It's a girl!
The beautiful fall colors and the glow of this soon-to-be Mama made for a beautiful session.
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Family is everything, and this family wanted to celebrate all that had happened during the lockdown. Love, marriage, a new baby, and a big move all happened while the world was turned upside down. It was such an honor to photograph this beautiful family.
The day set record high temperatures in the California Central Valley (over 110 degrees!) but it was a beautiful ceremony filled with love, family, and smiles. The venue is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the views from the ceremony site were gorgeous.
This day was special in so many ways- it would have been the bride's maternal grandparents' 50th anniversary and the whole day was about family- the bride's Uncle officiated, and her stepfather and father walked her into the ceremony. Many of her siblings (and one of the groom's) and her cousins made up the wedding party. The groom's family traveled from Texas to be a part of the big day. Huge congratulations to Kaitlin and William! I can't believe I never published this blog entry. This session literally happened weeks before everything went topsy-turvy with co-vid 19. I am sharing it now because it was such a fun and amazing session and I can't wait to start taking portraits once again!
Megan wanted her Senior session to take place in her Grandmother's almond orchard while it was in bloom. For those of you unfamiliar with almond bloom season- it is quick! You get a week or two before the blooms are gone. It's gorgeous and I get excited about our county's blossom trail every single year. We were in luck because we got beautiful weather and blue skies for her portraits. Her Mom and Grandma let us wander around, taking our time being creative. Unlike many of the other seniors I have photographed, Megan had done her homework and knew what kind of posing she wanted to try and was was very comfortable having her pictures taken. The session was entirely shot on film. developed and scanned by The FIND Lab. With co-vid 19 quarantine and stay-at-home orders, I have only been photographing and documenting my family. However, our oldest and his family moved to our area right before the world turned upside down and they also found out they were expecting. We remained in each other's "bubble" during quarantine (watching the kids when needed) so we planned to take a few maternity photos at Thanksgiving. We knew the boys probably wouldn't cooperate with us, so we didn't expect too much and just wanted to make sure that baby Joy was documented. All images were shot on expired Focal film (it's what was already loaded in my Pentax K-1000) and developed and scanned by The FIND Lab.
She said yes on Christmas Day, a week or so later we met at the park to get some portraits to celebrate. Congratulations to my beautiful niece/goddaughter, Kaitlin, and her beau, Will. It is such an honor to share this happy time with the both of you!
All images were shot on film with Pentax K1000 and Mamiya 645J. Developed and scanned by The FIND Lab It is always a pleasure to see the Alcala family. I went to high school with Robert and have taken portraits of his family over the last five years. His boys always make me laugh and his wife and I always love to catch up. Because the boys get bored quickly, we try to incorporate some fun into the session- the boys had a few races with their Dad to see who was the fastest! I can't wait to work with them again.
All images shot on film. Developed and processed by The FIND Lab At the beginning of 2017 I decided to make a goal for my personal photography- I wanted pictures of my family doing out everyday thing. Nothing fancy, just documenting our everyday life. I was sure it was a project doomed to fail. I've tried things like this before and never got to a half-way point... I'm not sure why I thought this would be any different, but it was. I documented our family with both digital and film cameras (waiting for film scans was torture but always worth it). Now, I am at the end of this project and I have this incredible amount of pictures from the last year. I haven't quite figured out what this year's project will be, but I know I want to do another one! The best thing that came out of this project are all the little everyday moments- that I might have forgotten about- are captured for me to remember. Here are a few of my favorites from the last year.
I'm not sure if I have mentioned it on my blog before, but our son Eric is on the Autism Spectrum. He is in the moderate to severe range and sometimes that makes simple tasks, like getting a haircut, into a stress and anxiety filled situation for him. Many people on the autism spectrum are extremely sensitive to sounds and sights- to put it in perspective, imagine if I stuck you in a room with a fire truck and ambulance with lights and sirens going- this is what he deals with daily.
Now, imagine going to a salon or barbershop and all the noises that go along with it. It wasn't until he was diagnosed that I became aware of all the noise that we live with constantly. We had tried traditional haircuts a couple times, but it was just too hard. I even watched YouTube videos and cut his hair myself for awhile (it wasn't perfect, but we weren't sure what else to do). Then one of the other mom's in our local Autism Group mentioned that a friend/hairdresser of hers was willing to put a saddle on a hay bale and cut hair outdoors on her farm- to take the noise and the scariness out of the equation. We have now visited the farm on two separate occasions and now that my kids are familiar with it they are both excited to go. While they get their hair trimmed they get to watch the chickens, deer, goats, ostriches and sheep mingle. Kelly has made haircuts into something fun and taken much of the stress out of the situation for many special needs parents. I cannot thank her enough for what she has done to help families like mine and I highly recommend her services! Kelly also has an indoor salon, The Crop Shop, on her property for the more traditional visit. If you want more information or to make an appointment you can check out her Facebook page here . All images taken on my Pentax K1000 with Fuji Superia 400 and Kodak Color Plus 200 film, developed and scanned by The FIND Lab. I met up with this beautiful blended family on a super hot July day. We couldn't reschedule because their oldest was due to go back to Washington, so we toughed it out and looked for some open shade, but man that sun was harsh! I still can't believe how big all the kids are getting... time seems to fly by these days.
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AuthorHi, I'm Melissa. I am a wife, mother, step-mother, Gigi (step-grandma) and a photographer. I started out as the family member always asked to bring my camera along and it has turned into my life dream. I just love being able to capture moments for others that they can always cherish.This is my little corner to share my sessions, projects, and a little piece of our daily life. Thanks for stopping by! Archives
July 2021
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