Braylen and Chancy were so cute together.  Love it!

Braylen is a sweet pea – so accurate.  :)

We stopped by the park, on our way to the hills behind their home.

I wanted to do a variation on one of my favorite maternity photos I took of Chancy in between Shawn and Alisha.  I’m so glad we did!  I think I have a new favorite with Braylen’s adorable reaction to his parents’ kiss.  So cute!

A great father, son moment.

And one with mama.

The light was beautiful!  Definitely one of my favorite locations ever!

Shawn and Alisha brought these nice colorful balloons left over from the party, so we decided to use them in their cake shots.

Braylen is simply adorable!

I think this is my favorite shot form the session.  Great lighting, great location and LOVE Braylen with all the cake on his face.

I love this shot of Becca and I’m glad she was totally up for my crazy idea.  I passed by their cute kitchen and asked if she had any cravings.  I suggested she eat some ice cream – what a nice break.  :)

Becca, you are a stunning pregnant mama.

At the end of the session, we took Credit for a short walk around the neighborhood.

One last shot of Becca’s cute baby bump.

And here is cute baby Jeffrey.  He was a few weeks early, so he was so small and petite, but he sure is adorable!  I love the faint smile on his lips, looking at mommy and daddy.

Ahhh – so protected in daddy’s arms.

Love his big eyes!

Credit is so protective and gentle with baby Jeffrey.

Thank you so much for asking me to be a part of this special time in your lives.  I hope you love the pictures of baby Jeffrey – he is adorable!

….Jenny Shepard, who would love a family shoot!

And because a post is always better with a photo, here is a sneak peak from a senior graduation shoot I did at Disneyland yesterday.

On the fundraising front, we have reached $7,660 of our $9,000 commitment.  That’s 85%!!  But that means we still have a little bit more to go.  To help us reach our fundraising goals, I have offered to raffle off a FREE photography session plus the DIGITAL NEGATIVES (over a $400 value) to one lucky winner who donates to our team.

To enter:

1) Receive one entry in the raffle for every $10 you donate.  Go to our team page and donate to one of our team members who still needs to meet the $1800 minimum goal.*

2) Come back to this post and submit a comment answering this question: What type of session you would choose if you win – maternity, baby, family, engagement?  Your entry is not complete without this.

3) For an extra entry create a Facebook or Twitter post about this contest.  Make sure you are a fan/follower of Amber Katrina Photography and link to my page.

Details:

The contest ends at 12pm on August 13, 2010.

All completed entries will be entered into a raffle for one FREE photo shoot.  The winner of this photo shoot will get a 1-2 hour session and the digital negatives on a CD (over $400 value).  The session must take place in the Los Angeles area by September 30^th, 2010.  Your choice of a maternity, baby, family, couple or engagement session (excludes wedding sessions).

100% of the proceeds go to support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

*Donations already made to our team may be submitted to the raffle by commenting on this post.

Christine and Matt’s little boy, Emerson is around the same age as my son, Elijah.  So I knew it was going to take some skills to get him excited about participating in the photo session.  When I got there, Emerson was “mowing the lawn” with his little toy mower.  And he didn’t really want to take family pictures.  So I told Christine and Matt to ignore him.  What?!  Did you know that’s the worst thing you can do to a toddler?

We took some great pictures of Matt and Christine…

All the while, Emerson was getting more and more interested in what we were doing.

And just like that, he wanted to join in the fun.  I’m so tricky.  :)

We went inside to do some fun things they enjoy as a family, like reading books.

They are a very musical family.  In fact, that was the theme of Emerson’s third birthday party.  Emerson showed off his guitar skills.

And then got to rock out with daddy.

We even went down to their basement and played drums.

Next we played with some of Emerson’s toy trains.

And then we got to jump on mommy and daddy’s bed.  This was definitely a favorite.

I loved this series of Emerson jumping on the bed.

And then they got to snuggle as a family.

Next we went outside and they showed me all the different fruits and vegetables in their garden.

Some more time playing as a family.

And then skateboarding.

Oh la la.

Finally, I wanted to share a special picture that Christine asked me to take for her and gave me permission to share.  About a year ago, Christine lost a pregnancy to miscarriage.  She was able to do it in the sanctity of her own home and these memories are precious to their family.  Christine asked that I take a photo to remind her of her special baby in heaven, Quinn.  I hope this captures the spirit of your emotions, Christine.

Thank you for asking me to capture this special time in your lives, Christine and Matt.  I love your family and I was honored to be a part of it for this day.

So I’m going to combine some things, like Sarah’s maternity session and their newborn session into one blog post.  First, here is Sarah and Rick and their cutie little doggy, Tudy.  Tudy is their first baby and she knew it too!  She wanted to be the star of the show, and we were happy to oblige because, well… she’s so darn cute!

Sarah had to deal with high blood pressure during her pregnancy.  So she had to spend much of the time on bed rest.

…and taking her blood pressure.  Rick wasn’t too happy about how her blood pressure was doing during the photo shoot.

We went outside for a few last shots, before Sarah needed to get back to bed.

Their adorable little baby girl, Abigail, was born a few weeks later.  I was able to come over shortly thereafter to take pictures of Abby and her family.

I love Rick’s expression as he holds his baby daughter.

And Sarah, so proud and relieved, I’m sure, after having such a tough pregnancy.

I loved the light in their bedroom.  It was perfect!

Tudy felt a little left out, so we made sure to include her too.

And lastly, a few closeups of adorable little Abby.

First, I will show you the screen shots from mormon.org and tell you where they are located on my blog.  Then I will announce the winner of the free mini session.

The top banner picture of the LDS Newport Beach Temple is from Kelli and Todd’s wedding.  It’s also located on a second page on mormon.org, so I accepted this answer for the “hidden” picture.

The next picture is from Matt and Christina’s wedding at the LDS Los Angeles Temple.  The real “hidden” picture no one found.  It is behind the photo of Matt and Christina, and it’s actually a different picture.

The third picture is from Sharon, Stanley and Katelyn’s holiday mini session.

And the winner of the free mini photo session is…… Danielle McKee!!  It seems appropriate since she also happened to be the first person to finish the challenge just a few hours after I announced it.  Congratulations, Danielle!  Please email me to arrange a time and date for your photo session: amber@amberkatrina.com

And to all those who entered but did not win, I will offer a $50 discount if you would like a photo shoot.  This offer is good for one portrait session, and must take place by August 31, 2010.  Contact me for pricing and details: amber@amberkatrina.com

So instead of just sharing screen shots of where they are located, I thought we could have a little fun.  Let’s have a treasure hunt to see if you can find all of my photographs on the mormon.org website.  To sweeten the pot, I will give away 1 FREE mini photo shoot to one lucky winner.

To enter:  There are 3 of my pictures featured on the momon.org website.  All of these photos are here on my blog.  First, visit mormon.org and figure out which pictures are mine.  Then, come back to my blog and find the ORIGINAL blog posts containing the pictures.  Leave a comment on each blog post, saying where the pictures are located on mormon.org.

You can get an additional entry in two ways:

1) Leave a comment on Facebook, Twitter or a Blog Post telling your friends about this contest.  Then come back to this post and leave a comment.

2) Find a “hidden” 4th picture and leave a comment on the blog post containing that picture.

The rules: All entries must be completed by Monday, July 19th at midnight.  Any incomplete or incorrect entries will not be counted.  If more than one person identifies all the pictures correctly, there will be a drawing to choose the winner.

The details: The mini photo shoot includes a 45 minute session and the fully retouched digital negatives on a CD.  The session must take place within 15 miles of 91722 before August 31, 2010.

And because a post is always better with a photo, here is a fun sneak peak from a recent family session.

Ryan and Courtney it seems have always known each other.  Growing up, their families knew each other and did things together.  In high school they dated.  But it wasn’t until now that they got serious and decided to spend eternity together.  Ryan and Courtney were sealed in the Los Angeles LDS Temple on March 20th, which is two days before our anniversary.  It was a nice way to start to celebrate our 7 years together to shoot this wonderful wedding side by side.  I think that describes how Brian and I are – always side by side.  And I can see the same quality in Ryan and Courtney.  They were so comfortable together and just loved being together.  I think that’s the most important thing – to be your spouse’s best friend.  I know they will love married life because now they won’t have to say “goodbye” at the end of the night.

Here is the Mormon Temple.

Everyone waiting for them to exit.  I loved the bidesmaids’ dresses – so cute!

And….. Courtney and Ryan – husband and wife!

After we spent some time taking the family portraits (which you can view HERE), we walked around the temple grounds and took some casual wedding portraits of the two of them.  This series perfectly shows how sweet and loving and…. simply happy they were.  I loved their laughter – it was contagious!

Of course we needed some portraits in front of the LDS temple.  Courtney was stunning in her beautiful bridal dress.

I don’t remember what I said to get these awesome expressions, but I LOVE it!  So fun and full of personality.

Here is my favorite series from the day.  I loved them so much I couldn’t narrow down which ones to share, so here are three sweet, loving portraits of Courtney and Ryan.

After we took the temple portraits, we quickly stopped at a nearby location to get a little different portraits.  I loved the tall grass in this field, and here is my favorite from the spot.

We headed to the reception, which was held at a private residence in La Verne.

Courtney and Ryan chose to have a ring ceremony for their family and friends, and I’m glad they did.  It was beautiful!

Here is Ryan watching his beautiful bride come down the aisle.

And Courtney and her dad.

The bishop gave some  nice words.

And they exchanged rings.  I loved their laughter and personality.

The rings.

As I mentioned, Courtney and Ryan grew up together.  I love that Courtney was dressing up as a bride in the picture.  And I love even more that Ryan was an Indian.  Hehe – what does that say about boys and girls?!  So cute and funny.  What wonderful memories to cherish.  And I know you truly will live “Happily Ever After”.

Courtney and Ryan created many beautiful details for their wedding day.  I loved it!  Especially the colorful candy station.  Yum!

And their lovely cake.

I’ll leave you with this first dance picture from their reception.

Just Married!  That says it all.

We started the day by talking about “America’s Birthday” and telling Eli that we were going to throw a party.  I even baked a cake – a yummy carrot cake made with fresh carrots from our garden.  When it started getting dark, we lit some of the small snakes and smoke bombs.  And Eli got into it.  He especially loved the poppers and sparklers.  He kept asking for more and more fireworks.  When we were done lighting our flowers and fountains, we went out front and watched some of the many many big fireworks in the sky.

Brian and I had a little fun with the sparklers as it got dark.  Oh la la…