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Monthly Archives: February 2009

Jen and Ben’s engagement session at Gilroy Gardens

February 26, 2009 at 11:54pm

I’ve been sorting through all my images to get ready for a special project I’m working on and hoping to finish before the open house. I realized I never shared Jen and Ben’s engagement session!

So here it is. I really love these two people. So real and open and beautiful.

Noooo…. that’s not Jen! Jen is gorgeous! But that picture cracks me up.


I loved the way Ben looked at Jen. Total love.

See what I mean? Beautiful.

Every minute with the two of them was great, and their wedding was amazing. So much love, and they made me feel like one of the family. Thanks, guys! You’re the best. :)

Posted in engagements

by shannon

2 comments

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February 27, 2009 - 7:49 am Krista Lund - i can't wiat for your special project at the open house! love the 4th image :)

March 13, 2009 - 9:38 pm alison - I am dying to do a shoot at a carousel. Love that first one! Cute cute photos

Blog-a-Day 3 |Glamour shots by Deb

February 23, 2009 at 11:28pm

Inspired by Deb from Napoleon Dynamite and with a bit of cabin fever as all the kids were home from school one day a few weeks ago, my sister-in-law Tricia and I decided to try to recreate the glory days of Glamour Shots. We got out all of Tricia’s makeup (because I have such a pathetic variety) and pulled out the curling irons and went to town. Glamor shots are ugly, and ours were no exception. But we glow like angels.

We got the kids in on the action too…

This shot of Franklin makes me laugh so hard.

What? Why would a mother do this to her son? I don’t know. But it’s funny. And he’s not totally abused… see his lips? Traces of Oreo. It had been a good day for him.

To be honest, that picture of Sophie freaks me out a little. She does NOT look 6. (shiver) But you can’t deny she rocked the braid/headband. Shelby’s eyeshadow… like, gag me with a spoon. Totally.

Man. He’s tough. And cool. And also sporting Oreo.

Ok… that horrendous ugly business out of the way, I also got some really cool shots in the midst of trying to get ugly ones!

Shelby-as-Miley-Cyrus. We had to recreate that racy pic. Only on a kid even younger, ha ha… but she’s still got her t-shirt there, no worries. It’s just for fun. Still, seeing her with makeup freaks me out. That reminds me… I don’t think I’ve posted any pics of my girl without braces!

Isn’t she CUTE?!! (If I ever catch her wearing this much makeup she’s dead.) :)

I *love* this shot of Matt. He makes that face all the time when he thinks something’s funny but tries to be too cool to laugh. He’s become quite a goof lately and I love it.

Poor Franklin. Still wearing the scarf. But can you blame me? Don’t you want to eat those shoulders? (and aren’t they still adorably freakishly small compared to his head?)

I’m still a little freaked out by Sophie. I’m pretty sure in this shot, she’s thinking about unicorns (which, by the way, Franklin insists live in rainbows… he sees a rainbow and is so sure he’ll see a unicorn too).

Shelby caught this one of me, which, surprising, I like a lot. (especially all black and white and overly bright)

Posted in personal

by shannon

19 comments

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February 24, 2009 - 12:23 am lroah - Oh, how I love you. :) I wish I had seen more of you at WPPI. Anytime you feel like visiting Southern CA, let me know!

February 24, 2009 - 12:31 am Brenda Miles - I laughed. Then ooo'd and ahh'd. Then wept that your kids are so dang big. Shelby is a beauty, Sophie's eyelashes are to die for, Matt is getting handsomer by the second and Franklin...well, Franklin needs another oreo for the abuse.

February 24, 2009 - 5:35 am Lisa - Ok, that shot of Franklin vogueing has me CRACKING UP!!! Your kids are so stinking cute. And you're not too bad either, chickie! ;)

February 24, 2009 - 8:27 am Kayli - That is WAY WAY WAY hilarious.

February 24, 2009 - 8:54 am Jami - Those are awesome! I love it. Shelby looks amazing without her braces. Why does it seem like she just got them on?

February 24, 2009 - 9:25 am Stefani Meyer - I thought Sophie was thinking of "tiny seahorses" - you know, since these ARE "Glamour Shots by Deb." She even has her hand up under her chin. But they really are so cute! I even really like the ones of you, even though you ARE such a monster. I don't know how you live with yourself (wink)

February 24, 2009 - 10:58 am Andrea - I'm laughing so hard right now!!! I love that you did this! And no joke--do NOT let Sophie and Shelby put on makeup. They are WAY too beautiful and it makes them look WAY too old. You crack me up.... :)

February 24, 2009 - 11:35 am Anonymous - You look like you are about 14 years old, but so do Shelby and Sophia. OK that is creepy.

February 24, 2009 - 11:54 am Kaija - i'm loving your daily posts, shannan! shelby did a great job grabing that gorgeous last photo of you -- and your kids are adorable. i agree it is a little freaky how much older makeup and a good photo can make kids look! it reminds one how wise they really are.

February 24, 2009 - 12:51 pm Lindsay - Love, love, love the glamour shots! So funny!

February 24, 2009 - 1:31 pm alison - Those are SO GREAT! I love that first one of you. SO late 80's. What a fun thing to do. I might have to do that one of these days:P

February 24, 2009 - 9:52 pm Lisa - Those are hilarious! Did you sit around and make lanyard keychains too? Totally makes me want to watch Napolean Dynamite again :D

February 24, 2009 - 10:15 pm Krista Lund - These are great!! Love how you turned this silly time into a cherished memory and got some awesome photos!

February 25, 2009 - 12:13 pm molly - shannon, this is hysterical. the ones of the kids made me laugh out loud! gotta love glamour shots!

February 28, 2009 - 7:59 pm Kent - These are hsyterical - I LOVE them but my fav is Sophia rocking the hair headband. Man that could be so in style right now! :-)

March 7, 2009 - 4:54 pm Deb - I remember Glamour Shots. I did Glamour shots and yes they were BAD. LOL. Beautiful family.

March 12, 2009 - 7:50 pm davina - Shannon, that is hilarious. The unicorns, the braid headband, the scarf on Franklin, the eyeshadow!!! hilarious. What a great fun memory you've just made...I love it.

April 11, 2009 - 5:28 pm michelle - ok. The first picture of franklin makes me laugh so hard to. I have seen it a couple of times but it is hilarious. Shannon the first picture of you makes you look way young. Not old enough to be the mom of 4 kids. They are all great though. How fun.

March 29, 2010 - 11:39 pm Alexis - There are great. Im working on a similar idea for my MFA program and was looking up other peoples takes on the glamour shot. :) u can see mine here: www.alexisroberts.blogspot.com

Slow internet

February 22, 2009 at 11:33pm

For some reason I’m having trouble posting images. I didn’t forget the blog, but I got annoyed at not being able to post my awesome super (ugly) Glamour Shots images. I’ll figure it out. I know you’re super excited to see these images! :P Stay tuned.

Posted in old blog

by shannon

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Blog-a-day 2 | bay area photographer

February 21, 2009 at 11:03pm

Man… I missed a day of blogging without even thinking about it! I’ve been falling asleep on the couch by 9 every night. I guess a weekend of late nights and early mornings will do that to you!

Here’s a session from the fall. I’m by no means posting these sessions in chronological order. Just whatever I feel like, and today I feel like sharing these guys. Not a baby, not a family, not an engaged couple… but I had a lot of fun with these two. It was a different dynamic shooting siblings, challenging at first, but we all warmed up quickly.

This shot cracks me up. I love it. :)

I love this shot of her. One of those fun random accidents.

Sarcastic look… I bet his mom doesn’t get that much! :)

Posted in children, photography

by shannon

3 comments

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February 22, 2009 - 10:37 pm Stefani Meyer - Oh man shannon, I think this is one of my favorite sessions ever. Thanks for sharing!

February 24, 2009 - 3:03 am mama speak - Hi Shannon, This is my niece & nephew, so I'm partial I admit. But I think this is such a cool set of shots. While I THINK they're particularly adorable, they call the age group tweens for a reason; they're kind of in-between everything right now. That can be a hard group to shoot (although I'm SURE they were angels for you ;-) It's a great set of shots allowing their personalities to shine through.

February 24, 2009 - 7:40 am cblackstone - love the accident shot:) love the color combo of your blog (can see it on a layout soon, lol) and love your banner and I think I would really love you in real life:)

Blog-a-day 1 | Bay Area Baby Photographer

February 19, 2009 at 10:26pm

I spent the first half of this week in Las Vegas at a huge photography conference. It was crazy. And cool. And overwhelming. And inspiring. I’m so excited about the upcoming changes I have planned for the business. This year is going to be the best ever!

So… I have that big open house coming up on March 7 (and March 6, too…actually). I plan to blog every single day in the days leading up to the big open house. Don’t let me forget!

So to kick off my blog-a-day streak, let’s take a looky at miss Alicia’s session! This girl is a little miracle. Her mom told me that she had spent three years trying to get pregnant without results, and then, when she least expected it, along came this pretty little surprise!

I love that shot. I want to kiss those sweet little lips. But I never do. Because I’m pretty sure the parents don’t like that. Kind of not cool if it’s not your baby. So I restrain myself. I can’t decide if I like the color one better. What do you think?

That little hand! Again, trying not to be a weird baby kisser.

This little hand kills me too. I think she’s exhausted after a long night of partying.

I honestly can’t remember what was behind her that was yellow, and I don’t remember if I meant to capture it as a cool background, but I really dig the yellow! It was only in this one shot…

Posted in babies, children, news, photography, portraits

by shannon

6 comments

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February 20, 2009 - 10:17 am Brenda Miles - Love them all. But I like the color one better...no, wait. I like the black and white...no...I don't know. You're just so good that it works either way. Glad you were inspired in Sin City:)

February 20, 2009 - 10:34 am Andrea - What a sweet baby. I'd be tempted to kiss it too! What restraint you have... :) I can't wait for all this blogging you are about to do!!!

February 20, 2009 - 11:17 am heather - I like the color. Wow. These are precious! That mom must be so thrilled!! Would love to come to your grand opening, but I'm in Tahoe that weekend....so I'll definitely make a trip down this Spring! So excited for you. Beautiful beautiful work! xo H

February 20, 2009 - 4:21 pm Krista Lund - These are just beautiful and I love the one in color. My favorite is #3. Did you go to WPPI? If so, lucky you! Maybe you will see me there is a couple of years :)

February 24, 2009 - 11:37 am Anonymous - Soo cute. I like the color. Babies just glow.

February 20, 2009 - 6:10 am Anonymous - Mom Blogs - Blogs for Moms... ...

Big News!

February 12, 2009 at 10:49pm

My nephew, Ian, is looking appropriately surprised and a wee bit scared. That’s kind of how I’m feeling. Because I’m announcing the date of the much awaited STUDIO OPEN HOUSE!

I can’t wait to show every one my new digs. And I’m also a wee bit party-planning phobic, because I always fear that nobody will show. So I’m going to bribe you to show. he he ha ha. If you make the effort to leave your house that day, I’ll make sure to reward you… nobody who makes the effort will leave empty-handed.

But first things first. The date. The big open house will be held on March 7, from 1-4pm. Mark your calendars!

I’ll give more details later, and plan to do a lot of blogging in the couple weeks before the open house, but for now, I think I’ll just let you see a couple more pics of the precious little guy… my baby brother’s baby. I took these during my Christmas visit… we only had about 15 minutes but it was enough!


Uh-oh… Someone told Ian about all the yummy food we’re going to have a the open house…

Posted in babies, news, personal, portraits

by shannon

7 comments

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February 13, 2009 - 8:17 am Stefani Meyer - Calendar marked!!!!! And Ian is ADORABLE!!

February 13, 2009 - 2:51 pm Krista Lund - SO excited for this! I have a shoot planned for that day, but think I can stop by for a bit before.

February 14, 2009 - 12:38 am Brenda Miles - I'm so excited to see the finished product! It's Preston and Carson's opening day for Little League that day otherwise I would have totally been there! The 350+ miles to your studio wouldn't have kept me away:) Good luck!

February 14, 2009 - 11:08 am Andrea - I just know this is going to be the most raging party ever! I've got the old 2,000 miles away barrier--but for this party of a lifetime, I'm still holding out hope that I'll become insta-rich and be able to fly there on a whim!!! I'm accepting sponsors too. Anyone?

February 15, 2009 - 9:49 pm kent - That drool picture is great! Party time is almost here!

February 16, 2009 - 1:16 pm Anonymous - Wish I could go. It will be fabulous. That is some record breaking drool there!

February 21, 2009 - 7:41 pm kim - Oh my goodness!! So cute, and captured so beautifully by you! So great to see you at WPPI. I so want to be there for your open house!xoxo kim

Shannon and Jason in Campbell

February 8, 2009 at 12:51am

These guys are the best! (And not just because of her name.) I had such a great time with them… They said they’d never had professional pictures taken, but I didn’t believe them… they were just way too natural and comfortable and GOOD at this! We met at the studio and cruised around downtown Campbell. They met just around the corner, so that’s where we began the session.

This is in front of the building where they met. I thought the tree shadow and the lines were so cool!

Livin’ on the edge… Don’t worry, we watched for trains.

Of course I had to play with some sunflare…

My favorite shot of the day:

and my other favorite…

I really loved all the shots from this session… if you’d like to see the rest, feel free to check them out here!

Posted in engagements, photography

by shannon

6 comments

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February 8, 2009 - 7:23 am Lisa Russo - Sigh...Shannon, your use of angles and whitespace just make my artistic soul sing - every image is like a work of art. Simply beautiful. You have SUCH an artistic eye!

February 8, 2009 - 1:17 pm tina cockburn - These rock, Shannon. I have enjoyed watching you grow in your photography. I love the one with the tree and the one with the shadows. Fab!

February 8, 2009 - 6:45 pm Andrea - Those are all amazing! I can't even decide which I like best. The train track is so cool. But I love the shadows. And the tree. So so cool. Cute couple too!

February 8, 2009 - 8:02 pm Brenda Miles - What a good lookin' couple. Thanks for the personal tour, it was so great to catch up with you!

February 8, 2009 - 10:29 pm Krista Lund - These are just so super cool and beautiful!!

February 13, 2009 - 10:12 pm Allison Thompson - I've been a fan for a while. These photos are AMAZING!!!! I just can't stop looking at them-they are wonderful in every way possible!

Speaking of Twins…

February 2, 2009 at 9:35pm

I really miss these guys.

My brother and his family lived in our town for the last couple of years, but at Christmas, they moved back to the motherland. It was SO nice to have family so nearby. Family dinners. Holidays. Swapping babysitting. Late-night games while the kids slept in the guestroom. Good times. I’m happy for them to have more quantity and quality family around for them, but sad for us to be alone again!

A couple weeks before they moved, we did a little mini-session. Here are some more faves.

One for grandma:

And one for me:

Piggies. Love them. Miss them. I need a piggie fix. Maybe I’ll just pig out on Oreos tonight. But that’s really not the same…

Posted in Families, children, personal, portraits

by shannon

5 comments

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February 2, 2009 - 10:30 pm kent - What?! They are gone! Why am I always the last to know! Such cute pictures!

February 3, 2009 - 12:03 pm Kayli - Oh these are great. So great.

February 3, 2009 - 12:55 pm Andrea - (GASP!) I LOVE THESE!!! So cute. I just want to kiss all those cute cheeks. Well, of the kiddos anyway.... :)

February 3, 2009 - 6:36 pm shannon - DUDE those pictures are SOOOO cute! i really miss them too. shelby

February 9, 2009 - 1:06 pm Jami - Shannon- Thanks so much for the pics. I LOVE them. You always do such an amazing job. We miss you guys!