Posts Tagged ‘family’

I had the honor to photograph Linda’s beautiful family almost 2 years ago during a mini-shoot with 4 other families. Click here to view. Linda wanted to capture her home and her two beautiful daughters in this amazing San Marino, 1920′s home, before they move in two weeks. They have lived here for 10 years, and she wanted her daughters to have a memory of the home that they lived in for the first part of their lives. What a wonderful idea! I think every family should get pictures inside their home, doing every day things, to capture those memories. I hadn’t met her youngest, and she actually took some of her first steps while I was there. It was so cool! Enjoy the photos.

Let me just say that I have the best job in the world. I love connecting with new families and getting to know people through this business. Tara, is someone I’ve known for a long time through a mutual friend, although it was the first time I met her parents. She surprised them at Christmas with a gift certificate for a family photo shoot and they were so excited to finally have some updated family photos. Their little girl is so sweet and my camera loved her.


Lynda and Jack just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Aren’t they a beautiful couple!

After months of emailing about the shoot, I was so happy to finally meet Hanna and her beautiful family. It was such a perfect morning to capture them. We had fun walking around the trails and exploring the park where we met. I’m so thankful to live in California where I can shoot outdoors.  Their littlest one is turning 1 year old, so we focused on getting some really sweet shots of her for her upcoming birthday.

I love this series of the birthday girl!  Happy 1st little one.

My dear friends wanted me to come again and document their family, mainly the kids, especially since they have a new little guy, almost a year old. I took their family pictures over a year ago at their home when it was just the four of them, click here to view. The kids are always so comfortable in their own surroundings, and it was fun to do the shoot again at their beautiful home in California Heights. Jen told me she wanted me to get lots of close-ups of the kids eyes, feet, and hands. It was fun to bust out the macro lens for this shoot. I love you guys!

It was a rainy, cloudy day in Dana Point at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott on December 18th, but that didn’t stop this family from giving Millie a wonderful birthday surprise. She was greeted by  her three grown sons, along with their beautiful families, her grandchildren and great grandchildren. When Millie was asked what she credited to her long life, she simply said, “God!”. I sometimes wonder how long I will live, and if I will reach the age of 90. Whether I do or not, I pray that just like Millie, I’ll be surrounded by those I love.  Thank you for including me in this wonderful celebration and giving me the honor to capture such a wonderful celebration.

All the details were so wonderful.

Her son made these picture boards.

Millie’s entrance.

Her son made a great video of her life. The family was enjoying the memories.

Mother and Son holding hands. I have to admit, I had a few tears rolling down my eyes.

You’ll remember my cousins, Sal, Fran and the kids from last year’s Christmas portrait session, to view click here. This year they had their third child, a sweet little boy.  Over the Thanksgiving holiday he was baptized in their church, and the entire Fazio crew joined in the celebrations of the holiday and the Baptism that happened the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It was so great to see everyone, catch up and share stories.  I’m so thankful that Sal and Fran will be here for one more year along with their Mom, Kay, who is helping out with the kids. But, I miss the rest of the family so much.  I hope you all enjoy the pictures. We had a lot of good laughs.

From Left to Right:

Joshua, Christa, Fran, Sal, Kay, Ron and Justin (oh and the kiddos)

I love Tori’s smile! She had just lost her teeth. Just in time for Christmas.

I remember the feelings I had walking up to campus my first day at Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. The feelings were mixed as I felt excited yet a little awkward as a transfer student, entering my Junior year, and not knowing a soul.  Soon, through the crowd of Freshman mixers, I found my way to those in my year, and made some friends. This became even more challenging as I was one of the few students to be living off campus. Most of the students lived in the dorms.  Some of my closest friends were in the same dorm, and the dorm Mom was Sandi. The entire family lived in the dorm, in a separate apartment.  Like me, they were from California, and we instantly clicked, and they adopted me as their dorm daughter.  Their girls were very young at the time, but as you can see in the photos they have grown up to be not only amazing Christian women, but so incredibly beautiful.  I love this family, and I love it even more that they moved back to California and only live about 30 minutes away.  This family is full of life, energy and spunk. Their energy was contagious and I had a great time shooting them.

Sandi and Nick, you’ve still got it!

Meet Nicole (These two are so close. I adore their sisterly bond.)

Meet Ashley

This set makes me smile, the connection the three of them have is awesome.

I shared a story with Nick that my pastor had shared that week, about weeping at a wedding as he thought of his own daughters’ walking down the aisle.  Let’s just say, Nick held his daughters just a little tighter and really got into the shoot once I shared that story.

Hot, hot, hot!

We had a visitor.

It was a cold, brisk, Sunday afternoon when I met up with my sweet co-worker Brenda and her family for their shoot.  Brenda asked me a few weeks ago if I would take some pictures of her family because they didn’t have any of them all together. I was so happy to do this for them. Her mother Ellie was excited to have her kids Brenda and Ron together, along with with Brenda’s fiancé Sean for some pictures.

You’ll remember one of my very first family portrait sessions of last year titled “Our Neighbors”.  Kryssie and Robert called me last week and asked me if I could fit them in for a family shoot, Rockabilly/Retro inspired.  I immediately said, “Yes, Yes, Yes!”.  I knew it would be a good one. She briefly mentioned what they’d wear, and that she was planning on getting her make-up done. If this doesn’t blow up my blog, then I’m not sure what will, because I think this family looks amazing.  Kryssie did her own hair, and she totally rocked the look. She styled the entire family and helped pick the location. I might need to hire this girl, seriously.  We love this family so much, and we’re so thankful they are our neighbors.

I seriously had a hard time narrowing my favorites down. You’ll notice we had to include the Mini Cooper for the shoot.  So fun!

What a night!  My good Sabrina approached me a few months back about shooting her father’s 80th birthday.  I was so excited because I know what a great family they are and how much fun they like to have.  This was a surprise, and Mr. Eugene McGuire was definitely in shock. He kept asking if it was really for him or not. Once he settled in, and greeted his family and friends, he was right at  home. His loved ones shared stories, his best friends shared some inside jokes, and his siblings honored their brother whom they all love very much. Sabrina and her family did an amazing job, from the decorations, to the programs, and of course one of Sabrina’s beautiful homemade cakes that she created. It was held at “The Reef” in Long Beach, such a beautiful location.

My friend and ESL student, Edgar Penilla, assisted me on this shoot, and I was so thankful for his help.

Ashlea and Abrea (Eugene’s granddaughters) miming and dancing! So beautiful.

Eugene singing to his daughter Sabrina.