It’s was a packed summer of photographing weddings & some additional family commitments, so I had to delay the San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair Happy Baby Contest until the Fall. A HUGE THANK YOU to all the participating families & their patience with the delay. I’m excited to finally have the chance now to run the contest & hope the lucky winner will have the chance to use their free session for a holiday portrait! So take a peek through the details below & please vote for your favorite happy baby!

We had so much fun with our photo booth & contest at the San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair at Fort Mason. At the fair, we set up a simple background to photograph anyone interested in the contest. It was so much fun to meet all the beautiful kiddos & their families, and I photographed over 20 children!!! The studio set-up is very different than my typical portrait sessions, which I think of as more of a story-telling, lifestyle approach to portraiture, but this set-up worked perfectly for this particular venue and contest.

So now, the fun starts – let the voting begin!!!

Here is how it works:

1. Take a peek at the images below, select your favorite, note their # and cast your vote!

2. After you cast your vote, you’ll be able to see the current results of the voting.

3. Invite friends & family to vote as too!

4. Only one vote per person.

5. Voting ends at 11:59pm on October 17, 2010.

6. The lucky winner will be announced October 18, 2010 on the blog.

The image with the MOST votes will win:

- 1-2 hour weekday lifestyle portrait session on-location (anywhere in SF Bay Area)

- Online slideshow of photographer’s favorite images

- Online proofing gallery of session images

- 1 8×10 fine art canvas gallery wrap, ready to hang & beautifully display

Here are the contestants. I can’t imagine how anyone will decide – they are all so adorable! At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll say it again anyways – I love my job!!!

Sad you missed the chance to enter your own child? Don’t worry, we’ll be setting up once more at the San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair on Sunday, November 21st at Fort Mason! Stop by and see us!

For more information about wedding or lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.

Or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or sign-up for the LPP newsletter.

Special thanks to my friend and wonderful photographer as well, Cara Gardner for helping out at the photo booth! Thank you, thank you!!!

For this session, I met Lily Rose, her parents, grandparents, nanny and dog at the beautiful Gamble Gardens in Palo Alto. This little girl is so happy & surrounded by so many people who love her! We had so much fun during the session, capturing Lily Rose in all of her beautiful outfits, checking out the flowers and playing with her sweet pup Milo. The session was the day before her 1st birthday, and the birthday hat Rowena had brought for her was too cute! Enjoy some favorites from the session below, or check out their slideshow here:

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Rowena & Andrew, thank you so much for inviting me to capture your beautiful family!

For more information about wedding or lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.

For the most up-to-date news and special offers, sign-up for the LPP newsletter.

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I love that the last 3 sessions I posted were all returning clients with new additions to their families! It’s so much fun to watch these beautiful kiddos and their families grow. And such a privilege to be a part of capturing their memories.

I photographed Kalindi 2 years ago, when she was just about the same age as her little brother Lukas is now. She’s grown so much, but still has that beautiful smile and sparkling eyes. Little Lukas was such a cutie too! We met at a nearby vineyard in Napa to capture this session, and it was so much fun to see them all play, laugh and snuggle together. Below are some favorites, or view their slideshow here:

Shanti & David, thank you so much for inviting me to capture your family again! I look forward to our next session!

For more information about wedding or lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.

For the most up-to-date news and special offers, sign-up for the LPP newsletter.

Or follow me on Twitter, or Facebook.

WOW. And WOW again.

I had no idea that the photo contest would get this kind of response!!! The total number of votes was over 2,000!!!

So, these children are very loved. That is clear. The support they generated was just inspiring. So inspiring, that I’m expanding the winnings a bit, so that everyone wins!

You see, I’m the kind of mom that when my kids have birthday parties, I make sure no one “loses” at birthday games. When the kids run like mad to find the last chair in musical chairs, and suddenly they are “out,” that’s when they get a prize. I admit, it’s kind of confusing, because suddenly, it’s fun to get “out.” But for me, I guess I like that win or lose, it’s always fun to participate.

So, everyone who participated wins a free digital download of their favorite file from the photo booth! Yay!!! Tell your kids from me that there will always be a prize for them at my parties!!!

And now… drumroll please…

The winner of the free weekday photo session & 8×10 fine art canvas from their session is #27!!!

Because the voting was soooooo close all week with the top two, I’ve decided to also give a 2nd place prize to #14 for a free weekday mini-session!

And then 3rd place prizes go to all those who collected more than 50 votes, so congratulations to #37, #19, #23, #34 & #4! You’ve won a $50 gift certificate good towards any 2010 session!

Be sure check back on the blog for posts of the winners, and stick around to vote in the next few weeks for the winner from our San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair photo booth contest!

For more information about wedding or lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.

For the most up-to-date offers & details, sign-up for the LPP newsletter.

Or follow me on Twitter, or Facebook.

Miss Chiara!!!!

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I love, love, love to photograph this wonderful family! I’ve been so lucky to capture their 1st maternity session expecting Jules, then Jules at about 6 months, then a mini-session when Jules was about 2, then an extended family shoot with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, then this past summer when they were awaiting the arrival of this beautiful little girl!

Some of you may remember the maternity session from this past fall (see post here) contained one of my favorite pictures of 2009. And of course, this 6th session did not disappoint, with lots of images of love and family, and beautiful baby adorableness. And now, I have more favorites for 2010 – so many, I couldn’t post just one! And you can see more of their slideshow here.

Francesca, Tim, Jules & Chiara – thank you for inviting me to continue to capture your incredibly wonderful family. It is always such a treat to see you!

For more information about wedding or lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.

Or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or sign-up for the LPP newsletter.

I was so lucky to meet Daylinda, Nick & Gabby last fall at one of my mini-sessions in San Francisco! Not only did they come via a referral from another favorite family, but they are also one of the sweetest, most loving families I’ve had the pleasure to photograph. They are the kind of family that makes couples want to have children & families add a few more of their own! Full of giggles and hugs and so much love. And now, they get to share the love with their newest addition, Miss Anna Malea!

Oh my goodness, she is so darn cute, I giggled and grinned the entire time I edited these images.

Please feel free to view a few favorite images from the session below! Or feel free to view their slideshow here.

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Daylinda, Nick, Gabby & Malea, thank you so much for allowing me to capture this special time in your family. What an honor, and so much fun too! Please tell Gabby I was singing Taylor Swift songs the whole way home!

For more information about wedding or lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.

Or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or sign-up for the LPP newsletter.

I was so excited to see Liam again this summer!  I photographed his mama for a maternity session, then his newborn session shortly after.  I so love seeing little guys grow and change, and goodness, Liam has got some personality!  Just check out his hilarious interaction with his favorite monkey friend below!

Can’t you just hear the conversation they are having?

“Hi Monkey!  Wow – I didn’t know you were here.  So good to see you dude!”

“Hey Mom!  Look!  It’s Monkey!”

“Mmmm.  So good to see you man, don’t mind me, I’m just being developmentally appropriate, and I have to eat everything I see.  No offense right?  Thanks dude.”

Okay, I’m done with my “Look Who’s Talking” impression!   I’ll let the pictures of Liam and his two gorgeous cousins, Katie & William speak for themselves.  Here are a few more faves, or for many more fun images from the session, take a peek at their slideshow!  Seriously, there are too many cute ones to share, you gotta take a peek!

Thanks so much Kelley & family for inviting me to capture your family!

To inquire about Bay Area Lifestyle Portrait Sessions, please email me at lori@loriphoto.com and view my portfolio for samples and details.

Ben’s parent’s purchased a maternity, newborn and 6 month package to help capture Ben’s first year.  Heading over to Ben’s 3rd session, I couldn’t help thinking about how I have the best job ever!  It is soooooo much fun to see these little guys go from bump to baby to toddler and on!   

Ben of course, had changed so much in the 7 months since I had seen him last!  This is of course, the perfect timing for the “gerber baby” shots.  Sitting up, but not yet really crawling!  But before we headed to the black background shots, we grabbed some fun shots of Ben in his crib.  

I always giggle when I see crib shots, it’s this funny tension between it looking like a fun spot & a jail that must be escaped!

Ben doesn’t seem bothered though!  He’s a super happy little guy!!!

So much fun!  Here are some uber-cute classic portraits of Ben to finish off the session!  For more fun shots of our session, take a peek at the slideshow!

Thanks Alissa for another great session!  Can’t wait for the next one!!!

Meet Chase!!!

I had the pleasure of photographing William and his family two years ago, and in late May, I got to meet his little brother Chase! These boys are so adorable, and tons of fun!  We had a great time capturing some sweet & fun moments of their family together.

Here’s one of my faves of the whole family!  To view more, head to their slideshow!

Parents of two children know how tricky it is to get both children photographed together… especially that first year of transition to a new sibling relationship, and how hard it is to do it in a way that is fun for both children!  I often get asked by parents on how to best capture siblings without a torturous posed portrait.  One of my favorite photography tricks for photographing siblings, especially when the youngest is under 2, is to invite them to share space together on an oversized chair, or even better, a crib!  Then we sing, bounce, dance and shoot like mad!!!  Fun & silly meets well-contained! HeeHee!

Works like a charm…

To finish the session, we ended with a few classic black background shots of Chase, capturing the last of his “gerber baby”  moments!  Goodness, this little guy is adorable!!!

Thank you Susan & Erik for inviting me back to capture your gorgeous family!!!  Such fun!

Oh my goodness – this little guy is A-DORABLE.   A serious heart-melter.  

Kamlyn is at the perfect age for what I like to call the “gerber baby” portrait! He’s sitting up, but not yet fully crawling, which makes it really fun to take a few images on the black background. It’s a great way to capture his gorgeous baby skin and shape. Once crawling and walking hits, I steer families away from this more classic portrait set-up. Trying to get an active child to stay within a 6×8 space can be torture for all involved! So at that stage, we switch to play, play, play – yay! Then I have the very distinct pleasure of capturing baby, toddler or child (and parents too!), doing what they do best: playing, exploring, giggling, singing, stomping, snacking, running, snuggling… you name it. So fun!

All that said, we had a lot of fun capturing a little bit of both with Kamlyn. As I’ve mentioned before, I never pose babies on the background. But check out this small sampling of the world’s most natural model…

See more of the session in the slideshow! Thanks so much Angie & Geoff for inviting me to capture this fun time with Kamlyn!