We celebrated Mother’s Day last Sunday with my cousins & their two beautiful families. The spring flowers have been exploding in the backyard, so I was so excited to use them as a backdrop for a few quick portraits. We ran outside just before sunset, & gathered the mamas with their getting-too-big-too-fast children, ranging from age 9 months to 13 years…How quickly it all goes by!
Ingrid, Paul, & their kids Cassandra, Theo, Evangeline, & Zach
Beth and her son Kyle
I have had the special joy of chronicling the growing family of Alice & Chong Roh over the last few years. Last weekend, they celebrated their tenth anniversary! These photos were such fun to do with their spirited kids, Zachary, Kristyn, & Micah, & Gramma Helen. Their family is stylish, fun, & in constant motion–and I think our shoot in Old Pasadena reflected their personalities! Congratulations, Alice & Chong, on a decade of joy & children & the marriage journey…and here’s to the next ten years!
Yoshie is good friends with Nami Mizoguchi, whom I shot just a couple weeks ago; they were both pregnant & were due around the same time (Nami’s baby boy Ray has since arrived!). I was so happy to be asked to do Yoshie’s pregnancy portraits after she saw Nami’s & liked them. I had such fun with Yoshie, her husband Hiroyuki, & their daughter Sakura–who was just the sweetest little blossom! When I met Yoshie to go over her wardrobe, she said, “I don’t have much black or white” (which is what I often suggest); instead, she had lots & lots of floral prints, because they used to live in Hawaii. I said, “We HAVE to do one outfit with the flowers–it’s so you!” So, we did, & I’m so glad, because the bright colors reflect their joy & unique tastes. I think I have a whole new attitude toward prints! Thank you, Chiwatas, for a wonderful morning! I can’t wait to hear the good news of Baby Sister’s arrival!
I had just done portraits for Aimée’s son Marco, & she asked about doing some headshots for a project she is working on–choreography to the poetry of Rumi. I was so excited by the idea of creating portraits that would be interpretations of Aimée as the poetry–romantic, magical, mystical, earthy, sexy, dramatic. I had such an inspired session with her–and was so impressed by how game & courageous she was to move & expand into these different versions of herself. Make-up artist, Lizette Perez, created two distinct looks for Aimée, & she embodied both with such ease. Between locations, Aimée & talked about Life–and in these portraits, I hope that she sees what a butterfly emerging she truly is…This post features a few from our first segment, which included a hike up a hill–a perfect metaphor for just the beginning of our visual, poetic, & collaborative journey…
…wood nymph…
…mesmerizing gypsy…
…simple poetry…
…shimmering crescendo…
