"Raising teens is like nailing jello to a tree"

We had a fun session scheduled, for Alyssa's 17th Birthday!  She spent the entire morning getting ready, curling her hair, perfect makeup, picked out her outfits the night before, etc...She went to school, came home and decided she had to re-do her already perfect hair-do, touch-up her already perfect makeup, take a second, third, fifteenth glance in the mirror before she approved of her outfit!  All this while I was yelling, "Alyssa, hurry up before we lose light"..."okaaaaaaay Mother"!!!!!  NO, not okaaaaaaaay!  Time was ticking, in fact the ticks were louder than ever and Yup it happened, we left too late!  As we were on the beautiful [insert sarcastic smile here] 405 freeway, sitting in the more than usual traffic we saw the perfect sunset along with the perfect light fading fast!  I wanted to yell, scream and bang my head on the steering wheel.  I felt 50lbs. of pressure sitting on my shoulders not only because  this was a huge waste of time, but because this was my 1st mentoring session with Emilio! He was so understaning and said "We'll just make the best of this"!  What a guy!  He was so positive, so understanding and so ready to learn!  Emilio sure did make the best of it!  We knew that we coudn't shoot in the natural light available, so we "made the best of it" and scouted all of Seal Beach for future sessions.  Since Alyssa was picture perfect, we used her to model what a perfect shot should look like.  "Alyssa, stand here, Alyssa, sit on those stairs, Alyssa, go ask those people if we can take pictures in front of their truck", Alyssa, Alyssa, Alyssa!!!!  "Moooommmm, stop making me feel bad"!!  This makes me think of one of my favorite teen quotes "Raising teens is like nailing jello to a tree"!!!!!!!  Those of you with teens know exactly what I'm talking about!  This weekend we will re-take Alyssa's pictures, and make sure this Diva is ready to roll!  I'm glad my EPIC FAIL was with my own offspring!  I Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  


Here's one of Emilio's pictures, that he took!  Not bad for his 1st time shooting in manual.  

Photo by: EMILIO RAMOS PHOTOGRAPHY

Santa's Little Helper -- Baby Sophie

Playing with babies is so much fun!  Tutus, pearls, bling and hairbows included made it extra fun! This little DIVA was late a whole hour, but as you will see, she was worth the wait! Sophie's mom is entering her in a contest and asked if I could photograph this little cutie.  How could I say no to such a little package of joy!  


Meet 3 month old Baby Sophie!  She's a living doll!  

Sophie's mom picked out all her cute outfits and Christmas decor! 

Santa Rocks!!  

We decided to use Sophie's Uncle Anthony's truck as a prop, and per Mom's request
I had to get the Chevy  logo in the pic!  I think it's adorable!

This smile made my week!  

Thank you for trusting me to be your photographer and capturing memories of your most precious gift!  Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and I'm sure Sophie will win the contest!  She has my vote :)