The Mission

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Mdfrisco

Last September I did a post about our visit to the Mt Soledad Veterans Memorial, which we checked off on our How San Diegan Are You? list. Another thing on the list that we have not done yet was visit the Mission San Luis Rey De Francia in Oceanside. On the Saturday before Mother’s Day we didn’t have any plans and didn’t want to spend the beautiful day indoors, so we took a day trip to the mission.

When we arrived, the guide in the museum gave us the layout of the grounds and told us where we could go and the things we could see. We started out walking through the museum. Jake didn’t really seem impressed…

We ended up in a courtyard behind the museum and let Jake roam around. That was much more interesting to him!

Sometimes the simplicity of a bench or chair is my favorite kind of photo opportunity.

Jake is in a phase where he wants to touch everything, and I mean everything! He is always sticking his finger out and reaching to touch something. On our walks he likes to touch the different plants and all the poles for the street signs or street lights. Even when driving in the car if he sees a stop sign, he will frantically point his finger like he expects me to pull over so he can touch the pole. And the big bell hanging in the courtyard is no exception.

I always take my camera with us when we go on these adventures, but don’t always take pictures. Sometimes, I just want to just relax and enjoy the moment. But sometimes, like this day, there are just too many good photo opportunities to pass up it ends up becoming a mini photo session! Especially when Jake is having such a great time exploring the area.

When I was completing an online profile a while back for a MOMs group I am a part of it required a photo of me and Jake. And I thought, pshhh no problem, I have plenty of pictures! After spending several minutes going though my photo archives, I realized that I do have plenty of pictures of Jake, and Jake with daddy, but I have very few of us and the ones I have are older pictures, nothing recent. It is hard when you are always behind the camera to force yourself to hand it to someone else so you can get in front of it. And I am working on that…So when we went down these old steps that led down to the pools where women used to wash clothes and bathe, I handed the camera to Justin and played with Jake on the steps for a few minutes.

And I had to crop that last one to get a closer version of me and my bat boy.

We wandered through the cemetery

And stopped by the church on our way out

It was a fun family day and I am looking forward to our next adventure to check off the list!

Three lovely ladies

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Mdfrisco

I couldn’t pick just a couple of these to include in my last post of favorites, there are just too many that I love, so this one gets its own post. A friend of mine asked me if I would take some pictures of her and her two daughters. She said it had been years since they have done any kind of professional pictures together. Of course I was excited to do it and we started tossing around ideas of where to go. Then one day I got a text from her that said “I know the perfect place!” There is a park nearby that has beautiful views all the way to the ocean. She goes there sometimes to pray during quiet time so the location had a special meaning. I love going to new locations for pictures since it gives me a new challenge and a new look to my pictures.

Honestly, if you ask me, this doesn’t look like a mom with her two daughters…they look like 3 sisters!

Brandy wanted some pictures to reflect what they are doing at this time in life and a typical night a home looks something like this.

Brandy can always be found working on her computer while Nadia works on her dancing and J’Lyn is rocking out to her music.

Nadia is an incredibly talented dancer and she showed me just a few of her moves

J’Lyn let loose and showed me her spunky side while listening to her favorite tunes

Brandy has done a wonderful job raising such beautiful girls

What was especially fun for me was, how excited the girls were about taking pictures, and they had fun with it. I am so used to taking pictures of families with really young kids and it is definitely more of a challenge since they may not want to sit still, or look at the camera let alone smile. I love doing it, it just takes a lot more patience and energy. These girls made it so easy.

“Photography is the beauty of life, captured” – Tara Chisholm

Just some favorites

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Mdfrisco

With the craziness of the holidays, travels, Jacob’s birthday and the fact that he is only napping once a day now, my time to sort through pictures and blog them is even more limited than before. I am still taking lots of pictures but it takes a while before they are downloaded from my camera, let alone posted here. So I am playing a little bit of catch up…The few months before the holidays I was pretty busy in my little photography world since it was the season to get pictures done for Christmas Cards, there were also babies being born and birthdays to celebrate. Rather than doing a post for each photo shoot I did, I am just going to share a few of my favorites.

First up was my one of my favorite families, The White family.

We went to the Los Peñasquitos Ranch House. I really like this location for the old buildings and nature setting. If you go at the right time of day the sun coming through the trees is magical. Little girls playing in the background of the photo is pretty magical too!

I also did the Wisbach family at the same location.

These kids were so much fun to work with

I was impressed with how willing they were to have their pictures taken and how well they listened to their parents

Good job mom and dad!

Then it was on to the Ford Family to capture their sweet Kennedy’s first birthday.

They live on the bay so we walked down to their backyard onto the sand for pictures

Kennedy was one of those early walkers, so she was a pro at the walking thing at the time of this photo shoot and that was all she wanted to do. I remember being sore the next day from chasing her around!

And my cousin added a second sweet little girl to her family

I love the time I get to spend with friends, family and even people I don’t know that well during these photo shoots. I know I still have a lot to learn, especially in the editing process, but the more practice I get the more I learn about my hobby. I am thankful for all my friends and family who let me practice on them and refer me to people who are looking for a someone to take pictures for them. Sometimes after looking at the pictures I took, I am disappointed that they didn’t come out as good as I hoped, sometimes I am surprised at a shot that I got and other times, I am so excited to share them with my client because I know they will love them as much as I do. Truly what it comes down to for why I love taking pictures is capturing memories.

“Time will never stand still and those moments that bring us such joy become memories in an instant. To capture such a moment and record it forever is truly monumental.”

– Joshua Atticks

ONE!

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Mdfrisco

And now he turns ONE! How did that happen?

When trying to figure out where to take his 1 year photos, I kept scouting out all the parks and playgrounds by our house and since it is winter (or San Diego’s version of winter) the grass was turning brown and all the pretty fall leaves had fallen and become a dry, crumbled mess on the ground and nothing was really making me excited about taking his pictures. Then one day, I had the idea of going back to the trees where we had our maternity pictures taken. So we loaded up the car with our props, and stopped at the store to buy a second bunch of balloons since the ones I bought earlier had already deflated to the ground and headed back to the trees.

The chair was my grandpas grandmothers chair and it made the perfect prop for Jacob to hold onto.

Since Jacob already experienced his first Christmas, he knew exactly what to do with packages that have a bow on them.

There are many emotions that come with this day. It has been the most challenging yet the most rewarding year we’ve ever experienced. In reflecting on this past year, there are many things I’ve been thinking about and there is no way I can cover all of it in one blog post. But that is what is so great about this blog is a lot of those things have already been documented here one way or another. So at this time I am going to focus on Jacob right now…

I love the way he loves to dance. While preparing food and eating we play music on our iPod and Jacob bops his head all through mealtime. During playtime he likes to get a toy that plays music going before he starts banging around with his other toys. One day while Jacob was bouncing around to the tune of one of his toys, I said to Justin, “remember when we used to put him in tummy time and try to get him to lift his head…” and now he is bopping it all over the place. It’s kind of funny, because he does this ‘Night at the Roxbury’ head shake, but his noggin is so big which makes him top heavy and he often looses his balance and has to catch himself before falling over!

I love that his first word, spoken and signed, is doggie. Or the way he says it, Daw-GHEee. Jacob has been babbling mama and dada for a long time but didn’t really know what he was saying. Doggie is the first word he says and knows what he is saying. He absolutely LOVES the dog. He loves the tag on his collar, he loves to chase his tail when it is wagging and he loves to crawl over him in his never ending quest for an adventurous obstacle course. Whenever we come into the house from the garage after being away somewhere, Jacob gets a smile on his face and gets excited to see the Daw-GHEee greet us at the door. While we were taking these pictures, a man was jogging on the trail with his German Sheppard and Jacob starting signing doggie which is what he is doing in the picture below.

I love his interaction with people. Jacob knows when he is at the center of attention and will provide endless entertainment. He often throws his hands up in the air and that gets a collective “Touchdown” yell from anyone who may be in the room. He does it while playing, getting his diaper changed, in the bath, while eating and even in the car seat. Often while I have him in the shopping cart at a store, I will see him throw his hands up and smile at a stranger, waiting for them to say “Touchdown”, when they don’t he kind of gives me a curious look like, why didn’t they say it?? And I will smile at him and give him the “Touchdown” he wanted.

I love how he really pays attention to what you are saying. Anytime you say ‘Oh No!‘ Jacob will put his hands up to the side of his face like Macaulay Culkin did in the movie ‘Home Alone’. At first it was intentional, we would look at him and say ‘Oh No!‘ and he would put his hands to his face. But now if you say it without saying it directly to him he does it. I figured that out when I was reading a book called ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’ to him and there are several Oh No’s! in the book and he kept putting his hands up to his head whenever I said it. Just like ‘Touchdown’ he does it during playtime, bath time, in the car, etc…anything to keep his audience captivated.

This parenting gig has been a pretty incredible journey so far. We are so in love with this little boy and he has brought us so much joy!

As reluctant as I am to give up the babyhood days, I am so excited to see what the future holds for Jacob. I’m sure the next thing will be letting go of the chair and taking his first unassisted steps! Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! XO

And then she was 1

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Mdfrisco

One of the reasons I love taking pictures is to look back and see the changes that occur over time. I did newborn and 6 month photos for Grace, and mom called me to do her 1 year photos. Not only has Grace grown so much but they also moved into our neighborhood! Mom said she wanted to do beach photos this time and we decided on Torrey Pines State Beach. After taking a few pictures at their house…

…we headed to Torrey Pines. My favorite thing about this beach are the beautiful cliffs, they make a great backdrop.

Grace was just recovering from a cold and was being extra snugly with her mom

Pink

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Mdfrisco

We have everything blue and boy in this house, my husband, my son and the dog have me outnumbered. So when I get a chance to take pictures of girls I love the fun colors and textures of girly clothes. My friend, Dana, got this adorable pink little number for her little Aubrey at her baby shower.

Aubrey let me get a few pictures of her in sleepy mode, but then she was intrigued by the clicking sound my camera makes and was wide awake for the rest of our session.

Big brother AJ was curious about all the girly fuss we were making and came over to check it out

I just love that cute face! We then convinced him to join in with his little sister

Aubrey is pretty lucky to have her big brother to watch over her as they grow up!

Anticipating Aubrey

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Mdfrisco

One of my girlfriends asked me to take some maternity pictures of her during her second pregnancy. I did the same thing 3 years ago when she was pregnant with her son, before I got my “nice” camera and I was just starting to toy around with the idea of learning more about photography.

Now, Dana is pregnant with a little girl, Aubrey (actually she had Aubrey a little over a month ago, I’m a bit behind on photos!) She chose the Midland Railroad Park in Poway as the location. This is one of my favorite places because of the rustic backdrop.

Pretty momma!Every time I get together with Dana and her son, he is so excited to tell me that baby Aubrey is in mommy’s belly.

I just know he is going to be a great big brother!

While we were taking pictures we noticed a sign at the park across the street that was named Aubrey Park, it was meant to be!

Soon I will get her newborn photos up!

Flashback

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Mdfrisco

When Jacob turned 6 months old I took some fun pictures of him to document the occasion, because I clearly don’t have enough pictures of him, right??….. I thought I better get them up here before he turns one! So let’s flash back 2 months and revisit our 6 month old.

First, I put a white blanket down and just let him roll around

he loved the gauzy, stretchy texture of the blanket and kept playing with it.

He always had a grip on the blanket with one hand and was playing with his feet with the other.

When I was pregnant, we were showered by so many wonderful people and Jacob got so many wonderful gifts. One of my favorite things was the books! I am a bookworm and at my family shower everyone brought books for Jacob and wrote a little note to him inside. Before every nap and bedtime we read stories and we tell him who the book came from. Jacob has really come to love his story time.
Jacob has quite the library! We have the classics, some are new books that I haven’t seen before and some are the same books that Justin and I remember reading when we were little.

We’ve read some of these books over and over and over again that I have them memorized. I’ve actually recited some books from memory to Jacob while driving to entertain him when he gets bored in the backseat.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned in a previous post that Jacob has a birthmark on his left shoulder? I love that you can see it in these pictures.

Jacob started sitting up on his own the day before his 6 month birthday, so this was a new concept for him, and he was enjoying the new perspective.

Justin couldn’t stop at sitting, he had to see if Jacob would stand, which he did…for just a few seconds.

Finally, if you remember the tie Jacob wore in his newborn photos, you’ll appreciate these.

The Hardy Boys

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Mdfrisco

No I am not talking about the books…To me the Hardy boys are living, breathing and very active little boys. My sweet friend Angelina is married to the oldest Hardy boy, and she is the mom of 3 younger Hardy boys. You may remember the pictures I took of them last year. Since I took those pictures, they added a 3rd boy to their family.

Angelina has pictures of her two older boys in the same pose snuggling a teddy bear when they were 6 weeks old. A while back she asked me if I would take the same picture of her youngest when he was 6 weeks old. So we set a date and had a fun little photo shoot.

Of course we couldn’t do just one measly photo, so this turned into a bit of a family session! When we arrived, the boys had just gotten out of school and they were full of e.n.e.r.g.y. They asked me to take pictures of them doing karate moves while bouncing around the couch.

Once baby brother was ready for his closeup, they stopped jumping around to give him some kisses. Brotherly love When attempting to get a family photo, it is a bit tricky to get more than one child to look at the camera, keep their eyes open AND smile. So I’ve found that if I play around with them a bit and ask them to give me a silly face, then an excited pose, scary face, or serious, etc…then ask them to smile I usually end up with a decent one. Plus it makes for some fun goofy photos too!

This one is my absolute favorite one, I just told them to give me their excited faces! Then a good old fashioned happy smile 🙂 I had SO much fun with these pictures, I was laughing out loud while working on them getting ready to give to Angelina, the boys were being so silly. I kept thinking about Jacob and what he will be like when he grows up. One thing for sure you can count on me to be ready with a camera when he is doing karate moves on the couch. Check back in a few years for those.

Angelina is such an inspiration being an amazing woman, teacher, mother (and the only female!) in the midst of the chaos of the Hardy boys. I am so glad we are friends and that they added the third boy to their family. Now Jacob has a boy close to his age to run around with (we are surrounded by baby girls at the moment) and I just know they are going to be best buddies!

My how she has grown

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Mdfrisco

Remember the newborn photos I did last September? Well mom emailed me and wanted me to do 6 month photos of their little girl. She chose Balboa Park as the setting and I love this location since there are so many different places to take pictures. I was so excited to see her and see how much she has grown! She is an absolute doll and is a pro at flashing her smile.

We went to the Spanish Village to take advantage of the colorful tiles

One of my favorite things about girl clothes are the tutus. When you pair them with pearls it can’t get much girlier than that!

Dad had recently taken her on a trip to India to meet some far away family and brought home this beautiful sari When mom was showing me the different outfits she had in mind, I saw some cute grey boots at the bottom of the bag and I asked her what those were, she said “oh that is just a backup outfit if we have extra time”, I said lets see it. She pulled out a denim skirt and a red top with white polka dots and the grey boots. Now if you know me well you know I LOVE boots. I can hardly wait until the cool fall weather arrives so I can put on my boots. And if I love my boots that much, boots on a cute little girl are even better. So I told mom that we were definitely going to use this outfit, no question, all because of the boots. And it turned out to be one of my favorites! IMG_8274ed