously.

    Between applications of lipgloss, hair styling, epidurals (and the crappy side effects that go with that), joking, contractions, candy, doctors, nurses, dancing in bed, wardrobe changes for everyone (Jesse’s theme was black and white and the whole family got tshirts to match Jenn’s custom hospital gown and Jesse’s newborn “I was born today” onesie and hat) and the most fabulous delivery room socks ever,  there was a baby. A whole brand new, perfect little baby. Amazing. No words to describe being there for that. Not all the pictures made the video (it’s totally safe to watch- no “parts” to be seen) but most of my favorites are in there. So please take a look at Jesse’s birth (make sure your volume is on). And leave some love for the new little family of four!

     

     

  • beach,  birth session,  bsquared business,  personal,  travel

    10 for Tuesday (on Wednesday)

    So I’m a little behind…not new news.

    1. Timmy made his big commercial debut. This was the shoot we did up at an elementary school in CT (that it took us 5hrs to get to) for Carhartt. It was a really fun shoot and the resulting commercial is super cute. Timmy doesn’t get a lot of airtime, but there’s still some of him at :08 and again at :30.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxNrET6eL54&feature=player_detailpage

    2. I posted on my bsquared Facebook page, but I know not all of you are on Facebook. bsquared will be in California and Arizona this summer. Here are the dates, please shoot me a message if you’re interested in a session out that way. I’d love to photograph a few families out there- totally new scenery and locations make me happy!! (you know, if I survive the flights!)

    San Francisco 8/3-5
    Los Angeles 8/6 daytime only
    San Diego 8/7-8/8
    LA again 8/9 (may not be available this day. plans still not settled)
    Phoenix AZ 8/10-12

    3. Feeling the need to do something for the families in Oklahoma. Thinking about what exactly is the best way to donate, but I think I’ll send some $ or gift cards. Does anyone know of any direct-type contacts out there? (a church or other local organization?) I don’t like sending to the Red Cross as I want to be sure the donation goes directly to the people who need it. After the whole Sandy experience here, I’ve heard from a lot of people who were in need of help didn’t get what they needed from the RC. If you have any direct contacts or know of any local places that are accepting donations (and are trustworthy) please let me know? Thanks.

    4. Yeah, this was from Fathers Day of last year. Figured I should get it posted before this year’s Fathers Day rolls around.

    5. One of my bsquared friends let me know that the Jake is born video isn’t working anymore, so I re-uploaded it and here it is again.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt_7eFVwKj8&feature=youtu.be

    6. So, Jodi Arias. She is either some kind of evil genius (saying she wants the death penalty and then she doesn’t. So maybe using reverse psychology will get her whatever it is that she actually wants.) or is bringing the game of crazy to an entirely new level. I have yet to decide. But that allocution yesterday was….something.

    7. And here is a snapshot from last summer’s town fireworks. Hanging at the Firehouse after shooting a wedding. And again, figured I should post it before this year’s fireworks have come and gone too.

    8. I have 4 senior sessions booked in the next few weeks- 2 girls and 2 boys. So excited to rock these out in some cool locations with awesome graduating high school seniors. I will post the pictures just as quick as I can once the shoots are done. Now if the weather is cooperative, that would be a huge step in the right direction.

    9. Some older ones of Timmy and his crazy hair (I think these were from January or so. When he still had teeth.). The kid consistently cracks himself up. I don’t know if you saw the conversation between him and Patrick yesterday that I posted on Facebook. But it was worth repeating, so here you go:

    kids are funny. Patrick’s watching Timmy and his friend outside and the conversation goes:
    P: Let’s make a deal (on what to play)
    T: No, no deals! (being bratty)
    P: Watch it Timmy or else I’m going to make you go upstairs and sit in your room alone.
    T (to me standing in the door): Can he even DO that??

    10. Can’t even believe that the school year is almost over and its time for the beach. We’re setting up the locker this weekend for our 14th summer at Sun & Surf. Just hoping the weather cooperates. I need to get out of the pollen-ridden town and head to the pollen-free beach for a few hours at least. My eyeballs are miserable.

  • babies,  birth session,  birthdays,  children & families,  occassions & parties

    jake’s little man mustache bash (aka 1st birthday)

    Be ready for total picture overload! Jake is my first and so far only birth session baby so he holds a special place in my heart and lens! I was so excited (and honestly, a little surprised that he was turning the big oh-one already!) to photograph his day. Especially with his mom being a party planner extrodinaire, I knew there wouldn’t be one single detail missed. Jenn is starting her own event planning business, and as soon as I have a link for her website I’ll be sure to share it because you NEED to hire her for your next event.

    He looks like the guy who answers the door in the Wizard of Oz with that mustache on! But way cuter!!

    And some (ok, a lot) of the party details. They were too awesome to leave anything out!

     

    Do you recognize those pictures?

    The little milk bottles were my personal favorites.Grandma and her boy.Lots of very familiar faces at the party. The mustache painting didn’t work out well, but was a good try.Someone was reeeeeeally enjoying her cake pop.So big!Time for cake! (he was pretty displeased with the whole cake thing. Not that you can tell by his face or anything…)This may very well be my favorite photo from the whole party. Mommy’s gorgeous legs, Jake’s chubby cakey legs, and Ali smashing the cake.You might die of the cuteness. Happy birthday Mr. Jake!! Can’t wait to keep watching you grow!!

  • babies,  birth session

    heather + tommy = ?

    I met Heather thru the guys in The Turn a few years back and she’s a total sweetheart. As it turns out she and her boyfriend were getting ready to welcome a baby boy into the world and after seeing my Jake is born slideshow, they decided they wanted to a birth session too! Everything was all cleared with the doctor that I would be allowed to be in on the delivery, however, upon arrival at the hospital I was informed that it was “hospital policy” that there were no still photographs allowed during the birth. I could take pictures before and then again a while after the delivery. What a total let down for all of us- it was all so disappointing.

    I hung around for a bit, even thru some dirty looks from some of the nursing staff and took what pictures I could before I wasn’t allowed in the room anymore.

    Heather made it thru most of her labor without the epidural. She and Tommy made a great team during contractions. And she kept her sense of humor.And then I was gone. But about 3 hours later, baby Hudson was born. Big congrats to the new little family and I’m so sorry I wasn’t allowed to be there to photograph it.