Sometimes you meet someone who just carries a natural grace and poise about her that is unmistakable. Such was the case with “K” – she was so natural in front of the camera and such a joy to be around. I loved her fairly modest attire that let her true inner beauty shine through!  She will be heading out to UC Santa Barbara this fall and I am sure she has a very bright future ahead of her! It was my pleasure to spend the afternoon with her and her mother! Congrats on graduating this year and enjoy your sneak peek!

Ok, well maybe he isn’t mine…but I sure was wishing he was the day I came over to take his portraits. I was super excited to meet this little guy after taking his mom’s maternity portraits, seen HERE.  And he lived up to all of my (rather high) expectations!  He wasn’t the sleepiest baby ever, but he was so well behaved, awake and asleep.  His mom really wanted to get a shot of him with his dad’s police uniform hat…and that was the toughest part. Once that was out of the way it was pretty much smooth sailing!  And I so appreciate his parent’s patience as his was my last sesssion before I got married (only a couple of days before) and then I had a wedding and a honeymoon and am just now getting caught up with all of my client work!  So finally, at last, here is your sneak peek of your precious little guy – just in time for Mother’s Day!

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 had the loveliest time photographing this fun family/engagement shoot. What made it all the more fun was that I had just had my own engagement session and was about to get married – so I was in that mode!  Now that my own wedding is done, I had a blast editing the photos for this lovely couple and their two children – one of each!  There is something wonderful about blended families and this was such a seamless blend – they kids seemed as if they’d known each other all of their lives and everyone got along swimmingly!  You would never even know that it was super windy and FREEZING cold! They were down visiting for another wedding and wanted some photos taken at the beach. I guess wedding season is ramping right up!  Enjoy your sneak peek guys – I loved how your images turned out!

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!

I have been blessed in many ways to have Dan Hunter in my life. Not only is he a very excellent attorney, but he has a very photogenic and sweet family as well! They all take just gorgeous photos! And as a bonus, I always end up getting some fabulous Mexican food after every session! If you know of anyone looking for a great family law attorney, he comes highly recommended! Check out his website here, and then enjoy this small sneak peek of the recent head shots we took for his new website!

I’ve had a surprise party or two (or three) thrown for me in my life. Only one was truly a surprise. It’s not easy to pull those off. But this one was executed flawlessly…Michael was truly surprised (and delighted) when he arrived at the El Niguel Country Club to a huge party with lots and lots of guests (family and friends) who all managed to keep this grand event a total surprise! And everyone had a great time!  And when so many of family and friends come together, what better time to grab some quick portraits of everyone looking their best! Here’s just a little sampling of the snaps I shot!

What do you get when you cross a gorgeous Shih Tzu with and adorable Yorkshire Terrier (Yorkie)? You get a Shorkie!  And that’s just what I had the pleasure of photographing the week of Christmas!  She’s pretty darn cute, wouldn’t you say? And the best behaved pet subject to come my way in quite some time to boot!

Patsi Smith is one of my favorite people of all time. I first met her as a 12 year old – what they call a “beehive” in our church youth program – and she was my leader. All the girls revered Patsi because she was so hip and cool and fun!  And to top it off, she made the best ever chocolate chip cookies, and she always kept a batch ready to bake in her fridge at home.  The reason I know this is because I spent quite a bit of time at her house (and dare I say it? sneaking small bites of her famous cookie dough out of the fridge), watching her two baby girls….first Jenessa for a couple of years, and then Marissa when she was just a tiny baby.  Now those tiny little girls are all grown up and Jenessa just returned from a mission and Marissa is soon going to leave on one!  It seems like yesterday that I was changing their diapers!

When Patsi messaged me and wanted to know if I could photograph all of their extended family when I came up to Utah for Christmas I was more than thrilled.  It’s been far too long since I’ve seen everyone – and who better to spend a lovely Christmas Eve day with (other than family, of course).  And this was actually my second session of the day on Christmas Eve (that first one will just need to be patient for a little while longer to see their sneak peek) and it was actually rather harrying to get to this session – we drove from Bountiful to Provo in a full on blizzard, but were welcomed warmly into this family’s lovely home, which made for a perfect setting for photos.  Thanks for making wonderful  Christmas memories with me and enjoy your sneak peek!

This was my second year photographing this family and their beautiful dogs. Bernese Mountain Dogs and Huskies are both so photogenic that it’s hard not to get a great shot! Unfortunately we’ve had to cut both of our sessions short – this time around it began to rain soon after our session started and while it wasn’t bad, one of those beautiful animals got sick right there during our session!  But not before we were able to get some fun Christmas card photos and portraits of these guys with their people!  Next time hopefully I’ll be able to get some portraits of the dogs by themselves. Enjoy your long -awaited sneak peak Tammy!