Napa Portrait and Wedding Photographer » Child Photographer

Fun on-location Family Portraits in the Napa Valley

admin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:59:39 +0000

I believe my very favorite request that I get from people contacting me for family photographs, is on-location photography, in and around their own home. And, the only other thing better than that, is when they preface that request with a statement about what’s important to them and how they go about their day at home. This is what they want to capture. Whether that means everyone is looking at the camera or not. Splendid! Lets do it!

This beautiful family was gifted a session with me as a result of an auction/fundraiser at the amazing Castello di Amorosa, here in Napa, for what is now, my oldest son’s former school (sigh….., I miss them) Stone Bridge School. We spent some time talking about what the family typically does on a weekend day, thus the tea party, as hosted by the very cute little girl with the blonde curls. The very same cutie loves to search the backyard for acorns and play. Their son gardens, loves legos (lucky guy, check out all those LEGOS!), tetherball and goofing around. The parents are both very easy-going, warm and friendly, and I think it’s apparent that they love their children and family life.

As always, I want to thank this family and all of my faithful clients for allowing me into your lives and for all the fun we have capturing moments that you cherish.

Kathi

Lifestyle Family Photographer | Shooting a Shooter | Napa Family Photographer

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:35:01 +0000

My favorite thing to do is photograph people just living life, documenting the little things in their daily lives. Turns out for most people, these little things are loaded with meaning. Think of my job as sort of a visual journal, a way to go back and look at an image and remember what was going on that day. Really, telling a story, the story of you. Someone said to me recently that they felt that my photographs felt true and full of life. The images they saw made them want to be there, where ever that was. It almost made me cry. I just about floated away from that meeting. How nice. It’s what I hope for whenever I pick up my camera and set out to photograph my sessions, that I will tell a story. That I will be that fly on the wall, unobtrusive and watching the story unfold and tell it in a way that will be remembered always.

That leads me to this session with someone who knows what I’m talking about. Please meet my friend, Jennifer Chaney, photographer extraordinaire from the East Bay. Jennifer invited me in to capture some very sweet and meaningful moments in her life. She has such a sweet family! There’s ‘the crazies’, I mean the kids, the handsome husband and a gigantic dog (who managed to not be in any of these shots, whoops!). It was fast paced and so much fun.

Thanks for the fun and the laughs Jen, can’t wait ’til next time.

In Your Eyes | Napa Children’s Photographer | Napa Black and White Photographer

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:13:39 +0000

I’m a photographer, I love people, I photograph people. I’m also known as a children’s photographer and I love that association. I tend to chatter a lot, and I’m trying not to here. I want this to be brief and about the art. The art of children, the art of photography, the art of really seeing someone. Seeing them whether you’re with them for a number of hours, minutes, days. Do you see them? I was with this lovely little person last week photographing her expectant mother, and we’ll get to that in a few weeks when I’ve had time to look it over, edit, etc. But tonight, I just wanted to share this beautiful little person, this moment caught right here. We were just goofing off when I took this image and it was a total distraction tactic on my part to get her to cooperate with what we were about to do next with her momma. It was brief and it was beautiful. You know what they say, life is what happens when you’re making plans. As someone who has been photographing for a long time now, I know what I’m doing, I know that what I cherish most in shooting is the moments in between moments. The in between places is where’s it’s at for me. Ask anybody who’s worked with me, that’s where the magic is and that’s where I go.

Get lost in the magic that is this precious child. She’s in her moment. They’re fleeting and we’d better hang on or we’ll miss them. Miss them as photographers, but most importantly as parents and people who appreciate the magic that is the child. And, I mean no matter the age. Hang on guys, enjoy it all.

‘In your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes’

Peter Gabriel

A Girls and Her Critters | Napa Children’s Photographer | Lifestyle Photographer

admin — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 03:14:05 +0000

I’d like to introduce you to a very fun family that I have been photographing for quite some time now. Meet Laleh, she’s fantastic! The first time I photographed Laleh, she was only 6 months old. I’ve been fortunate enough (thank you) to watch her grow and photograph her for oh, about 7 years now. Her parents are two very creative people and I find myself taking in everything I can when I’m in their home, or on their property. It’s such a visual feast. Well, anyhow, this particular session was about documenting Laleh and her chickens, very cute. I was first introduced to her caterpillar though. You can see, this little guy does tricks, yes, that’s the caterpillar walking the tightrope while Laleh looks on. And, is typical for me, I even climbed up into a tree with Laleh. It’s not that I do that at every session, but, where they go, I go, not a problem at all, more fun that way.

Many thanks to her lovely parents, Bill and Toyoko. I continue to feel extremely lucky that I get to take part in your lives this way.

Kathi

The Finale, as promised | Napa Children’s Photographer | Napa Lifestyle Photographer

admin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:15:20 +0000

And, I do deliver. Here’s the finale, as promised, of some of my favorite girls. You may think I’m showing a lot, and I am, but believe me, this is but the tip of the iceberg with this session. The awesome images were too numerous to count, thanks to my unbelievable subjects. Truly beautiful people, in every way.

It’s late, so here you go and enjoy.

The Boy got his Bass {Clarinet} | Napa Child Photographer | Napa Valley Photographer |

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:00:30 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! I’ve been absent for awhile. Like most other photographers, I had a crazy, busy season, thank you! I also took a couple of weeks to ‘just be’ with my family and friends. It was wonderful. I’m back and ready to go now and thought I would start the New Year with a post of a personal nature. It is my blog, and I can play if I want to. And so, just before the Christmas break from school, my son Evan was bestowed with a most coveted prize, the bass clarinet! For those of you who have musical children, you will know how fun this is! For those of you who don’t, just enjoy this boys happiness with me if you will. Evan’s middle school music teacher purchased a brand new bass clarinet for the school and dedicated it to him for the next three years. I think you can tell from these images how happy this made him. He was actually hugging this thing! He plays this beautiful musical instrument for anyone who will hear it. We had several Christmas parties in December and he played it at every one of them. Even when my brother was playing his guitar on Christmas night, Evan went to his room and set up the clarinet and played along. Go Evan, go, the world is your oyster son, you’re beautiful and I love you so much!

So here’s to a new year of beautiful music, loads of love, and lots of beautiful images to come.

Thanks for looking,

Kathi

Sweet little country girls! | Napa Children’s Photographer | Napa Family Photographer

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:35:59 +0000

Meet my sweet little country girlfriends! And, be prepared for the longest post in history! I really love all my sessions, but these girls were just so much fun, so playful, the scenery so delicious, and I have been so busy (thank you everyone!) lately, that I haven’t been able to post many sessions. So, I thought I would lavish you with a delightful day of play in a gorgeous setting.

These cute little people have a great life. They live in one of the most beautiful areas in Napa Valley, not that they ‘get this’, or care. What they ‘get’ is, life is an adventure! They share this fun farm with their older brother (we’ll meet him another time, it’s all about the girls right now), their wonderful parents, and a whole lot of critters. We started off with some chalk art up near the house, took off from there with the cutest puppy on the planet (yes, even cuter than mine, don’t tell my dog!), combed the green pastures, sassed some goats, went creek stomping, out for hot chocolate and back again to enjoy our lollipops from the local sweet shop. I think maybe they napped, but me, I went on to photograph kids doing an art project at my sons school. But that’s another story…. For now, enjoy this story as it unfolds, you know you want to be there too!

Oh, I almost forgot to thank their sweet mommy, who let me just run with the kids and do things my way. Thank you! I had an incredible play date with you all, thanks so much!

PS Some of you might recognize one of these images as my ‘facebook’ profile image. It makes everybody so happy!

Love this little guy!

Just getting started.

A relatively calm moment.

Moments

more moments

They each have their own interests, although I think I have the puppy’s attention.

Doesn’t this remind you of that old Coppertone Ad?

Little C strikes a pose!

Sweet P.

Life is good on a ranch!

Some of the local color.

More sweet P. moments.

Come on Kathi, catch up!

Little bits of C. in her element.

OK, now we’re getting down to business in the sweet shop!

Sugar doesn’t effect kids?

Oh no it doesn’t!

Who cares anyway?!

Not her.

Em, the calm after the storm.

I’m at peace just looking at this.

And, they had me in pieces, ha, ha! Thanks girls, you know how to have a good time!

Three Generations of Beauty | Napa Family Photographer |

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:56:43 +0000

Just look at them! I have wanted to photograph these women for so long and we finally got our chance. This photo session absolutely made my day! Every minute of our time together was so fun. We were graced with the company of the girls nana, mother to the dark haired beauty, who is the mother of these ever so lovely young women. Let’s get on with this, here they are, in order of appearance, if you please.

Good Feelings=Good Fun | Napa-Sonoma Photographer | Napa Children’s Photographer

admin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:56:25 +0000

This was a good time! I had the opportunity to be a part of a really fun project, that I’ll just call ‘Good Feelings’. I love it when someone sees something going on in life that makes them think of my photography, my style. That’s how this little session came to be. Recently, a good friend of mine was hanging out with her very good friend. As it happens, they were watching their daughters jump rope together — as in with one rope, in unison. That would be the two cuties you see below. As these friends were watching this sweet sight, one said to the other ‘that looks like a Kathi Cook photograph’. And so, an idea was born. You see, my friends friend (are you keeping up with this?) would be going into the hospital very soon for some ongoing treatment. That’s when I was approached to capture what they had seen together as a surprise gift for our mutual friend upon her next hospital stay. We didn’t actually know when and where we would make this happen, however, I was invited to tag along to this fun little diner where, as it turns out, we not only had a blast together, but we got the shots you see below (and many more) and our big surprise came to be. The first image you see below is the one that was delivered to this dynamic mom/wife/daughter/friend in the hospital, from the two little girls and her (and my) scheming friend. It was very gratifying to hear about the reception this piece received when presented to our beautiful friend.

At the risk of sounding trite, it’s times like these that make me feel great about what I do. Thank you for including me in something so wonderful.

Check out the look on their faces in that first image to the left, cracks me up!

Jumping rope is fun yes, but hard work, popsicles are a must!

Love that ‘golden hour’ light!

Visiting some of the locals on the property.

On site goodies and one happy face!

Summertime | Random Beauty | Napa Children’s Photographer

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:15:15 +0000

As I was finishing up some business this morning, before I take off with my family for our last camping trip of the summer (I think), I came across this image I took last summer of one of my kids and his friend. They were so funny and giving me all kinds of silly poses, this one is pretty tame, but I loved the late light and the way it just sparkled like a star. This was taken up in Northern Idaho, the Sandpoint area on Lake Pend Oreille, one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen. We go up there every year to visit friends and have an incredible time with each visit. I’ll have to go back and sift through some images to share of the area, it’s just exquisite. But, for now, here’s an image that is sure to warm your skin just by looking at it.

Hope your summer has been filled with sunshine and friends.