3 Queens

This Beautiful Short Film Shows Exactly What It Is That A Stay-At-Home Mom Does All Day
“My mom teaches me about the world, my mom is a cleaner, my mom is a doctor, my mom is an angel.”

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."    - Isaiah 66:13 

While surfing the web this morning, I came across this simple, short, 2 minute film showing just a  fraction of what it means to be a "stay at home mom". The film itself is a bit crudely put together, however it is all heart and very accurately shows the sacrifice, love and nurturing that goes on in the home, to those who are called upon the Lord to do the most important of all jobs, raising and nurturing their children.

The actual video can be found here. http://vimeo.com/76834417

Playful Abandon On a Southern California Beach

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” - Psalm 127:3-5 

The more I do family portraiture, the more I feel the Lord reminding me that this is where He has called me to put forth my efforts, photographically. It is the joyous celebration of the family and the honor of getting to spend an hour or two with young people and their families, simply hanging out for a late afternoon and documenting a day at the beach, or at the local park.... Just watching and enjoying the joy of children at play and parents loving on their kids.




I first met Kenlyn as a complete stranger when she had her oldest daughter baptized at Leadbetter beach here in Santa Barbara couple of months ago. I was taking portraits of all of the people being baptized and the picture (above) of her and her daughter were among my favorites for that day.

Fast forward another month or two and it turns out that we ended up in the same small group that meets on Friday nights.  After a couple of weeks, I got a call from her asking if I would be willing to do a shoot with her and her three daughters. Absolutely! We decided to meet at Butterfly beach near the Biltmore hotel last Saturday, about an hour before Sundown.

One of things I love about doing shoots like this, is to just let the kids run around and do their thing and then just candidly "snipe" shots and just go with the flow of what the children want to do.  If they want to run, let them run! If they want to run TOWARDS you, even better!

We turned the kids loose on the beach and let them do their thing. As it turns out, the oldest daughter was a bit shy and kept a bit distant, while the middle girl was a bit more of a social butterfly and a bit of a flirty ham. She kept asking me to take her picture (How could I resist? ;0) She was an absolute joy to photograph as she was always smiling and even willing and able to take direction and pose. It was pretty much impossible not to get a perfect shot of her. ;0)

As I was shooting the girls, a song lyric kept popping into my head as I was reminded of the song "Soliloquy" from the musical Carousel. The song is about the hero "Bill" just learning the amazing news that he is going to be a dad. As he goes on and on about how he is going to raise his son to be a tough, no-nonsense kind of a guy, reality smacks him in the face and he says "Wait a minute, what if he, is a she?" He then instantly starts thinking about the beautiful precious little girl and thinks of her growing up to be "A neat and petite little tin-type of her mother..." A "tin-type" being a old photograph, ie an exact copy.

Watching the girls do their thing, I marveled at how much they looked like their mom. Genetics are funny like that....

"Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Luke 18:15-17

Lastly, this is the third family I have photographed in two weeks. Coincidentally, each family has had small children. In my Bible reading the other day, I was reading the book of Luke and read the verse above. Seeing these families and their small children, this verse really hit home to me what child-like innocence and trust in The Lord is all about in our relationship with Jesus. We are all called to receive and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ just as little children.

It's funny... I am reminded that sometimes we have earthly models of God's love and grace in the seemingly ordinary and mundane things in life. Sometimes we can see the Lord and his various attributes at work, simply by watching child-like joy, laughter and all-out playful abandon on a Southern California beach, on a late Saturday afternoon.

What a beautiful sight to behold.

=BM=

The Lashua Family

One major benefit of doing newborn photography is getting the chance to see these beautiful, tiny infants grow up right before my eyes.  The Lashua's are good, dear friends of mine, so I called them up to see if they would like to update their family photos and the agreed!

We got to hang out at Leadbetter beach in Santa Barbara and enjoy a gorgeous late afternoon "kicking it" on the beach

Two Year Reunion

 

A couple of weeks ago I received a call from the McAvoy family wanting to do an update to their family portraits I did two years ago.

Before I go on, I need to give a little background on this particular shoot.

Two years ago, My good friend and fellow photographer Kenji Fukudome had auctioned off a family portrait session for a local charity, which the McAvoy's won.  Unfortunately, Kenji was out of the country when baby Sia came into this world, so he asked if I would fill in. I agreed.


Having never shot a family portrait session before, I went in just a tad nervous as I had never met the clients before the shoot, and as a single, unmarried bachelor, with no children of my own, I did not know what to expect.

Long story short, I had an absolutely amazing experience!. The McAvoys were an absolute joy to work with on every level. In fact, I had such a positive experience, I decided that family portraiture is an are that I would lie to specialize in!

Here we are, two years later, baby Sia has grown into a precocious two year old and older sister Keira was just a bundle of joyful energy.

I wanted to thank the McAvoy family for allowing me to spend an afternoon with them enjoying some quality time with them at the beach. Better yet, thank you for the beautiful honor and the opportunity to document the growth of your children.

=BM=