Shannon Montez Photography Blog » San Jose's Family and Child Photographer, Shannon Montez, captures all aspects of family life: Families, newborns, children, babies, high school seniors, and weddings.

To-do lists really keep me on track. I know I’m in for a good day if I write my to-do list in the morning and keep referring to it all day.

Today, I wrote my list. Well, a lot of it was left over from yesterday, but still… I had plenty to do.

The problem was that I left a few items off my list that ended up taking most of my day. Stuff like “look at the internet” and “eat oreos”  and “watch an episode of My Super Sweet 16″.

So, I added them in, just so I could cross them off. Now I feel *so* much better about getting so much done today! 

In honor of the fact that Stephanie is in the hospital right now, either having her baby or enjoying it, I thought this would be the perfect time to post the session we did a few weeks ago!

Stephanie is a friend of mine who does interior design. If anyone needs an interior designer, Stephanie is your girl! 

This session was really fun because they were so excited to be at this point. They have been hoping for a baby for years… it’s been a long journey. So to be near the end of the journey and at the beginning of a new one was incredibly exciting for them and I was so happy to be able to capture this!
 

Stephanie had the idea for the bow around her belly. I don’t usually do this type of shot, but I think it looks good! We have more plans with this ribbon once the baby arrives…

I love the true joy you can see here. They were so sweet together. They’re going to make amazing parents. 

This shot is partly cute, partly funny. It makes me smile.Good luck Stephanie! Not only today, but for all the days to come! Motherhood is quite a journey…  

To celebrate Earth day, I’m wearing bamboo socks today. (surprisingly soft and comfortable!)
Are you doing anything special? 

Susan and Greg are getting married very soon, and I better blog the engagement before I have the wedding to blog!

These guys are special to me… Susan scheduled a mini-session last year and at the time, she told me she was a little nervous because her relationship was new and it might be kind of weird to take pictures at that stage in their relationship. Hearing that, I was a little nervous to shoot the session. Should I treat it like they’re just friends? I didn’t want to make it too “engagement-y” because it wasn’t- they’d only been dating for a matter of weeks!

But once they showed up, they put my fears to rest. They were so cute together, really caring and loving and wonderful to each other, so it was fun and natural. I was so pleased when Susan told me they were engaged, and even more pleased when they chose me to photograph their upcoming wedding. I’m so happy to be a part of their story.

The engagement session was at the beautiful Hakone Gardens. (a piece of trivia: some scenes from Memoirs of a Geisha were filmed there!)

Last Friday, Dave and I actually got out of the house and went on a date! I think our last date was the same thing… a concert. We found the coolest concert: the Hotel Cafe Tour. Not only was Ingrid Michaelson playing, but so were a bunch of other amazing artists.

They seemed like they were having the best time, a bunch of creative people hanging out, traveling around, and enjoying their craft together. No matter what your type of creativity, I think it’s so awesome to embrace that and create. So things like this are super fun for me- you can just feel the energy. I really loved William Fitzsimmons and Cary Brothers and Meiko, and of course, Ingrid. Pricilla Ahn wasn’t there, but we looked her up and she’s awesome too.  There was some other girl there that was a guest for that show who gave me goosebumps, but I don’t remember her name. I’m bummed about that, because I wanted to make a big deal about her. Oh well. If someone in internet land knows who that was and can enlighten me, I’d sure ‘preciate it.

Oh! And the best part… this time we got dinner and a place to sit. I was so happy. I’m too old and tired to be standing for an entire concert anymore. Sad, but true. Once you hit thirty, your life is practically over… So to be sitting and enjoying the music during/after a delicious meal, it was heavenly.I found this cool website that lets me embed the music right here! I didn’t see all of these people, but it’s all good.  So…  because I love you, I’m going to treat you to some fun tunes. Enjoy!

I also want to give a shout out to Ellie who I met while standing in line for the concert. She said she was there because she found out about Ingrid on my blog after the last time we went! Cool, huh?

Piper has learned a new trick, and it doesn’t make me very happy! Funny thing is, she can get up, but she can’t get down. So once she’s up, she’s stuck. See that homework she’s stepping on? So cliche, the dog messing with the homework… 

We have to be careful to push in the chairs and clear the table, but once it a while I’ll find the little stinker being pesky. If there’s food there, it seems she doesn’t mind any punishment because the reward (the food she snagged) was worth it. Grr… as if I didn’t have enough to do without wiping doggy footprints off the table! But she IS kind of cute up there, all pesky and stinkerish. 

Now that I’ve gotten the most important post out of the way (hardy har), I plan to spend the week catching up on everything else! Topics will include: a spring break recap, the twins, the shoot at the shelter, 2 engagement sessions, a fun maternity session, another Ingrid Michaelson concert, and whatever else comes to mind!

Back to work! (the worst part about coming back from vacation…)

My kids are off this week from school, my husband is off work, and we are going to be playing together all week! I’ll be away from my computer most of the time, so if you are a client looking for information, hold tight and I’ll get to you when I can. In the meantime, I’m going to go enjoy the company of some of my favorite people in the world!

 A couple weeks ago, while driving around, we saw the perfect place for pictures. It was an old orchard, overgrown with tons of yellow blossoms. I got all excited and vowed to have a session with my own kids there. Well, it took a few days, but one evening I just threw everyone into the car and drove up to the old orchard. But the weeds had been mowed and it had become a perfectly ordinary, if not ugly, orchard. Bummer!! But I had already brushed their hair and made them put on clean shirts, so I wasn’t going to be deterred. I drove up the road a bit, found another spot with overgrown weeds, got the kids out of the car and forced them to smile and be happy. I never did get that “perfect” image, but I do love what I did get.

I love how Franklin is intently studying the weeds while everyone else is interacting in the background.

This image is pretty representative of each of their personalities… sometimes…

I got some individual shots of everyone, too… Franklin loved it, I guess…

Man, his eyes kill me… I swear, all he has to do is look at me right and I’m totally hypnotized. Spoiled youngest child…

Sophie looks so big in these… her hair has gotten so long… She’s grown so much lately…


Matthew is another one with the hypnotic eyes. I love how this kid is always trying to do the right thing. Or force other people to. We call him our “cherub of justice”.

And this girl… she is the one that makes me feel old…

How can I have a kid almost old enough for middle school? It kills me!

One last one of them all together, Sophia demonstrating the subtleties of being a stinker…

Looking forward to having some quality time! I hope you get the same.