Adm and I had a fun little family portrait session last weekend at the beautiful Hakone Gardens in Saratoga. There were two moms, four daughters and a husband, and we had a great time photographing them all together. The session was prompted by the fact that one of the daughters, Michelle, is in the Army and heading to Afghanistan soon. We wish her well and hope she returns safe and sound.
Last week, Adm and I had the pleasure of photographing the Chow and Liu families! They're actually all my family so it was a fun excuse to see them and photograph them all together, a rare thing since half of them live on the East Coast. We had three generations, my auntie Shirley and her husband, and their three daughters with their families, including 7-week old Kayden! We started at home before heading to La Cuesta Park in Sunnyvale, which I discovered is a great spot for family portraits! There's a great playground, redwoods, grassy hills, and blossoming trees all in the same park!
Don't forget that we're having a special rate for family portrait sessions booked now through Saturday, April 30 where we'll be donating 50% of all proceeds to the Japan relief effort. You can read more details here or contact me directly to book a session at alison@alisonyinweddings.com.
I'm an only child, and for my whole life, I've been the youngest one on my mom's side of the family. That is, until a few weeks ago when my cousin Stephanie gave birth to baby Marcella June. She is such a cutie, and I got to meet her about a week after she was born. I don't really have much experience photographing newborns, but Steph and I had a great time trying to stylize little Marcella and figuring out ways to prop her up. I'm sure this is just the first of many photo sessions to come!
So, here's to a new generation of little girls in our family! I found this old picture of me as a baby with my cousins Tammany (holding me) and Stephanie:
P.S. Don't forget that we're donating 50% of our family portrait sessions booked now through the end of April to the Japan disaster relief fund.
Utterly Engaged and Ever-Ours came up with a great way to help the disaster relief effort in Japan. They are fundraising for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. You can donate HERE.
They're also encouraging a "Bloggers Day of Silence" for Friday, March 18, as a way to raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan. With this in mind, I will not be blogging tomorrow.
Also, remember that Adm and I will be donating 50% of all proceeds from family portrait sessions booked now through the end of April to the disaster relief effort in Japan. Initially, we were thinking we'd donate to the Red Cross, but since checking out ShelterBox, which is doing great work, we're not so sure, and so are open to suggestions.
Here is some more information:
Family portrait sessions are $300. This includes up to an hour and a half of photography at a location of your choice within the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles and Orange County. Family sessions can include babies, children, adults, parents, pets... You can also purchase this as a gift for someone else. The session only needs to be booked by the end of April, but not necessarily scheduled within that time. To reserve your session, a deposit of $150 (which will be sent to Japan) is required. You'll receive a CD of 40 high-resolution images that are ready for print in both color and black and white as well as a private online gallery good for three months. Please email me at alison@alisonyinweddings.com with any questions or to schedule your session.
Below are some of our favorite family session images:
It feels so strange blogging such happy, innocent family photos when there is so much tragedy and strife in the world right now. However, when you look at these family photos, it makes you realize what's important is family. We have been photographing Eli and Lilian since they were six months old, and when I think about that, I also think about the families around the world who won't get to have those memories with their family anymore. It is my hope that in this time of loss, we can all cherish our families and what we have with them a little more.
To help with the relief effort in Japan, I will be donating 50% of all proceeds from family portrait sessions booked now through April 15 to the Japanese Red Cross Society. You can contact me at alison@alisonyinweddings for more information.
Wow, so I've been very delinquent in my blogging - maybe enjoying the time off a little too much. Really, I can't believe it's practically been a month since my last blog post. I know I've been keeping you all on the edge of your seats. Ha. Anyway, I promise to make up for lost time as I've got a whole slew of blog posts planned for the rest of this week and next week.
I'm going to ease back into blogging today with a few pictures of my very pregnant cousin Stephanie and her husband Bill. Steph is due any day now (actually a week overdue) so she's actually bigger now than when these photos were taken back in January. Here they are in Yorba Linda, California. Come on out little one, there's lots of people ready to meet and love you!
