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The most important thing you leave behind is the stuff that turns into treasures when children find it.
~Storypeople
I adore this Storypeople quote. It made me think of sweet memories we created for baby C’s family and how they will cherish them forever. When baby C grows up to be a beautiful young lady she will likely not remember her cute chubb days. But I hope that these pictures will be her treasures to have and hold on to.
We had a wonderful session with baby C’s family at their home in Noe Valley in San Francisco. Mommy had ordered some cute clothes I recommended from the Gap, Baby Legs and not to forget Anthropologie for herself. Seven months. Such a wonderful age. It is my favorite age to photograph little people when they are able to sit up. And also when they can’t get away from me too easily (though she was just starting to crawl and is likely a different baby today). Enjoy your sneak peek!
In the many faces on baby C, do you have a favorite? Post your favorite in the comments section using the numbering system below. I will share which one mine is too once the voting is over. Top Row with two pics- Use no. 1 for left and no. 2 for right. In the middle row with three pics- use no. 3 for left, no. 4 for middle and no. 5 for right. For a total of 25+ comments (don’t have to be for one image), I will make a complimentary 5 x 7 print for the family. So vote away!!!
Check out the teeny skinny jeans on baby C. I wonder if they will be still a fad when she grows up?
thanks Alpana!! LOVE them all; I really love the one of the three of us!! (you do B&W amazingly well!!!)
I’ll vote for number 4 as my favorite…but I think if I were to vote at another moment in time I’d chose a different one every time. thanks for your hard work thus far; we can’t wait to see the rest!
Tough choice. I think #4 is my fave.
I’m the grandmommy; so, of course, I love all of them! Except for the blue eyes, Claire is so much like Stefani at that age. Pix 1 & 3 are especially like Stefani, as I remember. they’re all favorites but #6 with the whole family is especially dear. You ahve a great eye for shots. Thanks!
Beautiful !!! These are all works of art – so charming and expressive. #6 of the whole family would be my favorite. However, choosing is hard -each of the expressions that you caught of Claire amplifies the other. #4 is precious. I also really like the way you captured the lighting on her features with #1. #2 profile cracked me up -like some of us ‘older’women who attempt to show our best ‘side.’ From there, she seemed totally entertained with the process!! You are gifted !
Thanks for letting us share in the experience – she’s a little angel !
Great shots of little Claire Bear! I’m Claire’s Auntie and mom of her favorite playmate, Owen. I love #4: big smile, fingers in the mouth…what could be better? Can’t wait to see more!
As the grandpa, “papa,” I vote for number 5.
The pictures are adorable! My favorite is #4. She feels that her teeth are coming in of course…
I also love the family picture. You have a beautiful, photogenic family!!
They are all so adorable but numbers 3, 4, and 5 are especially so.
It is a hard call, because they are all very good, but I have to go with #5. Loved the family portrait too!
Love Love Love Little Miss Claire Bear #4! It is amazing how you caught the twinkle in her beautiful baby blues. Perfect photo.
they are all precious shots! but i think #5 and #6 are my favorites – beautiful baby, beautiful mommy, beautiful family!
Well, I like them all but I especially like #6 because I love b&w and Darren isn’t so bad to look at, either. I also like #2. First, you can see that sweet baby neck which is just my favorite part of a baby and I like that she’s totally taken with something off-camera and will be investigating that soon. Also, you get the full effect of those cheeks! Great job. Great subject.
you are simply amazing! i just adore all of these! your clients are so lucky to have you–you truly create priceless art!
lovely lovely lovely .. all of them! but i’m going to have to vote for #4 .. and i love the family image too!
Great pictures. I’m with Don. #5 is my favorite.
Wonderful shots and they really catch her personality.
Great Aunt Bobbi
Absolutely beautiful photos of Miss Claire! I vote for #3!
Oh, she’s so dear. Love that last one esp.
These pictures are wonderful. Such an adorable baby and great faces! My favorite is #3 because Claire is just so darn happy! As others noted, the family shot is also great!
these are pure brilliance. when i see my own family photographed, this is how i see it. i just love everything about your work. My fav for the baby is #3 for sure…
Number one for Claire. Those eyes and her mouth convey a look of wonder. They are part of the beauty of Claire Bear. Nice soft light evokes a feeling of baby beauty. Can’t wait to put her in our arms.
I love them all! She’s SO cute. #1 and #5 are my favorite. I love the family photo too. Love Autie Heather 🙂
Ashton and I love baby Claire in all of them. #4 is Ashton’s favorite photo of his cousin. We also love the family photo.
My favorite picture is number four and the family picture. These pictures are beautiful!!
Carolyn was the recipient of a family session through my Giving is Awesome giveaway back in December 2009. She was nominated by Rosa of Level 5. When I read her story I knew right away that I had to photograph her family. Carolyn is a breast cancer survivor and still undergoing chemo treatments every few weeks.
One of the first things that struck me within minutes of meeting her was how much she laughed and enjoyed her wonderful family. Our session was full of laughs as you may see in the photos. I caught a lot of natural smiles without much effort on my part. Her two handsome boys (specially the four year old) kept me on my toes. Who needs the gym when you can chase four year olds? He was pretty symbolic of his age not being able to stay still for more than a few minutes (oh, wait seconds) and that was pretty much how I captured him on camera.
I had such a wonderful time with Carolyn’s amazing family and couldn’t have been happier to gift this custom photography session to her family. Hope you love the photos, Carolyn as much as I do!
Thank you Alpana. Giving is Awesome and so is receiving!
Love Carolyn
I know I have been behind blogging and have so many wonderful sessions to share. Shyla and Danoosh’s wedding has been at the top of my list and I have been going through the photos like a mad woman to share some before they take off on their adventure soon.
Lovely, lovely photographs! Taken with such sensitivity! Beautiful lighting. Can’t wait to see more!
Beautiful! So artistically put together and how beautiful you all look!
Oh my! Breathtakingly beautiful – the people, the details… and of course, the photography. Lucky lucky couple!
I love the photos. You can tell everyone had a great time.
How super stunning! Such fresh and lovely tones <3
lovely pictures thanks for sending them.
all look lovely.
These are lovely Alpana!
oooooh I LOVE these. You documented the day in such a lovely way.
I am excited to announce a giveaway of gnaana’s fabulous eco-friendly toys!
gnaana is a retail website and online community center offering busy families a way to incorporate elements of South Asian languages, traditions and histories into their everyday lives. The company offers a unique selection of eco-friendly, developmental toys and educational material to teach children ages 0-12 about South Asian cultures.
Winner will receive:
The Chota Chef Recipe Cards Set
The ultimate sensorial tour of India! Starting in India’s capital of New Delhi, your Chota Chef (or “Little” Chef in Hindi) will circumnavigate the subcontinent – stopping along the way to prepare simple and nutritious Indian dishes. Featuring one recipe from almost every state or region of India, The Chota Chef Recipe Cards are a unique set of 20 learning experiences designed to introduce the fundamentals of Indian cooking in imaginative, engaging, kid-friendly ways. Each Recipe Card features step-by-step illustrations along with a Fun Fact that will spark your little gourmand’s interest in one of the world’s most ancient cultures.
and
A Chota Apron
(Lotus or Train, name in English)
Made in the USA with premium twill fabric – with soil release and wrinkle-resistant finish. Loop neck with 2 front pockets. Sized to fit children approximately 2-10 years of age – see website for exact measurements. Choose between Kamal (pink apron embroidered with a Lotus) or Rail (blue apron embroidered with a Train).
Bonus Prize: Apron personalized with your child’s name in English.
(See below for details on how to qualify.)
Here’s How to Enter:
1) Visit gnaana.com and check out their cool products. Post a comment in the box below about your favorite product and we will pick one lucky winner.
2) In addition to the lovely prize, the winner will receive an additional bonus prize for one of the following (current fans and subscribers automatically qualify for the bonus prize):
a. Become a Facebook Fan of gnaana
b. Sign-up for gnaana’s Newsletter
Contest closes midnight PST on Thursday, May 20th
Winner will be announced Saturday, May 22nd
Please Note: Package must be shipped to an address within the Continental US.
ps. gnaana recently asked me to guest blog about photography. My article Why hire a Professional Photographer can be found here.
Thank you for participating in the fabulous Gnaana giveaway! The winner was picked using random.org.
The winner is # 13– Congratulations Amy!
I love the puzzle map of India. Tres tres Montessori. Along those lines, I wonder if Gnaana would procure some moveable alphabets and sandpaper letters in Devanagiri and Tamil for those parents wanting to teach their children to read and write.
I love the Alphabet blocks in Gujarati! Anything more Gnaana can share with us along those lines would be great! Thank you!
So hard to pick just one product as a favorite! The Hindi alphabet blocks are what first drew me to their company. The blocks are such high quality and a great alternative to English language blocks. I also love the avatar puzzle and the chotaa chef. All the products are brilliant and I’m eagerly waiting to see what the books section will have!
I love the Das Avatar Puzzle. It truly is a toy that grows with the child. My 1 year old daughter will first learn spatial relationships, then numbers and finally some background on her religion. It also brings back fond childhood memories on how I learned the “Das Avatar” through the Amar Chitr Katha comic books. I plan on buying several sets for Diwali presents.
I love the puzzle map of India and the cooking recipe cards. Absolute great earning products!
My favorite product is the one I’ve now gifted to 5 families with newborns–the Gujarati Gnaana blocks. I know it’ll be a while before they can use them but, the product was too amazing that I just had to get & gift it! As a first-gen South Asian American, I have often wondered–sometimes nervously–how we will pass on our culture, language & traditions to our children. And then there was Gnaana. 🙂
The aprons are too cute! I LOVE the lotus one and the elephant one…I also think the wooden blocks are great!
Totally hard to pick – i’m going to have to go with the blocks in Hindi – I love that they are colorful and a super practical way to introduce Hindi language teaching into everyday. I do also love the Das Avatar puzzle – we just bought the book by Sanjay Patel that teaches about the Hindu gods through comics and cute stories…
I liked the decals, never saw that before, it’s a novel idea. And thanks for the reminder to buy the book written by Sanjay Patel, I saw an article in the paper about him but completely forgot about it later.
Thank You for sharing this website with SF Desi. I am so impressed by the quality of these products and had an unexpected emotional reaction to them. I am so proud of the founder of this firm to think outside the box and bring meaningful high quality products to South Asian babies (& others) in the States. I love the recipe cards, these will help involve my older kid into cooking and hopefully eating and enjoying Indian food. My younger one loves Bharta…so I would be happy to share that recipe card with him.
Thank You.
These products look like a wonderful introduction to kids of all cultures.
I like the CD by Rabindranath Tagore. To have them translated is a treat for myself and my children. I also love the blue Apron with Maya written on it.
I am opening my new child care school and would love to have some of your products!
– Books!
– India map!
These are the ones I really would love to add to our materials for our children.
thank you!
Amy
I LOVE the alphabet blocks in Hindi! My husband and I have tried to instill in our children a love for learning different languages. This would be a terrific way to introduce Hindi!
Love the chef recipe cards!
love the blocks – hindi & gujarati! also love the chota chef cards. now i can sit back and put my 4-year old daughter to work making dinner 🙂 brilliant idea! wish i had thought of it!!!
Thanks for participating in the giveaway. Comments are now closed.
A few weeks ago, I was asked to be a guest blogger on gnaana (knowledge), an online and retail community dedicated to raising multicultural children. You can find the first article here on Why Hire a Professional Photographerand on Tips for Photographing your Kids.
And a fabulous giveaway of Gnaana’s eco-friendly products’ that you won’t want to miss!!
Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s day! In celebration of the day, I thought I would share some old pictures of my beautiful mom. The one on the left is a classic studio picture that will stay forever timeless. The one to the right is one of my mom and most likely my sister.
My husband had to work so my son and I spent our day relaxing and hanging out at home. We baked pancakes and ate Chicken Tikka Masala from our favorite Indian take out in the evening. He brought home a lovely card for me from school. For my present, he thought we should make a trip out to Toys R us and pick something for me (um, him). Don’t ya love the simple mind of a six year old?
I love seeing old photographs, especially ones like these that shows the tradition from your heritage. What I mean is the beautiful Sari that she is wearing. Gorgeous!
Those old images are just gorgeous! How beautiful.
“Yesterday is but today’s memory, tomorrow is today’s dream.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
sooo sweetly beautiful. And I just love that quote 🙂
LOVE these!!!! That first one is amazing!!
These are all so sweet, she is beautiful!
these pictures are so sweet!
by alpana
Jerrell Terrell - Beautiful images! =)
Lisa - These are beautiful Alpana!! I just absolutely love all the glorious color! I really really love the one of the man taking pictures of the little kids. Stunning!
Aseel - Wow! Those are gorgeous images!!! Great work!
Corin Jones - Wow! What a stunning wedding! Great work!
Rachna - love it!
Annie - These are absolutely beautiful, Alpana. So much drama and passion in the light & rich colors. Nice work. 🙂
Jennifer - I just love the documentary style to these! So fantastic!
lindsay - these are AMAZING! awesome work!
Jenica - These are absolutely beautiful. I LOVE the variety and style of these. Very well done!!!!
TaraMc - Wow, you did a fabulous job here. I adore your documentary style here, it makes the wedding feel so real. I am sure they are thrilled with the results. You’ve created such treasures for them. Beautiful work!
Jane Eaton Hamilton - Beautiful wedding! Lovely images that really capture it.
Julie - These are fantastic!! What a gorgeous looking wedding! You definitely captured some amazing moments for this family! Wonderful
ChelleL - Gorgeous work, Alpana! The color is amazing. Fantastic images!
Amber - These are stunning!