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adventures in mini sessions

I’m still sorting through the images from yesterdays mini sessions, but before I show any sneak peeks, I thought it would be fun to show you a picture of two guys who stole my sofa while I was about 100 feet away taking pictures.  I couldn’t see the sofa because of all the trees blocking my view, but I tried to peek at it everyone once in a while.  So after I just finished with this cute couple, they walked to their car and noticed these guys who took my sofa.  They came and told me and I found the guys trying to figure out how to get it in their car.  I told them it was mine and to put it back where they found it, and they did – yeah I’m small, but I can be tough, haha =)

Here they are doing as they were told:

introducing………..the blue velvet sofa (and a beautiful red head family)

I recently added this awesome sofa to my prop collection and it will be with me at the mini sessions coming up along with a bunch of other fun stuff I have up my sleeve =)

Which reminds me – I only have one spot left for mini sessions and after that the next available session is at the end of January!!!!!!!  That is crazy!

Now on to this adorable family. No more family shots on this blog for a while- I don’t want to ruin any Christmas cards =)

where the wild things are

P.S. Don’t worry mom and dad – there are plenty of cute family ones, but I need to stop posting family pics so I don’t ruin any holiday card surprises =)

plan b

This awesome family wanted their portraits taken at the Balboa Fun Zone, but when we got to Newport, the fog was crazy thick, so we had to come up with plan b.

So I suggested this place:

now that’s talent:

If I had a sister, I’d want a picture like this:

Thanks guys for being up for plan b =)

newborn sneak peek

extended family sneak peek

love {my job/new locations/this family}

OK, I’ve never shot at this place before so I got a little carried away with this post – there were just so many that I loved and I had to hold myself back because if I could have, I would have posted like 50 more =)

I love how you can see one of the boys playing in the background. He’s got his walkie talkie and he means business:

love love love this:

and this:

and this:

and I love this series:

boys: 3…..girls: 1

Check out this cute family.  The boys were so sweet with their baby sister:

and it was mom and dad’s anniversary!

sneak peek

Storyboards

A storyboard is a 10×20 print that is mounted on 3/4″ standout.  They are 100% customizable……..they usually come with a grouping of  three images, but I’m willing to try any combination =)  It’s superduper light weight and it comes ready to hang or stand.  Did you read that? No frame needed!!!

I ordered one for myself so I can have a sample for my clients and I love it!!!!  I think I’ll need to order another one so this one can stay in my house and not be lugged around in my car =)

the standout mounting:

Here are a couple more ideas:

If you are a past client and want one of these babies designed for you, email me and I’ll see if I still have your files =)

senior portraits

Isn’t she cute?!?!? Well you can forget about asking her to babysit, because she’s taken =)

sneak peek

Here’s a sneak peek for the mom and dad of these two cute brothers:

and what’s a MSP shoot with kids w/o a shot like this:

fun zone

I got to take some portraits for our good friends last night at the Balboa Fun Zone:

these guys think they are so tough….but I know the truth – they are sweethearts! I love these boys:

then some of just mom and dad:

be still my heart

I love this little series:

sneak peek

happy anniversay!!!!!

Here is a sneak peek for this cute family of 3 – mom and dad are celebrating 5 years!

(I’m loving this wall!)

Check out his little smile! Too cute:

Thanks guys and happy anniversary!!!!!!!

Kalani + Dan @ The George Key Ranch

Kalani wore her mothers wedding sari

gorgeous:

here’s Dan waiting to see Kalani:

I think he likes what he sees =)

they had old wedding pictures of their families displayed, so I thought this might be fun:

one more for good measure….

sneak peek

Here is a sneak peek of the Sri Lankan + American wedding I shot this weekend:

baby makes 3

Baby makes 3 for this family and for me – this was the 3rd newborn shoot for me within the last 2 weeks and I have more scheduled! Check out this little one – she isn’t even due yet! She was 4 weeks early and a sweet as can be.  Here she is on a family heirloom:

she even gave us a few smiles:

here is her proud daddy:

and her beautiful mommy:

the newborn armshelf

I think it just runs in the family. Here is his mom and dad before he was born:

and here he is now (I swear he did this on his own):

isn’t he the sweetest?

ready. set. go.

This weekend was officially the start of my super busy holiday season. I only have a few regular sessions left for the month of October and then in November I am only doing mini-sessions, and then I won’t be scheduling any appointments in December unless it is for a newborn session.  So if you want to make an appointment, you should asap before I am all booked up =) This weekend was the international street fair in old town orange, so I did two shoots in old town tustin instead. First was this sweet family:

And then this sweet one year old:

we have a winner for the free mini-session!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway! And thank you for all your kind comments – you guys are the best!

I used random.org and the result was #17 by Karisa:

17. Wow-Great pictures! I’ve never seen anything like this before!!! You are so wonderfully talented; Great job!!

Comment by Karisa — August 28, 2009

Congratulations Karisa! Contact me so we can set up the day and time of your free mini-session!

Hot. But worth it.

One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is going into peoples homes and spending time with them (and believe me, it takes a looong time to get a newborn to go to sleep – I think they know I’m coming and want to stay awake for their close up, haha ) even when it’s the hottest day of the year and I have to torture them by asking them to turn off the a/c and turn on a blow dryer so we can get a shot like this:

Yes, we were all dripping with sweat when I left, but it was fun!  Thanks guys =)

2nd shooting rocks!

One of my photography mentor/friends, Gregg Shaw asked me to second shoot a wedding with him this last weekend and here are some shots I got:

2009 Holiday Greeting Cards!!!!!!! Plus My Very First Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am having my very first giveaway!!!!!!!!  I can see how many blog views I get everyday and it’s a lot, but no one ever leaves comments.  Not that I need reassurance, well OK, I do =)  So, this is how it is going to work…leave a comment on this post and on Monday, August 31st I will choose at random and announce a winner!!!! The winner will receive a free holiday mini session that comes with either a cd, or a set of 25 greeting cards!!!!!! Who could pass that up?!?!?

Here are the samples of the 2009 holiday greeting cards I will have.

There are 5 templates with 2 color versions each.

The fonts and the greetings are customizable.

Set One:

Set Two:

Set Three:

Set Four – brought back from 2008 by popular demand =)

Set Five:

Extended Family Sneak Peek

2009 holiday mini session info is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Can you believe that it is August and I am already starting to book holiday sessions?!?!?
• 
  
• If you want a regular session for holiday portraits then you will need to schedule a session with me for September or October.  Spaces for full sessions are limited and I will only be doing them through October because I will be saving all November just for mini-sessions.  I am filling up super duper fast, so hurry!
• 
  
• If you want to schedule an appt., email me at michellesullivanphotography@yahoo.com and then I will send you all the info you need to set up your session including what times and dates are left =)
• In order for me to guarantee that I don’t have any no-shows, the payment for the holiday mini sessions is due in full prior to reserving your date and time.  You can pay super-duper easy through paypal by clicking on the ‘buy now’ button at the bottom of this post, or by clicking on the link on the sidebar that says ‘purchase a holiday mini session’.
  

Stay tuned for samples of the new holiday card templates!!!!!!!!!!!

serve day

Here are some shots that I got of my girls last week during serve day at our church (*disclaimer*- we were working very hard passing out Treasure Boxes and did not intend for this to turn into a photo shoot, haha). Gotta love the one of them fighting over a box – how sweet, they want to serve so much!

Remember these?!? I had to think real hard to teach my girls how to put 2 of them together. It’s been a while!

Then the photo shoot moved to a parking lot down the street from church:

True story: my middle daughter came up with all of these poses by herself. She loves the camera. Barbizon here we come!

I normally totally avoid this time of day for photo sessions because the sun is right overhead, but I am loving the way these turned out!

Then my hubby snapped some of me with my girlies:

look at the dirt on my arm – see? proof that I worked hard at serve day, haha  =)

Prayer Cards

Some friends from church are getting ready to be missionaries in Ireland (I’m already planning my trip to come visit them, haha ) and they needed a family picture for prayer cards to pass out:

I think they should pick this one:

Get it? Pick??? – I swear I’m not in 2nd grade =)

insert witty title here

This maternity shoot made me so happy for so many reasons.  First of all the people in the pictures are so fun (and funny!), they have fantastic style, they let me try new things and they are my neighbors! Love the boots!

All she needed was a bikini……

It looks like she was smuggling a basketball:

A change of clothes and scenery:

Then a stick fight broke out:

being silly:

Here they are demonstrating ‘the arm shelf’ with textbook precision. They pull it off flawlessly:

a rare serious moment (haha):

sleepy baby

This little guy was a champion sleeper for his photo shoot:

And he is so lucky to have such a sweet big sister:

the chase

Every time I have a session with a one year old, I know it’s going to be an adventure.  This little guy was no exception, look at him giving his dad a workout:

He was so cute with that curly hair:

This one doesn’t really flow with the rest of the portraits, but I love it so I wanted to post it:

running from the law

This shoot had us running from the cops, haha =) The first time was when we were on the railroad tracks and their mom noticed a cop stopped on the tracks at the next intersection. We all grabbed a piece of the drum set and made a run for it. We were pulling out with everyone buckled and the drum set in the back of the truck before the officer even got there…that was a close one!

The second time was when we were in the alley that I always shoot in and we had just been there a minute or two and some guy starts yelling out the window ‘Quit playing the drums or I’m calling the cops!’  Now I am always willing to bend, but when someone yells at me without even showing their face or especially without asking nicely first then I usually end up acting like I haven’t heard them – just ask the mean old lady who told me I had to ’shut that baby up’ at the grocery store when I had a 2 year old and a crying colicy baby in my cart just trying to get some groceries….I’d like to think after I followed her down every single isle she went down the entire time she was in the store and then stood behind her in line, that she never yelled at any other sleep deprived mom just trying to get through the day =) So anyway, we stayed in the alley and got some fun shots and guess what?  The cops never came =)

Thanks gals! It was an adventure!!!

Mexico

MSP will now be offering moonlight beach backdrops……kidding! My husband and I went on a cruise to Mexico to celebrate our 14 year anniversary and they had the cheesiest photography on the cruise:

Here are some pictures from our day in Ensenada. We rented a moped and traveled 50 miles and found some awesome places:

This is what I looked like after I realized I was not being attacked by a spider:

Vern and James Engagement

I love these two! They are so fun! And they make my job so easy!

I love the way Vern looks at James:

After the train tracks we went to Old Town Orange.  First stop – Watsons for an early morning shake, haha:

So silly:

Danielle + Ryan @ The French Estate in Orange

Danielle and Ryan’s wedding was so fun to photograph – Danielle has such a fun attitude and amazing style.  Here are some of them getting ready:

Danielle bought some plain heels from David’s Bridal and then blinged them up herself:

I love this one my hubby Eric (aka my hot assistant) got of Ryan reading the instructions on how to tie a bow tie:

waiting for the big moment:

married!

Check out the back of Danielle’s dress:

There were so many fun details:

While we were out doing portraits they had this fun area set up for the guests to take silly pictures:

Then the first dance:

Thanks guys! I had so much fun! Have a great honeymoon!

headshots

My beautiful friend Salley asked me to take some headshots of her.  I just hope she doesn’t forget me when she becomes famous, haha =)

eye contact

This little 2 week old cutie could not keep his eyes away from my camera =)

school office art

The principal at my girl’s school asked me to take some portraits of the kids so they could have some fun pictures to hang in the school office.  The kids were big hams and I had so much fun hanging out with them. Here are just a few of my favorites:

rock n roll

My 9 year old has been begging me for ‘rock n roll’ portraits for the longest time…….so we finally got to get out by ourselves the other day and had a fun little shoot around our neighborhood.