orange county and inland empire wedding and portrait photography
October 28, 2009 | Filed Under Announcements | 3 Comments
Headed for the Hills ~ Inland Empire Child Photography ~ Rachel Clare
October 23, 2009 | Filed Under Children, Mine | 12 Comments
Anyone who knows me well knows me moderately well has ever read even one of my blog posts, knows that I don’t love the weather in Southern California. I know, I know. Most people think it’s the whole reason to live here. I’m not a fan. I hate the heat, I miss the rain, I desperately miss autumn and winter. Oh how I love autumn and winter. My soul is LONGING for fall- literally. I miss snow (and no, I don’t want to have to drive an hour+ every time I want to be chilly or see snow), I miss seasons. I miss jeans and scarves and sweatshirts. And the fact that I can wear them for 6 weeks every year doesn’t make me feel better. All that said, the weather as of late has been hard on me (especially in my extremely pregnant state). On Sunday, we just had to leave. So, we headed for the hills. I only wish we’d have left on Friday night and not returned until Monday, but we’ll do that soon.
We drove into the San Bernardino National Forrest and found our way to Lake Gregory, near Crestline. What a lovely little mountain place. Now, mind you, it was not cold. It wasn’t even chilly, but it was nature and mountains and water and ducks and the feeling of a small-mountain-town. It made me feel at home.
We didn’t stay long- just until the sun set. Long enough to fill up our souls a little and enjoy some time away from the congestion and noise of the city. Rowan fed the ducks leaves. Elias wandered and found little natural treasures like sticks and pinecones and acorns. JT skipped rocks. I took pictures and sat on a log. It was lovely and calm and quiet. And that’s exactly what I needed. Rest assured, we’ll be back up in the hills before long…
Watch Yo Mouth.
October 22, 2009 | Filed Under Just Because | 8 Comments
A morning grocery trip to Von’s.
$.77/lb. red seedless grapes (hard as a rock- just how I like them).
A few other things that were a deal too good to pass up (avocados, Oroweat bread).
I like to bag my own groceries. I didn’t do it today.
Putting the groceries in the car, I notice why I should ALWAYS bag my own.
Grapes- on bottom of sack. Underneath everything else.
Me: “Dang it! THIS is why I should ALWAYS bag my own. I should insist on it, every time. She put the grapes on the bottom! HELLO IDIOT!”
Rowan: *giggles* “HELLO IDIOT! Hello idiot! Helllooooooo idiot! Hello IDIOT! Hello Iiiiiiiidioooooottttt!” *more giggles*
Yeah, got it. They know when you say something “not nice”. Lesson learned.
Can the Dog Come Too? ~ Riverside CA Child Photography ~ Rachel Clare
October 19, 2009 | Filed Under Children, Family | 11 Comments
YES. The dog can come. The dog can always come! (Though I must admit, I’m partial to bigger dogs over smaller, “yippie” dogs, as we call them, but that’s just a personal thing. I’m willing to shoot any kid with his/her dog. Seriously.)
I had a totally enjoyable, though utterly too hot, session with the B. family on Saturday afternoon downtown near the Mission Inn. (Interjection… what IS this 100 degree weather in mid-October?! BLEAH!! Okay. I’m done.)
I love meeting new people, and these folks were no exception. Erika is a gorgeous mom (with a rockin’ dress, I might add) with two darling children who have the most contagious smiles. And Tiny, the dog, was as easy-going as any pit bull I’ve ever met. She’s full grown. And very small. And thus, the name Tiny. Don’t you love it? I so love it.
Here’s a teaser for you guys… looking at these just makes me smile!
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Friday Forum ~ Rachel Clare
October 16, 2009 | Filed Under Just Because | 3 Comments
Alright. So “Friday Forum” is sort of a dumb title. Okay, it’s a totally dumb title. I didn’t know what else to make the title.
Just some of my happenings on this Friday afternoon…
1. My little Row has a fever. She’s sweet as can be, and happy enough, but not feeling good. And while I hate this, I have to admit, I love it that all she wants to do is cuddle with me. I’m going to soak it up while I can get it (while continuing to give her Tylenol and rub her back and legs, by the way).
2. I’m a little bitter about this horrendous weather we’re having. Mother Nature psyched me out last week, offering temps in the high 60’s, low 70’s. Even gave us a few sprinkles of rain. Got me all excited. Got my hopes up for fall. Had me making soups and putting the down comforter on the bed. There were lovely smelly candles lit in our kitchen. And… now it’s 98 (NINETY EIGHT) degrees outside. Like it’s July 16th and not OCTOBER 16th. I went into one of those creepy weird seasonal Halloween shops today to try to find (and yes, I found them) the finishing touches on my costume. As I walked in, I thought, “What on earth am I doing going into a Halloween shop when I could be swimming? OUTSIDE?”
Bleah. (And honestly, that’s putting it SO mildly.)
3. JT played Life (as in, The Game of Life) with the kids today. Our favorite quote from the afternoon was Elias telling Rowan, “Rowan, you’re wasting all the baby girls.”
4. Friday nights have become our “movie/eat dinner in front of the TV/everyone get in their jammies at 5:30pm” night. It’s glorious. But tonight we have a problem: we don’t know which movie to watch, and I have no idea what we’re doing for dinner. I better get on that.
And, since no decent blog post (on a photography blog, none the less) is complete without an image, here you go… makes you want to roll around in it, right?
3 Boys and the Beach ~ Orange County Child Photography ~ Rachel Clare
October 14, 2009 | Filed Under Children | 6 Comments
Just a quick peek at the cute C. kids. They’re such good friends and it was so much fun to spend a morning watching them interact. Oldest brother E. is so patient and kind. Middle A. has the greatest grin right now, and little O. had a few “moments” that morning, but I loved watching him wander the beach and discover things.
Tara, you may not have gotten a girl, but you got three stinkin’ adorable boys.
I will ALWAYS post good out-takes. This one may be my favorite from this whole summer!
My favorite shot of the day… such joy!
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Needing Nature, Missing Fall ~ Rachel Clare
October 9, 2009 | Filed Under Just Because | 4 Comments
We’re all sick here. As in, nasty head colds abound. We’re stocked up with Tylenol, lemon tea, and soup, but it seems to be doing a minimal amount of good. So I decided that if I’m going to be in my jammies all day, I might as well get some work done.
I have an auntie in Oregon who is a director of plays and productions. She’s very good at what she does and has recently wrapped up a lovely Shakespeare piece (Much Ado About Nothing) that took place in her neighbor’s outrageous garden. While in Cannon Beach last month for Tennille & Ryan’s big day, I took some time one afternoon to shoot some of the scenes from her play (will post a few later- actors are SO easy to photograph!). I finished up editing that session this morning (in my jammies, you know) and while going through those images I found the following picture:
I’d sort of forgotten that I took this. Seeing it again made me long for something I do not have here.
Most people know that while I am technically a California native (born in Sacramento, but leaving CA for the Motherland at two), I’m not “from” here. This is not “home” to me. And it’s during this time of year- the time of pumpkins and changing leaves and hot chocolate and sweaters and AUTUMN- that I really really get homesick. I miss fall. And, forgive me, but 75 degrees with a cool breeze is not fall. 75 degrees with a cool breeze is late-May/early-June. Fall is 50 degrees. Fall is making bets on when the first snowfall will come. Fall is no longer being able to leave your windows open at night. Fall is pumpkin-scented candles and big pots of soup and replacing the summer quilt with the down comforter on your bed.
Elias begged me to let him wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to school today. And it killed me to have to tell him that he’d be dying by 3pm. I wanted to say, “Oh sweet love, you’ll need that and a jacket”, but I could not. So we compromised: long pants and a short-sleeved shirt.
The other thing about fall that I miss is being close to nature- not dry hills of So Cal, but the forest- spending the afternoon in the mountains looking at (and photographing) the changing leaves. Finding the image of this cute little guy (that JT would insist would likely bite me and give me some rabid disease) made me miss the mountains. Perhaps we’ll pack my swollen belly and cute kids in the car one of these days and make a drive to higher elevation. For now, I’ll drink my lemon tea and pretend.
Ryan & Tennille: Married ~ Oregon Wedding Photographer ~ Rachel Clare
October 6, 2009 | Filed Under Weddings | 13 Comments
I’ve been excited to post some pictures of Tennille & Ryan’s big day! Today’s the day.
They chose Hug Point, just south of Cannon Beach, OR as their location and were married on 09/09/09 at 9:09am. All accented with flaming orange (the orange dahlias in the bouquet were STUNNING), their wedding was small, intimate and simple. Tennille’s gown was handmade, and was gorgeous.
The weather was iffy… would it rain? would it pour? would it be sunny?
The weather was PERFECT… no rain, but overcast, 60 degrees and misty later on in the afternoon. No one could have asked for a better day.
Tennille & Ryan, congratulations to you. Thank you for letting me take part in such a memorable day!
Pardon Me? ~ Rachel Clare
October 4, 2009 | Filed Under Mine | 5 Comments
Tonight’s conversation with Rowan went exactly like this:
Rowan: Look at the moon!
Me: Yeah! Do you know what that moon is? It’s called the “Harvest Moon” tonight!
JT: See how big it is Row?
Rowan: Yeah, so big just like Mommy is so big!
Hmmm…. think it’s time to have this baby and start running again? I think so.
Ryan & Tennille: Featured! ~ Orange County Wedding Photographer ~ Rachel Clare
October 2, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 6 Comments
I’m so honored to post that Ryan & Tennille’s Canon Beach, OR wedding from last month was featured on Grey Likes Weddings today! My own sneak peek will be up soon, but here’s a teaser. Check it out!
And, HAPPY FRIDAY!
