yellow

Yellow is one of my favorite colors.

It hasn’t always been this way, but it has crept like a sneaky cat into my heart.

I can’t wear yellow (it makes me look jaundiced-shucks).

But I can decorate with yellow.

And I can photograph it. Remember this post? I was finally able to finish up the rest of the photos taken that afternoon.
Here they are.

Some extra deliciously yellow.

First up, Shane and Rachel snuggle.

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He is over six feet tall. She is five-two.

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Shane does the incredulous eyebrow. (I can do this too. So can our Dad. So can Drew.)

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And my little brother, in one of his many many many sarcastic t-shirts.

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Hotness.

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And now, (rubbing my hands together with glee), its our turn.

Yes, I am about to show you a lot of pictures. But, you understand, i couldn’t narrow them down. There was something either big or small in each one that is special to me. I have been working on these off and on for about a week,  and every time I dig into them, I feel so good. I smile into my screen. My heart swells. I feel complete.

My children, while often causing my blood pressure to soar in unhealthy ways, take my breath away.

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and this little one right here, the last one of the bunch, rounds our family out with just the right amount of sweetness.

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and was the only one who stayed near me when i asked them to. the others ignored me and took off to play in the grass.

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It took that, this and this…

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To get to this:

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They are all incredibly her, but that last one makes me well up with tears.

I lined all of us up…Shane took these.

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I LOVE the candidness of that one, momma duck organizing her ducklings. And i LOVE the depth of field on this one.

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From sweet to crazy in 0.0001 seconds flat.

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I LOVE every expression in that one. Kenna’s arms up in the air! My beaver teeth! Nate trying to be cool. Anna watching what everyone else is doing. Drew’s sweet “okay, ill jump” face. Jeff’s notorious leap into the air.

Another complete and total head over heels jump up and down on my bed FAVORITE! (Rachel took these)

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Then we plopped down in our nest of green and yellow. Having this interaction between all of us and Mckenna is priceless. We love to make her laugh. I can’t remember exactly what was said, but I am sure it was along the lines of “He was half dork, half boy. We called him … DREW!” (spy kids movie quote altered to suit our needs.)

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Priceless.

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xo

the camerons • home movies that rock! with tara and michel sandy • orange county photographer

How Michel and I got connected to this family is a little like six degrees of separation.

Emily (the brown haired daughter) was at her cousin Maren’s house a few months ago. I have photographed Maren and her children. I have gone to Thailand with Maren. Maren happened to show Emily her slideshow. Emily freaked out because she is also friends with Alexis, and has been to Alexis’ home and seen the photos I have taken of her family. When Emily asked who did them, Alexis said something like, “Oh, my friend Tara!” (great job on the referral there Lex!) ;) So it wasn’t until Maren’s house, while looking at my blog that she put two and two together. Alexis’ friend was ME.

And then she emailed me with a plan. And she was so excited and sweet and adorable that I fell in love with her immediately. She wanted to gather her siblings plus their children, use a special song from her childhood, and create a surprise movie for their parents. Her parents used to put this song to their home movies as children!

Michel and I were so in.

At the last minute, her parents found out and crashed the party. I normally don’t like to shoot large family groups like this because it becomes a different type of animal session than the ones I enjoy. But the moment I met up with all of them I knew it was going to be okay. Better than okay. It was going to be amazing.

Watch for yourself. :)

They are just as beautiful on the inside as what you see on the surface. Stunning people, through and through. A family of six that has grown over the years with grandchildren. It is kind of special to see a family similar to my own…just many years down the road. I can only hope our connection will be as close and real as the Camerons.

Music: Secret of Life by James Taylor

(if you are new to my blog and have not seen the other home movies we have filmed, please take a look here and here!)
xo