Precious Kayla: Newborn Session

Over the Thanksgiving break, I had the awesome opportunity to photograph precious Kayla, daughter of Shino and Eric. She was born October 26th, and is a precious gift from the Lord. Shino and Eric invited me into their home to basically live with them for a few hours to photograph Kayla in her own element. Of course, Mia, the first child (their Cocker Spaniel) had to be the star of the show at times and definitely let us know when she wanted her picture taken. Kayla is the sweetest newborn, and hardly fussed the entire time I was there. Even though, she did give her parents a few surprises during the session, we all had a great time.

*Shino and Eric, thank you so much for inviting me into your beautiful home to photograph your precious little girl. You are both so blessed to have Kayla in your lives.

To enjoy more photos from the session, CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW!

Maxwell Bryant: 6 Month Session

I can't believe how fast they all grow. You have all heard the old phrase, "they grow like weeds". Well, little Maxwell is now 6 months and he is so grown up!

We waited to do this session until his Grandma (Nona) came back from Italy. The bib Max is wearing in one of the pictures below is straight from Italy. If you saw the previous post, Mr. Maxwell wished you all a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed being outside. We had a lot of fun with his 6 month session because he is learning where his feet and hands are, and developing those fun facial expressions. Mr. Maxwell would rather be outside on the grass with the breeze blowing through his hair than inside all bundled up. He is definitely an outdoors kiddo!

One fun thing to mention is that we went over to Max's grandparents house last night after Thanksgiving dinner to give them a preview of the slideshow. I think everyone watched it about 25 times. So be sure you watch it that much as well. Just Kidding!

*Susan and Kathy, thank you so much for a fun day with Maxwell. It was a blast catching up with you and also capturing Max in his next stage of life.

To view more photos from our session together, CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was going through my next session and just could not resist this little one who wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Max is 6 months old and his session is coming up next, so here is a little sneak peek!



May you enjoy the good food, fellowship, blessings, and love that comes with this wonderful holiday.

Brian: Senior Portraits

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Without getting all mushy on you, I will leave you with this. I am thankful for all of my wonderful family, friends, clients, and fellow photographers who frequent this blog, and support my dream of being a photographer. If it were not for you, I wouldn't be here.

Last weekend, David and I made the trek up to Apple Valley High School to meet Brian and his Mom Kerri. Brian was not a huge fan of his senior pictures and wanted something a little more sophisticated and some added character that those traditional pictures can't give you. And, he liked Lauren's pictures so much, that he and his Mom asked me to come up to photograph him. Lauren is Brian's cousin, I think. Brian's Mom is Lauren's Mom's niece, so they are related somehow. Their family is so huge, but after all these years, I haven't figured it out. Sorry Kerri!

Brian brought his dog Sam along for the portrait session, and as you can see in the pictures below, she is a beautiful dog who will definitely miss him when he leaves for college. Speaking of college, Brian is smart, athletic, and will go on to do great things after high school. He plays basketball and baseball for AVHS right now and is hoping to get a scholarship to one of schools he is applying to. Hopefully UCLA, so he is close to home. We had a wonderful time walking around the high school and capturing Brian in his element. His Mom told me that he did not like to have his picture taken. I beg to differ, because look how great he looks below! He rocked this entire session. And, it also helped that he was my first client to be photographed with my new 85 1.2 lens from Powell Camera. I shot this entire session with that lens and it worked like a charm. Plus, Brian was a wonderful model.

Brian, I am so proud of you in all that you have accomplished in high school. Reach for the stars and dream big, it will all be handed to you. Thank you for the opportunity to photograph you for your senior portraits. I wish you all the luck in the world as you embark on the journey we call college.

To view more images from the session, CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW!

John & Laura +3 boys

Special thanks to Amy Shahbaz, Mom of the Quads for referring this beautiful family to us.

This past weekend, I met up with John, Laura and their three beautiful boys. Ethan, Andrew and Jacob. Sometimes, you never know what to expect, or how the session will flow when you meet a family for the first time. I will say, that this family was extremely organized, and willing to do different creative shots to step out of their comfort zone. Little Jacob is 14 weeks old and is just the cutest, and that hair! He wins the contest if I was having one, for my client under the age of 6 months with the most hair. You have to love the little Mohawk he had going on. Ethan is six years old, is in kindergarten and is quite the artist. His artwork was hanging all over their home. Andrew is four years old and mighty tall for a four year old. Actually, Ethan is pretty tall as well. Andrew is full of energy, talks a mile a minute and I had a hard time keeping up with him. John and Laura are very much in love and cherish the love that has formed their family. From the moment I walked into their home, I felt the love that surrounds this wonderful family. After getting some shots of little Jacob or Jakers as they call him, we went over to the park for some more fun.

*John and Laura, thank you very much for inviting me into your home to capture the love that surrounds your beautiful family.

To enjoy more images from the session, CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW!

Lauren: Senior Portraits

She is all grown up! I can't believe that Lauren will be graduating from high school next year. I first met Lauren almost 9 years ago when she was this cute little girl. Now she has grown into this beautiful young woman who is bound and determined to change the world. After Lauren graduates from Glendora High School, she will spend her first semester of college in Australia, studying abroad. We always thought that Lauren would come to APU for college because that is where her Mom works (with me), but she wants to do something completely different and unique, because that is who she is. We spent last Sunday afternoon roaming around Glendora High School capturing some great images of Lauren and her favorite spots. Gina, Lauren's mom and good friend was tearing up as I was capturing Lauren's images. And while she wasn't tearing up, she was laughing hysterically at Lauren and her funny smiles.

*Thank you Lauren and Gina for a fun afternoon. Lauren, I am so proud of you and can't wait to see what God has in store for you over the next year.

To view more images from our session, CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW!

*If you are a high school or college senior and are interested in doing senior portraits, please send an email to info@tirajphotography.com

Happy "belated" Halloween!

Yesterday was quite a "TREAT" because I had the Shahbaz Quadruplets over for some pictures before they went up to their church for the harvest festival. Cedar was a little ladybug, Jonah was a dinosaur, Jeremiah was a dog, and Jordan was a crazy monkey! We let them run around in our back yard, which they had never been in by the way. And, for the first time, I got to break out my refinished antique black chair. It was a huge hit! I had purchased some little "Pum Pum's" for the kiddos, which they thought were balls, so they would pick them up and then throw them. It didn't matter, because it was so fun to see how much they have grown, and really how strong they are. Enjoy a fun collage of them in their costumes.



Also at the harvest festival were my new little friends, Austin, Walker and Logan. They had so much energy while in the bounce house, it was hard to snap a picture of them and have it be in focus. Aren't they cuties?



After I got home from the harvest festival, the trick o' treaters began to arrive. I wanted a lot to show up so I could get rid of all of the candy we had purchased. We did not have very many this year, which I think was good, due to both the weather and the uncertain safety out there for the children. The leftover candy will have to be evicted from our house on Monday morning, because my hips can't afford it. I think all of Upland was at the harvest festival at Life Bible Fellowship Church. More and more churches are doing this every year, which I think is fantastic. Our church, did their last weekend, and while I could not attend, I am sure that it was packed as well.

We did have one "furry" trick o' treater, and that was our neighbor's dog, Tahoe! Jaison and Nancy bring him over every year to show off his Darth Vadar costume. Here are a few pictures of Tahoe: