Here’s part two of last weekend’s awesome double-header. After the maternity session Mignonne, James, and I headed to Diamond Bar where they were warmly welcomed by their friends and family. It was really nice to see everyone get together and party in anticipation of their unborn son. Hats off to the hostess for putting together such a great gathering!

Please enjoy!

Check out mom & dad when they were kids!

(I don’t know what it is either.)

I snuck in for a pic too!

After everyone said their good-bye’s, we hung around and caught a few more intimate moments.

A while back, I was approached by Mignonne to do some portraits. Her and her husband James are expecting a baby boy in April and wanted to capture this special time in their lives with photos. I am always up to do “belly sessions” because to me, it’s the natural “next step” after getting married. Plus, how could I turn down participating in (and capturing) this important part of their family history?

So, this past Saturday they were in town attending their baby shower (hosted by their awesome friend, Jean) and the three-and-a-half of us got together a few hours before it began to shoot around. We met at noon on a very sunny and otherwise beautiful day which, though great for picnics and outdoor fun-in-the-sun, is not the best time to take photos. (It’s a good thing to keep in mind when planning any photo sessions or wedding ceremony start times: full sun during early afternoon equals harsh lighting conditions, which equals not-so-great photos.)

Nevertheless, knowing this beforehand I took some time a few days before and drove around the area we were going to be in so that I could find the best spots to photograph my expectant couple. Because we only had a couple of hours before the baby shower, I didn’t want to waste time finding locations the day of.

It definitely paid off. Please kindly enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them :o)

Sorry about not updating my blog in a while. My alter-ego day job has been keeping me quite busy. Things are hectic since I recently moved over to join a new team and have been suffering at the hands of the newbie learning curve. My new boss seems cool, except that he wants to keep me busy. But anyway, we were able to squeeze in a portrait session with Branden this past weekend. His parents wanted to get some images of him to share with friends and family, as well as to capture moments of him while he’s still in that newborn stage. I hadn’t seen him for a week and already, he’s changed so much. His face looks chubbier, he moves around a lot, and his eyes open to stare at you when he’s awake. It’ll be interesting to see his growth by next week.

Which brings me to an important note. I recently came across this great article that stressed the importance of frequently having professional portraits taken of your children as they grow up. It’s exactly for the reason that they grow so fast that you want to do this. Sure, snapshots are fun too but an image taken by a professional with pro-level equipment brings the enjoyment onto another level. The value of a beautiful family treasure that can be enjoyed for years (and by future generations) offsets the price of the photo session.

I hope that Ann and Chuck (as well as Branden, and the rest of our family) enjoy these images for years to come. If you would like a portrait session done of your children, feel free to get in touch with me. My contact info is on the about me page :)

I think he just woke up here:

And here he is getting sleepy again. Babies don’t stay awake very long.

Yup. They don’t stay awake for very long at all.

Must be dreaming something nice.