happy 4th birthday jake!

happy happy birthday from all of us to you. we wish it was our birthday so we could party too! wait, we can still party. can and did.

where else would a 4 year old kid want to go for a birthday party? chuck e cheese!

this guy has seen one too many children's parties.

first stop was the game room. it's like a vegas for pre-schoolers. eagle-eye kim spotted this shot. me likey.

another kim shot.

try as he might, jakey was not winning the stacks of tickets that he wanted.

frustration reared it's ugly head.

jakey's gettin upset!

rain came to the rescue with handfuls of tickets and shared some with jake.

THIS IS CAKE TOWN! it's delicious.

bootsy in tha house!

now for the good part. the prizes. kimi, tell jake what he's won!
well jake, since you're a young man that needs stuff, how about... a hundred dollars! that's right. a crisp benjamin from your uncle king.

but wait, there's more! more?! squealed jake.

that's right! you'll be the envy of every kid in town when they see you in this...

brand new clone trooper helmet! oooooo! aaaaaaahhh!

why don't you just look over there and watch your uncle glenn get it out of the box for you & never mind that tugging sensation you feel in your right hand.

what? what happened? someone stole your hundred dollar bill? that's terrible. are you sure you didn't drop it? where was the last place you saw it? are you sure it was in your right hand? i think it was in your left hand.

no, it wasn't me. i've been holding this camera and taking pictures. no, i don't think i caught the perp on camera? hey, what are you doing looking at the lcd on the back of my camera?

if i don't get my hundo back right now SOMEBODY GONNA GET A HURT REAL BAD. somebody.

while we search for the perp, let's check in on uncle G to see how that helmet is coming along.

we've already seen his handy work on rain's helmet. jake's should be easy.

nope.

glenn could never be A REAL CLONE TROOPER...

like his brother mike. he's so cool.

jakey's gonna be just like his dad, only a lot better looking.

as things were winding down jake spotted something else he had "misplaced." his gold medal.

as i was explaining that i wasn't sure how it got around my neck jake bypassed the pleasantries all together and went straight to fisticuffs.

that was where jake made A HUGE TINY MISTAKE.

our ohana. nice eyeball mike.

partners in crime, rain and jake.

if you'd like to see more from the party, here's a slideshow for ya. it's the best day ever!

happy anniversary mary ann and fred

i love opening my email and seeing that someone has been referred to us by a past client. for me, it always brings back the memories of the event(s) we've shot for them and puts a smile on my face. when mary ann and fred wanted to get some anniversary photos taken they talked with their friend, and ours, amores. we can't say enough nice things about amores. she is muy bonita and is one of the happiest people we know. we can't even say her name without smiling. seriously.
now that we've met mary ann and fred we can't say enough nice things about them. they are such a sweet couple. when mary ann contacted me we talked about locations and, as it often turns out, we ended up in la jolla on about the busiest beach day of the year. apparently we weren't the only ones that thought it was a rad beach day. we fought through the crowds and were able to find a few spots. the location was awesome as always, but mary ann and fred made it even awesomer. sweetness follows.

since fred is so much taller than mary ann we thought we'd switch it up a little. mary ann's smile was so infectious. isn't she the sweetest thing?

mary ann was a gamer. we'd start asking if she would stand over there and before we could finish our request she'd already dashed over to the spot.

when mary ann came down from the mountain she found a perfect snuggling spot on fred. these two were made for each other.

the only thing this shot is missing are some little heart shaped thought bubbles floating out of mary ann's head. she loves her man fred.

no, we haven't started hiring extras for our photo shoots. those are stray humans. when you can't beat, blur em. that's our motto.

it's not visible to the naked eye, but through my powerful canon optics i was able to see the tractor beam between mary ann and fred's eyes.

not sure who's beam was stronger but they both pulled each other right in. we love being photo ninjas and capturing real moments like this.

one does not simply walk into mordor. its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs... wait, wrong gate. this is the white gate of la jolla.

april took this shot of mary ann and fred stuck in a moment. me likey.

i believe neil diamond said it best.

thank you for taking a walk on the beach with us mary ann and fred (and for inviting us to dinner). we had an awesome time with you two and are glad that we were able to capture some of the love you share. happy anniversary!

we heart mary ann and fred.

brunel keiki on the north shore of oahu

a couple months ago the brunel ohana came out to california and met up with us for a fun afternoon at the beach. one day with their wonderful family was just not enough, so when we recently flew out to their home turf we met up for a 2nd session. this time we met in one of our favorite places on earth, the north shore of oahu. first stop... waimea valley to get some shots of hayley and riley.
i'm envisioning these first two shots as large canvases. what do you think?
hayley's eyes are as cool as the pacific.

riley tried blending in to his surroundings, but you just can't hide a face like this.

if you've never been to the waimea valley here's a preview. it is such an amazing place. when i saw this spot i had to stop and get some shots of the kids. i love this shot of hayley.

on their way north pam picked up this beautiful fresh flower crown for hayley. it was perfect. hayley looked absolutely precious.

since riley didn't have his blue daredevil cast on anymore to show people he's tough, he opted for the manly vines. looking good my man.

that's more like it.

every time i get the chance to take pictures of young siblings i ask myself if the shot i'm taking will be something they remember and if they'll look back on it with a smile when they grow up.
just in case you forget, hayley and riley, this was when you sat quietly for a moment.
moments later, things were back to normal and you were running around like the wonderful little energetic children you are.

local feety feets

as the sun was setting we headed over to the beach to have a little fun in the water and catch the yummiest light of the day.

today's adventure... strawberry shortcake finds a sea slug. bet you haven't heard that one before.

after seeing the giant sea slug riley strapped on his goggles and dove right in. he pretty much bailed on the photo session and went snorkel exploring the rest of the afternoon. one thing i know is that when you're taking pictures of kids, they run the show. when they're done, they're done. we're cool with that. part of what makes our shots of kids look natural is because we try to be as hands-off as possible and let the kids be kids. they're happier that way and it shows in the pictures.

with riley out exploring the tidelands we got a chance to focus on hayley.

these last shots of hayley just make me smile.
they make me wish i was a kid again and that my only care in the world was how fun this moment is. laughing and splashing around in the warm water of the pacific as the sun sets behind me on the north shore of oahu.
does life get any better than that?

only if this is your house :)