Karen Mayo Photography, Laguna Beach

Seasoned shuttersmith Karen Mayo has honed her photography skills over the last 20 years to capture family moments and female forms in public and private sessions. Mayo specializes in children and mother-and-child shoots, arranging parents and their progeny cheek-to-cheek and directing kids' foci in the same direction. The soft, ethereal quality in her color and black-and-white images develops from the use of natural light that streams through her beachside studio's windows or from the miniature sun tied to her wrist. Boudoir photography sessions capture feminine frames under skillfully arranged lighting while striking expressions with the sauciness of a crushed tomato.