Have you ever met small children that seem like angels straight from heaven? I have. These two girls were just that. Angels.
They were smart and interesting, listened to everything I said and trusted me enough to let me point my camera at them and shoot!
I had such a great time photographing and getting to know this rad family. I hope I get to do it again and again and again....
Here is a little sneak peak (that I already shared on instagram. Follow me! _rachelthurston) of a super amazing project I have been working on.
I find that most of my personal projects end up being a challenge..and in turn produce some of the most gratifying images.
Thank you to all the moms and babes that participated.
I'm sure other artists can relate..but I lay in bed most nights and my mind turns with ideas and dreams and concepts and images. Having one of those mind turning ideas come to fruition brings tears to my eyes. Photography means so much to me. I feel so grateful.
(shot on the hasselblad with ilford 3200)
Grant's family doesn't have any "step" parents or "in laws"...they have bonus dads and bonus siblings. I really love that.
These are a few shots from the contax and expired film I shot on Easter.
Just felt like giving a HUGE public thanks to Nancy and Hugh for all their help moving this week. Such lifesavers. We love you guys so much.
PS. how rad are Grandma Betty and Grandpa George? Hugh's mom and Nancy's dad...who we get to see at almost all family gatherings. How cool is that? Grandma Betty sang "this lil piggy went to market..." to Novs and she just sat and stared at Grandma with delight.
PSS. I am also loving the "tired dad" shot of Grant. Rubbing his eyes with pickle upside down. It's exhausting being a dad sometimes.
You have seen them on my blog before and you will probably see them again...my photogenic friends.
When they asked if I would fly up to Sacramento and spend the day photographing their family (complete with new baby girl) I said YES.
Since I was there the whole day I had time to do something I hardly every get to do, hold the newborn. I got to hold her on numerous occasions and as long as I liked. It was heaven.
Have you all been to Sacramento? It was my first time and I was really blown away with how pretty it was. So much green and open space and trees and OAK TREES and wild turkeys and rolling hills. The Benders have redwoods in their backyard. Not bad, not bad at all.
They just bought a home and are renovating but hopefully I will have occasion to photograph more details of their space in the future. Julia is a fantastic decorator. She always finds the best treasures. I guess when you are part photographer/graphic designer/treasure hunter..you are bound to have a cool house.
Loved the day. Thank you for having me. I miss those kiddos already.
One of my very favorite families.
Knew them when there were only two and now there are four!
Kris is my favorite type of person...thoughtful, loyal, honest. We are like two teenagers on the phone..never enough time for all the things we have to say. I feel grateful and fortunate to call her my friend.
Good job on making adorable kids you two. Geesh. I especially like the shot of brother drinking sisters bottle after trying to feed it to her. If she's not going to drink it, I will! xxoo
This sweet baby girl is only a few months younger than my Nova...so I can totally relate to this family of three's dynamic.
It's a perfect triangle.
They just bought and remodeled this gorgeous new home and had me come document this stage in their lives on Jane's 1st birthday! How cool is that? I would say this is a pretty amazing birthday gift for Jane. What a treasure these images will be when she is older. Mum and Dad all to herself.
I really REALLY love shooting families being themselves..at home. Just feels right.
Happy one year Jane! Thank you for all the snuggles and loves while I was there. Made my month.
Being invited into someones home to document what "family" means to them, is no small task. It is serious business and I treat it as such.
Watching the light and the interactions and the expressions like a hawk, I circle around my subjects and as those small details come into view, the bigger picture becomes crystal clear...and I shoot.
These sweet little bundles were a joy to spend time with. So happy, so loved. Watched over by dads and grandparents and friends that live for their safety and well being. Spending an afternoon with families like this one make me feel better about living life.
Bigs hugs to all four of you. Thank you so much for allowing me to jump on your bed and kiss your sweet babes.
We are super busy around these parts.
Lots of shooting. Lots of planning. Lots of things I am excited to share with you..once the time is right.
When my life starts to feel like it is spinning faster and faster there is really nothing that centers me more than downtime with Grant and Nova. We will stop everything last minute, pile into the car and head to the beach for the last few minutes of light.
Nova stretches out full body on the sand. Grant insists on carrying every last item..leaving me looking lazy and spoiled. And I squint over their heads into the sun...and for those few minutes everything looks golden.
Try giving your favorite people just 15mins of being together time and tell me if it gives you the same thing it gives me.
Tomorrow I head off for a day trip to Sacramento to photograph a sweet newborn and her family. It will be a long, exhausting, satisfying day. I will be glad I went. And I will be grateful I spend as much time as I can in between work filling up on family time. I can't be a good photographer if I am not first and foremost a good wife and a good mother. If I sacrifice my relationships every other part of my life suffers.
I know blogging has been quiet. But like I said on twitter awhile back...If I am being quiet online you know I am being loud somewhere else.
Balance Balance Balance. What do you do to keep centered and balanced?
Does anybody spy a 2yr old?.....
This post really is about sweet lil Penny joining this family...but her older brother, with all his squirmming and unpredicitabilty sure did make it hard to look the other way. I shot Houston's newborn photos 2 short years ago and I love how different his shoot was from this one. A sibling changes everything...and these photos are proof.
It isn't just about one anymore, it becomes about everyone. All of the inter-relationships. All of the differences. All of the similarities.
What I can tell you is this little girl is loved. A lot. She is so blessed to have joined these three in their quest to help eachother live their fullest lives possible. Now they all have each other and what is better than having someone?!!! Or multiple "someones"? Nothing. I am here to tell you from expierence...NOTHING.
Grab your "someones" tight and wish Miss P a delightful journey on planet Earth.
..I feel bad for you if you don't.
THEY ARE THE BEST.
Being around this family makes you think to yourself, "I want to have a lot of kids and a lot of grandkids".
It's loud. It's crazy. It's happy. It's perfect.
You should see the the clown I become when trying to get faces and smiles...especially in the large group shot. But it worked! All of those munchkins eyes are on me. With these ages I consider that a small miracle.
Thanks and love to the Wise family for having me document such a great time period in their lives. My Grandparents had a photo of us grandkids similar to the last one I shared...and it really is one of my favorite shots of me and my cousins. xxoo.
We had an early Christmas with Grant's side of the family here in California before flying to Utah Christmas Eve to spend a few days with my side. I didn't shoot a whole lot while we were in SLC...was just enjoying the down time and looking at my daughter with my eyeballs and not through glass. Here are some shots of our favorite leading lady's 1st Christmas:
The loot.
She didn't even hesitate...She knew which pile was hers!
This was her reaction to the wonder of Christmas presents. Priceless. We couldn't have staged it anymore perfect.
Eat that baby!!
Proof she has parents.
Thanks to Grant and Anna for catching some candid moments of me with Nov's. I never get these!! And I really love this one. I am constantly kissing her neck and I think this is our only photo of me doing it.
As children we deemed the "FC" (favorite child) to the person who got the tears from Mom with their Christmas gift to her. This year Anna won with a churchy gift that my mom obviously loved. Anna: FC.
We had Kate and Jake this year, so I whipped up a simple wedding album for them.
Had to bring these from CA...for peppermint joe joe shakes!!
These 2 images are my favorites from Christmas. She was obsessed with the tree and spent hours staring at it and pulling at it. Look at that face. I made that.
...oh, she also liked crawling underneath it. Once she did she was kind of confused on how to get out.
Playing in the dirtiest corners..always.
Love this shot. Thanks to whoever snapped it. She is almost always within an arms reach of me.
Under the tree once last time before bed.
Family photo of us doing what we do at my mom's...chillin hard. Watching some-sort of video on our phone and just enjoying our time off.
We had a great Christmas and we hope you did too. Christmas is different once you are an adult...but then once you have kids the magic is back in full force. I loved buying her presents so much and she would have been happy with one new sippy cup. Grandma and Grandpa spoiled her with a puppy that barks and walker she can push...we also bought her the Shirley Temple movies, which were my favorites from childhood. I hope she loves them too.
Gosh, love my little family so much. xo.
Wishing everyone a delightful week with friends and family celebrating however you celebrate.
We head to Salt Lake City tomorrow to be festive with my side of the family. Being a parent this year for Christmas is the best....although I am hoping Grandma and Grandpa Thurston will babysit while we escape to a movie theater.
We are excited for Nova's 1st Christmas. Lets hope she doesn't consume too much wrapping paper.
Safe travels everyone and Happy Holidays.
(anyone else closet Ren & Stimpy fans?)
Finally got to shoot on my ivy wall before the color went.
My goal is to have a family just like this in about 5yrs.
Have you ever seen two parent look more proud? Pride is something you can't help having when you have made such perfection.
These two images are from a 5min photoshoot, location: parking lot, Byron Bay Australia. You don't need much time! Just sunlight and some baby chub. Recognize this mum and dad? Shot their wedding in Brisbane last year (http://ds2.foliowebhosting.com/~foliocsd/?p=4679)..now, two dear friends.
I have LOADS of images to share with you from all of our adventures these last few months. Now..if only I could find the time to blog.....
How awesome is this family?
The Atkinsons are good friends of ours living the dream in San Diego, CA.
I honestly can't believe their two kids are already this old...
One of our favorite families.
More of these 3 coming soon.
I posted some images from this shoot a couple weeks back. That post was shot on film and this post is all digital. I like both..for different reasons.
What are your thoughts? Does the medium matter as much as the content? Does the medium add to the content?..that is the more important question in my mind.
Take a look. What are your thoughts?
I am a hybrid shooter. I like being able to shoot whatever I think will do the best job in the moment. The problem is, I love so many cameras and each record the moment so differently that I wish I could shoot all cameras for every frame (impossible).
Just stuff I am thinking about...
What a beautiful, beautiful family. The love each other. They trust each other...and you can tell.
I could sit in that bedroom and watch you all jump on that bed for hours and hours.
Thank you for letting me into your LA home to take a peak at what you look like as a family. And I do have to say, it looks pretty good.
(All color shot with my NEW contax 645 portra 800 film & the BW's were shot on my hassey with ilford 3200 (of course)).
Had the pleasure of shooting this gorgeous family a couple weeks back.
Mike is a friend and the mastermind behind Digital Orange Photography and I was honored to spend some time in the park with him and his family. (PS. Mike has dimples, wears bowties and is single. Triple threat!)
Those two blonde haired boys were such "brothers". Made me hope for two boys of my own someday.
Hope you all enjoyed your Cunninghamacation 2011! xo.