Yes! It is finally here, the new Canon Mark 2 5D that all us photographers have been so long waiting for!!! It arrived yesterday and I could test it this morning on my fabulous and handsome twin godsons… Alessandro and Daniele.

Just some technical notes.. As I was shooting I could immediately see from the large (yes!) LCD monitor that the images where very crisp even using 400 ISO settings. And I was impressed especially at the sharpness of some of these super fast action shots.. wild swinging velocity!!! The following photos have not been color corrected, these are just as I shot them… I was pretty happy with the saturation of the image and the light camera readings using the aperture priority (it’s hard to go manual when photographing kids in action!!).

The camera responded pretty well also in very contrasty light situations, this backlight portrait still has some hair details…

And, let’s finish the gallery with this adorable couple we encountered at the park… I want a puppy just like this one!!!!

This happy baby girl is Ela! She and her mom came to see me at my new Studio a few days ago. I am really happy that I am now collaborating with a few colleagues and sharing Light Sky Studios in Burlingame.

I finally have a space for shooting indoors and meet clients. Rain or shine And, since we are well in the middle of winter it is just what I needed to keep working with the same energy and enthusiasm. Work is slowing down due to the Holidays right now, but I have already few ideas to keep the winter warm with a few special offers. But I am glad to also take some time off and enjoy Christmas time! Happy Holidays everyone!!

Nicole and Jack, thank you for letting me create your wedding album and trusting me with picture choices!

Indeed a fun engagement session in company of Nicole and Ian. We strolled the Stanford Shopping Mall (a favorite spot of ours! We found out we have in common the passion for shopping!). I used the colorful, creative window decorations as fun backgrounds and found lots of little corners that provided me inspiration… And Nicole and Ian were such at ease in front of the camera, like real pros.. A special thank to Nicole who wore the lovely blue dotted dress in such cold weather!

A week earlier Nicole and Ian posed for me in Stanford Campus, a familiar place for Ian who studied there… and we ended up our photo shoot at a familiar location for me, Holbrook Park, for a few romantic photographs. Nicole and Ian will be married in July 2009.. I am so looking forward to it!!!

Thanksgiving is just the perfect occasion for family reunions. Dalia’s sister lives in Oregon with her husband and her 2 kids. Their brother David lives in Paris (how lucky!) and they all managed to visit their parents who live in Palo Alto this past weekend. We had a fun shoot at Stanford! Here’s one of the kids all looking at the camera.. how precious is that!?

This is one of my classic poses for kids, they love it. And here’s all the boys with their grandparents.. another lucky shot where everyone is smiling and having a good time.

All the kids have such beautiful and expressive eyes… I never get enough of kids close ups… and here’s a special request pose:

This is one of my favorite spots in Stanford.. the arches provide such a beautiful frame. Ideal for all the family shots in various combinations.

This is the time of the year for family portraits. Luckily California weather allows us to enjoy beautiful days when the sun is still warm and we can show off nice clothes. The white outfit is pretty popular for pictures as it is not distracting and blends very well in any background. But, one can get creative even in bad weather, I am very fond of big off white sweaters for example. Here we are in Central Park in San Mateo, a very nice spot for family pictures. The Japanese Gardens are so serene and the fishes in the pond create a lot of curiosity for the kids keeping them entertained. Colleen and Derek chose one of these poses on the little bridge for their holiday card.

Brandon and Cody were such good sports during the shoot. They made each other laugh making my job quite easy during their individual close ups.

Another great spot at Central Park is the Rose Garden.

The kids were a little too old for some photos at the Playground but they got very interested when I propose climbing trees