This gorgeous family couldn’t help but look great anywhere we went. And to make it even better, they are beautiful inside and out! But of course, the mission at San Juan Capistrano is always a lovely setting for portraits, and this afternoon was no exception. A perfect day for photos!  And after the mission we headed over to the train tracks for some family pics with their equally gorgeous border collie!  This dog was so cute, and so well behaved that I almost took it home with me. Well, I tried anyways. I even offered free portraits for life, but no luck.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a well behaved pet on a family shoot!  Enjoy your sneak peek “V” family! There were so many favorite photos, I had the hardest time narrowing down to this many for your blog post!

Here are some more of the family mini sessions from earlier this month at the mission San Juan Capistrano. This fun family mini session was a couples, maternity, children’s and family portrait session all rolled into one mini !  The biggest challenge was the adorable baby who didn’t want to leave her stroller. Mom used bubbles to coax her out – but once she came out to play, she took some pretty adorable photos.  And I had fun trying out dad’s lensbaby on my camera.  I gotta get me one of those!  I just love the selective focus.  Enjoy your sneak peek guys!

That’s what little girls are made of!  At least this little one was! She was such a joy to photograph at our mini sessions held at the San Juan Capistrano Mission 2 weeks ago.  One of the most expressive little kids  I’ve ever seen – with a new face for every situation. And a new pose as well. She really hammed it up! And she had a great time exploring all of the nooks and crannies at the mission as well! I had a difficult time ending this mini session because we were all having so much fun, and she was just so adorable. Enjoy your sneak peek “R” family! Your daughter was just a joy to work with!

I just returned from shooting mini sessions at the San Juan Capistrano Mission today – I love shooting there!  But this session was from a while ago – I think even though it was in September, it had to have been the hottest day  of the year!  I think this was my fifth annual session with this lovely family – I just love watching my returning clients grow over the years!  I was pretty impressed with how patient everyone was in the heat and  this  may be  my favorite session ever with this family!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

My first mini session opportunity of the year!  Perfect for if you want some fabulous portraits of your kids in their Halloween costumes, need an updated head shot, or just want a little session to create a few great images for Holiday cards and gifts. Space is limited, so call now!

Murrieta/Temecula Valley Peeps – This next Saturday at Sage Ranch!

Saturday November 3rd at one of my favorite portrait locations! Great for head shots, children’s portraits and family portraits!

It’s been my privilege to work often with Mr. Hunter this year (in a little bit  less fun setting), so I was very pleased to have the opportunity to meet his whole family and take their portraits this Holiday Season!  They truly were “picture perfect.” From their impeccably tasteful attire (good job Kimberly!) to their fabulously good looks and photogenic family members – not to mention the well-behaved kids, this family was every photographer’s dream!  We had a fabulous time together at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, followed up by a fun outing to a restaurant afterwards – and we managed to capture more than a few great shots somewhere in between.  The only real challenge was the narrowing down and editing process – there were so many fun shots to choose from, I had a hard time deciding which were my favorites! So be prepared for image overload – here they come! Enjoy your sneak peak guys!

I just had the pleasure of taking this family’s portraits again a couple of days ago… This session was my first of several with them a couple of years ago, at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, and I thought for sure I had posted this session to my blog, but apparently I was between blogs at the time, and I was going to send a link to another family who is interested in perhaps doing their portraits at the mission as a reference. But the post was nowhere to be found. So this is far from a sneak peek, but I always say, “better late than never.”  So the purpose of this post is not only to showcase the lovely Erickson family, but also to share what a fun location the Mission is to take portraits at!  I love the architecture, the beautiful gardens, the light, the history, everything…  Besides which there are more times of the day that the light is good for shooting at, thanks to the shade provided by the buildings. The only downside is that a reservation is required and there is a $50 shooting fee.  But I find that it is well worth it. Enjoy these pics of the Erickson family – hopefully we’ll be seeing more of them very soon here on this blog!

Kelsi didn’t come planning on any portraits on this day, but you’d never know it looking at the pictures!  She came just to support her mom (who you can see in this recent post), but since she was there, and I thought she looked great, I decided to snap a few shots of her both by herself and with her mom here and there as we went about our session.  Well, her birthday is coming up at the end of this week, and mom thought that these portraits might make for a nice gift, so now we are all glad that we had them taken, just because…  Enjoy your “sneak peek” Georgina and Kelsi!

I had the pleasure of meeting with Mary last week at the mission in San Juan Capistrano. She has a very exciting reason for needing some professional head shots – her book is about to become published!  This was second set of head shots I have done recently for an author, and that is so fun to me because I just love to read!  The last one got me a copy of her book (hint hint) which was really fun!  In this case, Mary will be publishing a book called “The Qualities of Wood,” the story of one woman’s search for the truths around and within her, as she tries to solve a local mystery in a small Midwestern town.  In a few days, you will be able to read all about it on her website by clicking here!  (the site is under construction right now – waiting on some images from me, among other things – but is should be live in just a few days and will have news updates, an excerpt, etc.)  It was not difficult to get some beautiful shots of Mary at the mission – her natural beauty just radiated out to all of us around her!  We combined her session with Georgina’s session, because she also needed head shots right away, and it was as though we all instantly became good friends!  Such a good time was had by all, and I couldn’t have asked for two more naturally gorgeous subjects!   Enjoy your sneak peak, Mary, and best of luck with your book! Can’t wait to give it a read!

When I’ve been up editing all night, it’s difficult to get creative with my blog posts. But this truly was an inspiring session – two inspiring ladies, who were both beautiful inside and out in a truly inspiring location – made for some fun and fabulous images!  Today’s post is just one of them – Georgina!  You can learn all about Georgina and her inspiring story here!    She is a very talented speaker and evangelist and needed a few updated head shots for an upcoming mission trip to Africa!  The mission in San Juan Capistrano was the perfect setting! Enjoy your sneak peak Georgina!