With only 30 days left of LAUSD summer break, the count down for last minute summer sessions has begun! Let’s squeeze in some beach sessions before we get back to early bedtimes and 6am lunch packing!

All beach sessions booked/paid for in July qualify. Sessions may be held at a later date (think holiday card pictures at the beach? YES!)

6! My little girl is 6 years old!

She spent a week in Northern California with her grand parents and I swear she came back bigger!

The last few days have been filled with cake, presents, movies, and balloons! Between the fun I was able to sneak in a few minutes for pictures.

Here is my first set of 6 year old pictures.Happy Birthday Kara Justice!

Today as I dropped my daughter off I held back the tears. Mostly because I didn’t see any other moms starting to cry. Yes, I was looking around to see! I don’t know if I will be strong enough to hold it in when I pick her up in 2 hours though. In fact, just writing this is is giving me the feels. Kara is my middle child but she is my first “kindergartener.” My oldest was homeschooled. When Kara was 4 and started insisting she go to school I was a little taken back. I was sure she would want to stay home like her brother had. I worried that my quiet little girl had no idea what she was in for. Public school in LA? She hadn’t even gone to preschool! What was she thinking!! I followed her lead, set my fear aside and sent her off with a woman I had never met and 25 other kids. I don’t think she spoke a word in class the first week but I don’t think there was anywhere she would have rather been. Watching her over the last year as she made many friends, memories and bonds with her teachers has been so fun.

My Instagram addition has captured her thought the year. I had so much fun looking through our walking to school pics from the year. So glad I took a moment every few days to take these even if she was goofing off in them most mornings. Girl has STYLE! And since she is eating in about half of them… I should probably get better at making more time for breakfast rather than having her eat on the go! Ehhh I have all summer to work on that right!

Here you go, watch Kara grow up each morning (and a few afternoons) as a kindergartener! First to last day!

Follow me on Instagram to see our summer adventures. I will follow back!

Mother’s Day is coming up. What better way to celebrate being a mom than having beautiful photos taking of you with your babies!

These mini sessions are also great for nursing sessions and make a perfect Mother’s Day gift!

Space is limited so book soon! Payment due at booking.

xoxo

Christina

I wrote once before about my love for my camera phone in my 10 reasons post. While I love my phone I often worry that it takes away from me being “in the moment” with my kids. I hear stories online about moms at the park who are on their phones and not engaging with their kids. I even had the crossing guard make a comment the other day. Something like “I am surprised you are not on your phone” Yeah…. apparently I am on my phone a lot on the walk to school. But if you look at my Instagram its full of my photos of my kids scootering to school, the cute outfits they are wearing and other silly pictures from our mornings. These pics instantly go on my social media pages where my husband and mother-in-law can see the kids from their offices.

On Friday I had a different experience. Lex, my youngest, and I walked to the library to get a book. After we picked a book we hung out in front of the library and I watched Lex play. He climbed on the giant library sign and then on the tree. I took out my phone and took these two pictures.

As I was uploading them an elderly man stopped and said “I wish my mom had a camera on her all the time so I could have photos to look at of my brother and I climbing trees” He talked a little to lex about a huge tree he and his brother used to climb. he looked back to me and said “Isn’t it wonderful that you can capture him in the moment like this.” I told the man that I was posting it so my husband who was at work could see and he said that he had missed so much of his children’s life at work and he would have loved to have had more photos of their day to day lives while he worked. He told me what a blessing my phone was took a long look at Lex up in the tree then walked into the library.

A few minutes later another older woman walked up to me. I had just received a call from a friend and the woman interrupted me… “can I take a photo with your phone for you of you and your son?” (who was still in the tree) I told my friend on the phone that I would have to call him back, handed my phone over and posed by the tree with my son. The woman hung out at chatted with my son for several minutes about climbing trees and what type of tree he was in then went about her day.

I don’t have many photos of me with my kids. Even less that I didn’t take myself. I am so happy that woman offered to take a photo that I wouldn’t have thought to ask someone to take myself.

So I am taking my time today, like these people did to me on Friday, to say….

take your phone out. Take pictures of your kids all day! Take pictures of them getting ready for school, sleeping in, running at the park, helping you grocery shop or climbing a tree!

I won’t judge you 🙂

xoxo

Christina Hulquist

4 years ago my family moved from Sacramento to Los Angeles. My husband was starting school and we planned on only staying for 14 months. We picked out a little apartment online and moved our growing family to Park La Brea sight unseen!  I remember walking into our new home for the first time and looking out over the Hollywood Hills in amazement. The fact that the apartment was teeny tiny was over shadowed by all the beauty in our neighborhood and the exciting new things to do. Those 14 months quickly became 4 years when we decided that L.A. was where we belonged. During those years we welcomed, celebrated, loved, played, and dreamed (of more space!)

Finally on Friday our family will  moving out of the 8th floor and back down to the ground. We are so excited to have a yard and more space (maybe even some home studio space.) Despite the elevators that often break, having to do laundry in the basement, our downstairs neighbors that hate us for all the running and indoor scootering… I can not help but feel a little sad to leave this 8th floor home that made L.A. home for us to begin with. My babies grew up here! My youngest was born in the bathroom! The view… I am going to miss the view!

I am so happy to have photographed so many great memories in this house and even more excited to take many more in our new place!

Week 4

Today is my day to practice whimsey,
skip on the beach, and play with the waves,
watch wondrous cloud animals parade my story,
find a magical white bunny down every rabbit hole.
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Week 3

Mid January and in the mid 70’s.

Kara asked that I stop taking pictures and PLAY!

Only 3 pics this week but a full heart.

xoxo

Christina Hultquist

Week 2.

Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kara lived it up in the sunshine last night! While the boys dug in the sand Kara danced her heart out while yelling “the tide is coming in” at each wave. I feel so blessed to live in Los Angeles where a Friday in January looks like this…

I resolve to kiss my babies on the beach more. Living just a short drive from the Pacific Ocean I am just not there enough. It is nice enough year round that there is no reason that we can’t make it a few times a month instead of once every few months. So in 2014 I will take my kids to the beach. Often.

Also while doing my favorite photos of 2013 it was very obvious that I photograph my daughter far more than I do my sons. Part of the reason is my daughter is willing to model. She enjoys dressing up. She has so many fun cute clothes that I want to play dress up with her! My boys are less interested in photoshoots. Now because I don’t want to force them to take photos I will learn to photograph them just the way they are. Letting go of MY vision for them. Don’t get me wrong I am sure I will take advantage of any oppertunity to photograph Kara, cause ummm, tutus. I will just make time for the boys more as well!

Yesterday I did worked on both of these. We headed to the beach for the evening and plan on making Fridays “Beach Night!”

Do you Instagram? Follow me @littlelaphoto to follow my families beach resolution!

xoxo

What better way to say good-bye to L.A. than with a Santa Monica family photo shoot at sunset? That is exactly what this sweet family did. Just days before moving across the country they met up with me for some beach time! My favorite part of this family shoot was when little Z let me wear him on my back in his Ergo Baby for a few shots of his mama and daddy! That’s my tick for not letting babies eat sand!

Thank you guys for spending this precious time with me and I wish you many blessings as you start your new life in your new home ♥

xoxo

Christina Hultquist

Here is my top 10 personal photos I took this year!  Some candid, some I put more thought and planning into and some that were planned and didn’t turn out like I had envisioned yet I love just the same! I am so excited to watch how my babies grow and change in the next year and plan on capturing it all!

My 2013 personal favs!

Our home. This little  space was meant to be our home for 18 months. 18 months turned into 4 years when we decided to stay in L.A. for second round at the L.A. Film School. We are in our last few months in this home and I am so grateful I took this imperfectly perfect shot from our life.

Walking in on my 4 year old doing a little light reading…

Fifth birthday shoot ♥ This photo is now my business card and Kara proudly hands them out to people she likes in public haha

Lex’s 3rd birthday shoot. This was a shoot photographers nightmares are made of. I picked the perfect time of day. Lex was well rested and seemingly in a good mood. I  dressed him in a shirt he loves and headed outside. He, in all his 3 year old glory, wanted NOTHING to do with taking pictures. I was so frustrated as I really was excited to have some 1:1 shooting time with him like (as you can see) I get with Kara so often. After a short time I gave up. I walked back to the house sure that I had got nothing from our short trip of chasing and bribing.. then I opened up the pictures on my computer and fell in love.

Sand behind her ears ♥

This. Oh how he loves her.

Fishing.

13!

Sophie Dance recital

What may be my favorite photo I took ALL year. My Banksy balloon girl.

xoxo