I just wanted to shout out to my good friend, Jen Wright. She graduated from the Brooks Institute (Photography) this past weekend and I am so proud of her! She moved across the country from Atlanta, Georgia, to attend Brooks in Santa Barbara. She has not decided where she is going to live and set up shop (CA or GA) but I know how much she loves southern California. Since she is already here, I am urging her to give California her best shot (pun intended) over the summer. Not only can Jen nail the technicalities of a portrait, but she connects with children very well… a bonus that came from many years working as a nanny! So, if you are in the San Diego, Orange County or Los Angeles area and needing portraits of your kiddos, check out her website: Jen Wright – *California* children’s photographer

Go, Jen! image © Jen Wright

My most important job in planning the Baby as Art Workshops is finding our little models. I’ll admit, I started to get a little bit nervous two weeks before the May workshop as I waited for babies to be born. We ended up with 5 beautiful models, as you can see below! The June workshop is right around the corner and I am hoping this full moon will kick start labor for my June models! If there are any Mama’s interested in providing back up models for June, email me for details. And while I have your attention, I am also looking for models that will be less than 2 weeks old in early August. Of course, babies are unpredictable, so if you are due mid July – mid August, email me, for details.  © carrie sandoval | baby

The first Baby as Art workshop is under our belts and I must say… we had a total blast! We got to meet a wonderful group of ladies from Canada to Puerto Rico as well as welcoming four brand new babies into the world. Our first mini model pictured above is 8 day old sweet Sienna from Long Beach, California.

This beautiful head of hair belongs to our second model, little Lucy, from… get this… Salt Lake City, Utah! Beings her and her Mama came so far, I knew she would be up for an outdoor adventure. Thanks, Mama!

On the flip side just-7-days-old Jonah came from around the corner. Thanks to his parents, for coming both days!

Last, but not least, is sleepy 5 day old Sam.

A special thanks to everyone involved… for making the first workshop a success! Can’t wait for the next one. (And the one after that!) all images © carrie sandoval | baby as art

Wow… that’s me.. this is good, right? I am completely honored to have an image of mine grace the cover of the April 2009 issue of Professional Photographer Magazine. The entire issue is focused on newborns and babies and there is a nice article about Brittany and I teamed as “Baby as Art“. I am still patienty drumming my fingers for my own issue to come in the mail (talk about April Fools!), but kind friends across the country have let me peek at theirs… and I have “cyber-celebrated over a glass of wine” with my friend in Colorado, Patrina Odette. See below. (Thanks for the laugh, P!)

So, I was in Bed Bath and Beyond today picking up some cheese cloth. Since it was only $3.99 per pack, I grabbed 5 of them. The manager of the store (I assume) was moving the stocking ladder away and he says, “Ma’am?”… “May I ask you a question?” … “What in the world are you buying so many of those for?”… “I ask because they used to collect dust, and now they just fly of the shelves.” I laughed and replied, “Well… it may be because of me (or it may be that people are putting together some mean first aid kits!).” And I went on to tell him that I wrap babies in it, I hang babies from branches in it (or, rather, in something very similar to this). Let me back up a bit… I bought yards and yards of gauze off a bolt at a fabric store in 2004 and I haven’t been able to find it again since. I still have pieces of that first sacred gauze, but it’s become quite worn. So, in the past year, I have been known to cut up $50 curtains that are similar to my original stuff. You gotta do what you gotta do! So, a good photography friend (Michelle Carr) of mine tipped me off to the cheesecloth at BB+B… “And that’s what brought me here today”. He was very intrigued, so I handed him a card so he could see this stuff in action, hehe.

I get asked what I hang the babies in daily, so I figured this would make for a good blog post. I’m not sure if I should call it gauze or cheesecloth, though. The stuff from BB+B is a bit different than my original stuff, but darn close. I will be able to better tell once I use it at a session.

I thought I would post some really old pictures. This first one (May 05) is ironically not only the first time I used the gauze, but also the first newborn that Britt and I photographed together during one of her visits! 

I didn’t really fall in love with the stuff until I photographed my Lily wrapped in it one year later (May 06). This is one of my favorite images and this is when my gauze obsession began!

And as you know (re: my previous post), it now has evolved into a “suspending” device. Here is one more from April 08… the original piece has seen many babies!

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope I was informative (whew, I think that was the most words to ever come out of my fingers!).  © carrie sandoval