Here are my latest covers for April and May. Did you see them around town?

April 2013 (cover, contents and feature):

This Folsom family was so fun to photograph! Do you remember their family portrait session from last year? After the magazine was published, they scooped up as many issues as they could get their hands on and brought them with them to Korea to share with their friends and family overseas – how fun!

May 2013 (cover, contents and article):

Vinita is the beautiful person you see below and she was just glowing for her maternity session in Folsom. My favorite part of their session was including their darling Boston Terrier in the pictures (you know I’m a sucker for those Bostons). I’m so glad they captured this moment in their lives — only to have it enjoyed by thousands of other people — who would’ve known?? Ha!

And another client, Katie, is pictured in the image above (to the right). We found the perfect river spot for her maternity session and caught the light just right. It’s so fun to see these images go from the blog to being published in a magazine!

Here are the three brothers showing off their awesome posing skills — they did this on their own — how cool are they???

And cracking up over giving the camera some attitude. Ha!

Mom is on the left with her sister on the right. Loving her bright pink lipstick!

Love the colors against the red brick.

These five pull off this candid walking shot like old pros.

The boys love their auntie — but she’s pretty cool so it makes sense!

Their clothing color scheme was just perfect for taking pictures in front of the bridge, a Sacramento landmark.

And then the light turned green and the cars started rolling up (while I was standing in the middle of the intersection). Ha! What a fun moment!

I had such a blast with this family!

So, I’m a sucker when it comes to chunky, breast-fed babies and this little guy – oh my goodness. He is just too cute!

The light, the emotion, the snuggles — ah, I love everything about this picture.

And daddy kisses are the best!

There was a time when these two beauties were shy in front of the camera, but they are definitely not anymore! They seem to go nearly everywhere holding hands and smiling. They climbed all the way to the top of this ridge, turned around, held each others’ hands and looked right at me. Photographer heaven!

Mom emailed me ahead of time to tell me that her oldest daughter is growing out her hair and believes that it might be magical, just like the girl in Tangled (the movie). She asked if I could take a picture of her with her hair glowing so that we could carry forward the dream. Look at all of that beautiful glowing hair!

One of the best parts of my job is getting to watch children go from being in their mommy’s belly to growing up and becoming their own unique and beautiful person. I get to do that with this family as they come back every year to update their portraits. It’s such a gift and I am so, so grateful to be part of their lives, if only in this small way.

Spring is so fleeting, so when we hit it right at that moment when the flowers are blooming, it makes me so thankful that the couple could have them included in their session.

Showing of their wedding rings across her beautiful belly. And love this shot of her below, peacefully standing amongst the flowers.

Can’t wait to meet their little one in just a few weeks!

Mother’s Day is this Sunday and, I don’t know about you, but it snuck up on me this year!  Apparently, I’m not the only one because I’ve been getting lots of husbands emailing in for last minute gift certificates for Mother’s Day. So, if you’re getting this email and you’re a husband, I’m just here to give you a little nudge because you pretty much can’t go wrong with a photography session as a Mother’s Day gift. Or, if you’re a mom, you might just want to drop a few hints like, “Ahem [loudly clearing throat]… Isn’t this beautiful spring weather just perfect for taking pictures with Jill? Oh, how funny, look at this newsletter I just got…” *wink*

Simply email us at info@jillcarmel.com or purchase your gift certificate HERE and we will email you one to print out and pop into a pretty little card, just in time to hear, “Oh my goodness…this is exactly what I wanted!!”

Ladies, have a wonderful Mother’s Day. I hope you get everything you deserve!

-Jill

For their pregnancy session, we meandered down to the river on an overcast and somewhat cold day, but they brushed off the chill like champs and we came away with a set of images that I love.

Oh, and a little brag for Katie  - she really does look this amazing in person! Every time I look at these pictures, I silently pray I will look even half as incredible as she looks when I’m pregnant (fat chance). Lol

I love all of the hands and wedding rings and so much love in this little snapshot of their life.

See what I’m talking about??? Amazing.

Since I’ve known their first son, Jackson, since he was only a few days, we gotta show him off to the world as well. Love this face.

I always have so much fun with these three and soon there will be FIVE! I can’t wait to meet the new babies. We’ll be sure to show them off on the blog when they arrive!

There are times when I get really caught up in a session. As I’m going through pictures after a shoot to pick out my favorites, I laugh, I get teary-eyed, I think about my own childhood and the few pictures I have of my own parents when I was a baby…it’s a emotional roller-coaster ride but in all the right ways. It fills me with a grounding sense of love for the people in front of my camera and for humankind in general — it gets me thinking about how much we all continue to care for and love one another in spite of so many apparent reasons not to. We are a pretty special kind of creature, if you ask me.

Have I ever mentioned how perfect six-months old is for a photo-shoot??? It one of my favorite times for working with kids because they are happy, they can make eye-contact and…they don’t run away from me yet, lol!

Little Miss Vivienne was all smiles for her session. It was like she knew exactly what we were doing and she was all about it.

I think I’ll finish off this post with a little bit of book reading. We used these same books for her newborn session, so it was fun to incorporate them in with her six-month session.

That’s all for now! I think this family has inspired me to go back and take a look at some of my own family photos…Maybe I’ll just have to blog about those, too.

There are two options to choose from:

Phone/Skype Consultation – $150/hr (2 hr minimum)
We can cover anything from defining your style, photographic technique, interacting with the customer, equipment, websites, SEO, building your business, marketing, branding, creative exploration – you name it and we’ll talk about it. I will be an open book for you.

In-Person Mentoring Session – $850
Includes five hours of one-on-one time together, answering all of your questions, plus a 30 minute photo shoot of YOU so that you can take some pictures home with you to use on your blog or website.

Aside from my own 13 years of experience behind the camera, I have personally attended in-depth workshops and/or mentoring programs with all of the photographers listed below. I can pass on the knowledge that I gained from those experiences to you.

Carrie Sandoval & Brittany Woodall (Baby as Art)
Barb Uil (Jinky Art)
Sarah & Chris Rhoads
Audrey Woulard
Lena Hyde
Tamara Lackey
Laura Novak
Chery Muhr
Lori Dorman
Amy Smith
Skye Hardwick

If you are interested in signing up for a Mentoring Session, simply email us at info@jillcarmel.com along with what you would like to talk about and we will contact you with available dates.

*Please note that these sessions are only available to individuals residing/working outside of a 200 mile radius of Sacramento, CA.

I drove down to Elk Grove for this shoot so that we could incorporate the family’s beautiful home. I got there a little early so I poked around the neighborhood looking for nice spots to take them to. Just down the street from their house was a driveway lined with pink blossoming trees. It was like heaven…

Such a gorgeous couple.

Big Sis is five years old and super excited about her new baby brother.

Then we found a mustard field which is so quintessentially spring. I love how the color of her dress pops up against the yellow flowers.

I love getting to know families like this before the baby arrives and then things are that much more intimate for the baby’s session.  Can’t wait to see these three again soon!