Rockin' The Flipside

Here's to the lovely Phuong & her super delicious 'flipside' portrait session.  We were able to capture tons of variety and I couldn't be happier with the results.  I love it when my clients give me totally creative FREEDOM!  It makes me *smile*!

Enjoy...

Love the lighting on this shot... YUM!

See the clouds rollin' in down the road!  wAy cool!


To die for skin and smile*

This one was ONLY possible with the assistance of my 'super eager to help' husband. He literally held her hand the whole way up the rocky slope.  He directed for the shot to stay low to document the dramatic pine trees.  I hope I got what he was in visioning?. 


My favorite!



Way fun!


There's just something about this image that I can't get enough of.  I think it's the body movement, her expression, and the sweet soft focusing spots all around her.  Not to mention the clouds rolled by again across the little road!  They were gone within minutes!








This spot we found was AH-mazing.  Dead trees that had fallin' mixed with lush wild flowers.




I really didn't notice until I started editing this image that the flowers perfectly framed her eyes.
Phuong brought two traditional Vietnamese dresses.  They are so pretty and light!  Her other dress is the white one with the dramatic tree shot.

Stinkin' Birthday!

Another year has passed and boy did it FLY by. Today is my 26th BIRTHDAY!!! My husband surprised me with these wonderfully wrapped SUPER DUPER too cute to open gifts. He always out does himself every year. Maybe one year it'll be a huge bright red bow on top of a car! Ok maybe not but a girl can dream can't she? I think I would rather like to get camera equipment or some *sweet* trip to travel for weeks & weeks. I'll have to put that on the list of things to do sometime in the next century. Though this birthday feels kinda weird... kinda makes me feel more adultish (which isn't even a word). Everything is coming more & more into prospective and now I want to accomplish so many more goals. I've already taken on more then I can handle but hey that's I guess what I LIVE for. I get so bored and easily. I can't wait to see what the crazy future has to hold for me! I can say though that with every year that passes by I am so amazed by all the wonderful little surprises that have come my way. I now believe things all happen for a reason and that they can't be too planned or forced... but maybe I can push them along to kick start another ROCKIN year!

Phuong's Flipside

So I just couldn't wait to work on this past weekend's portrait session with the lovely O' so PRETTY... Phuong! I mentioned earlier that we ventured up to Mt. Lemmon for the shoot so we wouldn't all pass out from the HEAT! My husband came along too as my assistant again (thank you honey)... he was amazing as I forgot to tell Phuong to bring extra walking shoes and he ended up leading her up & down the hills & roads & rocks. Yes I said rocks but I really mean 'boulders'. Well it worked.  Anyhow... Phuong and I honestly have known each other for quite sometime now... we played on the tennis team together in high school, we were known as the 'shorty's' in our class, and then occasionally saw each other in passing on campus at the University. We lost contact for a few years but thanks to the fabulous 'myspace' we found each other. I think she found me? I can't remember it though who found who first but I'm sooooo glad we are in contact again. And so the minute she mentioned how badly she wanted to do a 'FLIPSIDE' session I knew it was going to be unique. Though she was a little nervous about the whole experience. I think that soon ended shortly after we began the session. I told her...'all were gonna do is walk around and when I find a place we'll do some shots there, I'll direct you, and then it'll start all over again at a new location!.' But then she said 'but I don't know what you want me to do, do you want me to smile, look at you, wwwwhhhaat?!.' So with that said I knew I had to post this image first while I was editing the rest. Basically all I said was to stand in the middle of the road, look down, and hold out your skirt to the side! The image though is completely hers... she made the expression, she decided to point one foot outward (showing off her kick ass heels) & grab her skirt slightly with her other hand. 

I LOVE IT!  It's so pure & 'in the moment'.  This is the imagery I live for!

Enjoy...

Mt. Lemmon

On Sunday I had the privilege to take a short little trip up to Mt. Lemmon for a 'FLIPSIDE' portrait session with the beautifully photogenic Miss Phuong... but more to come on her photographs soon! As we headed up, I constantly kept checking the air temperature button in the car to see how fast the weather would change. Right now in Tucson it's any where from about 96-100 degrees... all depending on when the Monsoon's roll in. As we increased in elevation the temp. was falling fast.... Ha le lu a (if that's how you spell it?). Mid way up it was about 76! Though as we made the drive further up the mountain the clouds were noticeably lower. They were spooky & fog like, rolling across the roads and trees. AWESOME! This totally helped with the mood of the portraits which I will be showing later. I did luckily capture a shot from the car of what we were visually experiencing. In some spots we couldn't see 15 ft in front of the road. At the top of the Mountain I pressed the temp button again for about the 5th time and to my delight it read 72 degrees. AHMAZING. This might be a new location especially when it's wickedly HOT in the city! Yay I had so much fun and didn't get heat exhaustion or dehydrated! It was such a nice change of atmosphere. SCORE!

Enjoy...



Some detail shots of found junk! Way cool little spot filled with old parts from the 'ski lifts'.


There's just something about rusted metal that I can't get enough of! I'm obsessed with it & want to hang up all my photo documentation of found objects all around the house!

The Brown's Flipside Con't...

I've been looking forward to photographing Lauren, Ryan & Starla's 'FLIPSIDE' portrait session from the minute we decided on a date & location. I photographed their 'DETOUR' session last september and knew these two were going to be a blast for another session especially since they now have a new member to their family... little Starla! At first she's shy but before you know it she's cuddlin' on your lap, she's such a sweetie. Anyhow I had the most fabulous time with these three & my husband came to assist so it was quite the group. I absolutely admire how the love these two have for each other radiates around others and the camera *hearts* them. You can't complain when a couple like this has such a unique style... not everyone can pull off 'tats' N' 'heels'... AHmazing. I love my clients!!!

Enjoy...

My first attempt on a pano shot which has become a top fav.
Super fun energy though extremely hard to run in heels... ok ok so they were barely running but can ya tell?

I love how the light is luminating those tiny ears and the comparison of the shadows casted from their legs.



Hello eyes & lips*



Ok now this shot reminds me of just how close I was to the edge of the top deck... scary.  Note to self to not move around with the camera attached to your eyeball especially near stairs!
This inspiration came from the oh-so-fabulous Michelle Rasmussen when she photographed my hunky husband & I a few weeks ago for fun.  So I knew I had to test it out... though I did some 'out of focus' tweaking in post-production to achieve such a great depth of field.  I *luv it*

Everything about this image makes me smile!  And to think I was just fooling around.



Again scary angle to attempt.  Glad my husband kept reminding me just how close I was to the edge.  

Sexy hair + smoldering look = yummie!

I wasn't going to shoot at this location but am soooooo glad I did.  The texture of the concrete walls and angled loading dock leads your eye right to the emotion and Lauren's stare.


I couldn't decide on the color or b&w... what do you think? Her eyes are gorgeous in the b&w courtesy of
TRA2 'Lith-E-Yum'.

One of my favorites from the day that is totally going on the website.
So sweet & soft.  These intimate moments are what I crave.

Another inspiration from my shoot with Michelle where I had brought along a parking garage example and she found the spot with the arrows.  Thought I'd give it a try this time especially since I now had 3 silhouettes.

me2 Session

This post is long over due... I know I know. This is a continuation from a post I did a while back about miss Gabriela. Her children's portrait session was very unique. First off we were all very 'HOT' ha ha... as in temperature even though we decided to do an early morning shoot. Hence you'll see how her hair drastically changes from being completely down to braided and out of her face... I love it though. We only got to do two outfit changes and one location since it was so miserable outside. I've put these up on the website a while back but wanted to share with all of you my favorites. I am so honored that I was asked again to photograph this little girl. I took her pictures when she was two years old (which was her second time being photographed professionally since being teeny tiny) and now I got to do it again for her 3rd time at 5 years old. Mom has already agreed to hand over her pay checks since she's going to be broke after displaying the playfully amazing artwork in her home! Can't wait to show you her displays that we've created. Don't forget that if you can't arrange or create your own gallery wall I am more than happy to come to your house and design it with you. Most think 8x10's are perfectly fine but once they see the impact of a 30x40 on a blank wall they are forever changed & WOW'd.

Enjoy...

Back from Chicago!

Yay!  I'm back from my week long vacation in Chicago!  Of course I have lots of images to share but for now I am still unpacking.  My husband & I went all over the place... from Sears Tower, Millennium Park, Lincoln Park, and Lake Shore Drive.  They have the most amazing artwork & sculptures all around the streets.  We even got to visit some home decor stores we absolutely LOVE but don't have here in Tucson. Don't laugh if you have these... Tucson is so far behind compared to big cities.  We found 'West Elm' (which is getting a location soon in Scottsdale!!!) & 'CB2'.  After seeing some items we've been eyeball-in' in the catalogs we get practically every other week... we decided were definitely ordering some key pieces for our home!  Check em' out:

www.westelm.com

www.cb2.com

I was too lazy to link them... sorry!

House Remodel Con't...

Cotton candy anyone? Seriously that's what I think of every time I walk out into the main entertainment room. This room has had the most dramatic change out of our whole house. Yes, practically our whole house is going under a remodel but this section has taken most of our attention and strength. I think after this last weekend of hanging the roof insulation I now have 'buns of steel'... REALLY! We must have gone up & down our ladders hundreds of times but boy did we BAM it out. We do have just a little more to hang over a bedroom we exposed to the space but I am so proud of our accomplishments. And to say that my husband & I did it as a TEAM is amazing. We can't wait to share all of our progress with all our closest family & friends when the project is complete. Stay tuned for more updates!

Enjoy...

Yes, the insulation is sort of hung backwards and has a paper backing but in order to insert the long strips under & between the metal hat channels that the dry wall will connect to, we had to hang it paper side up. Make sense? Basically it was a whole heck of a lot easier to drag it across the wood ceiling with the paper back side facing it. Once we hang another layer of insulation it will be coated with another layer of paper (more fire resistant) and then the dry wall.


Larger view of the whole room (living room & kitchen & new dining space)! Oh and notice the plastic wrapped couch in the lower left corner... we haven't sat on that dang thing for over a year now... and barely broke it in when we got it. I think we sat on that amazing piece we custom designed for only 3 months before we started the demo! Note to anyone remodeling... don't buy it until you are absolutely positively ready for it other wise you will be moving it like a million trillion times! Seriously! Pay no attention to the purple walls! What were we thinking? At the time we were going for a modern loft feel with silvers & purples but now were leaning towards WHITE & painting with accessories so all the custom wood finishes can be the main pride & joy.