The MessiersOur Fabulous Life: February 2010

Throughout my posts and overtime you are gonna hear me refer to this amazing photographer a lot! She is a Friend who I have known on and off since High School, her son was born about 5 months before my Daughter, and she was dabbling in and out of photography for quite some time. I saw some pics she had taken of her son with a smash cake for his birthday and decided I absolutely had to have her take Bellas 1st Birthday Photos! And That is where our newest relationship began, now I am so proud to see her Passion and business grow! We went on to have another mini session after the Bday Pics, then a 18 month Photo shoot, followed by our Fall Family Photo shoot! And Then came most Recently the 2 year Birthday shots, which you saw in the previous Post! With each set of photos I will post a little about the prep that went into them, again because a successful photo session depends on the efforts of both the Photographer and the model in this case the mommy! haha!

It was Kris who actually triggered this Blog to begin with, I had made several blogs in the past, but never published them, then after the latest photo session and Bellas Party, she and a teacher of Mine Mrs. Guzman had mentioned I should share my ideas so here I am! Thanks Kris for ALL the Amazing Work you do and the time you put in to make all my visions come to life!!! We will always be your loyal client and Friend!!!

So First up the 1st Bday Shoot! So Here I knew I wanted a smash cake photo, but also wanted several Tutu shots, so we planned out the cake with Kris (yes this photographer even made the cake)!!! Bought 3 Tutus, and then started thinking of the other props I wanted to use, let the googling begin, I saw about 10 different ideas and pulled from each one a little something until I knew what props I needed, I was off to buy balloons, find boxes and pick out the right wrapping materials! Oh and of coarse MAKE THE PERFECT HEADBAND!!!! Salina Came along for this shoot for stylist wrangling! Before Tutus, Bella was always known for the headbands she wore! The tutus became her signature after this session! Not posting all the shots for that would take up too much space!

Now Mind You These first 2 sessions were before Kris even went professional, and look how amazing they are, NOW THAT IS REAL TALENT!!!

The beautiful Cake Kris Made!

Bell liked looking at it and sitting by it....

but when I stuck her hands in it, that was the end of that!!! haha

Which resulted in the Fabulous Story Board she made for the Birthday Party!!! That stated ITS MY PARTY AND I'LL CRY IF I WANT TO! haha

Next Up was the Mini Shoot I actually set up for a friends baby, we went along in the hopes to get a few cute shots of Bella for her daddy, and for Valentines and Just because! Important parts for these shots were the diaper covers, BIG NO NO never take professional shots of your kids in regular diapers, go for the classy cloth diapers which Salina does for boys, or bare butt, but then no front shots obviously, but there is nothing tackier than a diaper with all its printing all over it! If you absolutely have to have a diaper and don't have a cover or a cloth one at least find a solid diaper, and please make sure its clean, a soggy diaper is bad!!! Since most of the sots here though were diaper shots i made sure to bring lots of covers and then even loaned on to Bells buddy Kayleigh for their Valentine shot! So here they are!

See diaper showing Tacky!

Here are some I got from just bringing along a sheet from my bed, since I wanted this set for my Bedroom to tie it all together! BIG IMPORTANT KEY: Do Not EVER bring or use a sheet that is wrinkled!!! EVEN MORE TACKY THAN A DIAPER!!!!

Next up I saw a photo that I loved with just a hat and a diaper and my fave hat of Bells at the time was this white and pink one so I brought it along with a pink diaper cover that had frills! Love These!!!

This set was a collaboration of a few googled photos as well, I saw lots of babies in the tubs and loved it, usually it was pastel tubs, but Krystal..Kayleighs mom had this one and it worked perfect because I wanted it for my kitchen anyway (of coarse now its in the living room! haha!) and the color was perfect. So we brought it along, and I rubbed candy on the edge so she would put her mouth on it!!!

This set was Kris' sons chair that she let us snag for the shot and we dressed the girls similar and just let them go for it! Turned out adorable!

No Idea what is going on here!!!

This set was solely for My Husband, He loves his music and his Bella so I thought the 2 together in one shot would melt his heart and it did! Although dragging along a guitar and a drum to someone elses house is quite interesting!!! Can you see why my daughter was the headband queen though, at 1 she still had no hair! haha

So Along came her 18 month Photo session, this was the 1st set with Kris since she went Pro, and of course they were FABULOUS!!! Since the day I found out I was having a little girl I had planned on taking photos on a main street of some sort, I envisioned the cobblestone and shop fronts, so Kris and I came together and decided Volcano Main St. would be the perfect location for what I was wanting! I then told her that I had bought Bell the cutest little rain boots that she loved and really wanted to do some creek photos, which of course in Amador county Creeks are not hard to find, except this day! We drove down a road VERY slowly looking over the mountain till we saw a spot we could hike down, but it was well worth it, the shots were everything I had hoped! I brought My sister Bayleigh along for this set for Bella entertainment and just wrangling help in general! It was 7:30 in the morning when we met!

In shots like these, because so many people do them nowadays, its important to focus on the details, even when you are outside! Choose the outfits wisely, Classic timeless pieces, we did jeans, but paired it with the brown top as to not be too busy! And with Toddlers and Jeans, no shoes really is the classiest way to go on cobblestone!

Then with so much rich Color a simple calm colored dress is just what was needed, again barefoot led to that raw peaceful vibe I was hoping for!

Next came the Purple Dress, Now this is what I mean by keep it classic and timeless, I will never look back and think that dress symbolized an era, it just symbolized Elegance and Innocence! Too Many people dress their kids up in pieces that they feel are stylish at the time! On a solid backdrop its cute beaucse your showing your childs personality, but when out in beautiful scenery or on location let your surroundings do the talking not your childrens clothes, they should compliment the photo, not compete with it!

This Dress my mom bought unexpectedly at a consignment store for $4.00 and I will forever LOVE IT!!!

This Table and Chair was outside a little shop that wasn't open yet, but the workers were inside, Kris ran in to ask if it was ok to use, they of course said yes!

This Grass was soaking wet, but my little angel trooped through with some encouraging funny faces from Auntie Bayleigh!

Aw Now The Rain Boots!!! Bought at Marshalls for 5 bucks a pair, I decided to pair them with simple onesies (only regret is the diaper showing through underneath), but see live and learn! The Hat just added to that classic feel! What you don't see, Bayleigh and I strategically placed on both sides splashing her for the giggles and ready to dive to catch her at any moment in case of a fall! haha

Ok So Along Came The Family Fall Shoot, This was where we Finally all came together with Kris to get what was originally just supposed to be our Christmas family photo, but I ended up loving so many of the prints that I bought about 10 of them!!! Now It will be a tradition every year to have our Family shots with Kris! Thats the thing about this girl, ever since that 1st shoot for Bells Bday I could never go anywhere else, it would be a betrayal to both her and us!!!! haha

The only real planning on this part was the vibe we wanted and the colors to wear. I googled several family photos and sent Kris my Faves, she then wrote back and told me where we should go to get the feel I wanted! Which was the really warm fall colors and rustic fall feel! We then decided to all wear black tops with Jeans, except the kids had their white collars coming through the tops!