france family sesh plus a video!

so you maybe remember me chatting it on up with the lovely kelli france of the pretty fancy chic critique forum  back in this post:  (click here, but ignore the freeze frame capture, there was nothing that could be done) during the interview she mentioned she had hired me to do her family photos and how she was so excited, and i responded a smiley, "yeaaaaahhhhhh.....awesome." usually i do okay with articulating, and you know, forming thoughts and words, but in that moment all i could think of was queen/ david bowie's under pressure song. the nerves started then.

fast forward a week or two, and there i found myself in colorado springs, in perfect golden light--doing my best to ignore the crying of my own kids because yes, they came along with marty to hang out in the park where we shot. i closed my eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, went over to hold wren who was sobbing, walked back to the france's ready to go.to.work.

and we did. and the super talented jessica detiege, came along for the crazy ride and made this amazing video that will just put a tear in your eye. i think a video combined with a tooon of photos will kind of get the point of the beautiful france's across, which means i should probably stop talking

right

about

now

gahhh, but i can't! i just have to say that this family? they have a lot on their plate. they are busy. they work hard. they feel that constant tug and pull of being a young family, with busy schedules, and a task list longer than the hours in the day. but they prioritize their love first. and i think it shines through. thanks so much for giving me this opportunity kelli. xoxo

YAN TRAVEL DATES THROUGH SPRING 2013

“I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking

 about putting a brick through the other guy's

windshield. I'm talking about taking it out and 

chopping it up." 

-Royal Tennenbaum

do you guys know that planning so far ahead makes me nervous? i think its simply a product of my history---- i've always been such a free spirited little bird who goes wherever the wind takes her that anything happening 3 months in the future might as well be an eternity away...

however, over the course of my adulthood, it has been brought to my attention many many many many times--that free spirited little birds, don't always do a good job of getting things done. and while i want to maintain my wandering soul, i'm also trying to grow up just a smidge, and give this planning thing i keep hearing so many people rave about, a real go of it.

bearing all that in mind, are you ready to be hit with some more travel dates? because here we go....

....in a minute, there's just one more thing.

i have to say first a word or two about what a travel session is-

its beyond the obvious of me simply coming to your city and  giving you a super personalized (whether it be for your family or the love of your life and your pets) photography session that i pour my heart and soul into.

i mean, if i'm going to summon up all my willpower to leave my babies and my love, then spend at least 24 hours in a plane or car in order to come make some amazing photographs of your family

well,

you better believe i'm going to make it GOSH. DARN. COUNT.

how could i not, when you're forking over a big wad of cash, and have believed in me enough to summon me to your general region of inhabitation ( <----this isn't even a real word, i looked up. but who cares?)?

how do we take it out and chop it up?

for starters, i'm not cramming in back to back sessions all in one location where you have to come to me. no, a session should be personal--however your family defines personal. we pull out all the stops. we hit up multiple locations if you want. i come to your home, spend an hour and a half, then we walk or drive or dance on over to another dream location you've always thought about trying, but have never had the guts to ask someone to hop that fance, or climb on that trolley, or wade through that ditch.... i'm the girl who will happily do that with you. i'll even wait half an hour in between locations so your kid can have a snack and a break.

please note, vandalism and tresspassing of any sort is NOT requisite, simply encouraged! ha. not even that, all i'm saying is these sessions are hard core, they're about giving it your all. even if your all is simply your family hanging out around your home on a lazy saturday morning.

-how much does it cost and how do you book? the flat rate for all travel sessions is $950 and includes a full res disk of your edited images with a print relase to go hog wild. Fee is due upon booking, just send me an email to photography.yan@gmail.com and i will send you  time slot choices and an invoice.

without further ado, locations and dates through spring 2013 are:

 Oklahoma City: November 1st (only 2 spots!)

Dallas,  Texas:  November 2-3

Houston, Texas: November 5

Austin, Texas: November 6-7

Phoenix, Arizona: Dec 7th 

Las Vegas, NV: Dec 9th-10th

Tampa , or Orlando depending on where y'all are at Florida: Jan 31-Feb 2

Kansas City, Missouri: May 3-4

Cleveland, Ohio: May 6-7

Laie, Hawaii: Feb 22-24th (this location is dependent on bookings to make it fly)

LA area: March 1-2

San Francisco (area): March 4-5

San Diego: March 6-7

and lastly,

somewhere in canada sometime in june.... suggestions?

didn't see your city? be sure to check here and make sure i didn't already announce it (wink wink)

bright bright bryton

if you live in utah, you might know that alpine, the home town of this adorable family--has been up in flames the last few days. when i sent the lovely bryton her images of her family in their perfect little cottage home, she said she was so greatful to have their cheery little space documented, in case anything happened.... luckily we were blessed with some rain for most of today, and bryton's home is safe--but it kind of makes you think--

don't you want your home, however lovely, or however not so lovely--whether its a tiny cramped space, or a huge expansive loft--don't you want your home -- with all its little stories, the place where your heart goes to relax, documented so that you never forget?

i grew up in the same home from birth until college. it was unfashionable, and smelled like my brother brett's too many pets--the downstairs bathroom didn't even have a proper cieling and at one point there was an iquana living in the bathtub (brett again). there were ten of us total (not really under the same roof at the same time) -- but still -- 10 of us who tore through that place and left our mark--and the mark wasn't pretty. it looked like awhole lot of carpet stains, and a number of punched holes in the walls. but i loved it. it was my home. my favorite place to be.

sometime after i got married my parents moved out of that house. and now, whenever i'm back in boise and have the time, i drive by our old place, and i cry. which if you know me, you know i don't cry a whole lot. but i do when i see the shell of all those memories. i cry and i ache, and i wish i could go inside just one more time even though i know that with a new owner, probably nothing is quite the same.

the images i have to remember that home are mostly in my head. and though they look quite lovely there, what i wouldn't give to to see my memory in print--the way my mom handled all of us crazies from the day to day without losing her mind--the playhouse my dad built us in the backyard-----and yes

this is obviously leading up to a sales pitch, you caught me. but if you want someone to capture you in your home (and i'm telling you your house doesn't have to be stylish or fancy), by golly, i'm your girl. personal spaces inspire me more than endless fields of wildflowers, i kid you not. because the stories are so rich--the meaning and soul of a family bouncing off of every surface--

okay okay okay. i'm talking too much now, but here are the morse's -- in their home. thanks so much for looking.

the canlas fam

when one of your mentor’s/someone you admired way before you even picked up a camera/world renowned film shooter/all around nice and beloved guy says, “your hired to do our family photos.”

you freak out a little . a lottle actually.

but then you play it cool. play it down. no big deal. taint no thing. until you remember.

he has SIX kids.

then you start to sweat in earnest. you email his charming wife, digging for inside info on how to charm the littles–you can’t think of a location that fits the family in a meaningful way–so you put it off—-until

your mentor saves you one last time. and comes up with a plan that is so “them” in a way you didn’t even realize, that you never could have come up with it yourself. everything you see below? within a mile radius of the canlas home. my fav? the family shot in the back of the HUGE family canlas van. my secret victory? getting callie canlas to let me shoot her in a way that shows her how pretty she is. can i say that without sounding like a huge jerk and as though i’m giving myself too much credit? probably not.

oh and the secret to these six amazing children?

……wait for it…..

the old standby

…….candy……

lots and LOTS of candy.

thank you so much jon and callie. you don’t know how much it means to have had this chance to capture your rad family.

the thurston's at home

i knew of rachel before i knew her. in my photography world its like the six degrees of jonathan canlas as opposed to kevin bacon. i knew some people who knew him, who knew her through him, and it made me feel a little like i knew her too. but it wasn't until she gave birth to her little baby nova, and chronicled her birth story here (read it! so touching!)

that i fell completely and utterly in love with rachel and her perspective. from that point on, i kept my eye on her. you know the ways of internet stranger platonic romance don't you? you start to follow them on twitter, you're charmed by the clever things they say, you learn the names of their immediate family, laugh along at the retelling of their trip to europe, and secretly believe that if only they knew you in real life, you would be true blue friends. that was me and my rachel thurston fantasy.

when i wrote the infamous sick of it blog posts, i was overwhelmed with supportive emails. really. the internet taught me a lesson on the good parts of humanity in that crazy aftermath.  rachel's was among the first wave. what?! her?! the one i always hoped would notice me??  she said she would love to have me out to photograph her family in long beach (which can i just stop and say how that touches my heart?!!). i wrote back something along the lines of, well, i don't know if you were serious or not, and you may not know this, but i'm supposed to be your new best friend, so i hope you were a little serious because i would love to come out....

her response still rings in my ears a little bit.

"serious as sin."

ha. so i did. and after i took photos of rachel, grant and nova, and got so wrapped up in their web of love that i almost couldn't stand it..... i spent the night. that's right. be careful when you hire ole'  yan. you might get a bonus sleepover with your package.