Wooohoooo! I LOVE being a girl. You get to play dress up, wear pink and put on lipgloss…
…you often receive flowers and look cute even while hard at work…
…and there’s not a soul on earth who can resist a cute girl with a smile!…
…except for maybe troublemakers like your older brother 🙂
Here’s to all the girly girls 🙂 and their dastardly brothers who couldn’t live without them!
And a big thank you to my older brother today – who took me out to lunch 🙂
xoxo,
Christa
It’s always a good time at Santa Monica Pier, with lots of adventures, activity and emotion! Take Miss Sticky Miller here… she’s my good friend’s daughter and my favorite 4 yr old on the planet. I adore her little voice and her phenomenal personality — she’s such a ray of positive energy, friendly to everyone, and quite the cutie 🙂
She was so excited to take a day off of school yesterday and go to the Pier… where she knows you can cradle exotic animals…
…Act like a true NYC cab driver…
…chase some pigeons along the boardwalk… and have a really good time! Until….
…you have to share your bag of sweeties with your mum…
…it’s okay – you can wipe it on there…
…but I know something that will cheer you up!
…and pretty soon you’ll be swinging that bag around, pointing fingers at people, and earning the name “Sticky Miller” …
…you’ll even start dancing to a beat belted out by plastic buckets… lol! and you’ll dance like no-one’s watching 🙂
I adore this little girl!… and all her up/down/silly/around moments between this…
…and this!
Stay tuned for Sticky Miller’s second half of the day, involving red balloons and a red dress – two of my favorite things!
xoxo,
Christa
Jack and Samantha are two of the sweetest siblings I’ve ever met. These two are thick as thieves! They have a unique bond, which is apparent the moment you meet them… They adore one another, and I don’t say that lightly. Just look at the sepia pic above – how their hands are gripped tight, Sam’s foot on Jack’s foot, her hand on his arm, his arm around her – it’s my favorite shot, it speaks so much of their relationship. Sam looks up to her big brother with total love and abandon, trusting him to take her into the water, hold her up high, hug her tight, and follow her when she shouts “Jack, come with me!” And in return, Jack absolutely worships Samantha – can’t get enough of her! – he’ll even jump on the bed listening to a Katy Perry song, even though he hates it, just because it’s Sam’s favorite.
Here’s just a glimpse of this brother and sister in action…
Oh my goodness – how cute is this?!
Protective eye 🙂
Late summer sun… Popsicles… Playhouse rooftop… Childhood!
Wow, this session makes you feel so happy and nostalgic right?! Well that’s the beauty of my job, photographs, and kids 🙂
xoxo,
Christa
Family Photo season is in full swing!… And you all know what that means: tantrums over not wearing that sweater, fits of screaming No-no-no-no-NO!, and meltdowns of epic proportions. LOL! Every mother at some point during a photo session feels like Mrs. S in the above pic. So I’m doing this post to show moms and other photographers how I deal with the dreaded Meltdown (as pictured above) and turn it around to capture those beautiful happy smiling faces you adore 🙂
First, allow a bit of the tantrum to take place – don’t resist or threaten. Take a pic or two for posterity, to remember the good times, and to keep it real 🙂 Then the key word is: Distraction. Change it up – you’ve got to shift the energy: your tone of voice, your posture, your proximity to the child… and then Engage the little guy/gal in a quick activity that they can really get into – I usually pick something that gives them control (especially over their siblings or parents)… For this little guy it was Head-butting. That’s right Head-butting.
Who doesn’t looooove to head-butt their brother…
…And the wrestling and head-butting continues… Meanwhile, your primary job is to keep the energy high and the laughter up throughout the whole thing. I do this by laughing and egging the little guy on! Rooting and cheering for him, doing wrestling blow-by-blow commentary, etc. And of course keep clicking so they don’t know when “the real” family photos are taking place…
See?… he’s starting to kind of enjoy himself…
And that’s when I make my big move. I dare the little guy to try and head butt ME...
But I’m no chump, and I take him down! 🙂 Tickling and shooting and laughing and teasing the whole time. I keep it moving fast, so he doesn’t sink back into Meltdown.
…and how about tackling Dad?! Look how much FUN this kid is now having… and big brother joins in!…
Ah, here’s what we love… nice big genuine happy faces :)))
Hope this helps 🙂
Whew, I’m exhausted!
xoxo,
Christa
Books and pictures are two of my favorite things, so give me a good photo book, and I’m in love! I’m a freak for good story-telling, cool design, great memories, and beautiful photographs… and my hope is that I can create an album that combines all of those things. With every book I make, I’m thinking about what it will be like to crack the book open in fifty years or so… Will it tell a story, recall a memory?… will this 6 year old remember how much she loved that darned stuffed animal, how spirited her personality was, how much joy and hope she had, how she once ran and jumped on the beach with naked enthusiasm!… I’m rambling, but I just can’t express how much I love books and how much I love capturing the essence of a person, a family, friends, lovers, etc… so you can retell the story another time, another day… to someone else, or your distant future all grown-up self.
This is a Cypress Album for Batia, a wonderfully silly girl, who I had the pleasure of spending a breezy summer afternoon with…
Here are a few spread designs from her book, lovingly handcrafted by the folks at Cypress. (The grey area isn’t part of the album, it’s just so you can see the pages 🙂
I hope Batia opens this book one day and looks upon her childhood fondly…
I think that’s one of the best gifts you can give someone 🙂
xoxo,
Christa
Oh, those wacky Boxer Wachler twins!… I love these girls, especially when I learned they love to dance! Here are Jordanna and Micaela getting their freak on to “Betty Bought a Bit of Butter.” You know me, I’m always up for learning a new dance, so I paid close attention. You have to sing the lyrics asfastasyoucan, while doing what resembles a flash-dance-irish-jig of sorts. I have since mastered the Betty Butter dance, but at the time I stumbled because of a faulty flip flop. The Boxer Wachlers understood.
Note: Holding hands and hugging is optional. I like it.
Please GENTLY grab your partner, and begin!… BettyBoughtaBitofButter….
…ButTheButterWasBitter…
…SoBettyBoughtAnotherBitofButter…
…AndtheButterwasBetter!!!!…. And repeat until the kids are in college or you get a good shot. Then do the Roger Rabbit.