Maternity shoot x Alafaga

Dec 15, 2022 | Lifestyle, Motherhood, Photo Diaries

My best friend gifted me with some of the best memories as a soon to be mama.

I’ll always look back at these photos and remember all the weekly bumpdates you made me do when I wasn’t feeling it, all the apple waters you fetched for me when I was at my most potato-y, the trip we took to Manu’a, and all the hours we spent huddled over our laptops editing late nights at my office.

Thank you for being there for me at every trimester.

Love you forever my soul sister @alafaga 💌

SESSIONS: Kelley & Alden (+1)

May 2, 2017 | Photography

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May

2017

At 7 months pregnant, Kelley is still a bombshell in a lavalava. This hot mama and her handsome husband of 7 years are expecting a tama o le motu in June.

We spent an afternoon on her home beach attempting to do some underwater photos but after some technical difficulties we played little mermaid turned human by love. And then a few days later we headed over to Moana O Sina for photos just before dark and listened to the waves crash against the lava rocks at dinner.

Both Kelley and Alden are marine scientists, living loving and working to promote earth friendly solutions in American Samoa. I was really excited when Kelley asked me to take their photos and had a lot of fun hanging out with this duo.

She is a mermaid. A steward of the sea.

Nerelle is an incredibly kind and caring person, and that love for people really shines when she’s shooting. She’s able to make everyone feel comfortable while getting shot, even photographers who are notorious for disliking being on the other side of the lens. In addition to her great personality and people skills, Rellie has some great camera skills too! She’s very creative and knows how to use the local environment to her advantage, and while I don’t know enough to speak to the technical parts of editing, I can say the photos sure look even better when she’s done editing than they did before!

– Kelley Anderson Tagarino

Jones Turns One

Dec 13, 2016 | Lifestyle

It’s always such a wonder when you see a kid go from your friend’s baby bump to a walking laughing little human in the blink of an eye. Mia and Jeremy brought this adorable little dude to the world and he has grown so much!

SESSIONS: Baby Jones and Family

Feb 5, 2016 | Photography

HE’S HERE!

Only 3 days after my last shoot with JereMia, Mia gave birth!!

She was 3 weeks early; no complications. She was just eating pizza one night at a friend’s house, and when she got home her contractions went off like crazy, so she went to the hospital and gave birth that night!

His name is Jones, and he is a cutie pie!

I got to meet their little guy just a few days after he was born. After several hours of cooing over the little guy in between meal breaks, we discussed photos.

Mia’s parents were visiting soon so it would be a family shoot, and Jeremy reminded us of an idea we played with to put baby Jones in their large `ava bowl.

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My best friend Gabby helped me out with the shoot, and thank God, because I actually only had my 50mm (which if you didn’t know, can only shoot in manual AND the focus ring is wonky and will sometimes get stuck) and I was having a lighting problem because we planned to take photos in front of their house again, but it was overcast and made them look completely washed out. So Gabby came to the rescue with a 24mm and an external lighting source (she worked lights on actual sets in Hawaii) that immensely helped.

Mia’s parents remind me of my parents, her dad always wants to carry the baby and her mom is always thinking of the baby’s safety and comfort. Baby Jones was such a great little model, and I had a fun time shooting with the Comeros family.

SESSIONS: JereMia is expecting!

Jan 29, 2016 | Photography

Over 2 sessions late last year and within a 1 month time span, I got to watch Jeremy and Mia’s (here dubbed “JereMia”) little family grow with the birth of their first baby, Jones.

For our first session, I took photos of JereMia and that adorable baby bump. Which, by the way, you can barely even see from the front or back. It was really just from a side profile that it was more than obvious! And she was already 36 months! The ever radiant Mama Mia had just gotten off of work. She was working an extra 2 hours after work for the past couple of weeks to build up some compensatory time because local government jobs does not offer maternal leave. Also, she was due in the next month!

Jeremy and Mia jumped out of their big white truck and led me to their house along the main road in Faganeanea. Jeremy took off his hat and tousled his hair. Mia put on lipstick and took a quick look in the mirror while offering me a glass of wine, and they were ready.

It was already almost 6pm and the sun was going down quickly. We took photos in front of the house, around the yard, and ran across the road to the seawall to snap some shots in front of the ocean, the rock landmark, and the bus stops. I mostly asked them silly questions, and we giggled over Mia’s baby mama waddle, but I also told them to talk to each other so they could basically hang out while I took photos. Actually most of these photos are candid! There were just a few incidents where I told Mia to cup her belly (so that you could see her bump better), told them to hold hands in front of their house, or for Jeremy to look at Mia and talk to her instead of to the camera. Other than that, Jeremy and Mia were naturals in front of the camera. In less than an hour before the sun had set, we were done!