It is so fun to watch babies grow into toddlers!  We’ve been enjoying documenting our client’s son, Carson, who was born last year and is growing up so fast we can barely stand it!  He is just a doll and loves to pose for the camera.  Lara enjoyed capturing him a year later and seeing how big he’s gotten since we last saw him. This little guy is sure cute and we had a blast on this photo session. 

Geoff and Lara continued their portrait session with Kelvin in downtown Palo Alto but changed the look of their session midway through.  This is a great way to mix up your session as a couple, or just for individual portraits, by having a wardrobe change halfway through your session.  Lara switched in a classic black cocktail dress and Geoff into a custom tailored suit, completely transforming the dynamic of the session. The purpose of this particular session was to get some new head shots for their new venture which provides photography business and marketing strategy to photographers.

Once more, accessories are still vital in the session and a wardrobe choice.  By wearing large textured earrings and chunky bracelets Lara added even more interest to her black dress.  It not only personalizes the photograph, to represent Lara’s personality, but it just adds an extra detailed touch to the photograph.   Likewise, having a candid demeanor and letting yourself be natural in front of the camera, and enjoying each other,  lets a true moment be captured. Lara always tells couples that it’s important to capture a couples true personality on camera. Some couples are silly and goofy, others are quiet and some are sensual. I think these two really hit the mark with that idea and prove that candid portraits suited to the couple’s personality are amazing.

If you want your session to have more of a sensual vibe, you need to do a couple of things to make that happen. First, let the photographer know the type of look you are going for, and having a couple of examples handy (a couple, not 20!) will help to illustrate the style and mood you are going for. Second thing, you have to act the part. Sensual images are all about the tease. Images of an almost kiss, lips gently brushing against skin are much more interesting that flat out going for it.

Kelvin found a background that perfectly complimented the mood and vibe, a flat charcoal gray wall. Our black formal attire looked stunning against it. Kelvin also took a couple of photographs of Geoff alone, which he will use as business headshots. If you want to include a couple of formal business portraits for your session, it’s super easy to do these quickly, and they will have many uses.

If you are looking for this type of session, don’t be shy! Kelvin is an amazing photographer, and he works with all kinds of couples to bring out the best in them. Another fabulous job, Kelvin!

There is nothing better than putting our own photographers to the test with a photo session of our founders.  Kelvin recently captured Geoff and Lara White downtown Palo Alto for a lovely portrait session.  They had a great time coming up with various ideas for the session including lighting, positioning, and color versus black and white images. The session was to create some new headshots for Lara’s photography marketing venture for pro photographers.  It’s always great for us to turn the camera on ourselves and remember what it is like to be the subject of a session – it gives us that much more insight into our professional and how to make clients feel comfortable for the camera.

As photographers, it is always interesting to see how your work compares in different color settings.   The image below reads entirely different in black and white versus color.  Both are amazing and entirely different from one another. What is your preference? This is a great way to change your photos if you are looking to update your wall art at home…maybe that same color photo would read brand new in black and white. Or vice verse. This is just one way of changing your photography displays without a new session.

Headshots and protraits of an invidual are always interesting for a phtoographer.  We always suggest being creative with your shoot – maybe a textured backdrop, patterned clothing, smile versus serious, and just body positioning can change the dynamic of a headshot. We prefer individual protraits in a more natural setting, versus studio space, that could provide a backdrop such as this textured brick wall that adds both interest and dimension to the photograph. 

For the ladies, accessories are always a girls best friend.  A great way to add to your style when wearing a neutral piece of clothing is to accessorize it with a chunky necklace, or large earrings, or a piece of jewelry that makes a statement as to who you are. This is your head-shot after all, so be who you are, and express yourself.   This is a perfect way to customize your portraits of yourself to your very own taste and style.  Have fun with this! Lara had a great time expressing herself with stunning large earrings and a patterned shirt with various shades of purples.   If you prefer more neutral clothing and accessories then pair a great top with a classic sweater, jacket, scarf or maybe just a simple tank top with a light weight cardigan – layering adds dimension and interest to your clothes even if you prefer more conservative attire.   Don’t like large accessories? Simple studded earrings or a small necklace with absolutely suffice and are equally beautiful on camera.  

Jennifer has been a fantastic bride to work with and she came to us last year with a clear vision of her special day.  She chose to have a bridal session, prior to her wedding, and spent some time recently with Kelvin to get familiar with his photography style as well as utilizing the gorgeous grounds of Villa Montalvo for her wedding day.  We love bridal sessions since they are so private and intimate with just the bride and it gives her a chance to get comfortable with the camera and see herself as she will look on her wedding day.  Jennifer really utilized all of the gorgeous areas of Villa Montalvo and had both an indoor and outdoor setting for various parts of the shoot.

Jennifer loved her images when were finished and said it was a great way to see how she would look on her wedding day from head to toe.  The bridal session gave her the option of putting any final touches to her bridal style, prior to the wedding day itself, and adjusting any fine details of her choice.  Of course, she looked so beautiful that we can’t imagine she would alter any of her bridal design.  Congratulations Jennifer!

Location/Venue | Villa Montalvo

Hair & Makeup | Danielle Randleman

Dress | Casablanca

When I got married last year I had a  difficult time finding a makeup artist who really understood makeup the way that I saw it for myself on my wedding day.  I wanted a beauty look that was natural yet glamorous, timeless and elegant, without feeling like I was wearing pancake heavy makeup.   As a certified makeup artist myself, I knew that this was a conflict of terms in itself, but I also knew it was achievable with the right products and application.  Looking flawless for your wedding day is essential and it can be challenging to find someone who understands the look you are trying to achieve.

Saying I love makeup is an understatement in itself.   I have a passion for makeup that runs deep, since childhood, and it got me to thinking that it was time to announce my love for the trade publicly to other brides struggling to find a natural beauty artist out there.   I am very excited to announce the launch of my site, Mirabelle Cosmetic Artistry,  and to offer makeup application services to other brides.   While I still work with the phenomenal Geoff White team by day, I am a licensed Cosmetologist and Makeup Artist by night, who has been working with brides to develop their wedding day look.  My philosophy at Mirabelle is to provide clients with a luxurious and professional cosmetic experience for wedding or everyday events.  Polished, natural, timeless beauty is the core of my makeup design and philosophy.  I hope you enjoy my site and welcome you officially to Mirabelle!

Rock a bye baby, in the tree top, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock…is exactly what we were singing when we recently caught up with Baby Carson’s second baby portrait session at home with his mother, Anne.   Lara thoroughly enjoyed working in this intimate setting and using the surroundings of the nursery into the photo session design.  How cute are those little fingers and the soft bunny book?  It was pure joy seeing Carson and Anne again and it looks like this family is living happily ever after!

Heather and Michael are a fantastic couple that we recently had the pleasure of capturing on their wedding day!  They met in San Francisco and wanted to incorporate various parts of their wedding into their photography by having a variety of locations for their portraits.   We headed around town and stopped at a few locations to capture them on their special day.

We love that this couples true personality came out and they had fun on their wedding day.  They are a phenomenal couple who have a lot of natural charisma and the camera picked that up.  We always recommend to our clients to be themselves on their wedding day and savor every moment since it goes by so fast.  These candid moments also make for the best stories in the end.Congratulations Michael & Heather!

Venue | Hotel Vitale

Caterer | Hotel Vitale

Dress | Maggie Sottero

Make Up | Sarah Hyde

Flowers | Carol Antraccoli – An Added Touch

It’s a little strange to blog about your very own wedding, but since we are nearing the end of our rainy season weather, I thought it might be appropriate to post images from my wedding this past November since it was on one of the worst days of weather history in the Bay Area and a brides worst nightmare come true!  Thank you to the fabulous talents of Kelvin, Geoff, and Lara I was blessed to have not only the most knowledgeable and talented team of photographers, but professional as well, to cover the very wet day and get me through what could have been a disaster.  I got ready at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto and was married at The Mountain Terrace, at the top of the summit in Woodside and had the best time with the moments in these pictures.  It was pouring rain and even hailing at points but Kelvin was a master at getting this outdoor balcony picture that I had planned throughout the duration of my wedding planning.   My husband and I were speechless when we saw the photographs and couldn’t believe how Kelvin caught our first look moment, amidst the hail as well as rain, and that the dark sky and bad weather added such an element of mood to our pictures.  To say we loved these photographs is a pure understatement in itself!

My husband and I have the exact same first name, down to the spelling, so you can imagine how confusing this can be at times.  I am not sure what the odds are of marrying someone with the exact same first name, spelling an all, but we are living proof that it can occur!  Kelvin and Lara were great at working with us in our first look session by calling us “Girl Erin” and “Boy Erin” as needed and we worked around the rain.  I’m a true lover of the color orange and so I knew that the fall was a perfect time of year to have my orange-peach inspired wedding, which I ran throughout the venue design (coming up next).  I wanted a somewhat retro or vintage inspired theme to the day, to reflect my own personal style, and so polka-dots, sequins, and a more retro-styled wedding gown came to life.  The very talented, Jeeryn of Tanjeeryn Designs, provided the amazing floral arrangements and was even able to find me fresh peach peonies for my hair, bouquet, and venue design that were out of season for this time of year.    We topped it all off with a little champagne toast with my bridal party, and an exchange of gifts, then headed outdoors to take some photographs around the hotel property.

It was wet but we were so grateful to have a few moments where the sky cleared up and we could capture some pictures around the gorgeous fountain area of the outdoor patio of The Garden Court Hotel.  We also enjoyed making use of the parasols I had rented for my bridal party and myself from Bella Umbrella in Seattle. I rented these if, by chance, it rained and we were all so happy to have had them that day since it came in very handy!  My bridal party also enjoyed using them for the photographs and we found that sometimes the unexpected can lead to the best candid moments and images!  Thank you to my fabulous team for getting us through the day and making it so special for both of us!

Hotel:  Garden Court Hotel

Venue:  The Mountain Terrace

Bridal Gown: Martina Liana

Hair & Makeup:  Mimi & Taylor Salon

Flowers:  Tanjeeryn Designs

Bridesmaid Gowns:  Scala Gowns

Parasol Umbrellas:  Bella Umbrella

We will be posting all those great images from Rita & Paul’s recent engagement session with Kelvin at Baker Beach later this week. Until then, this is just a very quick sneak peek. More to come…

Our bride, Verike, wore a gown by Rivini and it was truly breathtaking.  The layers on the bottom portion of her gown are so delicious you almost want to eat them and feel like deliciously whipped layers of icing.  I get lost looking at her gown here it is so enchanting and I can only imagine she must have felt the same way and didn’t want to ever take her gown off!

You never keep a lady waiting, goes the saying, and why would you want to when they look as stunning as these lovely ladies?  Verike has a background in the fashion industry and it is crystal clear that her flare for design, textiles, and clothing brought her entire wedding day look together.  The bridesmaids gowns are by BCBG and we love the elegant look of them as well as the color. Black is so chic, always stunning, and a timeless color to pick for you wedding design.

Ryan and his groomsmen were regal and posed for their group photograph taken outdoors earlier in the day.  We like the Mad Men vibe here of the cocktail in hand, the clean lines of their outfits, and all looking relaxed.  It’s always an interesting composition to combine the outdoor natural elements (in this case the tall wheat-like grass) against a formal attire design.  We love the combination and it feels very masculine, calm, and timeless on camera.

Venue | The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay

Coordinator | Ambrini Events

Bridal Gown | Rivini Bridal Gowns

Bridesmaid Dresses | BCBG MaxAzria

Make Up | Taylor Pham of Mimi & Taylor

Flowers | Nancy Liu Chin Designs