While we were in San Diego earlier in the year, we were lucky enough to photograph the lovely McGuckin family.  We met the McGuckin’s when big sister was a brand-new baby; G was the first newborn we ever photographed!  Over the years we have not only photographed this family on multiple occasions, but also grown to call them friends.  Suffice it to say, we were sad when they moved to San Diego….until I got a call from Scott telling me he wanted to surprise Janelle with beach portraits for her birthday.  Anyone who knows us at all knows that we visit San Diego several times per year (James’ family lives there and we used to, too!) and welcome requests for portrait sessions while we visit.  This session was one of those that just had everything going for it:  a perfect day, gorgeous family, and more love than we can describe.  The session took place on Coronado Beach with Pt. Loma just off in the background, which was especially cool because both Scott and Janelle attended Pt. Loma University.  We were thrilled about everything surrounding this session, but most of all, just the chance to get to see some old friends/clients in such a gorgeous setting!

If you’re looking at the images wishing you could have portraits like this someday, stay tuned….very soon we will be announcing San Diego sessions for June!

Meet the lovely Lyra, class of 2010.  Another great session here, Lyra’s choices of colors and fabrics were perfect.  We took a walk through the old neighborhood and found all kinds of interesting places to photograph.  Lyra was fairly quiet at her consultation, but once  the camera came out, she was full of expression.   And check out her hand colored shoes!  Here are some of the faves.  Excellent job Lyra!

Our first portrait session with the Wagner’s was a bit delayed because sweet R was under the weather the first date we scheduled, so we tried again, and with great success!  We get to see so many different babies with so many varieties of hair (or lack thereof), and R was no exception.  He had one of those heads I couldn’t resist rubbing!  As happens all too often, we had another “small world” moment upon first meeting the Wagner’s, when we discovered that dad had helped on our major kitchen remodel 3 years ago.  We had a great time with this lovely family and can’t wait to see them back for Mr. R’s second Bebe session!

This sweet newborn session was extra special because little Miss M was joined by her cousin, Mr. J, another one of our Bebe Collection members.  We thought little J was so sweet peering over the basket at his darling little cousin, but when the families saw the images for the first time, they cracked up because they thought it looked like J was contemplating jumping into the basket and eating her! (a joke, of course…J is just a little big for his age and looked especially big to them next to the tiny baby).  Both beautiful babies for sure, and a lovely family we are blessed to work with!

Tatyana came to us from our friends at Olympus Pointe Orthodontics (one of the coolest looking orthodontists offices I might add).  She recently had her braces removed and was ready to show off her new look.  When we met with Tatyana for her consultation, we were surprised to hear she had never had professional portraits taken, so you can imagine her excitement.  The day of the session, she arrived with fabulous hair & makeup and was ready to go…almost.

She said she was very nervous and was afraid she might not know what to do.  I told her not to worry, we would take all the time we need to make her comfortable.  20 minutes later, she was acting like a seasoned pro in front of the lens and just lit things up with that new smile.  Here are a few of my faves.  Thanks Tatyana!

Little C is the second McVey baby we’ve been lucky to photograph in the past few years.  We love working with this family and look forward to each time we see them (both boys were part of our Bebe collection).  It’s so funny because big brother barely had any hair, even up to his first birthday, and little C, as you can tell, is not lacking in that department!  Before long he’ll be back for his one-year session….they grow up so fast!

The Learn family brought their energetic, adorable boys to us for some fun, “real” family portraits, and that’s just what they got.  We basically just followed their lead and let them have fun and show us their personalities.  It was easy to capture the love and affection in this family, as it was bursting everywhere!  Meet the lovely Learn’s:

The Rieta family came just in time to display their beautiful new portraits for their little man’s 1st birthday party.  It was a gorgeous day and everyone had a great time; well, almost everyone.  The family’s dog wasn’t super excited about the session, but we managed to sneak a few in with their furry friend anyway.  Little E. was definitely one of the happiest, most content kiddos I’ve ever seen, which is a testament to his great parents, I’m sure.  It was just a great session from top to bottom; thanks to the Rieta family for such a great time!

Meet Haley, Granite Bay High 2010.  I’ll never forget Haley’s senior portrait consultation.  As I recall, she and her mom showed up well, empty handed.   We always ask for a variety of clothes for this consultation and we have seen everything from duffle bags, to clothing racks, even grocery bags full of clothing…but nothing?  So we spent the time chatting about different looks, and what Haley had in mind for her senior portraits…and laughed a lot.

p.s.  Haley is a hoot.

So is her mom.

Put them in a room together and the place cracks up.

We got the details nailed down and off they went.  About an hour later Haley’s mom called just to say she was all over it and was totally going shopping for some new duds. “We’re excited and we will definitely be ready!”

The day of the session, Haley arrived with all kinds of cool stuff as promised, and those red shoes…  We had a great time out and about and Haley looked wonderful.  Here are some of my faves.