http://www.momswhoclick.com/2011/12/behind-lens-lisa-damrosch-photography.html

It was extra fun for me to shoot this bunch of 4, I mean 6. I had to do some serious arm twisting to get Dad to wear the mustache, but come on…these 4 were born for these mustaches (I only wish I would have put one on Truman and Ruby)

I think we all had fun…I love this series of Grandpa jumping with the kids (and his beer). He had been one of the quieter members of the group, and when we were wrapping up and the adults scattered to take care of babes and organize dinner, and kids were running around having a cartwheel contests, there was a moment  in the beautiful quiet of the canyon when you could hear the giggles and hums of his family, and he looked at me with tears in his eyes. He smiled and said,  “you might be too young to get this, but this is what life is all about”.  I assured him that I was not all that young, and he continued, “it is really nice to have the camera here and I appreciate you coming out, but this…all of them…my children and grandchildren…all here, happy and in one place…there is nothing in the world better than that.”

No sir…nothing is better…and you have a beautiful family, so glad that I was able to capture them for you!

I loved this shoot…first of all, I love this girl. Every time I try to tell her how special she is, and how much she means to my family I get all wet-eyed and crackly voiced. She is my nephew’s teacher, and while many, many teachers are wonderful, special needs teachers are a special kind of wonderful, this girl is the most special kind of wonderful. I was so excited when she wanted to shoot at the Boardwalk…I knew there would be no shortage of colors and textures to play with. I love that she came to the shoot with half of her closet in tow…and that we almost got kicked off of the Boardwalk because we had “clothes on hangers and a nice camera” so we must be shooting commercially! I love that she brought heart shaped sunglasses…and that wearing them or not, she clearly has hearts in her eyes for her guy. I love the cowboy boots…like beyond love. I love that he reminded her that she wanted a “running on the beach” shot. I loved that they were game to sneak past the “this area closed” sign so that we could get shots in front of that cool carousel, swing ride. I love that I was able to fulfill my many year dream of shooting with a life guard tower. I love that the tower we chose just happened to have a giant #2 on it…sigh.

I love taking photos of love.

Congrats you two!

This was my first time shooting where I was told that I was in a neighborhood of  other types of shootings…but the colors and textures all around me just about made up for it. This was a fun and unexpected shoot of a new friend I met at a photography workshop back in May. She has been living here from Sweden and wanted a shoot of her family in the City before they moved back home. We met at the incredibly cool-why have I never been here before-Clarion Alley and the colorful art made my heart skip a beat. We then took a walk down Mission St…a block or two around 16th that were a little crowded and probably a wee bit rough to be so obviously out of place with my giant expensive camera out, but I was completely in photographer mode and didn’t let myself think about it or notice it. I was in the zone and too busy watching these city kids navigate the streets on their skateboards and anticipating the next brick building location that Dad was leading us to. He was right it was a very cool building…from what I understand there is a certain kind of “photography” or videography going on inside this building that would curl my hair, but the outside has become an unofficial skate park of sorts and made for a great backdrop. This was one of those times where I realized how much I love shooting in new locations, I enjoy not knowing what is coming next and not having a plan for what I’m going to do. This was an adventure, much different than anything I’ve ever done before…but these photos are still “me” and better than that, these photos are totally Linda and her family. I hope that these photos will remind them of the happy memories they made while living in SF. Thanks again Linda!

Meet Erin and Josh…two beautiful people who have found their way to each other and who I am grateful have found their way to me to photograph their engagement and wedding. When we met this day, I promised Josh that I wouldn’t make him skip through any flower fields and he promised me he was completely comfortable simply loving his girl. She couldn’t have hidden how crazy she is about him if I’d have offered her a million dollars. As soon as I convinced them that they could really forget I was there, it was magic. I knew it at the time, but the more I looked at these images the more amazed I was that I was able to witness and capture this time in their lives. I imagine them married 50 years  from now looking back at these photos from when they were young and lost in each other and I get emotional. What an honor I have…sigh…and gulp….

thank you so much you two…these photos make me cry, so your wedding photos will surely kill me…but I can’t wait!

First stop was the Palace of Fine Arts, which of course is a classic…

All of the above photos are pretty much exactly as I took them….this one I played with a little bit…

Then we went to Lombard street, and took our life in our hands a few times, but got some cool shots. I think this was my favorite stop of the night. Again, these are straight out of the camera. Headlights….and tail lights…

and then the instructor said she would “light paint” for me, which I really had no idea what that meant, I just hit the shutter and waited…and waited…because that is what this whole night photography thing is all about…but sometimes it is worth it, because I got this….

This is my favorite shot of the night, and it wasn’t even one of the planned shots. At he top of the hill a few people were trying to get a cable car as it came up the hill. I accidentally jacked up my camera setting and wasn’t on the remote setting as it came towards me, and I didn’t get the shot. So I quickly turned the camera and pointed it uphill to try and get it going away from me. It slowed down just long enough and I hit the shutter…the long exposure and the street light created the coolest ghost effect. I brought the photo into Photoshop, but I ended up leaving it exactly as I shot it, because I couldn’t believe how cool it came out all on its own.

After some much needed Starbucks, we headed down to the water, where we shot 2:00 minute exposures…which let me tell you, is a long dang time….but the results are pretty stunning….these was shot at almost midnight…pretty dang cool.

Overall, this was really fun….and I can totally see myself fooling around with more long exposures and tri pod work here and there. But for the most part I’m going to stick to people that move and change and require me to think on my feet, and who don’t ask me to be so patient.

I love this face….I actually love all of the faces this boy makes…. he is growing up so quick this one….I guess they all do, but I have to confess that this guy has an extra special place in my heart. I feel so very lucky that  I’ve been able to watch him grow right before my eyes. He had just turned one when I was honored to photograph him for the first time....

I loved this first shoot…and I loved that Mom wanted to include a special gift that he received for his birthday.

To my delight…Mom called me when he turned 2…and I chased him a little more...

and enjoyed when he showed off an artistic birthday gift from that year..

This year his gift was a little bit more noisy…

But this boy and his mom and dad were just as adorable and in love with each other as the first time I photographed them. Maybe it is because I live a life where one boy is the center of my everything…but I am in love with the shots with Luca in the middle of Mom and Dad.

Speaking of love….

sigh…

I  can’t wait to do it again next year…no, I take that back…I can wait, he’s growing up too fast as it is!! Besides, I’ll surely bump into him and Mom in Target like I usually do, between now and then!