A Very Happy Valentine’s Day from our family to yours!

“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”  ~Robert Heinlein

“You really shouldn’t say “I love you” unless you mean it.  But if you mean it, you should say it a lot.  People forget.”  ~Author unknown, attributed to an 8-year-old named Jessica

“It is not that love is blind.  It is that love sees with a painter’s eye, finding the essence that renders all else background.”  ~Robert Brault

“Love one another and you will be happy.  It’s as simple and as difficult as that.”  ~Michael Leunig

Well, I can’t exactly say that my daughter, Kate, was the Teacher’s Pet in Mrs. “W”s class… but if there is an opposite favorite relationship (favorite teacher) – then Mrs. “W” would certainly be a “student’s pet” with my daughter Kate.  Kate just adores her teacher from last year, and so she was extra thrilled when Mrs. “W” invited her to come along with me on her family’s photo session.  Kate helped me with my light disc, and also helped garner smiles from my very willing and adorable subjects!  I like to think of her as my little “photographer in training.”  Look for a picture of her at the end with her favorite teacher!  It was a perfect night at Crystal Cove State Park – not to hot, not too cold, not too sunny or windy or crowded. Just perfect!  And check out the gorgeous baby blue eyes on the little girl, and the adorable freckles on her son.  Too cute, everyone.  Enjoy your sneak peek Mrs. W – I know you’ve been patiently waiting for a while now!

I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening, and more perfect location, or a more fun family for this session!  This was another family that came back to visit Sunny Southern California this summer and have their beach portraits taken by me again!  I am so lucky!  We had a great time last year, and an even better time together this year!  It is so much fun to see my repeat clients year after year and see how the kids have grown and how everyone is doing!  And I so look forward to next year as well! Enjoy your sneak peak “G” family!

I’m obviously a little behind in my blogging. Now that I have a blog that actually works, I am going to *try* to play catchup from all my summer sessions. I figure I can intersperse the old with the new so no one gets left out! So I can’t actually remember if this session got blogged on my “old” new blog or not… But what the heck… I want to make sure they get a spot. They were such a fun and funny family to work with. They came from all over the country to celebrate one of the boy’s graduations from U.C.L.A. They were pulling my leg the whole time, purposely mixing up their names and who they were married to just to confuse me … in a fun kind of way. Just watching them joke around together I was laughing so hard I could hardly get the shots I wanted. But I couldn’t have gotten what I did without their help – they provided great assistance to me in blocking the bright afternoon sun. I always enjoy getting to work with big family groups – and this one had a record age span. From just a few month old to 90 year old great-grandpa!