liz de Puydt Photography

brianne

This high school senior session was a very special shoot for me.  Brianne is the daughter of a dear friend of mine and I have watched her grow over the last 13 years while we have lived near this incredible family.  From Barbies and easter egg hunts, snowboarding in Tahoe and soccer championships, trips to the beach, new puppies, boys and shopping for formal dances... I have watched her whiz by as she has changed from that little cutie pie with the beautiful lashes and skinned soccer knees to this amazingly gorgeous woman... with her signature lashes and still skinned up soccer knees!   And all along the way I have so greatly admired this awesome kid with her head so square on her shoulders, sincere kindness to share with all she meets, and a coolness about her that makes you just know she is going places in this world.   Brianne, I look at you with tears in my eyes as you are about to start this next chapter in your life... knowing that my daughters will soon be right there behind you... and if they end up possessing half the grace and greatness you own, I am sure to be one happy mama.   

We had such fun on her shoot, hitting many spots that reflect her funkiness... it was hard to stop when the sun went down!

So, here's to you, Brianne... I can't wait to see what you do with the rest of your life.  Continue to enjoy all of your special moments... and think about coming back this direction and becoming a real LOCAL one day!  Ha...

xo,

liz

ciera

Each time I came back to working on these images of this amazing girl I seemed to notice something new... something different shining though, something I had not fully seen the time before.   There is so much depth to Ciera.  Her natural, pure beauty, a quiet wisdom in her rich brown eyes, what seems a comfortable knowing of who she is at this moment in time, the excitement of an unknown future so close in front of her...

Ciera's high school senior shoot was a special one in that I know her mama well.  Kim was both of my daughter's second grade teacher and I have had the blessing to get to know her over the past several years...  Time to time hearing of stories about her older children, listening to what I know will be my world in the blink of an eye.  And here she is now with her daughter heading off to college.   So proud, so hard... I can only imagine.  

 



Ciera, I had such a great time getting to know you better and hearing about your future plans.  I wish you the very best as you finish up your senior year here in Santa Cruz and start off on your next journey... somehow I know you will have the time of your life!

xo,

liz

cherub...

Cherub~  "A celestial being, the second order of angels, often represented as a rosy-cheeked child with wings;  a beautiful  person, especially a child, with a sweet, chubby, innocent face."  Oh, sweet Georgia Grace... what a perfect description of you!   Here she is at her 6 month session, growing up so fast already!  Her mama, grandmother and I had so much fun dressing up this little doll and capturing her glorious smiles and pouty lips... and all those soft rolls of baby skin.  

   



I know, I'm sorry we forced you to wear those darn uncomfortable cow girl boots... style over comfort GG, you gotta learn that one early!

Such a little rose bud, you are...

And the very last shot of the afternoon, all tuckered out after her big day, looking up at her dear mama.

I so wish I was able to be there next week at your special baptismal gathering, angel girl.  Such a blessing from God you are...

xo,

liz

isla sun - (i heart faces sun flare entry)

This image was actually shot many months ago while little Isla was still in her beautiful mama's belly.   When I saw that the weekly challenge on i heart faces was sunflare, it made think of this moment...  of the gorgeous sunset, the love that these two expecting parents share and... oh, and how I am so overdue on my blog postings!

Isla, sweet sunshine girl, I must see you soon... xo

ps-  be sure to sop by iheartfaces to check out all the other sunshine!

 

love and a little good luck

What a lucky day we had for Gianna and Noel's engagement shoot.  They had flown in from LA just in time for the crazy heavy rainfall that was bestowed upon Santa Cruz recently, but somehow for those couple of hours we escaped it... just barely.   Such a cool and classy, stylish and fun couple these two are.   I am very much looking forward to their 9.10.11 wedding and cannot wait to photograph gorgeous Gianna in her incredible dress!  Here are some of my favorites from the day...

Ohh, the shoes...

Ohh, the shoes #2!  

And as we were leaving there was suddenly one of those amazing Santa Cruz sunsets, the sky scattered with outreaching clouds.   A beautiful  way to conclude the evening...

Thank you Gianna and Noel for a wonderful time;  for trekking around in the muck, hanging out on the run down car, the wardrobe change in the taqueria, and managing to look like rock stars despite the absolute freezing cold ocean air!  

Love to you both, xo...

liz

cash

Really, how cool is his name?!  CASH.  I just love it.  And, I adore him, too...  I had the opportunity to photograph him at only a few days old, the morning after he left the hospital.  It was sort of a crazy day, squeezed in the session immediately following a wedding, rainy outside and not long before I was to get on a plane for Seattle with my family.  Amazingly, we pulled it off and I am so glad that we were able to capture these precious moments for his mommy and daddy.  

Here he is... Mr. Cash:

I love that his dad unintentionally still had on his hospital band in this next one.

And, yes, of course we had to put Cash in a guitar case... wouldn't be right otherwise.

I met with his mom, Whitney (of the amazing www.whitneyfusion.com event planning) this afternoon to create his custom birth announcement.  We had such fun and it is going to be so darn cute!  Thanks to Whitney, I was motivated to blog today... it is always encouraging to connect with other moms who are running their own businesses to help keep me going.

Oh, and his full name:  Clark Edward Stoner IV... now, that's pretty cool too.  

xo,

liz

 

 

pretty in pink

What more is there to say about this perfect baby girly-girl today on Valentine's Day?  

Other than that she is amazing and beautiful, and lovely and soft and so incredibly adored by her dear parents.  And that I had such an enjoyable afternoon watching her from behind the lens and dressing her up and cuddling with her from time to time.  Sweet Eleni, you are just an angel... and you made me wish I could have another baby girl in my life so I could adorn her in pink and ruffles and all things girl.

I will be sharing more from this session coming up... so come back soon to take another peek.  I have been having incredible challenges with my computer recently, but believe I am finally on the mend.  And, yes, I do hope to get back to my blog journaling here after over 2 months off.  During the very full holiday season something had to give... and well, knowing me, my blog is often the first thing to suffer.  But, today is a new day...

xo,

liz

precious being

Kelez.  You sweet, precious soul.  I see it in your eyes, in your gentle nature, in the quiet way you shared time with me.  I am grateful to have met you, played with you and your mommy and daddy, and oh so happy that we discovered many smiles along the way.  I had a bit of a hard time deciding which images to share here, so I made a few groupings that show off your tender personality...

Playtime with your family made you light up inside...

And, then after being blessed with beautiful sunlight this evening we headed toward the beach and got this amazing sunset to frame you in all your greatness.

I hope to see you again soon, little man.

xo,

liz

 

fireman, part 2

One was just not enough... here are a few more of this most precious little fire guy.   I had such a wonderful time playing with Logan this day, he was full of joy and had the greatest wide mouthed expressive giggles!  The love surrounding him shared by his mommy, grandma and grandpa was absolutely beautiful...

Thank you, little Logan, for a completely enjoyable afternoon!  I hope to see your sweet smiles again soon.

xo,

liz

 

chief

here he is... the cutest little fire chief in all of Santa Cruz!  

there will be more to come of this precious guy, but for now i just couldn't resist putting this one up...

xo,

liz