I spent some time with this little girlie from the OC just hanging around playing outside. These two loved roaming the hillside while mama just sat back and enjoyed watching them play. Just loved this of the two of them.

Happy Friday!

amy b.

Monday morning update: homeboy is back to his normal self. quiet but normal.

have a great week.

It’s been a while since I have hassled Shryner for some photos.   Much like a two year old he gives me dirty looks, turns his back to me and straight up gets up and leaves the room when I pick up my camera.  He was so gracious to bear with me while I snapped shots of him all throughout the day while I worked on a few  client books before heading out to an engagement session in San Diego.   By the end you can tell he is pretty annoyed with me.  Mostly because he got a bath.  I had to eliminate a ton so I have S dog ammunition for a while. These were my faves.

PS. I am on a serious black and white kick these days with a little help thanks to my pals over at RadLab! 

Get your Shryner loving on and then hop on over to Knoxville, Tennessee Lifestyle and portrait photographer Rebecca Conway’s blog to see what she has cooked up for her 10 on 10.

Happy viewing!

You may recognize the sweet, now famous, Fina puppy. Time to meet the rest of the gang. Patty, her husband, their 4 children, son in law and two sweet and spunky grand kids.  We decided to keep it as casual as it gets, hang loose, let the kids play and they even bbq’d up an awesome lunch for us all! What can I say… I have the coolest most down to earth clients around.

Since the time this happened I have read numerous beautifully written articles from friends in the photography industry who have tragically lost clients, friends and family members to illness, car accidents, natural disasters and sweet little babies that just didn’t stand a chance.  This article comes to mind and I so wish that I could turn back time so that this story was different.

It started back in 2009 when I chose Patty’s family as a winner to my “tell me why your family is not boring” contest. Her son, Colyn, had a service dog named Fina and she stole my heart immediately. The bond between them was palpable so, it was a no brainer. I wanted to tell their story. A fifteen year old boy with freckles and the most beautiful black retriever  I had ever seen. Yes, please!

After a few attempts of trying to get the family on the calendar the holidays had come and gone. I had just moved from Murrieta to Fallbrook and the holiday rush had finally ceased and I was back to work.  I called to pester Patty one last time to get her session on the calendar.  The phone rang and she answered, “hello?” I started to talk but after a few words my brain had caught up to my mouth, in typical amy b. fashion,  and my words just stopped and it was silent.  I could tell that her world had been rocked within that single word.  I had no reason to believe Colyn was gone. He was not terminally ill.  All that rang through my body  was Why didn’t I place more stringent deadline on booking?   I could physically feel her pain in her silence and a sense of guilt and failure washed over me as a photographer. It was certainly something I had never felt before and it has most definitely changed my outlook on the actual value  and importance of what we do as photographers.

I was devastated for this family I barely knew and for a sweet boy that I would never get to meet. There are no words.  It simply was too late.

Over the past two years Patty and I have become quite good friends through facebook and recently she was nice enough to share her perspective:

I was so excited to enter the contest the Amy posted in her blog in July 2009. I had been wanting to have photos taken of our youngest son and his service dog, Fina. He had her less than a year and she was already his best friend. I knew I needed to document the love that was growing between them in some way. Honestly, I had scheduled an appointment at our local WalMart only to be given grief about bringing the dog with us even though she was a service dog. It was ok though because I wanted something much more than what WalMart could offer. So, I wrote up Colyn’s story, included a few snap shots I had taken, dropped a video I had made and sent it off to Amy with my fingers and toes crossed! It felt like an eternity until it was announced on August 10 that we had won a session! Even Colyn was excited, not about getting his picture taken, but having his picture taken with his girl, yes, she truly was his best friend.

We were busy planning a big vacation to Alaska so we decided we would schedule the photo shoot for when we got back. Our son got sick during the last days of our vacation and was admitted to the hospital as soon as we returned home. The admission lasted 2 weeks. We celebrated his 15th birthday when he came home! It took him weeks to really recover and get some energy back. I knew we could finally schedule the photo shoot as soon as the craziness of the holidays were over.

January 12 everything changed again. Colyn became so sick again and this time never recovered. Instead of scheduling a photo shoot, we found ourselves sorting through the photos we had of our precious son, longing for just one more. We realized that even though we had a large file of them on our computers, it just wasn’t enough. If we had just taken the time before our vacation and had those pictures taken. We also found that we didn’t have any recent pictures of Colyn with relatives even though they were with him frequently. Sadly, they didn’t like to have their pictures taken. We’ve learned some hard lessons through this. *You can never have enough pictures.  *Your hair/make up won’t matter, what matters is the memories that are captured in the photo. *You may not like to have your picture taken but loved ones might want pictures of you.

When Amy called me a month after Colyn had passed away, it was another loss. It was then I realized I had lost the opportunity for a photo shoot of my son and his best friend because I was too busy packing.  If I could go back and do it all over again…. well, that goes without saying.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Patty and her family a few weeks ago for their long over due session. We ventured into Colyn’s room for a spell and Fina immediately jumped up on the bed, grabbed one of Colyn’s stuffed bears and touched our hearts.

Because I could not have said it better myself…I leave you with the wise words of my talented friend Michele -

If you have not had family pictures taken within the past 3 years, promise me right now that tomorrow morning, you will find someone to do it. I don’t care if it’s a neighbor, I don’t care if it’s a portrait studio, I don’t care if it’s a tripod and a remote. Just do it. We have no guarantees in life, but at least we can have the photos to prove that we were here, we were together, and we were happy.

 

xo, amy b.

You can see more from their family session HERE.

he has a rough life.

previous weeks here.

We had a fun time this day.  Very relaxed. Very go with the flow. Very much the way I like to document families these days.  Images like this mean so much at the end of the day, at the turn of a decade and sadly they grow infinitely priceless at the end of a life time.  They are held dear to the heart and passed down through generations.  They are the first thing you grab in fire.  They are the first thing you point out to show visiting friends and family.  They are part of you and I am so happy to be part of them too.

I also posted one on my facebook page. be sure and check that one out to and become a fan.

Friends and family! say hi. leave some love.  20 comments and  20 facebook likes (at the bottom of this post) will bring home a little something for the family.  super fun.

Break it down. Starting things off with Cole’s first mug shot.  He’s wrapped in the most amazing alpaca hand knit, softest thing in the world,  blanket made by the happy glowing mama.  Teeny tiny socks on even teenier toes, knitted with love by his auntie.  A little man to man time and a shot I couldn’t resist sharing.

The dogs! While technically flawed in many ways I.just. love. it.   Dad called the dogs up on the couch and mama plopped him down and said, “can we get one with the dogs?”  Three snaps later the dogs were gone. It happened fast and it was fun….so I rolled with it.  Let’s face it, I was just stoked that dad didn’t bring out a set of golf clubs or a hockey stick and ask if I could work something out.

I’m sure most grandmas would agree  there is nothing more perfect than the super  sweet view from Grandma’s perspective and a little Auntie love makes for a well rounded session full of love.

The road was long and now that this little miracle has arrived the whole family is over joyed that Cole made it into the world perfect as can be.

Just for fun…30+ comments and I will add fancy things to the family’s order.

This time of year leaves little room for banter here on the blog so off I go to  get a few galleries live and hit the post office.

Friends and family with 30+ comments here on the blog I start to throw in surprises. We all love to hear from you.