52 Week Project - Week 42

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.

This is my nephew, but in all honesty, I think it could be just about any little boy out there. The focus, the concentration, the complete oblivion to anybody else around. They get lost in their toys and I don't think they ever really outgrow that trait.

52 Week Project - Week 41

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.

The end of the year is far too rapidly approaching and I need to catch up on posting for this project. Keep checking back, you might see a sudden flurry of activity. This was from week 41.

My three little ragamuffins. They fill my heart! Of course we have days with whining and fighting and telling tales on one another (no pretense here of a perfect family, with perfectly well behaved children at all times) but they are the best of friends. They really do love each other and what more could a mother ask for?

Their relationships with each other will change over the years, but I will have the proof of the love. As I look at this photograph I can almost fast forward to the teenage years and I have high hopes that they will look out for one another when we cannot be there. The big brother with his arms around his sisters, fending off all his friends who are vying for their affections. He is a great brother, but I am far from ready for those days. It kind of terrifies me!

One day at a time, living in the now...sometimes that is all we can, or should, do.

52 Week Project - Week 40

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.

My children are so good for me. They constantly remind to loosen up and lighten up. Our lives can be filled with 'should' when maybe we just need to breathe and think about what we might want to do, what might refresh us and lift our spirits.

These three could spend hours just running from the waves, they love it! I love to watch them having fun, the smiles on their faces, the giggles and squeals, the exhausted shivering when all is said and done and I get to bundle them up in a towel. One day they will, most likely, grow out of this and calmly sit and watch the waves as they munch on their lunch, but for now I will enjoyed the wasted lunches they were too busy having fun to eat. I will take my snapshots and try to think of the things that bring me such joy.

What do your children teach you?

The Engels' Sneak Peek {Bay Area Family Portrait Photographer}

Our first shoot date we were rained out, but the following weekend we could not have asked for a more beautiful morning. This adorable family, not only got up at the crack of dawn, they even bathed their kids and made it down to Crissy Field an hour after sunrise. Amazing. I was duly impressed!

I am not a morning person, as my husband will confirm, but the light was gorgeous and made it all worthwhile. There was not even a hint of fog, the sky was perfectly blue and we were able to get the bridge in the background as we had hoped for.This family was fun and relaxed. Photographing younger children, but really with any age, this is key. Children will pick up on any stress or tension and this is a time for laughter and fun and enjoying being together. Let the little things go and go with the flow.

This pair are great parents and the love they have for their boys is clearly evident. I love it, especially, when a father is not afraid to show affection, we need more dads like this in the world. We got some family shots, parent and child and even a few with just mom and dad. How often has that happened since your wedding day?

Hattie and Kurt I hope you enjoy your sneak peek, your full gallery should be up in just a few more days.

52 Week Project - Week 39

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.

Still playing catch-up, but I'm getting there slowly.

I love this photo, I love that children have no personal space boundaries. A ride for one, would be way more fun with three, right? This is my daughter in the front, with two little buddies behind her. We, the parents, are all good friends and as we embarked on the journey of parenthood, our children joined us.

I remember when my husband first brought me to California, it was a whole new beginning. A new country, new home, no friends and so many unknowns. I was very shy and would prefer for him to do the speaking, after all, my accent drew attention that I had no desire for. 

That was thirteen years ago and so much has changed. This really does feel like home and a large part of that is the many wonderful friends that we have made over the years. We became friends as young marrieds, some were still single and brought their spouses into our little mix and we went on to have families together. What fun and what a blessing.

We are all so much busier these days than we were back then, but on birthdays, or play dates or other gatherings when we all get together, there is so much joy and so much laughter and an ease and familiarity that can only come with time. These are the people I can turn to in times of need, these are the people I can share my frustrated moments with. Friends are those who listen and know when to do just that, when to respond, or when to pray. Friends know you!

What are the things that you cherish most about your friendships? I would love to hear.

52 Week Project - Week 38

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.

I love trees. There are people who would rather be in the mountains, or at a beach, or in the countryside, but there is something about being in the woods that captures me. There is a certain mystery, a romanticism. Old weathered leaves coupled with new shoots of life. The sound of a stream, or a bird, or the crunching underfoot. Whatever 'it' is, stirs something within me that excites me. I can breathe more deeply and feel more fully.

We recently took the children to Muir Woods, a place that is amazing, but also throws me for a loop. Where else would you find paved paths, in a wood? I understand that it makes life easier for families with strollers, or the disabled in wheelchairs but I cannot truly enjoy my woods experience until we have ventured onto the trails. It takes away from the natural and brings in the man-made and I want to enjoy nature in all it's glorious natural beauty. Don't even get me started on the entrance fee! Our visit was on a National Parks Free Day, for which I am grateful.

52 Week Project - Week 37

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.

I love roses, the way they look and the way they smell. The most perfect of flowers. Yes they can grow in many, many places, but they remind me of my home country. An English Rose, a country garden, tea with scones and clotted cream (sigh).

I appreciate Anne Bronte's sentiment, that often with beauty there will come sacrifice, hard work, maybe even pain. We should not expect for everything to be easy and beautiful. It is not a right, or a foregone conclusion. Beauty must be protected, treasured, fought for. How often we yearn for life to be easier, whatever that may mean, at any time. Yet are we prepared for the thorns that will accompany? We need to embrace the hardships, the struggles and difficulties and then we will truly see the beauty that is already before us and value it all the more.

52 Week Project - Week 36

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.

With Arran and Bryttain in school again, Asia and I have had our mornings together, on our own. She is such an easy, happy little girl and her sweet smile can brighten up the dullest day. She has energy and enthusiasm and a zest for life. She is my little friend, she accompanies me on errands, or walks, we read together and explore together and I cherish these moments. I know that, all too soon, she also will be in school, and these special days are numbered.

It is a privilege to watch her grow and learn and know that I play a part in shaping the person she is becoming.

52 Week Project - Week 35

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph; snapshots from my life.


It was the first day of school, at a new school.

The day did not start off all smiles. It was traumatic, to say the least. I was one parent, taking two, very anxious kids to a new school and I could only be in one place at a time. There were tears, many tears...and then I left the school with my little Asia and sat in the minivan and I cried.  I had had to leave both my children in tears and felt like they would feel abandoned and as though I had not been there for them. Their fear-filled, tear drenched faces will be etched in my memory for ever, as their arms reached out for me. I felt like a horrible mother, a failure!


Our role as parents though, is to encourage our children in new things. To allow them to spread their wings, in safe places, to give them the freedom they can handle, knowing that they will always have a place of love and security to return to. As they grow and learn, their world expands, their little minds will never be the same.


By the end of their first day they were all smiles, with stories of new friends made and wonderful teachers. There were rough days that followed, it was not over in one day, but we all knew that it would be okay.

52 Week Project - Week 34

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph.

Well I have had week 34's photograph picked out for a while...but I am stumped on a quote for this one...and have been getting nowhere fast! So I decided to go ahead and post it anyway, instead of holding the rest up and I need YOUR input! I can come back and add the quote later.

In the last few days of finishing up at our old house, the house was pretty much empty. They did a great job of keeping themselves entertained for a long stretch, and then we would set up the laptop and let them watch a movie. Arran is here, playing a game on daddy's iphone and I think the movie had ended, based on the fact that nobody is actually looking at the screen anymore.

They are so wonderful at just hanging out together and truly enjoy each others' company (for a good 70% of the time, I would estimate)!

So if you have any ideas for a suitable quote, please let me know in the comments, or facebook or e-mail me. Let me know if it is something you have made up, or if the quote is credited to somebody, so that I can include that too. I'll keep my thinking cap on as well and hopefully week 34 will be complete before the end of the year, as I finish up this project. 

52 Week Project - Week 33

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph.

We have all had days like that. We are just done with the day! The ten days following our move, were exhausting and boring and just full of the mundane tasks like sorting through 'stuff' that was not moving with us and of course the cleaning.

My poor dear children. They were able to spend some time with various friends, who took pity on us, and them, but there were several days when they just had to come with us and suffer through it. Quality time was most certainly at a minimum and we were all pushed to our limits. This was the cute, sad yet adorable sight in the back of our van on one of those days. They were thoroughly exhausted, I mean how often does a seven year old fall asleep in the car, when you are only driving thirty minutes? Long road trip - maybe, but never on a short trip like that.

Love, love them so much!

Little Boy's Superhero Sign

Do you have a son who loves superheroes, or at least the idea of them? I do! He said he wanted a superhero room, but there wasn't a particular superhero he wanted, it was more the idea, and the superhero colors, apparently. Needless to say, his room is progressing slowly.

So I decided to make him a sign for his room and next up is working on a cape and mask to hang in there too.

I love how it turned out, so I decided to share it with anyone who might be interested.

I had it printed as an 11"x14", had it mounted and lustre coated.

I have uploaded the jpeg to mediafire, a free file hosting site, so any and all are welcome to download it for free. Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?dpalpqrd6xc3kc3

52 Week Project - Week 32

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph.

This photograph was taken on the morning of our official moving day, August 13th, 2001, far too early in the morning!

We did not move far, in the grand scheme of things, but it signified a lot of change for our family. We had to leave behind the most wonderful school for our children, some of our best friends, and a comfortable way of life that we had become quite used to. The rhythms and patterns and routines that made up our family whilst we lived there, have changed significantly.

The change is not bad, but it is change and it takes time to transition as a family to a whole new way of life.

My little disclaimer. I have enjoyed finding quotes to go with each photograph for this project, but I always make sure to find out who the person is that I am quoting, if I do not already know them. I won't be quoting anybody who I find totally offensive or who I consider inappropriate. I can assure you I had no idea who Dave Mustaine was! But it did make me chuckle and the quote was completely relevant...even if his style of music is not quite my cup of tea! ;p

How to make a Camera Strap Cover

A few weeks ago, when I was exhausted from packing up a house as we prepared to move, my husband had to unexpectedly fly out of town for the weekend to attend a family funeral. There were 101 things that needed to get done, I was overwhelmed and I just needed a break. I realized I needed a creative outlet, a new little project. It was a good time to make myself a camera strap cover!

I was bored of my standard strap, and let's face it, black and yellow do not exactly coordinate nicely with the majority of outfits, not a high cuteness factor going on there! (I guess now would also be a good time to apologize for my lack of makeup or cute outfit...I was home alone with three kids, no husband, and no plan for leaving the house - thank you for your understanding!)

This was an easy to make item. It did not take long at all and could be kept as simple, or jazzed up as much as you would like. I have not attempted a tutorial before and in hindsight realize it would be better to take more photographs along the way, but you get the idea. Let me know if it all makes sense or if you have any questions.

I started out knowing that I wanted something kind of neutral for my background and went exploring my fabric stash. But I also wanted a pop of color to prevent it feeling too drab, so I bought a couple of spools of ribbon (at only $1 each) from Michaels.

Start by cutting two rectangles. Each should be 1" longer than the length of strap you want covered and 1" wider.

I'm not sure this next step is entirely necessary, but I had fusible interfacing on hand so I cut it to size and ironed it to my black and white fabric, which was just a simple cotton. I thought it would give it some reinforcement and help the finished cover keep it's shape.

Iron and hem the ends of both rectangles.

Place both rectangles, right side facing right side and stitch along the entire length, on just one side. Open and iron flat, as above.

These next few steps are completely optional, but I wanted to add color and texture, so I decided to add ruffles.

Cut ribbon to twice the length of your rectangles.

Use a gathering foot and stitch along the length of the entire ribbon. DO NOT back-stitch at the start or end, or you will not be able to gather. Remove the ribbon and holding one thread at the bottom, gently start pulling the ribbon away from you, pushing it back onto itself. It should start to gather up and you can push the gathering up and play with it to roughly even it out along the length of the ribbon.

Sew in place, down the center of your top fabric strip.

Repeat with second ribbon, if using. Also, in case you are curious, this is what a gathering foot looks like.

If you do not own one and have no interest in buying one (mine came with my machine) you could also use your longest stitch length and lower the tension of your thread (check your owner's manual) to do a gathering stitch.

Once again, fold your (now attached) two rectangles so that right side faces right side again, sew along the entire length, thus creating a long tube. The ruffles are on the inside.

Turn right side out. I used the eraser end of a pencil to help gently ease it through the entire length.

Slip onto your camera strap, re-attach strap to camera and look way cuter than you did before!

52 Week Project - Week 31

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph.

My baby girl. She is a tough cookie. From very early on she would take the knocks and the bumps and the falls that would send other kids her age wailing for mommy, dust herself off and keep going. With two older siblings, she has always been convinced that she can, and should, do anything that they able to do too.

We moved about six weeks ago and she now has lots of new friends her age to play with, when her brother and sister go to school. She is surrounded by little boys and she plays as hard as they do; she can be a pirate and swing her sword and do everything that little boys do. She is not intimidated, or reticent in the slightest, she is just a little go-getter.

Yet, she still loves to be told how pretty she is. She loves to put on a lovely dress and twirl and dance. She comes to life in a different way and I love it! She is growing up so fast and changing by the day, becoming more confident and more beautiful. She is truly amazing.

52 Week Project - Week 30

My kids LOVE their cousins. Of course they love their friends too, but it really is different with the bonds and familiarity of family. Add to that the fact that life is so busy and we do not get to see them nearly as often as we would like, which brings in an almost-novelty-effect.

They are as thick as thieves, especially the two older girls who are also both little daredevils and risk-takers. The teenage years will be an interesting time for both our households, I sense.

The picture above was taken after some serious make-up experimentation (as only a five and six year old can do) necessitated some hardcore cleaning, they most certainly could not leave the house looking like this.They were happy little campers though!

God made us cousins because he knew our moms couldn't handle us as sisters! - Anonymous. 

This might be the more fitting quote.

52 Week Project - Week 29

*Just as a reminder, this is a personal project I am undertaking this year, in order to shoot more and share more. Each week of 2011 will have a corresponding favorite photograph.

I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of posting from my 52 week project. I cannot believe that we are already in week 37, this year is speeding by! So without wasting any more time, here is the picture from week 29.

This was her first day of school. Officially a kindergartener! She was excited and ready to go. She felt confident and comfortable. She had spent the past two years watching her older brother at this school, in the very same class, with the very same teacher. As a K/1 class, she was even familiar with half of her classmates.

For me it was, and is, so bitter sweet; my baby girl growing up and leaving home (well not quite yet, but almost). I love the quote I found, which describes raising children from my perspective, so perfectly. We have to let go, to let them grow up and become the people they are, in their own right. Yet at the same time we keep holding on, keep loving, keep being there for them and encouraging them to their full potential. What an honor and a challenge.

Love that little girl and so incredibly proud of her!

Wedding - Ben and Hannah's Sneak Peek {Bay Area Wedding Photographer}

Theirs is no ordinary love story...it is the stuff that movies are made of. She was born in England, to American parents; he is Scottish, but grew up in Holland. They did not meet in any of those countries however, they met in Africa!

She was a volunteer nurse and he was a teacher, on the Africa Mercy Ship. Their first kiss was on Deck 7 (the outdoor deck) very late one night, and their first date was at a Thai restaurant in Benin. He proposed last year in San Francisco at the Top of the Mark, we took engagement photos a few days later...then he had to leave.

Wedding preparations went ahead, in faith. It must have seemed like an eternity, and thank goodness for modern technology and the many hours of phone calls. The weeks leading up to the wedding they were still anxiously awaiting his INS interview and for him to be granted his fiance visa.

But this was a love that was meant to be, and in the end it all came together for a glorious occasion; a beautiful bride, a day full of joy and laughter and tears, as speeches touched our hearts. They gave the glory to God as they were surrounded by friends and family from near...and very far. All the waiting was finally over.

They are now Mr. and Mrs. Calvert! Thank you for letting me document your special day...enjoy your sneak peek of a few highlights.

Fellow photographer, David Nelson, took photos of the guys as they got ready.

Excuses, excuses...

To those of you who have been checking in...and finding nothing new, I am so sorry! The last month or so has been crazy busy as we prepared for a move, shot a wedding, moved...the kids started a new school, the hubby is now back in school, and we are still trying to unpack.

Keep checking back, I have an awesome sneak peek from the wedding to share (any day now), as well as many weeks of photos from my 52-week project.

New In!

I know it has been slow on here lately. We are gearing up for a move next week and I have been working on

designing my new business cards.

They arrived today... :)

I chose a linen texture and opted for a folded card.

They are a deep brown, like dark chocolate. I'm not very active on Twitter, but if you want to follow me my name is #Chocolate_Helps!!!! If you know me, you know I LOVE chocolate.

Two designs, one for weddings and one for family portraiture. I will probably have many more printed, with different photographs, now that I have my basic design finished.

OK...back to the packing!