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.

I may have a new favorite twin picture.

That shot kills me.

Though it looks like we had a studio setup, I didn’t. It was taken on a futon in their guest bedroom. One of my favorite things about being an on-location photographer is having a different look to every session. The adventure and excitement of finding something new… I love it.

This age (6 months) is one of the BEST ages to shoot! SO happy. So interested. And SO immobile. They sit where I put them and just smile away. Or, as one particular sweetie here… give their best thoughtful face.

Sometimes they have new teeth to show off.

I’m always SOOO tempted to get the hiney on the wood floor shot. I just can’t help it.

My dad is a twin. There is a shot of him with his brother quite a bit like this… I couldn’t help but recreate it.

Just because they’re young, doesn’t mean they don’t know what’s going on. Little missy here is pondering her life deeply. Very smart and thoughtful, this one…

I’ve spent the last couple days looking at the blog of a fellow photographer Sheye Rosemeyer. We have so much in common. Four kids- two boys and two girls. Trying to run a family and a photography business at the same time, and all the craziness that ensues with that endeavor. I feel like we live in a parallel universe. With one big exception.

On a regular old normal summer day nearly two years ago, she lost her three and a half year-old daughter when she climbed into the normally locked parked car looking for candy and fell asleep. (You can read about what happened here.) She said that losing a child sends you into a different universe… one where all the roads and people and details look the same, but one where everything has changed.

And, realizing I’m someone that inhabits her old universe, the one where you get to be normal, the one where things like messes and noise and what to eat for dinner can be your biggest concerns on some days, the one where you get to take things for granted and live like things will always go your way, the one where I get to watch all my children grow daily… I have taken the time to appreciate that fact. I’m feeling incredibly grateful. I’m hugging my children. I’m listening to their stories that are sometimes so hard to pay attention to. I’m enjoying the sound of their laughter in the other room (even though they’re supposed to be cleaning). I’m trying to memorize everything about them.

Today, I’m following her advice: “Live each day, every single day, with the understanding that one does not necessarily lead into the other. Hug your family. Tight. Put aside What Does Not Matter. Tomorrow could be a completely new kind of normal.” I’m praying to God that I get to continue in this universe. While nothing stays the same (indeed, I miss my own 3.5 year old little girl, but luckily I get six and eleven year old versions and of the same creature without the mind-searing grief), and I know there are plenty of problems to encounter during the course of a lifetime, I’m going to appreciate Today for all it’s worth.

So, the plan in the next few weeks is to post all my backlog of sessions every couple days or so… but I’m just going to do it in random order. ‘Tis the season to work on making better habits!

I’ve also set a date for my studio open house! (I’m actually planning TWO dates…) Stay tuned for details and sneak peeks! And I made a trip to Glamor Shots. Not sure if I dare to share that… but I just might.

On to the pictures…

This session came at the best time. I was in the middle of my busiest time, right before Christmas and feeling a bit frustrated and stressed out. (Getting orders out is the hardest part of the job for me.) I didn’t know if I had the creativity or energy to do a good session that day. But once I got started, I had SO much fun! I cam back from the session feeling energized and excited and ready to handle the more mundane tasks after my creative break.

These kids… the sweetest, happiest kids you could ever hope to find. We had so much fun acting crazy… I think sometimes kids are caught off guard by the fact that an adult is being such a spaz… but it works! I won’t pretend like I’m not exhausted by the end, ha ha.

Little miss K had the cutest room. I love this shot of her… the way she’s looking at the her horse as if it just told a corny joke.

Jumping on the bed? Go ahead. But only when I’m taking pictures, ok?

Mr. Man loved his trains. I loved his smile.

I love how this shot feels like I wasn’t even in the room… like I was just spying on a natural moment…

And some mom love. So fun!

This makes me smile.

These shots make me warm and fuzzy inside. The close mommy moment. The three-year old acting thirty.

I *love* this family. We had so much fun clowning around at the boardwalk. I have to say, the boardwalk is one of my favorite places to shoot because there is just so much color and crazy stuff going on. The day we were here, it was fairly  crowded, but it didn’t matter… we just found little corners and alleys that weren’t.

Check out the spies hiding in the bushes. What the heck? Just kidding.

I love the stripe in that shot. So 80’s roller rink. I kind of want to paint that stripe in my living room. Would that be weird? ha ha.

We did a few couple shots. They were so cute together.

And some of the kids… I love all of their different personalities.

I saw a shot similar to this somewhere and thought it was cool, so I gave it a try.

And…. the “grandma shot.” I call the ones with everyone looking at the camera, smiling, and posed, the “grandma shot” because Grandma LOOOVES getting these shots. She’s not usually a fan of the far-away artsy pics as much as a classic studio shot. So, hence, for grandma, we always try to nab a couple of the grandma shots. The soft setting sun was perfect lighting for this!

Last August. I’m sorry I’ve been such a terrible blogger.

But Juliet and George rock. We had SO much fun at their wedding.

I loved the girls gathered around and the happiness on Megan’s face (Juliet’s sister).

Her bouquet was so cool… it had a locket with pictures of both of their parents on their wedding days!

Dave caught this relaxed shot of George…

Saint Lucy’s was cool…

a cute little stolen moment during the ceremony (which, by the way, I captured from the back of the church… horray for a good long lens!)

Dorks.

Juliet looking GORGEOUS.

The first dance… a cool shaft of light naturally light them up. Crazy!

The father-daughter dance was precious.

Megan’s speech was touching…

This shot cracks me up. Every father loves the garter toss, I’m sure…

I’ve found the key to having the best birthday ever is to witness a very close call between your youngest child and a motorcycle early in the day of your birthday. Luckily, said young child escaped without harm. But for the rest of the day, I was just so stinking grateful that I was not spending the day in the hospital (or worse). Every moment of the day was just so sweet. Buying socks at REI? The best. (plus… smartwool really is the best.) Eating dinner while said young child had his hand on my arm? Again. The best dinner I ever ate.

I spent my whole day in a state of giddy happiness. In a kind of backward way, this birthday just felt amazing.

(this picture doesn’t really match the post, but I’m between photoshops right now and I had this one all ready to go… I’d been wanting to post something about how playing outside in the rain was one of the coolest moments of childhood, but I guess I’ll just say what I just said and call it done.)

I declare this year the Year of the Homemaker for me.

See the end of the rainbow? That’s my home. My pot of gold. The last few years have been a great adventure, getting my business on its feet. It’s fun. I love it. But it also takes a lot of attention. And I’ve let some of my habits slip.

I have a picture in my head of what I want my home life to look like. It’s pretty. It’s nice. It’s warm, it’s comforting, it’s loved, it’s taken care of. In this beautiful picture of home life, home and family are attended-to FIRST, not LAST on my list.

That hasn’t been the case. Of course the kids come first but everything else came last. I noticed this problem especially during the crazy year-end busy season. I can’t be too hard on myself, it’s something to be expected and embraced in my line of work. But I managed it poorly and it cut into what I want for my family. I didn’t get my shopping done until a couple of marathon days the week of Christmas. No baking, no Christmas cards, no decorating, no special traditions. I’ve just felt the lack of warmth and the abundance of stress and chaos in my life and want to turn that around a bit.

I bought myself a Christmas present (and made Dave wrap it and put it under the tree for me!)

It’s just a pretty book where a British woman talks about all of her creative pursuits and home making endeavors. She knits, quilts, bakes, gardens, all with an artistic eye. I love the thought of viewing what I do at home as an art. Making a loaf of bread is an art rather than a chore. Love that!

Dave laughed at me when he saw the book. “The Gentle Art of Domesticity?” To me, even the title alone is beautiful. He asked if I got the recommendation from my inspirationally domestic friend Kathi, who he coined as my “domestic coach”.

No, she didn’t recommend it. But she probably could’ve written it. To my knowledge, she doesn’t knit. But I don’t think this Jane lady grinds her wheat for her homemade bread, so there.

The cool part is… my friend Kathi has offered to teach bread-making lessons. I’m so excited. We’ll just take an afternoon and go start-to-finish and talk about the whole process. What’s more… she’s going to offer her classes to anyone who wants to learn. Reply here or send me an email if you’re local and also interested in learning! The class will be held within the next 3 weeks, most likely… though we haven’t talked about a date yet. Believe me… it’s worth going just to sample the end product!

But it doesn’t stop with bread. I plan to start a garden this year (again, with Kathi’s coaching). I cleaned the spot already, but that was last fall and with the rainy season there are all sorts of pretty green non-welcome plants back there needing to be dealt with again. She tells me that weeding is part of the deal. I’m coming to terms with that.

I’ve cooked meals at home every night this week. I’ve decided that there will be no more eating out in this family until April. Even school lunches are banned. So far, so good. We’ll still go out for special occasions like birthdays (mine’s tomorrow!) and date nights. But other than that, I’m making the time and planning ahead and living life consciously. Less than a week in, but I’m doing great so far! This is kind of big for me, because in the past months I’ve generally decided to run my errands around lunch time so I’d have an excuse to eat food that someone else has prepared. Who knows? Maybe this change alone will help me lose some of the weight I packed on last year. (no more denying this isn’t leftover from pregnancy!)

So. I’m putting it out there. Committing myself. The Year of the Homemaker. I plan to update my endeavors on this blog. So prepare for this place to be a bit more personal and varied, not just about photography, but also about my domestic arts. I’m excited. I only made a couple resolutions this year (I hate to fail!) but this is the biggest one. Wish me luck!