Some of the most beautiful moments in life happen when we least expect them.

When I arrived to the McMurtry ranch I was informed that the boys (K&S) may not be particularly interested in having photographs made. They came out the front door (a little sheepishly) and weren’t too sure about me or what I was doing. So I asked them for a tour of the property.

And that’s where the adventure began.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing in the garden, a silly acorn game, checking out the cool tractor, running through bushes, feeding geese and other outdoor fun. K&S warmed up fast and we had a great time.

I also got a unique look into a family that is full of love, and two boys so full of life we should all take a lesson. Thank you Michelle & Lee for sharing so much of yourselves, I received a real treat that day. And thank you Eric and Samantha for introducing us to this wonderful family. Hey Michelle, the girls are ready to come over and play…Stef and I will be there in an hour 🙂

WE’RE BACK!!!

Sorry for the small delay, we got all the administrative work done on the blog and we are back in business. We are a bit backed up on blogging but will try our best to catch up.

So Thanksgiving was a little different this year, we decided to avoid the craziness of cooking and cleaning and made a reservation at the Slocum House in Fair Oaks.

Good choice.

The food was superb as was the atmosphere. The girls really enjoyed the wild roosters that roam the area. Our yum-r-ific meals were topped off with a gingerbread creme brulee that was second only to that of the restaurant Fresh Cream in Monterey.

Mmmmmm…..my tummy is still full.

We are in the middle of some administrative work on the blog and will resume posting very soon. Please stay tuned…

All I can say is that I am still in awe over how amazing Sarah looks! She and hubby Bret came to us from the Bay Area for their maternity session (they’re both from the Sacramento area originally and have family and friends here). Bret was so into their session and was clearly as amazed at his beautiful wife as we were–so sweet! By now they should have had their baby boy, who we’ll be meeting at his newborn session next week…stay tuned!

The Chatfields have been coming to us for as long as we can remember for birthday portraits. Bobby’s turn this time so we went outside for some fun. Dad was also present so we had the whole family join in. Gorgeous family on a gorgeous day.

Old Roseville finally has a proper Irish pub, and when we heard the grand opening was last night, we just had to check it out. We had some yummy deep fried corned beef rolls, deep fried tater skins, and deep fried Irish chips…my tummy hurts today..

Here’s the coolest part. The pub is located about 20 yards from the railroad tracks, and every time a train goes by, there are different drink and food specials…but you’ve got to order WHILE the train is moving, and the specials are off if the train stops!

Check out the groovy red hallway to the men’s room.

November was good to the Enchanted family. This image of Miss T was taken at the Roseville Galleria mall won best in show at last night’s Professional Photographer’s of Sacramento’s monthly print competition. Stef and I couldn’t help but notice that a significant majority of our award winning images were of our girls. As said by fashion/celebrity photographer Matthew Jordan Smith, “Shoot what you love, and what you are most passionate about, and there will you find your success.” Well, I guess by that definition my passion is my family, and once again the judges confirmed that. Thank you Stef, Reilly and Teagan for continuing to inspire my creativity, and for being the reason to take this journey.

The print is titled “Curves Ahead”. A young child on a massive path who is unaware of the scope, grandeur and potential danger of what lies ahead. To me this image represents living in the moment, a mindset we seem to be most adept at when we are very young. A mindset I hope to fully realize again…

I remember the day I first talked to Tamara on the phone about scheduling a session for her family; she had seen our work at her pediatrician’s office, and then was at the park and a stranger asked her if she had been to Enchanted Images because she thought she had seen her daughter on our website. Well, that stranger was a client of ours and when she found out the Oliveira’s had not beent to us, she proceeded to sing our praises and urged her to check us out (thanks Kimberly!!). We love stories like that. This was also another one of those cases where mom was concerned about getting some good, genuine smiles out of three-year old Miss M…I think it’s pretty safe to say that she loved the camera…so much that when they were here the other day, she asked if she was getting her pictures taken again! I do have to mention that little L was such a trooper…we were all over the place outside and then went in the studio at the very end, and he didn’t seem to mind a bit. The kids were just overall amazing! (mom and dad weren’t too shabby themselves! 🙂

When I talked with little M’s mom about their scheduled family portrait session, her biggest concern was Mr. M and getting some genuine smiles out of him, as according to her, he’s quite shy. Well, they were a delightful family to work with and we really enjoyed them, but we were very confused as to where this shy kid was they claimed to have! M took no time at all to warm up to us and gave us so many great expressions, none of which said “shy” to us. We were so excited at how great he did, and I think our excitement was matched by mom and dad’s surprise at just how comfortable M seemed in front of the camera. Suffice it to say, they were pretty happy with their portraits!

Last month, on a very blustery day, we were lucky enough to photograph this extended family on location in Granite Bay. We met the McKernan’s last fall and they were nice enough to call on us to capture the whole extended family this time around. There were so many gorgeous spots to explore we had a hard time deciding where we wanted to stop, so we just kept moving around! The kids were such troopers, as we were out there in the wind for quite a while. We were so thankful that the wind died down enough every now and then so hair wasn’t blowing straight up and out (even though we think that would have been cool…not sure if the ladies would have been down with that…).