November 2008 Archive

On Monday, I got the honor of photographing the birth of baby Rayce.  This was my first ever experience with birth (other than my own, of course) and I am so glad that my friend’s Jodi and Adam trusted me to photograph this miraculous event.  It was a long but rewarding day.  A healthy baby boy was born at 3:59pm, weighing just over 8lbs and 20.5 inches tall.  It was a very emotional moment, even I shed some tears from behind my viewfinder.  

Ok, I’ll admit it.  I shed some tears editing these photos today.  It was an amazing experience that I am having trouble putting in to words.  It definitely did not scare me off of having my own children (in the future, not anytime soon).

And thank you to Jodi for allowing me to share these special images.  I have the more graphic ones on lock and key, but I want to show you the emotions that go along with the labor.

I got there early, so it was just me, Adam and Jodi for the first few hours.  They had just induced her at this point.

Listening to the babies heartbeat

And the contractions start….Adam is watching the seconds hand.

And she is starting to feel them…

I got pretty good at watching this machine.  It shows when she is having contractions…as if she couldn’t already tell!  The top line is Rayce’s heartbeat.

The family showed up mid-day

She was still smiling between the pain

This is just 55 seconds before he was born.  She pushed for under 3 minutes.

Welcome to the world!!

We had a bet going to how much he would weigh (their daughter was 9.9lbs!)  I guessed 8lbs, so I was the closest! 

Proud papa Adam

While everyone got their turn holding him, Jodi was texting the news to everyone else not in the room!

This is Rayce’s big sister Riyen meeting him for the first time!

I love this because Riyen is looking at Adam like, “Dad, I know what I’m doing here.”

Riyen turned to Jodi and said “I like him”

One of my favorite shots of the day.

Wow, here i go again, I have something in my eye…
Jodi and Adam (and Riyen), I am so happy for you and your healthy baby boy!  I am looking forward to seeing him again next week for his newborn photos!!
XOXO, M

Just a quick update before I crash in to my pillow!  I photographed Baby Rayce’s birth today. A first for me.  Mommy and baby are perfectly healthy and had a great delivery!  

There are many more to come, but I wanted to share one shot that was taken within minutes after he was born.

It was amazing.

More soon, I promise.

Last week I organized a get together with some photographer friends (new and old) in Old Town San Diego. The purpose was to get together for networking, photographing new headshots of each other and drinking margaritas!

I’ll start off with the group shot, which happened at the end of the shoot.  Photographers love their jumping shots!  It was after sunset and pretty dark outside when we took this, so I shot this at a low shutter speed.  I think its hilarious!  I never knew Jamie was so flexible! 

And here are a few of the headshots I took that evening.
Miss Sylvia Borgo!  Look for this lovely lady and her family on my blog very soon.  I am taking her family photos later this month!

And here is the fabulous Michelle Bellafatto:

And my good friend, Kim Irons!

And the beautiful Emily Faulkner {can’t find her link right now 🙁 }

The very sweet Marissa Feliciano:

Kim again, in some gorgeous light.

The always fun Vanessa Elders!

And of course my very good friend (and sometimes assistant) Jamie Lawler!

I love when she laughs 🙂

Here are a few photos taken by my friends!

Photo by Simeon (sorry no link!) 🙁

Kim and me playing in the leaves! (Photo by Michelle Bellafatto)

I love this shot (by Geri Goodale) of me and Jamie hamming it up!

Shot of the group shooting me! (Photo by Marissa)

Photo by Sarah Tolson

Don’t you remember me mentioning margaritas???

A shot my friend Ally took of our pool game after (Jamie on the left, then me with some bad pool form)!

Jamie took this shot of me!

Me, Jamie, Kim and Ally! (both these next two were taken by my camera’s timer!)

We got some weird looks for this shot!

I had so much fun with everyone, can’t wait till we do it again!

XOXO, M