Yes, it’s already that time again!  For the first time ever, our girls started school on the same day, at the same school today!  Reilly started 3rd grade and Teagan started kindergarten, and I’m not sure who was more excited–us or them!  Everyone was up and ready for school on time and in great moods.  Both girls had their outfits chosen and laid out well in advance.  Now if only we can stay as prepared, on time, and chipper as we all were this morning….one can have dreams, I suppose!  For today, at least, it fantastic!  As you can see from the photos, Reilly was much more concerned with getting to school and seeing her friends than posing for pictures.  Teagan was more excited about her outfit and shoes.  🙂  They both had a great day to what is sure to be a fantastic school year for both.  Congratulations to all of you parents out there experiencing the joy of back-to-school!

We met the Reid family for the first time on the beautiful beach at Coronado Island.  They are friends of our friends & clients, the McGuckin’s, who moved to San Diego a few years back.  The McGuckin family had their own beach portraits made last January, and when they heard we were coming down for beach sessions again, they told their friends (thanks for that, by the way!).  It’s unusual for us to meet a family for the first time at the session, but the Reid’s were so warm and friendly that it took no time at all for the kids to turn it on for the camera.  The kids were full of life and had no reservations about showing all of us!  We especially loved the interaction between the family, who clearly have a very close, loving relationship.  One thing about our beach sessions we didn’t expect in June–wind!  It wasn’t exactly calm and balmy for any of our beach sessions, and we just want to say thanks to everyone who came out and played with us and braved the conditions….you’d never know by the images that it wasn’t a warm summer day!

We knew when we met the Cosentino family that theirs would be a lively session with their 2 sweet kiddos.  Young L had all the energy and excitement that any little boy should, and Miss P was at the perfect point of “almost” walking (our favorite!).  The session was not only a family session, but also Miss P’s one-year portraits–she had the outfits and accessories to put any woman to shame! 🙂  The Cosentino’s are so warm and lovely, and we were thrilled to be able to capture this special time in their young family’s life.

We go way back with the Olson family–big brother was just a baby the first time we met and photographed them!  We still fondly refer to G as “Cheerio boy” because mom had to throw Cheerios at him to get him to stay in one spot.  Hence, there were a lot of images from that first session of him eating!  Things have changed quite a bit in those years since, and we are thrilled that the Olson’s have come back to us several times to document the growth of their beautiful family.  This time around, the timing was set to capture G’s last bit of his baby teeth smile.  I’m guessing next time around will be to do the same for Miss A…time goes by so quickly!

We knew we were in for a treat when we first met the Lewis family.  Miss P was right around a year old, and this is such a fun age to capture!  Stacey had plenty of great ideas and brought the clothes to match!  For those of you wondering how to put clothing together for a family session, take notes!  They weren’t sure if they wanted to go light or dark, so they did both.  I LOVE the way both looks turned out so classic looking, yet in no way boring or without style.  We had such a great time with the Lewis family, and P was a trooper all the way!  We also learned some very exciting news the day of the session….they’re expecting baby #2!  Congrats to you guys!  On a personal note, James and I are very grateful to Stacey for being one of the people who told us about our new workout obsession, The Dailey Method.  Whenever I’m struggling during the class, I just think about Stacey and her now bigger pregnant belly doing the same things and just grin and bear it!

When we met the Garcia family we knew it would be a fun session because they were so excited about doing it.  Jennifer is a photo bug herself so collaborating on their family session was a treat for all of us.  They knew they wanted to be out in nature somewhere, so we headed over to one of our favorite spots in Roseville for their session.  Brothers G & G (G squared, maybe??) were super agreeable and didn’t seem to mind standing barefoot in the pokey dry weeds….kids are such troopers!  Something I will never forget is that they were leaving the next morning for a big vacation, and Jennifer was so organized with clothing for the session and didn’t seemed stressed at all; not sure I would have been, but glad they were!  Meet the Garcia family:

When Miss L’s grandma called and said she wanted to bring her sweet granddaughter for portraits, and that she already had purchased an outfit and had several other ideas, we knew it would be fun!  They drove an hour to get to us, so we knew they were as excited as we were for the photo session.  Of course, Miss L did not disappoint.  She was the most willing 5-year old I think we’ve ever photographed.  She went from one outfit to the next without a single complaint and just kept giving us these fantastic looks.  She was especially excited when her little stuffed friend and her shopping bag got to be props in her portrait.  Thanks to Miss L and her family for making such efforts to help create these darling images!

It’s been a couple of years since we photographed Miss P and Sir N, so we were thrilled when we received a last-minute request for a Mother’s Day surprise for their mom!  We started at the studio and then headed down to the historic district in old Roseville.  A change of scenery is always fun, but it was especially fun when we heard the gray building they were standing in the doorway of used to be original jail down there.  N and P actually seem to get along and {insert gasp here! } really love each other! 🙂  Thanks for sharing your darling kiddos with us, and we can’t wait for a fun and creative family session still to come!

When I first spoke with the Garrettson’s on the phone, I will be honest that I was a little nervous when they told me they wanted family portraits with their 17-month old; nervous only because that can be one of the most difficult ages to photograph a child.  It seems that between about 14 months and 2 1/2 years, kids realize that they can move at their own will and exercise their independence.  Most importantly, they are too young to be bribed at this age!  Well, once they came in for their design consultation and we met little C, my concerns started to wane dramatically.  He was the cutest, sweetest little boy ever!  The day of our session was no different; C was picture perfect in every way.  He did everything we wanted him to with no resistance (or complaints).  I love to be proven wrong, and this was one of those magical sessions where I was over and over.  Now, this isn’t meant to discourage anyone from having children this age photographed, but for those of you who have kids this age, you know that it can be a gamble, which is what makes those million-dollar moments being captured even more precious.  This is what I love so much about photographing families and kids!  Meet the lovely Garrettson family:

When Chris called and said she wanted us to photograph her grandchildren, we were so excited!  Chris is not only our financial planner, but she was also largely responsible for me (Stef) becoming a financial planner as well over ten years ago.  I met Chris before James and I were married and I was living in San Diego; she was my mom’s financial planner, helping her to plan wisely for her future.  I credit so much to her, even though I am no longer practicing in the field.  She still talks about how I was supposed to come to work with her when we moved back to Sacramento, but instead somehow started a photography business with James!  Sorry about that, Chris, but just think, you wouldn’t have these beautiful portraits of your adorable grandchildren! 🙂