At the close of summer we were asked to go on a fun location session to the beautiful Napa Valley. The Ferrell family surprised dad for his birthday with a family trip to Napa, complete with an extended family portrait. We were honored to be asked to such a momentous occasion, especially because we love their family so much! Everyone was great sports for following us on our quest for the right location to do this beautiful family justice. Once we left the family to their birthday celebration, we realized a few minutes down the road that James had left his light and battery setup back at the winery. We immediately turned around to discover the winery closed and gated. Knowing we didn’t want to risk leaving it, James crawled under the fence and walked up the road toward the main building. A few minutes later, he returned with all said gear in hand, and thankfully was not being chased by guard dogs! The Napa session was one to be remembered for many reasons! 🙂

Meet the Brown family…Noel and I met when our oldest girls were just babies and she and I were in MOPS together. We immediately hit it off and started our friendship with a bang, and of course then pulled our hubbys into the mix. We credit the Brown’s with much encouragement and inspiration when we were first starting our business, six years ago. Noel was our biggest fan and cheerleader, and we wouldn’t be where we are without them! You might recall a somewhat “famous” image that we’ve showcased for a LONG time….naked buns-baby standing in between mom’s legs holding her hands…well, that just happens to be Noel and her oldest daughter. Fast forward almost six years, and we ended up on the beach in La Jolla with the Browns and their brood, which has now grown to three beautiful daughters. It just so happened that our July vacation to San Diego overlapped with theirs, so Noel thought it would be the perfect chance to get those beach portraits she always wanted. We found an ideal little spot at Shell Beach in La Jolla (ideal if you don’t count all the people who were there that busy Sunday, including another photographer trying to politely share the small space with us!). We had the best time out there with them and just loved the images that resulted. So did they…so much in fact that they have begun an entire room re-decoration, including new paint and a flat-screen tv for Dan, all inspired by the new artwork they’ll be hanging on their walls!

The gorgeous Rioux family came to us to mark miss H’s first year with a family portrait and of course, some of the superstar herself. They did such an amazing job with wardrobe selections that unknown to them, we’ve been describing their outfits and color choices to many families we’ve been meeting with lately as what to do for their clothing! Miss H was an absolute doll and one of the easiest 1-year olds ever to photograph. I’m a sucker for tutu’s and big hair accessories on the little girls, and she just nailed it when we asked her to point her toe and drop her chin just a little (haha…if only it were that easy!)….some people are just naturals in front of the camera, and the Rioux’s were it!

We photographed the Corpuz family at their lovely Roseville home on a July day, when one would expect it to be bright and sunny, but we were in for a little surprise! We hardly saw rain at all this past year, and low and behold, it started to rain right in the middle of summer! Luckily it was only a little bit, and we took cover under their patio for a few minutes to keep from getting damp. That is when this gorgeous family portrait was made….thanks to the sprinkles! They really wanted their family dog, Mr. Cookie, to be in all of the family shots, but he had his own agenda. We did get a few of him, though, and they loved this black & white of him in particular (I think it was the kids’ favorite!).

We’re excited to announce our follow-up event to the Mommy & Me Portraits for the Cure we held in May. We had such an amazing response to that event we felt it only fair to include the dads this time around! We’re having the event at the Silver Spoon children’s boutique, and please note that it’s at their brand-new location on the corner of Douglas & Sierra College. We’ll be photographing on a light grey background so any color clothing will work. (Please note that a dad or grandpa must be in the photograph! :-). The $20 fee will help support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Sacramento. Hope to see you there on September 12!

Miss S came to visit us for a second time, and we were thrilled to say the least. We met the Quick family last year at our Portraits at the Ponds event at the Silver Spoon children’s boutique, and later learned that mom works at our CPA’s office–what a small world! Anyhow, they brought Miss S a year older, and even cuter! Dad met mom at the studio for their session, and he was in charge of bringing all of S’s clothing mom had laid out. I bet you can see where this one is going! Yep, dear old dad left all of her clothes at home! Not to worry…this is what I was made for! I knew there was a reason I keep loads of cute stuff on hand at the studio…..just in case. In the end, the clothing didn’t even matter….okay, maybe the turquoise tutu mattered, but it was really all about S’s sweet personality and precious moments to be captured with mom and dad. ~Stefani

Meet the McGargills! This gorgeous family decided to have their portraits made at a relatives house in Loomis. Stef and I knew this was going to be a fun session from the first time we met the M’s, but when we saw this location, we knew it was going to be special. Ponds, trees, swings, flowers, tractors…and a trampoline were a few of the things to catch our interest. The kiddos did great and gave me a much needed workout chasing them around. Thanks Heather & Andrew for such a great time with your family.

Back before everything got really hot and turned brown in Sac-town, we visited the beautiful Wokas home for their family portrait session. We first met the Wokas’ when little R was only a baby, and now he’s heading toward the big 2. What started out as a fun client relationship has since turned into a friendship that we feel so fortunate to have found. In fact, Ann now helps us out with PR and marketing (she’s the one who played a major role in our Sutter Roseville hospital exhibit!). We were so excited when they wanted to do this session at their home, because they seriously have the most amazing setting for family, fun and entertainment EVER. A lot of the images were taken just off their property…it borders up to nature preserves on almost all sides. A key player in their session was their dog, Mocha. He was their first baby and it was very important to them that Mocha be a part of their new family portrait. Despite almost all of us going into full blown allergy attacks after wading around in the weeds…I mean fields full of wildflowers…:-), it was an awesome time that produced some fun family images that we think capture the fun and personality of this lovely family.

This session took place on one of those rare weekends this spring that it actually rained. Dawn contacted me because she wanted to surprise her mom and grandmother with a 4-generation portrait session. We were thrilled to do this, especially because Dawn’s mom works at Dr. Valdez’s office (the awesome Roseville pediatrician we work with). We met with the gals before the session date just to get to know them a little and discuss wardrobe, etc., and were so excited because we knew it would be a blast. On the session date, as Dawn appproached our door, I immediately knew something was wrong. I quickly discovered after she got off a teary cell-phone conversation that Dawn had just learned that her father-in-law had unexpectedly passed away. As the rest of the family arrived, they were engaged in teary-eyed conversation. I immediately asked if they would like some tea, because what else can you do in a situation like that? Dawn talked with her husband via phone and he wanted them to stay and proceed with the portrait session. We were unsure if this was the right move at the time, but decided we would take all the time they needed. We all sat, talked, and sipped tea for almost an hour before everyone felt ready to head to the studio. I was amazed at the strength and sense of humor in these women, and knew these portraits would hold extra special meaning to them that day. We had planned to go outside at the end of the session, and of course, that’s when it started to rain. We decided this session was about overcoming less-than-favorable situations, so off we went, umbrellas and all. We felt privileged to spend this time getting to know these wonderful women, and so appreciated their openness and sharing that day.

~Stefani

We had the pleasure of meeting Miss H and her family and just had a wonderful session all around. First of all, they were all so fun and easy to work with–including the dog! H was at that age that is just magical–about 9 months or so, before they start walking and try to run away! She was THE happiest baby that we could have just kept photographing her forever, but eventually we had to let them go home. As adorable as Hannah was, we couldn’t help but love the image of dad and his best friend, and the sweet one of mom and dad together. Thanks for the great time guys!