DelaLane Photography Blog » {Tell Your Story} Newborn & Family Lifestyle Photography in Yucca Valley, Ca

Welcome to part 4 in a series of photos I’m doing for Felicity to commemorate her first year! I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter, cuter subject. This month her Mom wanted to get some photos of her in her Christening gown, a gown also worn by her big brother and big sister, and a few of her as a bunny in a basket to help commemorate her upcoming first Easter.

What a cutie. Loving this little girl more and more. By the end of this year, hopefully I’ll earn the right to be “Auntie Manda.” I’m going to feel that way, I can tell.  🙂

Check out Felicity’s first session as a newborn, Here.

What a fun session this was! If there’s one type of session that keeps me smiling during hours of editing, it’s babies. And then, doggies. They are a close second. Just as unpredictable, cute and fun. This session was super laid back. It’s hard to control two excited doggies lovin’ life. And we didn’t try. For the most part we let them have fun, and I love the photos we got of this family of 4 playing together in the desert.

This session was such a lesson for me in terms of fast focusing too, hehe. I am not a wildlife photographer. I mean, kids are fast. Dogs are FAST. It was fun to polish some technical skills and find out that I really can stop lighting-fast motion. The photo below especially makes me grin. Roxy is the younger of the 2, and it shows. She’s so funny. But Bear kept up with her pretty well, as the older gentleman.

The best part of this already awesome session? Kristina gave me a huge bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies for my drive home. Yeah. That pretty much rocked. 🙂 Thanks for all the smiles, guys. It was even harder than usual for me to choose my favorites from this session.

  • angie - OH MAN! I missed this post! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT so much! 🙂 Saw it on pinterest! 😉ReplyCancel

Jenn and I finally met after many months of anticipation, waiting for that belly to grow into a bump we could photograph. I felt like I already knew her after all our communication and emails. It was fun to finally put a face to the person with whom I’d been talking and planning for all this time. And to meet her sweet family too. This is their 4th child on the way, due in less than 2 weeks now.

I’m going to have a lot of time and opportunity to spend with this little one. Baby is another little person whose life I get to commemorate in a series of sessions over the course of the next year –  a “Year in the Life” package designed to capture baby’s first 12 months. I think it’s so great when parents want to make sure to get a permanent record of those fleeting months, and I look forward to watching this little one grow up and seeing the kind of little person he or she becomes. Yep. I said he *or* she. We don’t know yet. I am always so amazed by parents who wait to find out! I am not that patient. I didn’t wait a DAY past 20 weeks. In fact I think I left claw marks on the door to the ultrasound room. But I have to admit, it’s pretty exciting. I’m glad somebody else is allowing me the experience of all the anticipation and wondering. I don’t have the strength to hold out on my own.

Whatever baby’s gender turns out to be, he or she will be blessed with 3 big sisters. Three adorable big sisters. I couldn’t pick a favorite if I tried.

Just a few more days until we find out. Blessings on your birth and new baby, Jenn! I can’t wait to meet him or her!

One quarter through the year. I’m proud of myself. Haven’t missed a day yet – unless you include January 1st, when my memory card failed me and I lost all the images I’d taken that day. And I don’t (include it). 🙂

I also post all these photos on my personal facebook page for friends and family as I take them, and I tend to include a lot of commentary to go along with the photos. And it’s becoming such a treasure to me. I have a memory of my daughter saved from every day this year, in words and photos. It’s priceless. And the longer I do it, the more convinced of it. It’s not about every day’s photo. I’m not brilliant as a photographer or as a mother all the the time. I know a shock to you all. ;). Some days it’s harder than others to find a moment to grab the camera and be creative. But I’m committed to taking a photo no matter what – no matter how uninspired I feel or how inconvenient it seems at the time or if it’s literally only 1 or 2 frames I capture, even though my vision isn’t realized or the images are less than technically perfect. And because of that – because of the commitment to do it no matter what – there are some real gems in the mix, on the days when it does all come together. One of my favorites I’ve already printed up as a 20X30 and is hanging above this desk where I sit every day. I’m not going to print and hang them all, that’s for sure. But the great ones make the rest worth it. And I am learning a lot about how fleeting time really is and how important it is to me to bottle some of it up in little visual memories called photos. I *can’t wait* to see all these images in a photo book at the end of the year!

The one thing I think I may give up for this next quarter of a year is the black and white. I feel like I’ve already learned a lot and stretched myself quite a bit, but I haven’t changed my mind. I still LOVE color more! And I miss color images of my baby girl. So, it’s back to color – at least for the next 3 months.

Here’s March in photographs with an abbreviated key (at the bottom), a title that gives a hint of the story behind the photo…

  1. …Rapunzel…
  2. …sick day…
  3. …the moment before the pierce…
  4. …do-a-dot…
  5. …welcome home, Daddy…
  6. …cruisin’ the Depot…
  7. …movie time with the kittybings…
  8. …quick change…
  9. …sunny days…
  10. …gypsy dancing with Mima…
  11. …close up…
  12. …shhh…
  13. …cooking…
  14. …little hands…
  15. …jelly beans…
  16. …big girl play date…
  17. …the naughty chair…
  18. …catching snow…
  19. …belly…
  20. …teez (TV) with mow (kitty)
  21. …doggies…
  22. …CinderDela ironing…
  23. …hiking…
  24. …milk cup…
  25. …Mima’s house…
  26. …decorating for Easter…
  27. …silence and stickers…
  28. …flying with Mima…
  29. …in rollers…
  30. …”bath” time…
  31. …Momma’s flops…

Check out Daily Dose of ‘Dela in January, and in February too!

This session goes down as one of my favorites of the past year for sure. Bianca was so excited the first time I talked to her – full of good ideas – and she and Clinton did an amazing job of pulling it all together, a mid-century modern session complete with the ultimate dress, shoes, props, architecture, the entire look. Initially when we started shooting in front of the Palm Springs Tram Filling Station, we actually got confronted by someone in charge thinking that we were shooting commercially without permission. That’s how great they looked! Luckily, it’s *just* an engagement shoot for personal use so he let it go. But it was funny to get that kind of reaction.

Clinton is in the building business and is somewhat of an architecture buff. I learned a little bit more about what constitutes mid-century modern and spotting the copycat versions that irk real designers. It just so happens that our session took place during Modernism Week in Palm Springs, a week celebrating the unique style that became known as Desert Modernism. I’m far from an expert at this point, but still, I love it when my clients teach me a little something new.

For the last part of our session, as the sky started turning pink and orange, we happened upon the Street Fair and took a stroll through the tents. Other than poor Bianca’s feet taking a beating, I’d say it was an altogether perfect session. Great couple, gorgeous evening, fun night.

Congratulations, you two. You are truly an adorable couple. You take great pictures and obviously have so much fun together. Best in life, love and marriage. Thank you for an awesome session!

F a c e b o o k
R e c e n t   P o s t s
M y   F a m i l y
I n s t a g r a m