Jen's headshots | Concord, Ca

  My beautiful client, Jen, just landed an awesome position at a lifestyle PR firm and needed a few quick headshots for her bio page on the company website. I've been photographing her and her sweet little boys for several years, and they just recently relocated down to the San Luis Obispo area to start a new and exciting chapter in their lives! Since she was going to be passing through the Bay Area over the weekend, we were able to coordinate a quick shoot over at my place so we could knock out her headshots before her first day of work on Monday. Not only is Jen a beautiful person, but she's loads of fun and her positive, ambitious attitude towards life is truly contagious.  I’m so glad I’ve gotten the opportunity to get to know her over the years! Please check out examples from some of our current headshot sessions here.

Senior Portraits in Benicia

 

Kelli's Spring Time Portraits | Concord, CA

Miss Kelli did very well for her session! As any parent or photographer knows, the two-three age is normally not the easiest to photograph. The trick is to keep it easy, fast, and fun so the kids don’t really feel like they are on display. Even though we were able to squeeze in four different outfits, the session only lasted about an hour and all took place across the street from my home so it was very easy (and stress free for her mommy). This was a styled session, so I provided all of the clothing and accessories, with the exception of the cute little cowboy boots which my clients borrowed from a friend of theirs. I planned the outfits in a way that we would be able to just quickly change out a few key pieces as we moved through our locations to match up with the colors in the scenery. One thing to keep in mind when planning your child’s portrait session, though, is this…the kids run the show. Even though I had four outfits planned for Kelli’s session that certainly didn’t mean that we were guaranteed that she would make it into all of those changes. When working with small children, you have to be flexible. Some kids will do their best if left in just one outfit and others can handle multiple changes, but I never push it and I always watch the kids for signs that they have had enough. The goal is to end on a high note so everyone leaves happy. If this session had also included her parents, I would have tried to keep the outfits limited to no more than two to make sure we weren’t over stimulating Kelli and pushing her out of her comfort zone.

Past clients always know that I have my treasure box on hand full of little prizes and that is a wonderful incentive to keep little ones focused on our task. I usually start the session by showing the kids the treasure box and explaining to them that as soon as we are finished, they will be able to pick out a prize to bring home. Then I remind them of the treasure box throughout the session when they start getting antsy and it usually works like a charm to bring their attention right back where we need them. I also keep Pez and stickers in my pockets for extra ammo, but for Kelli’s session we didn’t even need to go there. Her mommy also thought ahead and brought her a couple of new little toys still in the package to help entice her along, and that was a big motivation for her as well!

So if you are thinking of having your little one’s portrait created, now is a perfect time as the spring flowers are all in beautiful bloom! Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and moms and grandmas love beautiful updated portraits of their little loves! I have a lot of dads contacting me this time of year to squeeze in a quick session in time for gifts for their wives and mothers. If this is something you are interested in, please call the studio at 925-676-7036 or send me an email at gretchen@gretchenadams.com and I will be happy to give you all of the info and help you set it up!

Sami's ready for Prom!

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This evening was a lot of fun. My best friend (for the past 25 years) brought her beautiful daughter, Sami, over to my house so I could photograph her in her prom dress. Since she hasn't found the perfect pair of shoes yet, I had to keep the shots close up, but I couldn't wait any longer as the cherry blossom trees that I wanted to photograph her under will not be holding their beauty for much longer! SO...if YOU want to capture spring time portraits that show off the blossoms, mustard fields, or wildflowers, don' t put it off much longer! I still have a few more spots available before the flowers fade, but you gotta call me ASAP! Remember, Mother's Day is right around the corner, and what mom or grandma wouldn't love a portrait of her children or grandchildren as a special Mother's Day gift! So Sami, here ya go...these are just a few of my favorites that caught my eye while I was editing, but I do have A LOT more for you to go through! Enjoy...

Welcome Erin! 8 days old

I recently had the pleasure of photographing the beautiful little Erin when she was only 8 days old. A lot of people wonder why newborn photographers like to work with the babies when they are so new, so let me shed a little light on that! During the first week or so of life, babies are their sleepiest. And I don’t mean just sleepy, but DEEP asleep. That makes it much easier to pose a baby! Babies that are awake will tend to flail their arms and legs and kick out of most poses. Another reason we like them so early is because most of the time their skin looks great! Those of us who have had newborns before know that baby acne can set it after a few weeks, as well as really flakey skin. So under best circumstances, a newborn session is arranged for before your due date to insure that the window of time that would be best for your baby’s first official portrait session is reserved for them! Because I run a boutique studio, I work with a limited clientele and that gives me the flexibility to move around session dates as need be. Normally, we schedule the session for a date approximately 6 days out from your due date and then adjust as needed based on when your baby actually decides to enter the world! The session itself runs very smoothly. All I need you to do is sit back, relax, keep the baby’s tummy nice and full, and I will handle the rest.

Pups in Search of Forever Homes

I had the honor this evening of photographing this adorable litter of Shih Tzus for my neighbor who is searching for perfect homes for each of them. If you are interested or know of someone who might be, just send me an email and I will get the contact info over to you. And for anyone viewing this who happens to not be in the SF Bay Area, yes, the weather has been that nice around here that the neighborhood boys are walking around shirtless! We are having a VERY mild winter so far! :-)

A day at the beach | Half Moon Bay, CA

I love beach shoots, especially in the fall. The weather is so nice and mild along the coast and you just could not ask for a better landscape to photograph in than Half Moon Bay. I’m blogging a handful of images from this session to showcase a bit of what a typical beach photo shoot includes…a bit of family poses, a bit of individual poses, some groupings, and a lot of play time. Notice how the clothes go from bone dry to sopping wet? Yeah, that’s pretty typical. We always start off with the posed family shots and individual shots fresh out of the car, while everyone is looking their best and sand/surf free. After that’s in the bag, we head down to the water and grab more family poses, some interaction, and then turn the kiddos loose to play and do their thing. In my opinion, this is when the magic happens. Clean, perfectly posed children’s portraits have their place in holiday cards and gifts for family members. But the fun, sand everywhere, jeans wet, laughing kiddos are the shots that create the memories and make you smile as you walk past them in the home. It just wouldn’t be a beach shoot without it. So here’s just a small sampling to hopefully illustrate my point. Thanks Jason and Hae, for rounding up the kids, pulling together wonderful outfits, and spending the evening playing at the beach with us! Buck and I had a good time and I hope your family did as well!     

Outdoor Family Portraits | Benicia, CA

I had a great time photographing Vicki and Michael’s family portraits this past season. We did a session about 3 years ago at the beach, which was a lot of fun, so this time we decided to do something a bit different.  We met up over at my Benicia studio to capture a more urban vibe this time around!  The location was a nice complement to the set of images that are hanging on their walls from our last session. The color palette they chose for their clothing was a combo of grays, blacks, and eggplant. It looked fantastic! We were able to get in an outfit change for some variety as well. It was an unusually hot day over in Benicia, so we tried to be as quick as possible before everyone melted, but at least we had a nice breeze coming off of the water to help a bit. Benicia is usually just a bit cooler than other parts of the East Bay, but occasionally we get a hot day and we just have to go with the flow! Here’s a little sampling of what we captured that evening…

Hip Chick Designs | Benicia Arsenal

Carrie, the owner and creative brain behind "Hip Chick Design" is one of the delightful artist down in the Benicia Arsenal and her shop is just adorable. She finds and sells the most unique and vintage treasures and also a massive collection of the most gorgeous tutus you will ever find! I'm not kidding when I say "massive". There are tutus hanging from the rafters, on the vintage mannequins, on Carrie herself, everywhere! And in every color!  But not only does Carrie maintain a wonderful selection of treasures to purchase in her shop, she is also a very talented artist and the shop is also her art studio. Her art ranges from painting, to mixed media collage, and also she creates custom pet portraits that she can paint from a favorite photograph of your pet. Carrie and I recently spent an afternoon just playing around the arsenal and creating some fun shots of her tutus and her shop. I hope this gives you a little taste of the creative vibe down in this little corner of Benicia! Please check out other examples of headshot sessions here.    

Senior portraits at the new studio!

The main reason I decided to lease a second studio space was in order to provide my high school senior clients a place where they can really relax and have a fun, fashion inspired portrait session to celebrate their upcoming graduation. This new space is perfect for that, and also is great for some families that want a less traditional, more urban feel for their family portraits. This week I had the pleasure of photographing Carli for her senior portraits. She was an absolute dream to work with, and I think her personal style really shines through in these images! These are just a handful of the shots we got during her shoot. Enjoy, Carli! :)