Laguna Beach Kids Photography: Happy Belated Mother’s Day

I live a really busy life.  I mean, crazy from 4:30 am until 8:30 pm.  Between driving to practice before school, then to school, then picking up from school and then back to swim practice not to mention running a full time business and just generally managing life, there isn’t much down time.   Fortunately my husband is all in and does more than his fair share.

Because our kids have set high goals for swimming, we only get 2 weeks off per year to travel as a family.  When they were younger, I could whisk them away for a few days during a long weekend, but this is no longer an option.  It makes me a little sad that our weekend trips are no more, but I am so glad I took the opportunity when it was available.

Yesterday, I got to spend the whole day with the kids and my extended family for Mother’s Day.  I decided to completely unplug.  No cell phone, no computer, just hang out with my family.  We looked back at some great old pictures and laughed at all of our great times together.

I am so grateful that so many of my weekend trips included my Mom.  She is an amazing woman!  A 25 year breast cancer survivor, a pediatric nurse, a world traveler and a caregiver to her grandkids.  She works out every day and is a total role model to our entire family.  Here is one of our last trips to Arrowhead with the kids three years ago.  Photography by both myself and my daughter.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there!  I hope you had a great day yesterday!

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Laguna Beach Family Photography

Each and every year for over ten years I make my entire family get together for a family photo session.  Not just my husband and kids…. but my mom and dad, my sister and her family and my brother and his family.  We pick a color scheme, a location and we spend about two hours creating beautiful portraits, as well as some very funny memories.  I then spend my last spare moments during the holidays putting together either a coffee table book or an album for everyone for Christmas.  Every time we get together as a family, the kids sit down and look through the years of their albums and books and laugh.  I am so very glad that I MADE everyone join me, even if it was a really busy year, even if I had to stay up until 2 AM to finish the albums and that I have these precious memories to enjoy year and after year.

That is why I always encourage all my clients to do the same thing, document their family each year and put together some kind of book or album.  Sometimes in the moment, it seems like a real hassle, or like a large investment, but in the end it is one of the best gifts a family can give themselves.

Here is the beautiful Hawkins family that I documented for the first time last year.  I loved how different all the boys personalities were and how much they all loved each other.  Enjoy!

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Laguna Beach Senior Photography: Fine Art Show

It started over lunch with one of my clients.  He asked, “hey Kristin, you know a lot of people…. what is the best way to start developing relationships in Laguna Beach?”. My answer, “get involved in the community”.   Laguna Beach loves to support people who support the schools, support the arts and get involved in local charities.  I suggested that he host an art show in his new music studio in downtown Laguna.  He said, “great, we will make you our first artist”.

Fast forward six months and I am putting the finishing touches on twelve original art pieces.  I used local students as my models and in celebration on Earth Day, named my exhibit “Elements of Love”.  Over the next few months, I will share each individual art piece and what my inspiration was behind creating them.  Let me tell you, this wasn’t easy.  It was scary and I felt vulnerable diving in to a new area of photography, but I am so glad I had the experience and so thankful to Nicholas Yrizarry’s Wealth Management Group for hosting the art show at Laguna Beach Art Museum.   I also want to give a big shout out to Sriti Fusillo for helping all along the way and Laura Foster and Brittany Norton for hair and makeup.  And a very special thanks to all of my handsome and beautiful models.  I absolutely loved working with every one of you.  Enjoy!

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Laguna Beach Family Photography: The Potalivo Family

Pam called me up saying she had been dreaming of getting great family portraits for years.  After visiting to her niece’s house and admiring the Blue Sky’s portraits on the wall, she decided to make the call.  She was a little worried as her guys were all grown and had their own ideas about clothing and style, but she decided to go ahead and book a session.

Fast forward a few months to a gorgeous afternoon with huge waves on a beautiful beach in Laguna and we had the perfect day for her family portraits.  After her oldest threatened to wear a vintage hawaiian shirt, she was pleasantly surprised when he showed up in a nice dress shirt and jeans.

My favorite part of this photo session was how much warmth and love this family showed to one another and how willing they were to follow my directions, even when they were a little unsure of the results.  Thanks to the whole family for working with me and I hope you enjoy the portraits! :)

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J Serra Highschool Senior: Laguna Beach senior photographer

Its not too late to book your 2014 senior session!  This last few weeks have been crazy busy with clients squeezing in their grad sessions before the actual ceremony.  I have been to the beach, open fields, funky coffee shops, stadiums, shopping centers, etc. to shoot 2014s graduating class.  Each senior session this year has been unique and custom designed for our clients.

I am always a sucker for Spring flowers and beautiful backlighting, so here is a recent session in Laguna Niguel Park.  Enjoy! ;)  To book a session, please email me at kristin@blueskysstudio.com (don’t forget two s’s between skys and studio).

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