I was lucky enough to photograph this picture perfect family in their picture perfect home (which they’ve worked very hard on for the last three years) with their perfectly well behaved pets!  But they weren’t just beautiful on the outside – they were such a lovely family inside and out.  There was an atmosphere of love and respect in their home and with the way they treated one another.  I love when I get to come into a family’s home and take photos there – it adds such a personal element!  Thanks for giving me the lovely opportunity “L” & “L!”

I met Henry and Annie a few years back when the asked me to take some portraits of them with their new puppy, Charlie. You can see the adorable results of that session here. Fast forward two years, and their family has grown by one notably adorable little girl, Katie  - who just turned one!
Annie explained to me that in in their Korean heritage, the first birthday is a grand celebration of great significance – and this party sure lived up to those expectations! It was more like a little mini wedding with the level of attention paid to details. The theme of this party revolved around the balloon creatures and creations. Eunice Doo of Balloon Sense did a fabulous job and her balloon creations were fantastic. Little Katie slept through a good portion of the party, but finally woke up to join us for a few photos and the rest of the birthday celebration. Fantastic fun was had by all at this great little 1st birthday party. Enjoy your sneak peek Henry and Annie!

Even as a very young child, reading was my most favorite activity. I loved reading about anything and everything – from fantasy novels that would take me far away to another land and place, to medical encyclopedias, to fanciful picture books – I devoured the written word. So maybe that inherent love of books is what draws the authors to me. But no matter what it is, I love the opportunity to take head shots for authors so that their readers can get an idea of who they are. This is the fourth author I have photographed in the last year, and we had a great time! We met at the Katie Wheeler Library in Irvine – a fitting place to take portraits for a writer of books, but also a lovely location for any sort of session I think! They even allowed us to shoot inside with the books!  I am super excited for Christine as her new book is released! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Congratulations to one of my best friends, Rebecca – who married one of her best friends, Rob, yesterday.  Although I have known Rebecca for less than a year, I feel as though we have been friends for a lifetime! We have so many things in common and I will be so sad to see her leave this summer.  But I love her choice in a groom and I know they will be very happy. For bridal portraits, Rebecca wanted to go someplace nearby but with a romantic and country-ish feel to it – so she could show her folks and friends back in Michigan that we don’t live in a land of concrete and deserts (well at least not only that).  It was my pleasure to capture beautiful Rebecca this week just before her wedding day!

And what better place to meet up for a playdate than Irvine Regional Park?  There are trees to climb, ducks to feed, leafy piles to stomp in, playgrounds to visit – and even peacocks to chase. Or to chase you. (If you have food the want). I had a great time with Denzin and his dad last week out at the park. At a year and a half, portraits tend to take on more of a documentary style, because kids this age just don’t have it in their plan to sit and pose for pictures! Such was the case with Denzin, who was such a pleasant and happy kid!  Enjoy  your sneak peek, Douglas!

It looks from the images like a fine summer day, doesn’t it?  Well, in reality it was a brisk October morning, close to sunrise. But the girls didn’t mind. They had real cookies and tea to eat (well, ok. maybe not the tea)… This fun “tea party” themed session was a blast for the girls and for my camera!  Enjoy the images from this second session in a day with Dana and her girls!

I just love when my clients, who initially found me on the web, or some other random way, become fast friends. I so look forward to their sessions and seeing how their children have grown and spending time together.  Dana was one of those with whom we hit it off instantly and I just love working with her and her girls!  She’s got so much creativity!  You can see a couple of her past sessions from last year here and here. For this year’s session, mom wanted to have a definite Christmas theme for the holiday cards and then some portraits totally unrelated to the holidays.  We were able to basically work two different themed sessions into one at one of my favorite unique locations in Irvine. This location has the best light early in the morning, which can be challenging, but the girls were up and ready for a 7:00 am call time!  AFter all of the photography fun, I had Dana and the girls back to my house for donuts (compliments of Dana)  and homemade hot chocolate (compliments of me).  What a great way to start the day! First here are the images from the Christmas session. The other images will get their own blog post!  Enjoy your sneak peek, Dana!

This session is “vintage” in so many ways… beginning with how long it has sat on my computer’s external hard drive without ever seeing the light of day (well the light of this blog anyways).   Which is too bad, because it was one of my favorite sessions ever! This meticulously styled session was done for my client’s 2009 Halloween Portraits at the field by Turtle Ridge in Irvine.  Another client asked me to see the details for her upcoming session to get some ideas of what to plan for, so it was the perfect excuse to post this long lost session!  Far from being a sneak peek (it’s only two years after the fact), this is more an example given to showcase a fabulous and unique location and also to show how beautiful the results with just a little care and planning going into it…It’s so fun to see how the girls have grown too!  Enjoy!

This beautiful family wanted some nice portraits done before heading out to a wedding!  So we set up the studio in their equally gorgeous home for some nice formal portraits!  I am blessed to have such gorgeous clients all the time!

This was my third year photographing this fun-loving kids!  We had a great time at Tanaka Farms in Irvine, CA -playing in the pumpkin patch and then out to the golf course for some gorgeous scenery!  You can see how these kids have grown from their first session with me here! I never got around to blogging last year’s adorable session at the beach,but I think that this year’s was my favorite session yet!  It’s hard to go wrong with such a beautiful family!  Enjoy your sneak peak!