Little Cousins

This family wanted to get some updated pictures of all the kiddos... FIVE kids in all, to be exact. They knew it would be somewhat of a challenge to wrangle them all into submission, especially with their ages ranging from 10 months to 5 years. But I love a good challenge. 

With that many children involved, what better place to head to than a park? We decided on Huntington Central Park for this shoot, and with its sprawling grassy areas, tree clusters and wilderness walk area, it was the perfect place to capture a variety of backgrounds and allow the kids to wander a bit. 

Success!

I LOVE capturing photos of people in their natural element, and kids are no different. I simply followed them around in different areas, asking them to pose for me as little as possible. What you get with this method can sometimes be magical... children captured as they really are, rather than wearing that "camera smile" that every child seems to develop around the age of 2. 

Here are a few of my favorites from the day: 

the Sanchez Family

I had a LOT of fun with this family last week. Who wouldn't? 3-year old Colin was such a character, and 11-month old Sofia could steal your heart with her grin. Luck was with us, as the sprinkles gave way to blue-ish skies and warm weather down by the beach. Not a bad way at all to spend a Friday afternoon. 

We romped around Balboa, from the pier to the playground to the funzone and the beach... we did it all. Colin was a trooper for making it through all this after skipping his afternoon nap. And even camera-shy Fausto seemed to have his share of fun, too. 

There were SO many great moments captured, that it was difficult for me to choose a few favorites to share with you all. Here are a handful of them. 

Sofia took her first steps in the sand today... I'm glad I was there to capture the moment. 

Sneak Peek... the Sanchez Family

I had a great family photo session this afternoon. I was so excited that I raced right home to immediately start the editing. I'll be sharing more as soon as I can, but here's a quick taste of things to come... 

pics of my sis

While visiting around Easter time, my sis asked if I could take a few shots of her to use for her facebook page. Armed only with my little point-and-shoot, here are a few of my faves (dressed up a little with some decorative borders). 

Family time...

My stepdad has an important high school reunion coming up and wanted to send a nice picture to the organizers to be included in their program. My mom wanted new pics of the two of them together. I was happy to oblige. 

So, we did a quick mini-session (20 minutes) in and around their home. It was a lot of fun, and my mom said she loved to see me "work." Here are my favorite shots I captured...

Lengor/Siwawa Family

When I announced that I was starting up this business, Miata was the first one to jump right in and ask about setting up a session with her and her family. The only problem was that the family was scattered across the U.S.; and she herself was on the East Coast. But with everyone flying in for the holidays, we knew we'd have to jump at the chance to get together.

We made it happen, and spent the afternoon together wandering around Seal Beach in the afternoon sunshine. Here are a few of my favorite photos captured:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and my absolute FAVORITE shot from the day:

a day at the beach with the Avila family

I spent the afternoon at Little Corona Beach with the Avila family (Kawika, Margrette, and 15-month old Keala). It was an absolute delight to watch these three interact with one another. Kawika and Margrette's love for their daughter was evident every step of the way. And there were a lot of steps... Keala was busy exploring the area for most of the afternoon, with her parents (and me with my camera) following right behind.

Here are a few of my favorites from their session:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos with the Brown Family

We lucked out SO much with the weather on this photoshoot. The day before had been cold and incredibly overcast, and the day after was pouring rain. But the day of this shoot was absolutely beautiful; warm and sunny. It was the baby bear day (just right) of the week.

I couldn't have asked for better people to work with. The sisters (Brittney, Kelly and Brianna) all seemed to have been modeling since their younger years, and were able to strike all the perfect poses with little direction from me. And their parents (Mike and Bonnie) seemed to really enjoy watching their interactions.

We ended up shooting at a few different locations in Corona del Mar. Here are some favorite shots from the day:

First up was the Sherman Library and Gardens. Now, we didn't actually end up inside the gardens, but the exterior of the building made for the perfect backdrop.

 

Next up was in a residential area around the corner; Brittney had discovered this cool looking staircase and wanted to use it. It was GREAT! (The girl has an EYE for this stuff.)

 

Across the street was a strip of grass that passed for a little park.

   

We made our way down to Little Corona, a gorgeous little beach tucked away from the more populated areas. Plentiful tidepools and rock formations. The only downside is the ENORMOUS hill you have to hike to get up and down to the area. (The going down isn't so bad, but the coming UP is killer.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

We ended our session with a few more miscellaneous neighborhood shots.

 
I couldn't have asked for anything better... beautiful models and beautiful scenery on a beautiful day. Absolutely perfect!