A Perfect Blend

Maternity Photos: Just the Three of Us

Ryan and I had a lot of fun taking our own DIY Maternity Photos last month. However, I wanted to make sure we had some photos with just the three of us. And despite our best efforts, setting our digital camera on a tripod and adjusting the auto-timer didn't work as well as we hoped.

I also wanted to get some more intimate photos taken... and I wasn't about to bare it all at the beach.

Thanks to Jessi Dapice, an up-and-coming photographer, we were able to get the exact photos we wanted. Jessi's home studio was perfect because it provided a nice, casual environment where both Ryan and I could feel comfortable. Plus, it was only a few miles from our house, so we really couldn't beat the commute.

The prep for the photo shoot, Jessi and I both looked for maternity photos online that we liked. Then, we printed the photos and tried to re-create them as best we could. The results were absolutely amazing.

The photos are artistic, real and capture the love and admiration Ryan and I already feel for our unborn son. Plus, we were able to keep all our digital prints while paying a fraction of the price of what maternity and newborn photographers typically charge.

Much thanks to Jessi (and my husband) for their ingenuity and patience in preserving these memories.

View more photos here.

DIY Maternity Photos

I have been researching photographers for months now... trying to find the perfect person to shoot both my maternity photos and our newborn photos. I finally found her... I just couldn't afford her.

So, Ryan and I decided to get a little creative... a least, with the maternity photos. I did some research online and found maternity photos I really liked that were taken at the beach. I printed those photos and we headed west with a basic point-and-shoot digital camera and three changes of clothes.

About an hour (and 176 photos) later, we had all the shots we needed. Granted, they're not super professional-looking, but they're real. And they perfectly capture this moment I want to remember for the rest of my life.

View more photos here.

Christmas Card Outtakes

When it comes to Christmas cards, I personally think you should give the type of cards you enjoy receiving. It kinda goes along with that whole "Golden Rule" thing.

I'm a visual person, so our cards are always a family photo accompanied by a newsletter, in which we update friends and family on what's happened in our lives during the last year. And since our lives aren't always that exciting, we throw in some humor in hopes of people actually reading it.

For this year's photo, we decided to take some self-portraits at South Coast Winery in Temecula. That's a nice way of saying we were too cheap to hire a professional photographer. Instead, our photo taking process consisted me framing the shot on the tripod, and then running into the picture at the last minute, usually laughing hysterically.

Here are some of our favorite outakes that didn't make final cut....

Our official photo and newsletter are coming to a mailbox near you.... sometime next week!