I have a long list of wishes when it comes to being a mommy. I wish I was a better planner, I wish I was better at following through, I wish I had more time with my kids. But one thing I do get right is reading with my children. I love snuggling up with a good stack of storybooks. Every one of my children is a reader, yay! Doing a least one thing right. 
The number one, most frequent and wistful question I get from happy clients is this: “Do you just take a million fabulous photos of your own kids, all. the. time?” To which I must answer a sad, shameful, “No, not really.” We’ve all heard the saying “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” Well, unfortunately, oftentimes, “The photographer’s children have no photos.” Now, of course, I DO take photos of my kids. Just not very much. I don’t drag out my camera more than once or twice a month and I rarely, if ever, capture my family just “doing their thing”. I intend to change that.
Last week my kids were showing their summer baby-sitter some old photo albums from Isaiah & Alayna’s babyhoods. Ah, the days of film, when all I had to do was send in the rolls of film and Viola!, the photos were done and ready to enjoy and, ah, the days before I did this for a living; before I went pro. I have all these crappy-wonderful snap-shots of my kids dancing in the living room, snuggled up together in a box, eating birthday cake. The lighting is not always great. The backgrounds are not always complimentary. But the photos are a delicious window to our memories of life with the kids, so little and sweet and growing and changing so fast. I don’t take any of those anymore.
Now, because I know better, I always want to wait for the perfect lighting, the perfect backdrop, the “perfect photo”. In my wait for that perfect moment, the one in which my kids don’t look like they dressed themselves, three days ago, and the house doesn’t look lived-in, er, trashed, and the light shines in their eyes “just right”, I’ve missed so very much. I want to have snap-shots again. I want to have memories captured of just regular old not-so-sexy life in my not-so-amazing house with my wonderfully-real-not-always-turned-to-the-light-at-the-right-angle kids. So, here goes. My rules/criteria:
1. I shoot with my “old” camera body, the 5D, no flash, no frills.
2. I use the 16-35L , a lens I purchased several years ago, only to leave it on a shelf, unused, in favor of my 24-70L and fisheye. (NOT a cheap lens, it needs my love!)
3. I don’t spend time working out the perfect angles, the best light, the perfect exposure (no custom white balance or manual exposure, baby!)
4. I reach for it at least once a day, to capture something delightfully “everyday”.
5. I come here and share them with you, as often as I can.
6. At the end of the year, I take those plain old photos and PUT THEM IN A BOOK, so we can look back and remember the year in pictures.
So, here’s my first share. Lydia, enjoying her yogurt in our crazy-strange kitchen:
And Mr. Z, being 10, almost 11. Sigh . . . ten is the end of the little kid years. I’m bracing myself . . .
One of my favorite places in our house is this certain corner of my couch. I don’t sit there to watch TV or to enjoy a fire in the fireplace. In fact, you can’t even see those things from there. I sit there and gaze at the wall where a large gallery of photos looks back at me; photos of my children, my family, our life. Some of them are happy, some are serious, some are just plain silly. All of them are a beautiful tribute to our life together and the four little lives I am watching unfold before me. Sometimes when I am enjoying the view I smile to myself. I smile because I know that I have had a hand in creating hundreds of beautiful memories just like this for countless families in Silicon Valley and beyond.
I so love my job! I truly believe that what I do is important. I don’t just record an image that shows what a child looks like at two or five or nine. Instead, I seek to record his spirit, her energy, and the love they share with siblings and parents. Capturing that spirit is at the heart of every encounter I have. Ooooh, I get goose-bumps just thinking about it. What a privilege it is to be a special part of the lives of so many families!
If you want to see a whole lotta’ cool galleries that my clients have shared, visit the Images by Anna Facebook page.
I love this project! Just so silly and sooo fun! This little man has been in front of my lens since he was just days old. Had fun capturing him and his big-sister in their goggle-get-ups. I will share her’s soon. If you haven’t sent me goggle-goodness, its not too late! Check it out.
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I missed you all last year and I am sooo excited to re-connect with all of my favorite Minnesota clients. I will be in Fergus Falls area July 18-20th and up in the Duluth/Iron Range area between July 28th and July 31st. Contact Rachel right away to learn about our mid-west special and we can get you all plugged into your sessions! I can’t wait!
July 28th- 8:00, 10:30 & 7:00
July 29th- 8:00, 10:30 & 7:00
July 30th- 8:00, 10:30 & 7:00
July 31st- 8:00, 10:30 & 7:00
*Note that the 8:00 am and the 7:00 pm are perfect for outdoor sessions. 10:30 am will be for sessions in your home.
*** If any of you have a darling with Goggles for my project, let me know! I can even do underwater sessions. Cool, eh?
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Love this family. Been photographing this little man since he was six months old. Now he’s a big brother and his little family is just bursting with activity. We had a great time; made some pizza, played guitar, listened to music, got tickled and then had a little snack (of yummy pizza a la Little Man). Ah . . . love my job. 
Click to continue reading “Life. Captured. Los Gatos family photography.”
Andy Z is a gifted children’s musician who has been featured on NBC’s Today show and delights the hearts of children and adults alike.He will be performing at 11:00. See you there!
Our son Isaiah is quite the little skater. He spends most of his time out on the sidewalks and the cul-du-sac riding his ramps and practicing his ollies. He plays baseball, too, but skateboarding is his true love. We are in the process of buying a house right now and in that house we promised him his own room. His wheels started turning and he told me he wants a skatepark room. LOL He picked out this wall mural in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. It was pretty cool, but I looked at him and said, “Dude, wouldn’t it be even better if it was YOU?” So we struck out for the new, very cool skate park in San Jose to capture this “mural”.
Thank goodness we went when we did, because it was just two weeks later that he was back at that skatepark and came home with a crooked arm. He was at a birthday party and I think he might have ruined the fun! 
We went through quite an ordeal getting that poor arm back where it belonged. After many hours and almost three days he finally went under a general anesthesia to have it put back in place. He was pretty out of it for a couple of days after.
He is feeling much better now and can’t wait to get his real cast tomorrow. BUT, there will be no more baseball and no skating for six weeks . . . at least.
This little lady is a soon-to-be big sister. She had such fun jumping in puddles the day of her mommy’s maternity shoot. Still waiting for the newest little one’s big debut, so I thought I’d share one to give mom a little smile. 
