Rema Family Vacation - Encinitas Beach Lifestyle / Portrait Session

San Diego is a great place to visit in the summer. It's not too hot, there's a relaxed vibe all around, lots of things to do, and we've got some pretty awesome beaches. I wasn't surprised then when a fellow photographer (thanks Leif!) referred a family to me that was vacationing in San Diego and wanted to take family portraits at the beach. The Rema family wasn't just in San Diego to get away from the blazing Arizona sun, however. The trip was their way of celebrating both their daughter's fifth birthday, as well as their tenth wedding anniversary (Congrats on both awesome milestones!). They decided to commemorate the occasion with a beautiful beach portrait session on their last morning in SD, and in a last minute search for a photographer they met and hired me. And I'm glad they did, because it turned out to be a great session. Mom was wearing a beautiful traditional Indian Sarong at first, then the whole family did a wardrobe change into a brighter palette that complimented the beach setting very well. Beautiful family! See for yourself...

Thank you Rema family for inviting me to document your milestones during your vacation! Congratulations again!

Vacationing in San Diego this summer?
Contact me to book your family session today.

Lee Family - Hilltop Community Park Lifestyle Mini-Session

The Lee family... what can I say about this family who I've now known for almost a decade? Should I talk about their beautiful and adorable kids? Their generosity towards others? Both Zeb and Alice's immense practical wisdom that they're willing to share to any and all who seek it? Or what about their hospitality, always welcoming people into their warm and inviting home? I could write at great length about this family, but the one thing I want to point out about them is their faithful dedication to loving God and loving others. No, they aren't perfect- no family is. But I know my family and others are thankful for them and to God for using them to be a blessing in our lives.

The images below are from a mini-session I did a few weeks ago at Hilltop Community Park in Rancho Penasquitos. It was a crazy windy day, but otherwise the weather was gorgeous and the kids enjoyed playing around the park and making use of the awesome playgrounds (there are two of them!). I attempted to capture  their family in a fun, bright setting that allowed for some lifestyle type shots. Their toddler, J, was particularly interested in playing in the playground, so when I was taking their group shots you could see him thinking, "when am I going to get to play already??" He eventually got his chance...

One moment I want to share is when I asked their daughter to share one thing about her mother that she was proud of. She answered, "I can't," at which point I was starting to feel discouraged because I thought maybe she was feeling too much pressure to answer, and my plan to capture the genuine emotion that would have resulted from her answer had failed.  However, before I could say anything further, she said, "I can't just share ONE thing because I'm proud of her for EVERYTHING. She does a lot for our family." Oh man, that got me right there...THE FEELZ....

Thank you Lee family once again for being a huge blessing in my life!  And thanks for letting me capture your beautiful family!
For all you families out there that are short on time but want to update your walls with beautiful portraits of your family, 25 minutes mini-sessions are available on a seasonal basis and the next one is on May 28th. Book today!

If you want to schedule a lifestyle or portrait session for your family or for more details about our Mini-sessions, click the link below.

Rose Family - Backyard Lifestyle Session on Film

It's been about three years now since I shot the Rose family's portraits in their backyard on an overcast San Diego Saturday afternoon. I had done a newborn session for them when their daughter was born, and at the time of this shoot they had just recently become a family of four.  Clint, a Navy Veteran who is now an engineer, is a good friend who I met at work, and Kerri is an amazing high school teacher who makes a difference in kids' lives every day. They are an awesome couple with two adorable kids.  When they asked me to shoot their family portraits, I said, 'why not'? Only at the time, I didn't realize that my Canon DSLR was on its last legs. So, when my camera broke sometime before the day of the shoot, I had to find some other way to make pictures that didn't involve my broken camera. As luck would have it, I had my Uncle Ray's old Minolta Maxxum 35mm film camera (which I am still technically borrowing from him), and I ended up shooting the whole thing on film- and at that point I hadn't shot film in many years.  The following photos are the result.

Since I was gifting the shoot, I figured if things didn't turn out that great, they could always hire someone else to do it. Well, as you can see for yourself, the results were far from disastrous and I actually look back at that day as the 'genesis' of my decision to pursue family photography professionally. If I had failed miserably that I day, I probably would not be choosing what I believe is one of the most difficult photography professions to excel in. But despite the challenge, I had so much fun and felt like I was able to create images that would remind the Rose family of this very specific time in their lives and allow them to cherish it for decades.

Next time I'll talk about what a lifestyle session is and why I believe it's the best way to document a family's unique story at any given time in their lives.

If you want to schedule a lifestyle or portrait session for your family, contact me today.