carlie statsky photography » modern wedding and portrait photographer

I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that it’s December already. I have so many new posts coming your way soon, but while I’m busy fulfilling lots of print, album and holiday card orders I thought I’d share a few recent holiday cards designs that I’m in love with….(top photo taken by Hilary…the beautiful view from their house….such a great way to make a holiday card feel personal.)

I adore Donna who is the matriarch of this family. She also happens to be the matriarch, founder and head teacher at my daughter’s amazing Montessori school. Her daughter Christine is also one of the teachers at the school and she is hands down one of my daughter’s very favorite people on the planet. These ladies have given my daughter such a loving and positive start in her schooling life, and as my daughter is about to leave for Kindergarten at a new school in the fall, the best way I know how to say thank you is with some photographs that capture a time and a place and a connection between family members. As I drove away from this session I felt so inspired by this family’s dynamic and hoped that it was a glimpse into what I have to look forward to when my own kids have grown up, but not apart. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that my kids, like Donna’s, keep hugging and loving on their mom without reservation, because really that’s all a matriarch needs.

It’s always pretty incredible to see how much kids can grown and change in such a short amount of time, and an afternoon with this family proved that point. Last year I photographed these four in the sculpture garden at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, but his year we decided to explore around near their home in Mill Valley. It was so beautiful to see how their son Noah responded to the serenity of this location. Noah has an extremely rare genetic disorder called Angelman Syndrome, (a communication and neurological disorder in which the he is nonverbal and is cognitively impaired) and he’s usually constantly on the move in every direction, but that afternoon he seemed so calm and almost mesmerized by being in such a beautiful spot and he would just sit and smile at his surroundings. Noah’s sister Talia seemed to love it too, as she showed me all of her new dance moves and played with her brother, and then we all just followed the sun as it dipped down into Marin headlands. Seeing the way this family loves and supports each other and the way the parents both create a steady sense of calm was such an inspiration to me and it was an honor to document their connection.

When my kids were still babies I used to pack them up in the car with my massive double stroller and go exploring through new neighborhoods all over town. On one of those adventures I discovered the most amazing and sunshine filled road that led up to beautiful views of the Santa Cruz mountains. I remember walking past this one particular property on that road and thinking what a magical place it would be to grow up there. Well it turns out I had the honor of photographing the family who live on that very property and honestly, between the the persimmon tree, the kind and carefree kids, the swings, the farm house, grandma’s cottage, the art, the views and the parents’ love, it was everything that I imagined…and then some.

The holidays are rapidly approaching, which means that I’m crazy busy editing family portrait sessions and designing holiday cards. I had to share this one that I just designed for an awesome family who recently relocated form Boston to Carmel. I love a personalized holiday card, and this one really shows the beauty of their new baby girl who is so incredibly full of joy, as well as the beauty of their new home on the California coast. This is a 5 x 7 card with the letters on the front and the family portrait on the back.

I kind of want to be adopted into this family…preferably by Thanksgiving please. This is the kind of family that make you wonder why you don’t just have one more kid and move to their neighborhood because they make three kids and living in Mill Valley look like so much fun. When I go anywhere near San Francisco I usually prepare myself for experiencing some of the stress of city living, but spending an afternoon with the Potter family was exactly the antithesis of that as everything felt so easy and full of the beauty and wonder that every childhood deserves. I love that all three girls share bright sparkling spirits and amazing smiles, while both boys share a kind and mellow disposition….the whole family just fits together in such a beautiful way. Happy kids with good looking parents make my job pretty easy…especially when I bring along my wonderful assistant Jen to perform circus-like entertainment behind me throughout the afternoon. (Thanks Jen, I loved having you by my side!) We started at their family’s home and then drove a few minutes to Muir Beach for the golden hour. If it weren’t for the sun setting I would have just kept shooting for days.

A mini little nugget of perfection….makes me want another one.

Welcome to the world sweet baby Nathaniel! This little guy was so full of wide-eyed wonder as he took in the new world around him, and he was far too excited by what he saw to let himself fall asleep during our session. Mama managed to get him to rest peacefully right at the very end of our session so that we could capture this life in all it’s brand new perfection. I really think that there is nothing more beautiful and pure than being in the presence of a mother and her newborn.

I asked my Mom what she wanted for her birthday, and she said that all she wanted was a girls’ day…so we chose Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma as our destination, and had the most idyllic summer day wandering through the sculpture gardens, art installations and shops, followed by some wine and olive oil tasting and ending with dinner on the water in Sausalito. Now that I am a mama myself I can appreciate my Mom to a whole new level of love, and every year I come to celebrate her life a little more. She is the most amazingly strong, huge-hearted, fun-loving, passionate woman you could ever hope to have nurture you from womb to adulthood. She brightens the lives around her with her enthusiasm for life, her invented vocabulary, her liberal use of curse words, her over-zealous hand gestures, her beautiful shock of red hair and her youthful spirit. I love the fact that she continues to celebrate her 18th birthday every year. Mom, I hope that all of your wishes are granted and grown upon.

I had to post this first picture of both of my moms. I love them both to the moon and back, and my life is infinitely better thanks to their presences in it.

I am so in love with this family…because they are my actual family, (thanks to my husband Gabe having Jessie as his sister.) I honestly have no idea how I lucked out in marrying someone with a family that I actually enjoy being with, and even calling after the ‘being with’ to talk for a few late night hours. This is a family that offers a permanent supply of  love, support and hand-me-down gossip magazines, so they definitely deserved a little something back, but being an artist with little to offer besides some creativity and heart I was forced to give the lamest excuse for a present ever: a hand made gift certificate. Granted it was an excessively large gift certificate, colorfully written on a stretched canvas, with instructions to hang the certificate on a wall in their home until it was redeemed for the real gift; a family portrait session, but it was still essentially a gregarious coupon posing as a Christmas gift. Finally, a half a year later, I’m finally offering something back to the most deserving and beautiful family ever; documentation of their connection as a family and some memories of this fleeting moment in the girls’ lives. I usually post mostly color photos, but for this session the toned black and white images felt much more powerful to me. I think when the color is removed from an image we are more easily able to focus on the emotion within the image. I find so much love and spirit communicated in all of the expressions and gestures that these four share. I included a little color some color at the end,  to show that it really was a stunning summer day at the beach, that there are some insanely dazzling blue eyes in this family, and to convey that there is a very vibrant future ahead of this crazy hula hooping crew!