sacramento portrait photographer blog | Jill Carmel

fun with red | sacramento professional portraits

Jill — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:11 +0000

I love color – bold, muted, dark, bright – and red is no exception. I mostly just love it when we can capture so MUCH color in one spot. And how could I resist when we had a red sweater, red VW Beetle, and red tree all in one place! I love mom’s choices for their clothing — they have a great combination of patterns, colors and textures.

Little man was JUST learning to walk over the last couple of weeks, and we got to capture him taking some of his very own unassisted steps. Love that look of accomplishment on his sweet face.

What a stunning couple. I love it when mom and dad want a picture of their own.

Goodness, that little hand on mom’s chin makes my knees weak.

Christmas is getting closer! Rushing to the finish line over here!

- Jill

my heart did a flip | mckinley park family portraits

Jill — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:09:06 +0000

Every time I knock on a customer’s front door, I wonder “What will this family be like? Will they be quiet? Wild? Quirky? Hip?” I wonder because, well, I love meeting people and am just plain fascinated by all of the amazing lives that they create for themselves. But, most of all, I want to capture that quality in their pictures. No quality could ever be wrong because it sets that family apart, makes them unique and makes them who they are.

When the front door of this house opened, all I saw were big smiles. The kids couldn’t wait to start, and right from the word “go”, there was playing and fun, but most of all…just an overwhelming sense of boundless love and family camaraderie. Their daughter asked me right off the bat if she could have a picture with her Daddy. My heart did a flip. Of course she could have a picture with her Daddy!

Ah, I love every single picture in their gallery! What fun people to work with!

wilder | land park | sacramento

Jill — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:57:34 +0000

At one year old and with a name like “Wilder”, I just fell in love with this little man. He has TONS of personality and already has a love for music. We pulled out his mini-piano so he could show off his skills. Who knows — Mom and Dad may have a future musician on their hands and it would be so much fun to pull these pictures out, years from now, and be able to say, “He was playing the piano at ONE!”

Mom had set up this very sweet little banner for his birthday just days before, and it made for a perfect colorful element for their portraits. Oh, and the way Wilder’s hand is on Dad’s cheek…*sigh*

We caught the fall color just before the windy weather arrived — the warm reds and yellows melt together in such a lovely way behind them.

I’m completely transfixed by the picture just below and on the right. He’s having so much fun with the playground xylophone. What a little musician-man!

One-year-old “chub” – love it. And these little hands are a perfect example of such.

Playing on the back patio – check out his great little Toms booties.

We had so much fun! I’m looking forward to sharing the full gallery with mom and dad!

P.S. I’m including this post in my “clothing” category because I think they did a great job of selecting clothing that was simple (while remaining visually interesting), that reflects their personal style, and that brings together a mix of colors that already exist in their home, making these pictures the perfect fit for their home and interior decor.

holiday family photos | together again

Jill — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:30:02 +0000

Eleven months after meeting Dylan for the first time for her newborn session, we’re together again for holiday family photos. What a sweetheart she was, all cuddly and loving with Mom and Dad.

With just three teeth, her little smile is irresistible!

Being a dog-person myself, when mom said that she wanted their Pomeranian, Armani, in the pictures because he’s “like our child”, I was all over it. I call my own two Boston Terriers my “dog children”, so I can relate, lol! But check out his little doggie sidecar on the stroller! I love it!

And here Armani is, in all his cuteness. How adorable!

With the storm moving in on Saturday, it made for some beautiful, dramatic skies.

Thank you L and I! I love you guys in these pictures!

sacramento holiday portraits | fun in the autumn trees

Jill — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:25:17 +0000

Right now is prime time for holiday portraits and what better to include than the beautiful autumn trees! I love photographing this family — they always come with big smiles and the willingness to do whatever I tell them to do, lol! It’s such a pleasure for me to get to watch families grow, to see them year after year and the kids start to remember me and look forward to seeing me again. It’s one of the best parts of my job.

Grandma and Grandpa scheduled this shoot, and I loved that we could include the whole family.

We got to do lots of playing, and Dad was a pro at the “flying” thing, lol!

Throwing leaves around is a great way to get the kids involved, but I think the adults had more fun than I expected!

I love all of the happy in this image.

Had to get one of just the grandparents. Too cute.

Sleepy, cozy kids after a busy shoot. So sweet.

bay area newborn photos | sweet, sweet isabelle

Jill — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:53:15 +0000

I realized this morning that it’s been five months since I’ve posted any newborn photos here…Five months??? Really!? I can’t believe it, and it’s certainly not for lack of babies considering how many I have had the fortune to meet this year. I should do one epic marathon post including an image of every baby I’ve met this year, since each and every one of them are OH SO CUTE.

Needless to say, it’s been super duper busy around here these days with the holidays coming up. I don’t mean to neglect the blog, but Christmas won’t wait for me! So I’m taking a few minutes to set aside my “Christmas Elf” hat, and taking advantage of this rainy Sunday morning to share some darling images that I captured a couple of weeks ago. I drove out to Burlingame for these and it was worth every mile, because what a lovely family I met there…

Love the darling blossom tree mural on her nursery wall.

What a beautiful family! They were just bursting with adoration and happiness over little Isabelle — what an amazing thing to capture.

Seriously, her foot was, like, one of the cutest feet I’ve ever seen. What a little peanut!

Do you see her little smile? How sweet is that?!

Thank you M & T for (and J!) for including me in this AMAZING time in your lives!

glamorous maternity session

Jill — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:09:50 +0000

When this beautiful mommy-to-be sent me her ideas for her glamorous maternity session, I was smitten. Take a stunning woman, a fabulous house in Land Park and some picture-perfect outfits, and you can make a very happy photographer! I think she looks like she could be right out of a magazine!

Got Frenchies?

Seriously, I’m soooo looking forward to their newborn session. What a darling family they will make!

published in dandelion magazine

Jill — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:57:01 +0000

I wanted to share some fun news! A few of my images were recently published in the Winter 2011 issue of Dandelion Magazine (on stands now), and how fun to find out that we made the cover!

Inside Spread:

You can read more about Jack’s amazing story by clicking HERE for the online version. And a warm “Thank you!” to the Petersen Family for including me in their journey!

– Jill

el dorado hills senior portraits | kailey

Jill — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:45:01 +0000

You might recognize this stunning girl from her sweet sixteen portraits in 2010. This year, I’m so, so lucky to be able to work with her again for her senior portraits in El Dorado Hills.

She has an ease and grace in front of the camera that comes through in every picture. I caught this one below slightly out of focus to add to its dreamy, soft quality. I had so many favorites from the shoot, but this is definitely one of them.
Just before sunset is one of my favorite times to shoot, and you can see why here…
I like to ask people why they came to me for their photography, and Kailey and her mom said that they were looking for someone who could capture images that showed Kailey just as she is, without the ubiquitous heavy-handed retouching you see being done on so many senior portraits these days. I couldn’t agree more. Why distort the image to make her look like someone she isn’t? She’s beautiful and perfect just the way she is.

a new addition…

Jill — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:17:51 +0000

This is a loooooong overdue post, but I’d like to officially announce the “arrival” of our new “dog-child”, Legacy. We call him “Lego” for short, because we think it just sounds cuter that way, lol! Bueller (our first Boston Terrier) was asking for a brother almost every day, so we were very happy to bring home his half-brother and welcome him into our little family.

Lego enjoys cuddling up on the sofa, licking faces, chewing cow hooves and long walks in the rain.

Do you see his funny little pose on the right? Well, here’s a side shot, just in case you were interested…

God, I love those little legs.

Anyhow, that’s enough of my puppy obsession…

Until next time,

Jill

P.S. – In case you’ve been thinking of adding a sweet Boston Terrier to your own family, both Bueller and Legacy are from an amazing breeder, Danielle Campbell of Campbell Clan Bostons. Jump on over to her website at www.campbellclanbostons.com where you can see a whole ton of pictures that we worked on together, quite a few of which are of Mr. Legacy himself.