Lydias Photography Blog

Nicole (My Nicole)

2012-02-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

Meet one of my very best friends. Nicole and I went to Art-school together to study and practice photography. We where nearly in-seperatable for many years.. basically until I got married and moved away.

She just flew back home to Switzerland after having visited me for nearly 3 weeks. I almost forgot how much I miss her until she got here. And now that she's gone I feel both overjoyed and saddened. Joy cause she came to spend time with me and sad because she would not stay. Not even after I begged her to ;) hahaha.

We used to take each other's pictures like no bodies business... mostly in black and white. And I will say that maybe I love to take other peoples pictures so very much because I learned to love myself, looking at pictures Nicole took of me. For some reason she saw me very different than I saw myself - way better. To this day no other photographer (though many are EXCELLENT) have been able to capture me the way she did...

Anyway, thought I'd put some personal note in with this shoot... because those pictures represent a person that I love dearly; a person that knows probably all my dark secrets and still loves me.

Thank you Nice for having visited me. I miss you!

Ps, I miss Chili too. But the boys don't. They just miss you ;)

The Bass Twins

2012-02-27T10:46:00.000-08:00

So excited to have been able to take pictures of the Bass Twins. I've been taking pictures of the Bass family ever since their older girl turned one. Those girls are so cute, almost makes me wanna have one of my own.

Rachel and Art

2012-02-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like I need to explain that those are MOTHER AND SON because the mom's look so young and attractive. This is one of those times...

Thanks guys for making this so much fun, great to meet people like you and to hit it off right away. Always great to laugh within the first few minutes after meeting someone new.
Let's do it again sometime ;)

Love to take pictures of laughing people. And this one is even more funny cause she totally made fun of her son and then they both laughed out loud. My camera was only quick enough to catch her..

Stupid things I've said (In English) part1

2012-01-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

I just read a post by a girl that lives the "opposite" life of mine... while I grew up in Switzerland and moved to CA, USA in my mid twenties, this girl grew up just a few miles away from where I live now and moved to Switzerland in her mid-twenties...
therefore, I instantly feel connected to her and so very many things she says. (We have met more than once and I even took her wedding pics).
Often, while she complains about Switzerland, I remember how much I love that place. Whenever I complain about CA I almost always remember her and wonder if that's just what she misses about here...

ANYWAY, she inspired this post and thanks to her, you will read some totally and completely RIDICULOUS things I've said over the past few years, while learning the English language.
ENJOY!!!

"You are such a woody" (direct translation from swiss-german woody meaning idiot/silly)

When I served as a LDS missionary, on a day off, while relaxing in the park, tossing a ball back and forth this one Elder made fun of me being a girl and wanting to play football... I stated:
"Elder, I'll show you how I can play with Balls".
I had NO CLUE what I was saying and until that Elder turned BRIGHT red, did not know I said anything wrong! I was explained later what I said and ever since then I have been careful using even the word "ball".

This year new-years while playing cards with some friends of ours, I told my good friends Husband that if he'll trade me a card (part of the game) I will give him one of my cards and "I'll do you a favor" or "I'll owe you a favor" which one ever is bad (I don't remember) and he answered: "No offense, Lydia, but no thanks!" Everyone laughed and once it clicked in my head I felt a bit embarrassed but laughed too!

I used the word "intercourse" instead of "intersection" before. Fun one, especially since back then I might have heard the word once before only. So embarrassing.

"Heads off to you". (Instead of Hat's)

I know there is so very much more... I'll have to add more later...
I can't tell you even a fraction of dumb things I've said cause I simply don't know better, if no-one points it out, I will never know what I've said!
So if you remember any of the funny things I've said, write me so I can update it for people to read and laugh.
I'm not offended when people laugh on my expense when it comes to my English language skills (usually, at least) because I'm still learning and I'm OK with knowing that I'm not perfect or even close to it!

So, please laugh but also, please remember to LOVINGLY correct me when I make those funny little mistakes.. I'm trying, I really am!

xoxo, Lydia

Success

2012-01-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

Currently I'm totally hooked to the show "survivor".. I watched some old seasons and put myself into their shoes. I would not last more than a day or two out there, being afraid of spiders and all kinds of bugs and I'm not that great with making plans and strategy's, but it's fun to dream.
Dream of this one break. Winning the money.
So while I watched an episode today, I was just thinking to myself about Success. What it is and what it means to me. I had to stop watching because I was getting emotional. Emotional because I realized that success is pretty much everything else but money.
It's reaching goals. It's being happy with what you do for work. It's having family. It's loving the ones around you. Success is if we make good things out of what we are given. It's being positive.
Success has endless faces and it's mostly everything that money can NOT buy.
Success is being content.

Here's my personal success story:
I'm successful because I can work. I have a husband that's employed and makes enough money for us to get by without me having to work. We are healthy. We both have many talents that we try to expand. We are successful because we have two healthy, loving children that we get to raise. We are successful because we found love and are both committed to each other. We have a beautiful home we rent. We have cars to drive us to places and loved ones. We have furniture, computer, even a sewing machine. We have toys for the kids and cloths too. We never had to suffer from hunger. We have friends and family around us. We are having fun. We are content! And here it really got to me...
When my husband comes home from work our sons literally JUMP up and down of excitement to see him. After a fight, we apologize and reinforce our love to one another.
There is so very much I could wish for... and sometimes I do. There a a "gazillion" things on my wish list, but yet I have everything I need; and probably actually really want.

I hope I'll never loose that feeling of being content. I hope I'll never forget what's really important. I hope you remind me if I should.

And now that you read my success story... tell me yours!

xoxo, Lydia

Sometimes it's all about me

2012-01-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

Markus was out of town and some girls over for a slumber party... and what better thing to do than to randomly dress up and take pictures...

Since I did not dare posting their pics (I know Adi aka Annie would not have appreciated hers published) I publish mine to celebrate the girls nights I get every here and there!

Here few of my many personalities captured... I have at least 20 more different personalities, if you wonder ;)

I think the first one hits the nail on it's head. I'm plain with a little funk to it. Pretty true, actually!

This one here is so creepy, it makes me laugh so hard. I did really not know I could look this freaky!

People have asked me before if I'm a queen. Referring to the drama I bring with me... hahaha. Here I won a crown for being pretty close to as ridiculous as it gets! Thanks Taylor and Adi! Thank you so much. I wish you all world peace!

My boys in Black and White

2012-01-11T15:40:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that i LOVE black and white pictures? I used to almost ONLY shoot in B/W before digital came into play... and I still think people look nicer in B/W...
Here my boys... I need to pick up the colorfree pic editing again... ;)
Love that I have access to complete, real industrial space... nothing cooler for little boys than some barrels and rough material!

Robles Clan

2012-01-11T15:33:00.000-08:00

Here the Robles Clan... just took them end of the year 11.

See what I mean, Stephanie, when I say you and your mom look alike? I guess it helps when you both look in the same direction ;)

The Biggs - Just one

2012-01-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

Remember when I posted some pictures of my own family? Those where taken by Chelsea... now I've took their pics too. But as for now... enjoy just one ;)
I discovered the location just lately even though it's right by my in-laws home... and You wanna bet I'll be back there sometime again!

Carlos and Ashlee

2012-01-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

I have at least 10 shoots I did not post yet. I wonder If i'll ever get to it. We'll see!
Here is one of my favorites from the last few months. A gorgeous couple with so much energy and good looks, it would be a shame to not share!
I got to shoot their wedding last year too... and I'm so glad they came on a vacation from New York to see their families and for me to take their pictures once again!

Gotta love her energy and her air guitar!

My new chair

2012-01-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting a chair for the master bedroom but could not afford what I wanted. It seems like there is no affordable chair out there. I would have even been fine with a simple chair... just like the one I found a few weeks ago.

I will say, this is the first furniture that I've picked up for free, from the curb, but the house looked clean, the movers just put it out, the chair looked hardly used and i examined it for a while before I decided to pick it up.

So there I was, with my Matrix car, both kids in the back, double stroller in the cargo area, extra carseat for whatever reason too AND this new, ugly chair. It literally took me 15 minutes to finally have it all in the car. the double stroller and my few Ikea items that I bought a few hours ago in the passenger seat, both kids with the extra car seat in the rear seats and the chair in the back. Since the car would not close, I stopped by someone's house that lived close by that I knew to lend me some string.

That's how I got home.

Once at home I looked at the chair again and wondered if I just made a huge mistake picking up this ugly thing... but, I was determined to fix it up.

So I got some fabric (after looking at Joanns and stuff, I decided to go with an Ikea fabric) and I went to work. I've been free-styling this whole thing... just like I do with pretty much anything in my life. But it turned out decently good. I like it.

I really wanted to give it a whole new look with new legs and all, but I also wanted it to be as cheap as possible, so Markus and I decided we'll just whitewash the legs and put them back on. After sanding and sanding, we did the whitewash and we LOVE it. I'm sure we'll use the white stain on other things in the future too... sooo much nicer than just white paint!

So here we go... "the" chair...

in it's place... where it belongs!

See how cool, you can still see the grain of the wood... but it's white! ;)

Love the fabric. 6.99 a yard and the fabric is suuper wide! I wanted to have a fabric that's simple and would go with any of my many crazy colors I like... I guess I found what I was looking for.

have yourself a...

2011-12-24T11:34:00.001-08:00

Andreas and Lisa

2011-12-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

Careful, yet another picture overload.

I think, it's because it's family... :)

I was very excited when we decided that we'd take the engagement pictures of my brother in law and sister-in-law to be in the rain. Finally; I've been wanting to take pics in the rain for a while. It definitely was a challenge to keep the camera dry and I can only imagine how stupid I looked, trying to keep a grocery bag over my head and camera. I've got to find some better solution for next time. My camera took some beating even though i tried really hard not to!

I love the pictures. And I'm so happy for the two of them! Being engaged is such an exciting time!

Can't wait to shoot the wedding!

I hope it won't scar!

2011-12-08T15:09:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, while outside with the bikes / trike, Sebi run off the curbe and scratched his face open. At first it did not look that bad, mostly because he was covered in dirt. When i tried to remove the dirt, I saw that his face was cut on the nose.

This morning however, I saw the whole damage it made to his nose. I really hope he won't scar... but then again, he's so darn cute, he could get away with it.

If you have any special tips (besides the regular cremes from the pharmacy) on what to do with those kind of things, let me know!

Oh my Sebi, why oh why are you such a dare-devil?

The Pew Family

2011-12-08T09:05:00.001-08:00

Sarah and I have been good friends ever since I met her. She and her little family are just really kind and honest, hard working and caring people and I'm so glad I know them!

So happy to know they'll be having a Boy (Joey) in March. Can't wait to see the little munchkin... and you bet I'll be over at their house often to cuddle him and get my baby-fix ;)

Our Tree

2011-12-06T15:12:00.001-08:00

They boys helped us decorate the tree. Then they just stared at it while I took one of my most favorite pics of them yet.

I love those two! And of course, my hubby too!

just in case you wonder... my ornaments cost me a total of 20 bucks at ikea (of course) AND they are out of plastic and unbreakable. but they look great... they way to go with little kids! i want them to help us and experience the whole Christmas experiences :)

Zwei Buebe (Two Boys)

2011-12-06T14:34:00.001-08:00

Both my boys love to read books. Especially when they get to sit on my or Markus' lap. Max likes to call this "zwei buebe buechli luege" (Two boys looking books). And I would lie if I'd say I don't love it too.

And by the way, did you see, I colored my hair to match Sebi's. Cause I think he's a rad little fellow!

Christmas Lights

2011-12-06T14:28:00.001-08:00

My dear friend Hayres (Iris) invited us to go look at Christmas lights with her little Family and some friends. Max loved them as much as I do. I'm just a cheese-ball like that ;)

Was good to spend time with friends even though only about a third of the houses where decorated... I guess we went a little early. Maybe we'll go back closer to Christmas.

Thanks to Ayi, we have yet another family picture. Too bad Sebi is not showing interest, but I still like it! :)

What's with that

2011-11-30T18:26:00.001-08:00

Today, while driving in the car, I read a little slogan on a car that caught my eye:
"My dog is cuter than your grand kids"

A while back, I read a similar one also on the back of a car which was driven by a very "typical" grey-haired grandma which read:
"My grand kids are cuter than yours"

While I understand that this is probably mostly meant funny and not to be taken seriously, I still wonder
WHAT'S UP WITH THAT MESSED UP THINKING?

I assume people find it funny - I don't. I find it disturbing and rather embarrassing for the owners of those stickers.
Are we really that far that we want to compare cuteness in Grand kids? Like that's even possible. It's very relative.

It's not really just this "funny saying" that bothers me... it's our mindset. We constantly compare.
Don't get me wrong, I'm as bad as the average is.
But instead of embracing it, let's work on that.
Just cause someone else is good at something should not take away from your talent. If others are gorgeous does not mean you are not pretty yourself. We can always find "smarter" people and more talented ones, skinnier, prettier, funner, cooler, more adventures ones...
BUT
is that really what counts in our lives? Are we willing to depress our talents and beauty only because we are not ready to understand that the progress is what counts rather than what we can show for right now? Or others may say, the way is the goal (sorry if that's off, i totally just did a direct translation from German).

Just wondering how you feel about it all. And no worries, I'm not depressed, it's just some thought I had today while reading this sticker. Yes, I think a lot. About random things. It's one of my "strengths" hahaha.

Leave a comment, this could be very interesting!

Max and my Boots

2011-11-28T07:14:00.001-08:00

My love my Max.

No more pacifiers!

2011-11-18T10:07:00.001-08:00

Max will be 3 years next month and it's taken us all this time to finally get rid of his pacifier.

I used to judge those little kids that where to big for a pacifier and I NEVER though my kid would be one of those. Now that I've gone through this whole procedure, I judge who judges. hahaha. JK!

(I really don't judge but it does get annoying when you hear from every source that your child is too old for a pacifier).

Anyway, Markus discovered this new series from Elmo to get rid of the pacifier. Max LOVES Elmo (why, I can not understand) and he loved looking at those little clips.

His progress started by singing "Bye bye zuzi, zuzi, bye bye". (Zuzi instead of pinkie, since that's the word he uses for his pinkie).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFnnG8Ap01g

Next thing he did is, he was willing to put it underneath his pillow (he would take it out once we left the room though).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFnnG8Ap01g

Theeen, he started to chew on it until it was broken. So i cut off a third of the pacifier, thinking he would not want it anymore. He still wanted it for another two days, but only used it to chew on.

One morning, it was so very nasty and chewed up, he willingly threw it in the trash. And we never replaced it.

Now, just a few days after, he does not even ask for it anymore!

The whole process took about 10 days, so it's been fairly fast once he decided to become a big boy...

Sorry I've written half a book on how Max lost his pacifier... but it's only because to us this is a BIG DEAL! ;)

Sebi gave his up a few months ago (well, we forced him and he was fine with cold turkey), now our big boy is freed from this addiction too. What a great progress!

And now, the world can finally see his super cute smiling face without a pacifier covering it!

The Cogert Family

2011-11-15T16:04:00.001-08:00

I'm slightly behind in posting... but here I'm finally getting going again.

Any photographer who has taken pics of family with smaller children knows, you've only got so much time to capture whatever you want to. The Cogert boys gave me just a little over 30 minutes before they where officially done. Thanks goodness for experience in those kind of things.

The whole family did GREAT and we got plenty of good pictures within the short time period.

Thanks to the Cogert's courage, we shot right in the middle of a beehive (not intended and as soon as we realized, we where out of there!!)

Here some pictures, enjoy!

The Prince Family

2011-11-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

Still one of my favorite last names I've come across! Only princess or queen would top it ;)

Here the royal family. (I bet they are so sick of hearing those kind of jokes!!!)

My little family

2011-11-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

A huge thanks to Chelsea Biggs who took my families pictures. Can't wait to take hers in a few weeks!

Markus and his brother Andreas made their own design and built this "Cargo-Bike" a few months ago. Every child likes it, sometimes they form a line to get a ride, when we go places (true). Our boys are no exception.

I've wanted to take pics with it for Chirstmas cards, ever since I first saw the finished product.

Markus is such a smooth biker, I could have stood there on the back for hours!! ;) Unfortunately it was too cold for the boys and we barely got any smiles out of them... :( who would have thought that two sweatshirts on top of each other would not be warm enough at the end of Ooctober? lol!

Here some of my favorites. My absoulte two faves I wont post until all the Christmas cards are arrived and sent out to whoever gets one... makes sense, huh?

M&M with M&M

2011-10-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Meet Mandee (my (hubby's) cousine), Manuel, Makenna and Miranda. It's always a little more pressure to take pics for family, I think. I always wonder if they like the pictures cause I feel like they can't actually complain too much, cause it's family and who would want to hurt anyone's feelings, right?Well, I hope they like the pictures... if not, we might never know ;)

Can you believe this woman had a baby just a few weeks ago? Mandee, you look STUNNING!

Manuel tickling Makenna... too cute!

Amy's Farm (Pumpkin Patch)

2011-10-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Since it's Halloween on Monday, we figured we NEEDED to go visit at least one pumpkin patch this year. So off we went to Amy's farm.
I like a farm much better than a patch full of kids going wild in jump-houses. Maybe that will change when my boys are actually old enough (and strong enough) to go in the jump-houses (and defend themselves). ;)

I've always loved farms. I love to see and pet animals, especially cows and goats... they are my favorite. Max however was scared of them a little, which just proofs, we don't spend enough time around farm animals. Max laughed when a huge pig peed (for a long time) and then his laughing face turned into a disgusted face cause it just would not stop... hahaha, priceless, let me tell you!

Here some pictures of our adventure with our good friends James, his daughter Taylor and our other good friend, Mike. Thanks you guys for spending so much time with us and for helping out with the kids...

Hard to believe we are all in one pic. Thanks James for taking a few!

Carlos and Ashley are married

2011-10-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY am posting a little bigger selection of Carlos' and Ashlee's wedding. Each wedding is so very special and I'm so glad for everyone I'm able to be part of!

This one was just fun... I laughed almost all evening. (Not during the Ceremony, of course.)

the simpsons ;)

2011-10-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

I always knew I did not want an only child. Only because I'm so very close with some of my siblings. One especially. She's my favorite person next to my hubby and kids and I am so glad I have her in my life.

I love when siblings show their special bond on a photo-shoot. And it's the best when they give each other hugs and kisses!

It rarely happens that I'm not sure weather to post a picture in color or black and white. Mostly it's pretty clear to me which one looks better. The one below I could hardly decide on. Those big, blue eyes look good either way. But since I'm a B/W freak, here my decision...

Ioele Family

2011-10-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Little Max (you read right, anohter Max ;) did just not want to be in pictures. Thanks goodness I had some smarties in my car... Thanks for the power of sugar! ;)
The Ioele Family all have the prettiest, brown eyes. (And who ever knows me knows I've got a terrible weakness for brown eyes!)

Have a good Saturday, everyone!

Grandpa's old Chair

2011-10-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

WARNING: BE PREPARED FOR A PICTURE OVERLOAD!

Meet the Mount family. They brought this rad, old chair that (I believe i'm correct when I say) was made by Holly's Grandpa.

Thanks, Holly, for thinking outside the box and all of you for making this shoot so much fun!
You are all stunning! And I wish you'd live closer so I could look at your girls and dream they'd be mine! :)

on top of the table

2011-10-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the little funny mischievious things you've done as a child? I remember a few. But now it's my turn to ensure my boys will remember theirs.

They love to climb on the kitchen table and play up there (why I'm not sure).

We have this tiny little tent for them and they love to play in there all the time.

Max does not want to share his toy-cars with Sebi, but he will anyways cause he HAS TO.

Sebi gets into EVERY drawer and cabinet. All day long!

Max steals toys away from Sebi and gives him crappy replacement ones...

Sebi takes Max's pacifier away, even when it's in Max's mouth.

There are many more of those little, funny things.

BUT, I would not have it any other way. Even when they take each others stuff away, they will be gentle to each other when they cry or get hurt.

They laugh together so often.

Sometimes I just look at them and thank God that they have each other.

I hope they will stay close for the rest of their lives.

Max the lion

2011-10-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

We've been telling Max for a few days now that he will be a lion for Halloween. He's excited and practices his roar...

Originally I thought I will be having to make his lion costume myself since I did not want to have the traditional one from the store. I did not want anything to cover his beautiful, crazy lion like hair...

So, I went to look anyway just in case it where to be cheaper than buying all the material to make the costume from scratch... I asked the guy working at the Halloween store for a certain lion costume in 3T. He came back and said: "Well, we only have one, but the head is missing... but from the bright side, it's only 10 bucks".

I was SO EXCITED, like it was waiting there for us. Hahaha. ;)

So I got it. When we came home, he wanted to put it on and crawled on the ground like a lion... (Cutest thing, but I did not have my camera on me).

Then I asked him if we should try his lion makeup and he agreed. So here are some pictures of the cutest lion I've ever seen. And that even though I did some makeup short-cuts.

I'm in love with this, he'll look great on Halloween and I can't wait!

Max ran to the mirror after I took some pictures, he wanted to see himself. And let's just agree that he himself think he looks awesome too! :)

Franco

2011-10-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Franco is 13 months old.

He loves to stack toys.

On a playground, he wants to be sitting in the swing.

His parents are so "cruel" as to bring the TIME OUT chair for a prop (I had a good laugh and the chair worked fantastic!) ;)

He was a bit skeptical at first.

Then he laughed a little too.

Very calm temper.

Cute and chubby as can be. Just the way we like them ;)

Loved his outfits.

His shoes squeaked while walking...

The Praytor Girls

2011-10-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

Look at this bunch of girls. Nothing looks better in front of the camera than little kids. And their Mommies look great too!

So happy I got to take these pictures. And it does not even show that one of them disliked the shoot. She literally was scared of me and my camera, and I could not even blame her! ;)
We finally figured out that by "leaving her out" she wanted to be in the pictures. And if it was not her turn, she'd run in front of the camera. Well, whatever works, works!

Sometimes you just don't have the time to adjust the camera settings. Not fully focused and a little movement... yet I really like the picture.

Look at this gorgeous face. I can't get over her beauty. I think it every year I take her pictures!

Katt, Xavi and Baby-Belly

2011-10-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

I don't very often go to take pictures at the beach. But when I do, I hope for timing it right with the light and getting an empty beach and getting great models. I think I got it all with Katt and Xavi. Congratulations to the two of you, I'm so happy for you! Katt, you look beautiful! (Xavi, you're not ugly either ;)

Katt has such a pretty, round belly! And she wears it with grace and beauty...

Classic Cycle Events, El Camino

2011-09-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

I know some of you know that already, but twice a year, we go and take pictures of the Classic Cycle Events... once in the Spring, in Hanford and the second time in the Fall (or late Summer) by the El Camino College...

If you like Motorcycles, you should not miss out going to the next one, it's worth a trip! We always go as the whole family, with kids, so don't worry, it's not just full of rough biker dudes! ;)

Take a look and see the rest of the pictures on my online gallery here.

my kids on video

2011-09-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

I made a little video of my boys. A day like many, except with WAY more video footage than usual ;)

Note, here's for all of you who keep telling me having girls is so much easier than having boys... I beg your pardon ;)

They constantly fight and make up.

But I guess it's kind of normal for brothers! ;)

The Ginn Grandkids

2011-09-21T11:19:00.001-07:00

The hard thing about taking pictures of 10 children (most of them very small) is, they don't always do what you say. (Let's not pretend like adults to what I say)

But the easy thing about taking pictures of kids is, no matter what face they make, children are just cute. And the Ginn Grandkids especially.

I would take them all home, but I think my kids would get a bit jealous ;)

Also, I LOVED that each child had a different outfit and that they decided to make each child look fantastic in their own way (only the twins matched and I think we can agree that this is perfectly cute!) Talking about individuality!

You guys rocked the shoot!

the walker clan

2011-09-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sneak peak before their vacation. Have a good one ;)

peekaboo from miss brinley

hello gorgeous ;) your eyes are just nuts!!! love it.

Aubree - The addition to the sneak peak ;)

2011-09-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

So, after drinking TWO diet dr pepper (even though I'm on an anti soda, anti coffeine diet right now) and after letting my kids go run wild and pretty much destroy the house, I'm done editing the shoot from yesterday. I'm decently busy at the time and have decided, I have to edit this shoot before tomorrow's next shoot. And even now, I still have a wedding to finish edit. (Anyone volunteer to do it for me? JK!)Here some of the pictures that made an impression on me. I've got tons of great pictures due to my models and the beautiful light!

NORMALLY I'm not the type to edit my pictures all diffuse, but it just seemed to be right for a little fairy to look a little dream-like. After all, that's how I imagine my fairy land (I LOVE fairies, it's one of the cheesy things that I actually embrace). Love the fact that they live in forests, love trees, love flowers, love streams and everything else that belongs to a fairy land. So here you go... my fairy land.

And after those dreamy ones, here a little more real ones. Ones where she did not have to listen to me... just be herself.

and then she even gave me a little attitude ;) look at that smirk

And now,let's see the whole family together...

And it would not be complete without seeing some interactions between parents and daughter... Always try to get some of those in the shoot too. Cause that's what every parent wants, right?

That's it for today. Now i'll go play with my kids. They've well deserved my attention now ;)

A little Fairy turning four

2011-09-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

And here some in color.

Finally my absolute favorite. By far. No question.

underwater fun

2011-09-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

One thing I love about photography is that there is basically no limit to what you can do. We have had this throw away underwater camera for a few years... why we did not use it before, I don't know. So, we used it, brought it to be developed, scanned it and here we are. Some random family pictures.

I might sound super stupid when I say this (especially around my SoCal friends) but until about one month ago, I was NOT able to get my head under water unless I pinched my nose. So, this here is HUGE progress! Even with a smile. Just for you ;)

The coming up pic has me laughing every time I looked at it. Doesn't it kind of look like a really ugly 80ties swimsuit that's cut super high on the leg? I hate those and they make me laugh. (Maybe, only maybe they make me depressed cause even though I would not weare one of them, I wish I could - while looking great in it. hahaha)

DON'T JUDGE, we dunked both boys. After seeing how FRANTIC Sebi lookes under water, I however consider NEVER EVER dunking him again. I wanted to post the pictures cause they look funny and I promise the boys are fine, but in the same time I was really hesitant in posting them because Sebi looks like he's been seriously tortured here. Like he's being drowned. Sorry dear Sebi-mine. He is fine though and he did not even swallow water. (At least not much)

Here the over water view

AAND for a good ending, some hilarious distorted pictures. I laugh looking at the bubbles coming out of my nose. At the distortion. But then I laugh cause even though I look ridiculous I really like the picture!

Go have fun taking random pictures! Kiss, kiss.Lydia

a test and so on

2011-09-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

I'm just checking if i really wanna go that big... What do you think, too big? Let me know. All these decisions to make!

A peak

2011-09-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe I got to shoot this wedding. I love every wedding I get to shoot for various different reasons. This one for a GORGEOUS couple and a super hyper fun party!

Congratulations to Carlos and Ashlee, you guys looked stunning! Thanks for having me take your pictures!

aaand the winner is...

2011-09-01T20:33:00.001-07:00

... WELL, let me first tell you that this has been really hard for me to decide. I got really different sugesstions. Here my favorites in no particular order:

Joanna via FB: I would love to have our family carwash/turned major water fight photographed. Its something we do together, and I would love to have the memory captured.

BPG: The first day of school in Mt Baldy! My school is one of a kind with an outdoor auditorium, creek, wildlife, and beautiful view of the mountains!

Alli:I think you should do a photo shoot with as many different hats as you can find! ... Or as many hair-dos as possible! So fun!

Heidi: Playing Twister

AAAnd the winner is:

BPG

I'm thinking of tying books together with a belt, hanging from the kids shoulders. Lunchboxes, maybe a Schultuete (the german in me), pencil behind ear, ... maybe a pathway where the child "walks to school"...

BPG, please contact me so we can set this up!

Thanks everyone for participating!

my boys

2011-08-30T10:02:00.001-07:00

Very often, when I put Sebi on the changing table, Max climbs on there to keep him company. Then they throw whatever they can find off it. And they look where it lands and what happened to the object. I'm pretty sure they're hoping whatever it is will break.

They hug a lot. Sometimes on my command and often spontaniously. They just like to be close. Even if it means they have to hit each other, they wanna be next to each other.

And then they laugh. Sometimes quietly and other times very very loud. Sometimes for a reason and sometimes just because. They cry too, but I did not wanna ruin that post by finding one of those pictures ;)

My boys make faces. Here some of Max's

And here some of Sebi's.

And while I wrote this post, I heard two voices giggling behind my back, pulling on the little bear that makes music, and playing with one cheap mc donalds toys we still did not hurdle getting rid off.

Yesterday life was hard with sick, crying kids. Today they are paying me back with extra love and giggles.

It all levels off, doesn't it?

share a little

2011-08-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

I follow all kinds of photography blogs... I like to look at different style's and see what they "come up with"... I've always been a picture junkie.

Two of the blogs I follow could hardly be different in type. One is real life photography and the other super fake, though pretending it's real life. Hard to explain and rude to put up links, cause who am I to judge?

Anyway, both have one thing in common. They charge a lot of money to share their "secrets". Why? WHAT ARE THE SECRETS?

Now don't get me wrong I have never been and don't wanna be a MENTOR and I do not have those secrets they are talking about, but I've studied photography and know some things some of you might not know...

HERE ARE MY "Secrets":

1st : if you wanna become a photographer, do NOT underestimate the importance of the technical knowledge. If you don't know (and I mean know) what ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, manual setting, focusing, bulb... mean and how they play off each other, you are NOT READY. look it up online, there is nothing you can't learn, but you have to before you can take pictures properly.

2nd : Learn to see what you want to get from a picture BEFORE you take it.: learn lighting, do you want shadows in your pictures or do you want an even skin tone... do you want to add the "cool" lens flare or do you want it crisp and clean? Do you wanna use reflectors and flashes or just use the natural light?

3rd : you can fix a lot in photo shop, but it'll be suckie work and in the end it won't look perfect either. TAKE THE PICTURE RIGHT AT THE FIRST POINT. take time to adjust the camera. re-adjust during the whole shoot

4th : don't over-edit in photo shop. unless people want a funky style, they likely just want REALLY GOOD pictures, they wanna look their best with a natural flair to it.

5th : get inspired by others, but do NOT copy one to one. it just does not turn out natural, i think. make the pictures your own. and use the personalities of your clients to guide you.

6th : make realistic and fair prices. if you get to a point where you "weed out" you may wanna up-do your pricing...

7th : never stop learning. there is no way anyone knows all the in and outs about photography.

If you are interested in knowing a little more detail about one thing or the other, leave me a comment and i'll try to blog about it...

Thank you, my Max for being an example in sharing. What goes around, comes around. Good luck all of you and enjoy taking pictures weather for a profession or as a mom, dad, uncle, sister, ...

stay-at-home-moms...

2011-08-23T09:31:00.001-07:00

... learn everyday:

Yesterday I found out that a carousel can be free... take a heavy duty bag, place kid in it, swing it in circles. Done.

Another time I learned that making a bed is much more fun, if you first let the kids crawl beneath the spread and then swing up the blanket and let it fall on them... for at least 10 minutes.

Tents are always fun. Especially when it's not an actual tent. Use any blankets and the fun can begin.

Sidewalk chalk is not for the sidewalk - it's for everything else. Sebi says they are yummy!

Books need to sleep too... Max loves to share his bed with them.

There is no privacy for a mom. Not even in the bathroom. Kid's rule: when Mami closes the door, scream and yell and knock on the door until it opens.

Veggies are for mom. Cookies for Max. It's a common, right?

The whole house is a playground. It's so much fun to climb on the bed just to jump off it. We'll make sure there is a safe landing - and that Sebi is safe too.

Mami looks the funniest when we can see aaaall her wrinkles.

The beautiful thing about children this small is, they don't lie. They don't care what their parents look like. They don't care if they are dirty (well, Max is an exception). They don't care if their family is rich or poor. They don't care if their bedroom furniture matches... all they want is to be loved and to laugh.

Have a good day all you stay at home moms. Remember to laugh today. Remember to love your little ones. And remember to take time out for yourself!

xoxo, a mom whose kids are still in their pjs at 9.40am!! ;)

Bedroom half done...

2011-08-23T09:00:00.001-07:00

I needed to add some FUNK to our bedroom. The beautiful, green walls where just not quiet cutting it for me. Someone pin'ed something that i pinned from one who pinned and so, I got this idea to screw a few small frames together to make a large frame. I love it... mostly because it is big and because we put all kinds of random pics from our lives. Just little things we've experienced together... impressions, memories. little views of what we've done, what we wanna continue doing.

Here the before: (what was i thinking making the pillow coordinating with the blanket that my mother in law made for me. ps the blanket is white on one side and yellow on the other... and i love it ;)

Here the after.

The frames and prints, screws, sticks to hold it together, glue cost me less than 80 bucks.

The extra pillows with covers (I got them on sale) cost me 15 bucks.

The fabric for the "swiss" pillow cost me also about 15 bucks. (I got the heavy duty fabric cause i wanted that kind of look... and i got a zipper that is barely long enough to squeeze the pillow through).

Flower pot was 1.50 or so.

Markus got me beautiful flowers. THE FIRST FLOWERS he ever bought for me... justified, in the beginning of our courtship, i told him i'd rather have a new shirt than flowers. Well, things changed and so he caught on and got me theese... which by now i managed to kill. SAD!! I gotta get new ones and put them next to my bed...

Since Markus' mom is from Austria, I designed the pillow to have two faces... a swiss and an austrian. though of course, even though i love the austrians, the swiss will be showing most...

It would not have been my project if the pillow would have turned out crooked. the only reason the frames are so exact is cause i'm married to markus who out of all people is a total and complete perfectionist. what a combo,huh? ;)

Now I wanna find new side stand tables and finish the wall from which i took the picture ;)

Bill and Jayne

2011-08-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

ill and Jayne are celebrating their 40th anniversary. 40 YEARS! Congratulations!
Those two are such a great example on how love grows with the years... and how important respect is in a relationship. And laughter too. Jayne is a total fire cracker! :)

Both of them are very traditional people, and while I tried really hard to focus on the traditional side, I just could not help but sneak in a few casual pics that really show their feelings for each other. Up first, my absolute favorite...

Isn't she beautiful?

Makeup by http://nicoledeanne.com/

Hair by Candice Palmer (her daughter)

Nichols Family in Arrowhead

2011-08-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

How often does one get the chance to go to Arrowhead "just" to take some family pics? I loved the drive through the mountains, it reminded me of the few times I actually drove through my Swiss mountains, back home. I can not even express the emotion that came over me when I saw tree after tree - such a rare view here in SoCal. I wanted to go "home". Ride my bike through a forest, stop and listen to birds (other than crows). I took a few good, deep breaths while being out there, hoping it would hold me over for a little while. Now that I'm seeing the pics again, I wanna pack my car and leave!

Dear mountains, I love you! Trees, I truly wanna hug you!

The reason you see two individual families featured here is because they chose to have their pics taken in addition to the large group. Yup, It's a great idea - you are already all dressed up and the photographer is there too. (In case you wonder, yes, there is a special, lower price if you choose to take individual pics after a larger fam pic...)

Look at how cute those girls are.

Love that one, I told the parents to kiss and that is what happened (I got the kiss after that). You just can't beat an honest, cute expression like this one!

I absolutely love the connection between those three sisters.

So in love... so much laughter. So precious!

cute shoes - cute tippie toe..

I stopped on my way home. Ran across the traffic. Got honked on by more than one car (not cause I'm hot, only cause it was a bit stupid and dangerous where i crossed). Took a few pictures, ran back and kept driving. That view... I should have a house right where the street is. RIGHT THERE! I'd take the honking all day long ;)

Rick and Terry got married!

2011-08-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

I feel honored that I got to shoot Terry and Rick's wedding... I LOVED to see how much in love those two are. How young they are together. How he looks at Terry with a mix of joy and admiration. How they laugh together. How Rick cried of joy. How Terry honors Rick. How they danced together all the time. How they kissed each other all day long. Truly in love.

Thanks for having me take your pictures!

Also, I wanted to shout out to my dear friend: thanks Chelsea for always being on my side at weddings - we are so much fun together ;) !

happy thursday night

2011-08-04T20:18:00.001-07:00

Max can now mow the lawn. And he does.

cravings

2011-08-01T15:46:00.001-07:00

I'm CRAVING something new. Something I don't get to shoot all the time. Something fresh. I don't talk about a couch in the field new (maybe if you add to it), I talk about personality, beauty (whatever that means), I want a challenge, some "one on one" time (or maybe two). Gimme hippie, gimme ghetto (nothing nude!!), gimme retro, gimme wrinkles, gimme model, gimme organic, real, fake, rich, poor, drama, funny, serious, elaborate, simple ... I DON'T KNOW!

Send me your idea. Best idea wins a shoot (portrait or couple only... and the only thing i ask for is traveling fee, if further than 10miles from chino). I'll give you a whole MONTH to think about it.

Ideas to lydia@lydiatolman.com

Winner will be picked and notified September 1, 2011

Thanks!

Lydia

Emily the overly-educated

2011-08-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Before she moved to NY she used to do my hair. We laugh together. A LOT. She's pretty. Pretty fun, I would say ;) And pretty pretty too! Emily, we have to do that again! SOON!

Liz the Sexy Lady

2011-08-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

I don't think I need to add anything here.

The Twin Girls

2011-08-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

The first shot is probably my favorite baby-shoot I ever took. Who does not like baby feet and diaper bums... ;)

The Trask Family

2011-07-29T20:55:00.001-07:00

Last week I got to shoot one of my friends extended family. Look at all those little kids - a challenge to make them look at me, but so cute when they actually do!

Alan and Laura Married!

2011-07-19T16:22:00.001-07:00

I've known Laura for a really long time and was so excited to be there to shoot this special day for her and her husband. Congratulations! (PS: this is a new one, no old blogging today ;)
I loved the fact that she wore her cowboy (girl) boots under her dress. And also, I loved the colorful bouquet.

I'm so excited for the two of them!

What a family!

2011-07-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

You rarely see this big of a family setting captured on a blog. Just wanted you all to know that I do enjoy the big, loud, noisy shoots too ;)

Can you even count how many people belong in this family? ;)

Heidi

2011-07-16T09:07:00.001-07:00

Heidi, my friend. Over the past few years I've not only seen her at church often, I also got the chance to shoot her three times! THREE! while between the first and second shoot she has lots a LOL of weight and has since then kept it off. I'm so proud of her and wish I could follow her footstep! You're so pretty, Heid!

In Black and White

2011-07-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Meet a real prince.

Classic Cycle Events

2011-07-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Twice a year, we (well, really Markus - my Hubby and sometimes second shooter) go to Classic Cycle Events to be the official Photographers. Definitely something we do for the love for motorcycles (again, really Markus).

It's really changed my attitude towards the "tough" biker dudes since they are actually generally super nice and only half or even less as tough as they want us to believe!

Another one of these events is coming up near LA... look them up.

Father and Daughter

2011-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

You might read this following sentence more than one time in the near future, but it's so captivating to see how fast people change and how rad it is to look at stuff you've done in the past. I'm not sure how many months it's been since I took those pictures - really, not that long. Taylor however seems so much older now. She's overcome that "child-like-look" and now look like a young woman (which she is).

She's still just a pretty though :)

James and my Hubby really close friends. Me however, I don't particularly like him. JK! He's part of the family without having to show up on every family event. Maybe that's the way to go. ;)

Sigrid and Thomas

2011-07-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

I hope you would not be surprised to know that I'm related to Sigrid and Thomas. They are so cool, I like to brag with it. Not like we are related through blood... she is my Mother in Law's Sister. But close enough to brag, right? Even though we only met once for a few weeks, it's like I always loved them!

Pretty Daughters and a Grand-daughter

2011-07-15T13:57:00.001-07:00

Ginnette is another one of my clients that returns for shoots from time to time. She's got the prettiest daughters and grand-daughters (the boys are great too). Here she wanted a shoot with just the girls. We had tons of great ones since the girls are semi-pro models (at least for me) - here some of my favorites! It's always so difficult to make the decision which ones to blog!

Aubree turned 3 (waaay back when)

2011-07-15T13:47:00.001-07:00

Let me tell you, it is so very strange to blog "older" shoots (this one was almost a year ago) and I WISH my old blog would not have given up on me, yet in the same time, I will admit, it's quiet something to look back and see what I got to shoot. I love this family, they come back for shoots from time to time and every time they do, they surprise me with something new about them. I remember here, Noemi was pregnant, but I'm not sure if it was officially known yet. Now she has those super cute twin girls I got to shoot a few weeks after they where born. So crazy how you become emotionally attached with people you see maybe once or twice a year - but so great to know them!

I love the vibe between the parents!

Andrew and Mia Married

2011-07-15T10:37:00.001-07:00

Andrew and Mia, even just saying their names makes me smile. A wedding where you could tell that no matter what would go wrong with the ceremony, the couple was just excited to get married! (The dude marrying them was a total mess, but the couple handled it with grace!)

Kelly on the Beach

2011-07-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Meet Kelly. In case you wonder, yes, she is happily married. Those where some pictures we took for her Husband's birthday as a gift. Loved to work with her, not only is she super sexy, she's one of the nicest people there are!

Andi and Ashleigh as Groom and Bride

2011-07-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Andi and Ashleigh got married last year. Due to the wedding set up, we did not have the time to take the Bride/Groom pictures that day, so we decided to take them after the fact. It just so turned out to be 6 months past their actual wedding day, that we took their pictures... and shall I say, they where so relaxed and it was so much fun, the wait was well worth it! And they both looked terrific. Look for yourself!
Thanks guys for making this an excellent day and great pictures!

Back And Forth

2011-07-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

It might come as a surprise to you, even as it comes to me, that I'm back on a blogspot to post my pictures after using a "professional" photo-blog.
Well, it turns out, the professional stuff was full of virus to a point where I HAD to delete my whole blog with ALL contents and start all over again.
Needless to say how frustrated I am about the years of work I put into the other blog just to loose it.
THAT IS WHY I decided to go back to what I consider the "old-school" semi-professional look ;)

I will try to blog ALL the old stuff again for your references and to archive some of my stuff, until I do that, please be patient with just a few posts, added whenever I have the time to!

Thanks to all who so loyally follow me even with all the changes and different blogs and websites I had to start and change!

Lydia.