...so I love props of all kinds with kids photography, but sometimes it's the simple things that make a memorable shot.

I have buckets and blankets, wagons, pinwheels, baskets and platters, knitted cocoons, tutus and headbands, fedoras and beanies, vintage suitcases, typewriters and telephones.    I have backdrops of all sorts from fabrics, boards, tin and printed professional nonglare vinyl/canvas.  Because of years spent in the antiques business, I entered into children's photography ready for any type of image a parent could desire.  

But it's not always about the props, it's about the kids.  Not stiff posed kids but sweet innocent children who believe that the prop is a real part of the moment.  That's the hard part.  That's what I am good at.

I am the oldest kid in the studio.  I am the kid that didn't have any toys (or friends) in childhood, or that took the pain of my childhood out on the few toys I had...I didn't deserve them.  I wasn't good enough.*  So I become the child along with the one I am photographing.  I am excited to play with these toys and share them with my new friends, we have a good old time.

I noticed with my own children that the toys rarely got played with regularly.  They preferred the box or the adventure of imagination.  We played together making costumes, blanket forts and tea parties.  I now chase my grandson, crawling on all fours as a dog or a cat.  We play peekaboo and marching band with the pots and wooden spoons.  

His baby brother is due any day now.  I wanted a picture of him interacting with the baby in his mama's belly.  We've been reading books about babies, I wonder how real all of this is to him.  So I made him a new toy to "talk" to the baby with.  This is a shot of that interaction.  You can see more shots of this 10 minute mini session on my Facebook fan page.
  

See more images with props at Iheartfaces  latest challenge here.

*Note:  I am fortunate that my family has overcome the challenges we all suffered when I was a child and I have a wonderful relationship with my parents.  They love being great grandparents and I look forward their continued wisdom in my life.

...so crazy can be whimsical (in a photographer), right?

I look like a normal baby boomer grandmother but inside I cherish the wonder of a little girl, I have a running quirky commentary asking "WHY?" and can be quite the smarty pants.  That's why I love photography.  I can express that in my photography.  I think that's where my daughter Samantha get's her slightly off center point of view in her photography as well.  Is that what whimsy is?

When my oldest daughter had a bug party we helped plan and made a photo booth as well as photographed the festivities.  Samantha did the face painting and this is her favorite shot from that day in the Iheartfaces.com whimsy challenge.  You can see more whimsical images here!

So trying to photograph a large family with boys is like trying to catch a greased pig...

it can be done but it'll wear everybody out!  Well maybe it wasn't all that bad but it was hard!  My baby brother and his family were out for the weekend, celebrating their son's gaduation in my backyard as a family graduation pool party.  The next day I wanted to take a family portrait for them and they brought clothes to wear (mom brought an assortment of outfits...so fun).

I had hoped to get them up early while the morning overcast was still around but not only would they not get up, they had a hard time getting going as well.  I didn't want their mom to stress out at them because I probably wouldn't get a happy family picture that way so we just worked with what they gave us.  That's the real Chavez family anyway, we don't sit still well and we don't go until we are good and ready.

This is one of three places I photographed them.  Before I took this one, I had them jump around, kick like ninjas and wrestle a little.  The boys love this one and I am happy with the attitude mom has, just going with it even though she wanted to strangle them all morning.  The session took about an hour and I am tempted to make a stop motion of all their shenanigans it took to get the shots.  I wish we didn't have the harsh summer morning sun but it is what it is.  What do you think?

To see more images of boys, this weeks theme on Iheartfaces.com just go here!

So the theme is yellow...

for Iheartfaces.com weekly challenge.  This image is from an engagement session I did with my daughter that was so much fun with the cutest couple!  You can have a sneak peak of our new website and a stopmotion video of their complete session at an abandoned mansion that was so cool...

at Vintage Modern Photography...Look for the cinema tab to see it.   Heidi and Brett love the movie "Benny & Joon" and that was the inspiration for their engagement pictures.  Here they are in a field of yellow wild flowers.  You can see more images inspired by yellow HERE!

So every spring I buy flowers, I grow flowers...

...and I photograph flowers.  I just can't get enough of the flowers blooming everywhere from my white star magnolia that blooms in January along with the roses (only in California folks) to the full bloom riot of color in April and whatever chooses to pop up each month afterwards, I am picking, arranging, buying and planting flowers.  Here is an arrangement of storebought parrot tulips with homegrown lilacs (that took me 4 dead plants til I finally planted one that liked it here)

I carried around my favorite log vase filled with the pretty blossoms and photographed them all over the house for just the right setting.  I photographed them in my bathroom, in the entry where they sat and then on the window seat where I liked the colors in the afternoon filtered light best.  I added some artistic filters in Photoshop and a texture because I wanted it to look like an old master painting.  I am making a set to print on canvas for my guest bedroom.  What do you think?  

You can see more pretty flower photographs at in this weeks challenge at Iheartfaces.