san francisco bay area maternity, child and family photographer » STORYBOX ART

out of office

alpana — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:54:19 +0000

All I have to say is that the boy made me work for this picture. An ode of sorts to Sally Maan, one of my all time favorite photographers. Recently, I got to see, listen and experience her amazingness in San Francisco. She spoke largely about her body of family work offering insight into her family and their lives providing context to her art. I came back inspired with the resolve to try to be true to myself as an artist. I will be in Tampa for a workshop and a family photo shoot from March 24-29th. Stay warm in the bay area!

ayla II

alpana — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:30:10 +0000

nick and his momma

alpana — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:18:05 +0000

These images in this blog post are a mix of film and digital. I photographed this funny and handsome eight year old dude and his mom last year and have been wanting to share some of the images from their session. I asked Rhonda if she could guest blog a post and she agreed. I thought might be fun for readers to see it how the day rolls and any random thoughts through a client’s perspective. I love that my client’s are able to put their faith in me and go along with my crazy ideas! Read on to see what this mom’s experience was like…

Two years ago, I was fortunate enough to meet Alpana of Storybox Art and after she took Nicholas’ photos at 6 ½ years I knew that I had found the person to document him all the way through his teen years and into young adulthood provided of course, that Alpana doesn’t have other plans for the next ten to twelve years and that Nicholas remains cooperative. Alpana has a gift for not only capturing his joyous smiles and silliness but also his other expressions and looks that are so meaningful to me – even the ones that sometimes drive me nuts. She has an incredible way of literally photographing one’s whole personality.

This particular set of photos was done precisely at 8 ½ years of age because I wanted to make sure I had photographs of Nicholas’ gappy smile and still-to-be-grown-into front teeth. I actually regret not having photos done at around 7 ½ years of age when his front teeth were missing but I’m thrilled that I will have these photos to remember this phase in which all of those teeth that we walked the floor over and cried copious tears of angst over as they were coming in eight years ago — are now falling out. I have a feeling that the next set of photos at age 10 or so will be even more telling in terms of the little man who is morphing into a not-so-little man.

Wondering what a photo session with Alpana is like? Here’s a summary of what to expect based on our recent experience. First, you’ll agree on a date, time and place. Pretty simple stuff. The day of the photo session you’ll race the kid home from school and quickly get him bathed and styled. He should still look like himself – just cleaner and with pants that don’t have holes in the knees. You will probably also want to skip cartoon graphic t-shirts and loud stripes or distracting colors. Alpana will give you advice on what to wear. Listen to her. She really knows this stuff.

And then Alpana will ring you up and casually drop a bomb: She would like YOU to be in the pictures, too. WHAT? Can I lose 20 lbs, get my hair done and find some anti-aging miracle crème that works in say, two hours? You try to say no. NO. GOD, NO! But Alpana just has this quiet determined way of getting what she wants. So, once you have yourself and the kiddo ready to go you head over to the “cool old house” that Alpana has been raving about and wants to use as the backdrop for the photos.

You’re imagining “cool old house” to be a quaint but abandoned gingerbread cottage with ivy growing amongst its eaves. You pull up and the kid says, “Where are we? This place is WEIRD!” You see the cool old (circa 1985), house that has been ravaged by vandals instead of ivy sitting up on a hill behind a chain link fence with most of its broken windows boarded up with plywood. “Surely this isn’t it?” you think but then there is Alpana pulling up right behind you with a big excited smile on her face. “Isn’t this place great?!” she exclaims. Weakly, you nod in agreement. “And the lighting is gorgeous at this time of day!” she says. And you have to agree – it’s approximately 5:30 p.m. on an early fall afternoon and the place, although creepy looking, is lit up in a beautiful, soft golden light.

You head up the hill after Alpana where she will spend a few minutes scouting out the best location and then it’s time to get to work. You’re told several times to please walk away and stand somewhere by yourself and out of your kid’s line of vision because the two of you cannot stop cracking up. You stand near the fence and see several people in the neighborhood walk by and look at you with raised eyebrows. You hope you’re not trespassing but before you can give it much more thought you realize the sun has nearly set and Alpana calls it a wrap.

You drive home chatting happily about how much fun you had and wasn’t that house weird and spooky? Then, a couple of weeks later, Alpana will send you an email with a link to your gallery of proofs. You’ll be excited and will open the link only to immediately tear up – it’s amazing –she’s captured his entire personality, his beautiful smile, his joy, his goofiness, his tentativeness and all of that growing up that you suspected was happening. You’ll also be thrilled that you finally gave in and had a few pictures taken with your kid. Alpana was absolutely right on that point. And what do you know? That “cool old house” really does look cool.

~ Rhonda

in film

alpana — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:09:24 +0000

I am participating again this month in the blog carousel with some amazing photographers from around the globe. The topic this month is alternative cameras and my hope was to share some recent images taken my 35 mm film camera. They didn’t quite make it back in time (haha, no instant gratification with film) so I am sharing a few random images that I shot of my boy last fall. They are perhaps a tad underexposed but better than some of my other choices. Be sure to check out June Kuiper, Grand Rapids family photographer next with her interpretation.

And if you are wondering why film? I have come back full circle to shooting film after a workshop last year. Back in the old days, when there was no digital I started my photography journey shooting 35 mm film at art school. Back in college, I went hiking in the Himalayas solely because of my lovely for photography and captured these with my Olympus OM1. My hope this year to shoot more film for personal work and perhaps offer a few film sessions on a discounted basis. If you are interested in a film session shoot me email an email through the contact form and we can chat

Abby and her family

alpana — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:30:56 +0000

Abby’s mom had contacted me about a session over a year back. Finally, the stars aligned and we did their session on an overcast day back in November. Prior to our session, mom had told me a bit about Abby and her two sisters and I was excited to meet them. I was a bit nervous as well not having photographed anyone in a similar situation. Mom was open to going anywhere local she could navigate Abby’s wheelchair and I settled on a local park. Just as we got started the clouds rolled in at an inopportune time but we rolled with the punches and captured some moments of the family together. It was pretty amazing to see the love and affection the family had for one another. Hugs and kisses. There is so much unspoken in the way this family cared for each other. And mom being the pillar of strength navigating through the session with multitude of emotions. These pictures are a surprise present for dad for the holidays! Mom ordered a memory box that I hope to share in a few weeks after the holidays. Meanwhile, dad will be getting some favorite prints for the holidays.

I had asked mama if it was okay to share some info about Abby after getting some questions after a facebook photo share. This is what mom shared with me about her little girl. “She has a brain injury from an accident she experienced at age 4. We were in the hospital with her for 4 months, not knowing how severe the injury was and what the effects would be. The good news is that Abby remains medically healthy. She goes to school and really loves her teacher and the kids around her. She loves to watch movies and she just lights up when family and friends are around and playing with her. She’s just as social as she ever was!

Abby just had a surgery recently and has been in my thoughts. Hope she is recovering well and getting stronger each day!

once upon a time in a meadow

alpana — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:33:01 +0000

A few impromptu photos of the cousins with my little man during our recent visit to the Marin Headlands after a stop at Muir Woods. The kids spent a little time being silly, laughing, and letting me take a few photos in this lovely meadow. These photos are a mix of digital and film that I have been exploring for personal work. Brings back memories of my good old days of shooting film back in college and through art school when there was no digital camera. The last image is a cameo appearance of me with my family that my sister-in-law was kind enough to take after setting up my camera for her.

Thank you for stopping by! If you haven’t “liked” our facebook page please do so to check out sneak peek and other news.

what will this baby be?

alpana — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:40:59 +0000

this one cracks me up…

Mysterio has been known to predict your child’s future but the sky is the limit for this sweet little newborn baby boy with the most amazing family. The above photos were taken at little Will’s newborn photo session in San Francisco. Big sister played a starring role as well and was especially helpful in trying to get the little man to smile. I so love the photo of her arms around Will cradling his face. Also, amazing to see her growing up since the last time I saw her for her eight month photos with her family. Thanks for letting me document your precious memories!

family photos on a overcast day

alpana — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:31:53 +0000

There was a lot of anticipation for this family photo session that mama booked months back scheduled to work around my New York trip in late September. Murphy’s law prevailed and it turned out to be a wet, cold week in the duration of my stay out there. I don’t think I have ever checked the weather channel to the extent I did hoping to catch one of the better day/times for their shoot. The family was willing to be flexible and stayed on-call to let me pick the best day/time. We did their shoot on a pretty overcast day expecting rain the next day. Even with our dreary weather, the family persevered and we had lots of fun together. Their six year old daughter was quite the mama’s girl and almost year old baby boy was daddy’s boy. Perfect, to have one of each. It was wonderful to capture their connections and spend time hanging out. Such a wonderful treat to meet his lovely family! So grateful that my job gives me these wonderful opportunities to meet good people.

Eat, drink and be scary.

alpana — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:42:41 +0000

Eat, drink and be scary. ~Author Unknown

the milk and cookies show

alpana — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:00:23 +0000

Two adorable brothers with their cookies and milk. That’s how we rolled for this end of the day session. A few laughs, a few tears and lots of mommy hugs. I photographed big brother a few years back and it was wonderful to see how much he had grown. Such a treat to see him again and meet his little brother!

Heading into the holidays, the schedule fills up pretty fast and I am almost booked through the end of this year. If you are interested in a family session please email me soon or for a kid’s only session, I have a few spots left for the upcoming Short Story Sessions on November 6th.