We had an exciting weekend photographing at a gorgeous ranch in Healdsburg, CA. Thanks to the Warnecke Ranch for hosting the crew. We’ll have more to come from this shoot soon, including a behind-the-scenes video!

In the meantime, come visit us this Sunday, November 20th from 1-3pm at Heath Ceramics in Sausalito and Los Angeles. We have so much fun doing these totally free photo booths with Heath. There’s no need to sign-up. Just come with a little one and a smile. You’ll have a few fun images just in time for the holidays*. More details here.

*Our photobooth is totally free. About a week after the shoot we’ll post all the images to a gallery and you can purchase prints or the digital files at special discounted prices. Thanks!

I’m excited to tell you that I’m speaking at Alt this year. I went to this conference last year and absolutely loved it. It’s not really geared towards photographers actually and that’s partly why I wanted to go – sometimes we photographers need a break from the insularity of the photo world. I learned so much about my business, felt incredibly inspired, and I made many a million great connections. I would encourage everyone from bloggers to photographers to small-business owners to consider attending. You can sign up here.

I’m on a panel about blogging ethics and will be speaking from a photographer’s vantage. I’ll also be hanging with the Visual Supply Co. team who are currently tearing it up with my rebrand. We’re launching just before Alt (fingers crossed)!

See you in Salt Lake City!

After a million other errands I finally ended up back at the studio processing files. I opened my Europe folder and got a tinge of sadness missing my European travel companions. My mom, sister, and niece Elsa all live on the East Coast in Pennsylvania. I wish they were much, much closer. I adored our girls trip to Europe and would encourage you to leave the men at home sometimes and travel with the ladies in your family. It was such an incredible trip and I hope we do it again.

Do you travel with family often? I hope to blog a little more about that trip one day soon…waiting for a rainy day.

Have a lovely weekend!

xo,

Sarah

castle-hopping in France

p.s. isn’t Hathaway cute?

I remember the first time I saw MilK Magazine. It was about four years ago and I was in my local coffee shop – that incidentally has an incredible collection of international magazines. Something caught my eye on the very top shelf and so I climbed a ladder to fetch it. I was so intrigued by this giant and imaginative kids fashion magazine full of Tim Walker-esque kids photography and distinctive and unusual styling. It was like W Magazine but for kids fashion. It quickly became one of my favorite kids magazines and as a kids photographer I have been inspired by it ever since.

MilK Magazine Summer 2011

So when I was traveling to Paris I couldn’t help but want to reach out to MilK and meet them – even briefly. They were really lovely and accommodating. Sophie Carré, (their Social Media Manager  aka online extraordinaire) invited me to their offices one bright and sunny morning in Paris. I arrived just as they were putting the final touches on the latest Summer issue. There was a flurry of movement around the office and I documented just a glimpse of their morning. Everyone was incredibly sweet and pleasant despite their deadline. Once I got home to San Francisco I followed up with a few questions to Sophie:

arriving bright and early to the MilK offices, Paris

MilK is across the street from the Arc de Triomph and around the corner from Colette

(MK: Modern Kids, SC: Sophie Carré)

MK: Sophie, thank you for letting me drop-in on MilK! It was great to meet you and everyone else. I have a few quick questions for you.
SC: Thanks for coming, it was lovely to have you here!

recent issues and a vintage kids bench

MK: How many people work for MilK?

SC: We’re a small team of 12 people. The founder are Isis-Colombe Combréas and Karel Balas. We’re an independent title. You can meet everybody online, here.

MK: How long does your team typically work on a single issue? And how far in advance are you working?

SC: As our normal issue comes out four times a year, it takes us three months to make one single magazine. But we’ve also got two special editions. The MilK Deco, (presenting families interiors and lifestyle) and also the Kids Collections comes out twice a year and presents the upcoming fashion collections.

the conference room

issues on display

MK: When does your final layout get chosen? And how does the cover get chosen? You have so much lovely photography that it must be difficult!

SC: Choosing the cover is always a big dilemna. We usually pick pictures from the fashion stories. The graphic team makes a graphic layout and the battle starts. We all argue throughout the day why this image is better than another one and why the look of this kid works on that picture, but not on another one…we also discuss about the titles and so on. We finally lay down all the choices and we have and vote! In the end, Isis and Karel choose their favourite (although sometimes we manage to convince them, but it’s a hard task)!

the design team hard at work

MK: What’s your favorite part about working for Milk?

SC: Working at MilK is a lot of fun. We’re a small team so we have to be versatile and adaptive.  Within one day, I can interview someone, help my coworkers on a fashion shoot, write an article about a toy, put articles online or prepare a newsletter. We also meet many people. Working in the field of kids fashion is extremely pleasant. I think that people are more relaxed and simple than in the women’s industry.

the advertising office

MK: Your photography and styling is always so creative. Who leads the Creative Direction & Photography for Milk?

SC: Thank you! The founders of MilK are behind it. Isis and her husband Karel are very creative people. We also support them often with our ideas.

Isis in her office

a table in Isis' office

MK: Where do you get your inspiration for your shoots?

SC: It really depends; it can be an exhibition, a photograph, an artist, etc. Also some photographers come to us with an idea they want to shoot. We also have the chance to preview all the kids collections. So some trends inspire us about themes and colours for the shoots.

MK: Where do your photographers come from or do you shoot in-house?

SC: Karel, our Creative Director, is also a photographer. Louise, is part of the graphic design team but also photographs family interiors. Otherwise we work with free-lance photographers for fashion stories and other features.

the design team

MK: We’re seeing quite a few online kids magazines in the US and elsewhere. Do you have any thoughts on online magazines vs. print?

SC: We’ve also got an online version of the magazine, here. Publishing a real magazine is costly much more complicated than a webzine. A magazine needs distribution systems, so it’s a lot more complicated. That’s one reason why it’s easier to make online magazines.

Sophie at work

laying out the magazine

MK: Do you have any favorite kids blogs in Europe or elsewhere that we should know about?

SC: I can spend so many times on so many beautiful blogs, so it’s complicated to list just a few. At the moment, I visit:

Little-Elf

Fine Little Day

Jojos Room

olivelse (She’s the talented creator of the brand Olivelse and makes amazing photos.)

Hare Tokidoki Haru (everyday’s beautiful pictures from a japanese family)

Pirouette Blog (She is a “correspondent ” for MilK and has a great blog)

Bozaround (She is also a “correspondent” and focuses her blog on her world tour with her kids and husband.)

MK: Do you have any favorite new kids products you’d like to share?

SC: There is also too many just to name a few! For two seasons we have given away prices (fashion, decoration, toy…) at the Playtime fair. The next one will happen this weekend, I can’t wait for it!

MK: Why do European kids always seem so stylish?

SC: That’s a good questions. I have the feeling that Europe is less focused on sports in comparison to America. So Sportswear is not considered an everyday wear. We also have influences from many countries and cultures; Scandinavians and their great designers – the king of simplicity, England and it’s classical yet crazy style. The Belgians are fond of patterns and colour. Italians are exuberant with logos but also have a great knowledge of quality and fabrics. Therefore it’s easier to be stylish thanks to all the influences of designers and their creativity.

the editorial staff, Sophie and Isis

MK: What’s your favorite kid’s activity in Paris?

SC: Most of the Parisian Museums have kids programs and activities. For example Le Palais de Tokyo will soon have an 600 M2 area for kids.

MK: We would love to see Milk come to the US. Do you have any plans to visit us or expand the brand here? I’d love to host you in San Francisco!

SC: It would be great ! Maybe we should seriously think about it…

Thanks again to Isis, Sophie and the rest of the MilK Magazine team for being so sweet. It was great to meet all of you!

You can see the most recent issue of MilK Magazine online, here. And be sure to visit them on Twitter and Facebook.

xo,

Sarah

p.s. I was on a big film kick in Europe so everything was shot on film…and shot wide open because I got tired of using the tripod.

As I was planning my trip to Europe I realized that I’d be within an hour or so of Gabrielle and her family. She is one of my favorite bloggers and is also behind Alt Summit (which I attended this year and just loved). Being so close to such an amazing family was hard to pass up. Also, I’ve been wanting to shoot more film and couldn’t think of a more perfect family or location.

I’ve photographed hundreds of families over the years but I have to say I started getting really nervous a few days before the shoot. Even though I’ve been photographing for the better part of 15 years I started worrying about my decision to shoot film. Would the kids be moving too fast for me? Would I be nervous and load all of the film incorrectly? Would six kids be overwhelming and a group portrait too challenging? Would I set my meter wrong, etc., etc. Sometimes the most confident photographers can be bested by their nerves and shooting on film which is slow, clunky, and takes a bit more brain-power than shooting digitally was a little risky. As I was falling asleep that night and fretting a bit I decided to simply try to memorize all of the kids names so at the very least I wouldn’t mess that up. They have great names so it was easy!

Shooting film with the Blair Family in Normandy

Finally, the day of the shoot arrived and we had rain! It was the first day of rain for me in nearly three weeks of being in Europe.  Thankfully the sun came out and we had perfect weather for the shoot. I packed my huge bag of gear and double-checked it about six times then hopped into my rental car for the drive to La Cressonniére. The trip was an easy one. After an unremarkable ride on a vacant French highway I exited through a few tiny towns and a horizon full of wheat fields. I recognized the house immediately from the blog posts and pulled in. I couldn’t find anyone but the door was wide open so I just peeked through. Then the most amazing thing happened. One by one all of the Blair kids came of out the woodwork and greeted me. They were all perfectly dressed and incredibly warm and welcoming. Within a few seconds Betty wrapped her arms around me and asked if I was her photographer. It was such a lovely experience and immediately put me at ease.

The next four hours was incredibly pleasant. It was one of my favorite shoots in recent memory and I want to thank Gabrielle, Ben and especially all six kids Ralph, Maude, Olive, Oscar, Betty, and June for being such engaged, easy-going, and simply lovely subjects. Don’t you think they did a wonderful job? My favorite part was hearing Oscar profess his love to me as I left. You can read about that here.

Take a look at the slideshow to see some of my favs and be sure to head over to Gabrielle’s blog to see more. Do you think I’m crazy for shooting film?

film wheat Blair141 Blair138 Blair134 Blair131 Blair127 Blair110 Blair106 Blair104 Blair086 Blair076 Blair075 Blair070 Blair068 Blair055 Blair051 Blair049 Blair044 Blair041 Blair039 Blair037 Blair020 Blair009 Blair0007 Blair006 blair0005 Blair004 Blair0004 Blair0003 Blair0010 Blair002 Blair0002

Finally, after the shoot I had an overwhelming feeling of relief that everything had gone so well that I got out of my car and took this image of the wheat fields near La Cressonniére. It was such a pretty sunset. Enjoy!

p.s. I’ll be sharing more from Europe including my shoot with Milk Magazine in Paris!

p.s. We didn’t have much time for photography. We put Harper on the butcher block in the kitchen, pulled it close to the window, and did our best with only a little bit of light. I have a few more on film coming soon.

Stay tuned!

p.s.I am loving the scans from Richards Photo Lab in LA. They are perfect and save me hours and hours of post-production. Merci beaucoup, RPL!

p.s.s. Smallable has so much cute stuff for Summer, right here!

I’m still feeling quite jetlagged – was up at 4am today and couldn’t fall back to sleep – but I’m happy to be home and share a bit more about my travels.

First things first, I’m on two blogs from my time in Europe: first Milk Magazine posted a quick summary about my time in their offices (it’s in French!) and secondly Gabrielle of DesignMom posted some behind the scenes images from our shoot. Her kids were so incredible. I adore them! Please head over there and read what her six year old, Oscar said to me as I left. He’s such a sweetheart.

More soon!

p.s. Smallable’s Summer magazine is out. Lots of cute stuff in there including this adorable bathing suits for girls.