San Diego Blog Stories
Within this blog you will find everything from Funeral planning for Veterans to Newborn photography. While we capture many events and share as much information as possible, our main goal is to serve others. We currently do that by providing information and curating things that are needed, primarily for our Military community in Southern California.
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Why I Decided to become a Bereavement Doula Photographer
A bereavement doula or a “loss doula” is a doula who walks with, supports, and helps families who are experiencing the loss of their baby, whether that loss is through miscarriage, stillbirth, or a diagnosis that means the baby will not live long after being delivered.
What inspired me to be a bereavement doula?
I decided to expand my services of photography by offering free services to families that have lost a little one. Getting trained in bereavement was an important step. I experienced my own losses in the last few years; my own son, a dear shipmate and friend, family, and more. But what actually pushed me to research an actual certification is to help destigmatize photographing loss. I already photography funerals so it was only natural I made the leap to officaly be educated. There is a disturbing amount of lack of resources, help, information, and support for women and families facing loss.
Why you need to hire a photographer at least once in your Military Journey
Why you need to hire a photographer at least once in your Military Journey.
Investing in photography is something we all consider a couple times a year but rarely follow through. Sometimes there is a budget concern, other important events around the corner, and so much more. As a photographer, even I have missed the past TWO YEARS of family photos…. And I do regret it. What I do not regret is getting a post deployment photographer for my husbands last pier side homecoming where I announced the gender of our baby.
Bonus Note about How Special Airport Homecomings are.
4th Birthday Portraits | East County San Diego, CA
Annual Birthday Portraits | Novalee | East County San Diego, CA
Last week we went down the way from our home and decided to take a few quick photos of our little lady to remember her last week as a three-ager. I am so glad we did. She was starting to feel better from sickness so we only stayed for about 10 min and it was so worth it! hope you enjoy this quick mini photo session.
Grandma Carol found this beautiful dress at a thrift store and Nova fell in love!
Photographers-Child Syndrome
I was on the brink of recovering from some icky sickness and felt creative. Asked my daughter to put on an outfit I made (thrifted crochet tree skirt turned into skirt and crocheted top by me). Needless to say, it was funnier to be sassy and play than listen to mom. I am going to miss these days, I am sure. Enjoy!
Here are a few photos that show the start of my vision of shooting through plants in a boho style. Next time, taller ladder, and bribery for good smiles, lol. Not perfect photos or super fine tuned just quick edits to show off this goofy girl!
76th Annual 4th of July Celebration | Crest, CA
Yesterday, my family joined in on Crest, CA’s 76th annual 4th of July parade and park festival! Our first “public” event since we moved here was last year during their 75th and it was rather small due to the pandemic. Of course, this one was very ‘Merica and Novalee had a blast!
Very Patriotic - Red White and Blue!
It was so cool to see Bad Rabbit preform and the National Anthem sung. EVERYONE stopped to render honors. One of the hot dog vendors actually started crying. I over heard her say it was just so neat to see that there are people who still love our country. The veteran population up here in our area is huge, so no lack of patriotism was left at home. Candy and water guns. The sights and sounds of Crest’s 76th gala July 4th event never disappoints. Thanks to all those that worked so hard. All your efforts show. I hope everyone realizes all the effort it takes to make this unique down-home event so much fun.
Self Portraits in Boulder Colorado
How I take self-portraits I love my Canon R5 and the Canon Camera Connect App!
I connect my phone via Wifi or Bluetooth and can use my phone to nail focus, set timers, and change settings like ISO, shutter speed, and more.
The Canon Camera Connect is a free app for download on Android and iOS devices. To get started, head to the Play Store or the App Store and hit Install. It can work with many types of cameras including the PowerShot series and mirrorless series.
I start by taking a few test shots and seeing if I like my settings. I do a few different poses and then try to move my camera to a new position for some variance, we don’t need a million photos in the same pose.
After I get the shots I like, I then make sure I get some without me in them so I can overlay them or use them as a double exposure style in photoshop. This helps make sure I have a variety of images instead of the same framing and the same posing. (like the cover photo for this blog post!).
Child Portraits San Diego
Ms Novalee here, gets her photo taken quite often and absolutely loves to model. Modeling is so much fun AND she gets to try on new client outfits or dresses like these Balticborn gowns for toddlers.