I loved my time with Danielle and Matt and their sons. Naughty little Noah really wanted to be dancing instead of being photographed, and tiny Micah was pretty content to be snuggled and held and the center of attention. It was a hilarious hour of fun to photograph them together at their homestead in Campbell, California.

Here’s little Micah in the plum tree that was bursting in fruit!! In fact, my payment for the photos was partially in the bounty of this harvest, as well as some fresh eggs from the chickens and veggies from the garden.

What a great little family! I love how they have invested the effort to make their backyard into a mini farm and the boys are growing up watching their own food lifecycle.

I really enjoyed my visit with the W family during my trip to Ohio. I wanted to document the family at this particular stage in their lives — settling into their new house and building up gardens… the young children and crazy dog, and the sense of pride at working hard and playing well.

I know you need formal portraits every once in awhile, but HOW FUN ARE THESE? I think everyone should have a batch of fun, realistic, and hilarious photos every year, because these are the candid-like photos your grandchildren are going to love someday- they show your sense of humor and personality. They show the lethargic way your daughter looks every afternoon (!!) or the 2 seconds of attention you have before your son zooms off on his next great adventure. Real life is beautiful and messy and HILARIOUS.

Some outtakes from a recent family portrait session at Cowell Ranch Beach, near Half Moon Bay.

Admire my pretty little model! I asked them to bring some giant flower hairpieces, and look what mom found at Nordstroms. Fabulous! I’m fascinated by the look on her face here – it’s clearly a posed portrait, and I told her to sit like that… but the expression is such an interesting mix of serious, maybe a little perturbed, and at the same time innocent. Only girls at that age can be such a contradiction of terms.

My just-graduated-from-elementary-school model was a little bit embarrassed to be walking around with a giant flower on her head, but luckily there weren’t any cute boys around so she soon forgot all about it and did what kids do best… play! Wheeeeee! This girl loves the ocean.

I’m trying to do everything in black and white from now on, but the softness of the colors in this little running outtake just doesn’t translate in black and white.

The beach we chose was a lovely, secluded little cove (Cowell Ranch Beach). We had to walk through some artichoke fields to get there!

The 1/2 mile walk back to the car after a few hours at the beach…. can’t you just feel how well she’s going to sleep that night? I love this image because it tells such a story. The end of a long day for a working model… or a girl who just spent some time chasing waves in the sun.

Thank you so much for sharing that afternoon with me pretty lady!! And we’ll make sure none of the boys at your school see the outtakes from our photo shoot!

The Rizi Family asked me to make some formal family portraits of them together before their youngest son Bijan headed out to college. Both Anita and Suzy were married this year, a few months apart, so it was the perfect opportunity to document them all together one last time before all of the kids head off in different directions. The family home in Palos Verdes, California made a fantastic backdrop.

We’ve been working hard to get through all the holiday projects for clients, and I have to say it’s been kind of fun to see which images everyone chooses for their holiday cards.

Check out the look on this one’s face. I call it “wonder.”

Here’s the latest batch of cuties from our mini sessions!