The Fraley family was kind enough to bid on and win one of our auction donations at their school fundraising event, and decided to take advantage of the family portrait session right before a big change in their life.  When I say right before, I mean RIGHT before…days after they came for their ordering appointment the entire family moved to the east coast!  We had a great time getting to know the Fraley’s and were sad to see them go, but before they did, like in so many other instances, we were reminded yet again what a small world it is.  Turns out that James and Jeremy are both Christian High alums (San Diego).  What are the odds of that?!  Fraley family, we hope you are enjoying your new life (and cold weather!) at your new home!

We have photographed the Pope family before, but never while they were actually living in California, so this time was an extra-special treat!  They moved to Napa this year and wanted us to capture their beautiful family in their new surroundings–a gorgeous Napa vineyard.  Of course we were thrilled, not only to be seeing them again, but to have an excuse to jaunt off to Napa for a day.  What can I say–something magical happens every time we photograph this lovely family.  Miss V was in exceptional form and played right along with my hide-and-seek games between the grape vines.  Now if only we could transport this amazing location to our own backyard….:-).  Meet the Pope family–again!

When we first met with the Watkins family and they told us they wanted something urban and artsy for their family portraits, we were excited.  They did mention, however, that their girls were a little shy.  Fast forward to the day of the session; we decided to take a little time with the girls at the beginning, in outfits of their choosing, to play a little.  This was the perfect time to let them warm up and get comfortable, which they did fabulously.  By the time we got to the family stuff, they were old pros.  We’re so thankful these darling girls allowed us into their world for a short time that day (mom and dad, too, of course!).  Introducing the Watkins family:

Ahh the lovely Gillys.  We have been photographing them for quite some time, and without exception, something magical happens every time they arrive.  This time it was rain, glorious light, and some really incredible expressions.  We had to run for cover several times during the session but the kiddos did not miss a beat.  One of the many benefits of what we do is watching families grow, and wow has this family grown!  Thank you Stephanie and Lance for trusting us to capture these moments with (so many of..) your children.  They continue to be a blessing to us.

We met the Swint family after they placed the winning bid on a donation we made at a charity auction.  We were thrilled they were the winners, as they were such a fun family to work with.  They knew they wanted their portraits to be made in natural setting, which was perfect for their little explorers.  I think after the first few minutes, the boys completely forgot we were actually there to take photographs; they were too busy finding what was around the next corner to focus much on that!  We truly enjoyed getting to know the Swints and are again reminded how lucky we are to do what we do.  Meet the Swint family:

Meet V…he’s as sweet as his hair is red!  We’ve been photographing the Posey family since big sister was this age, and then again when big brother T came along.  It’s so fun getting to see 3 children from one family at exactly the same age, because the resemblance is uncanny in some ways (not the red hair, though!  V is unique in that regard!).  The Posey’s are one of those families that no matter how much time passes since we’ve seen them, we seem to pick up right where we left off.  It’s been such a treat to be able to watch their 3 kids grow and change over the years, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for all of them!

How quickly Miss S’s first year seemed to go by!  By her one-year session with us, she had turned into quite the little lady.  As usual, mom brought a dizzying assortment of amazing wardrobe options and hair accessories.  Miss S often had her own ideas about where the hair accessories should be (hint:  it was not usually on her head!).  Let me put it this way–S’s personality is even larger than her wardrobe! 🙂  We had so much fun with her, all of her outfits, and of course, mom.  I’m sure these latest images will melt your heart as much as she did ours.  Thanks to S’s mommy for sharing her first year with us!

We started documenting Miss K when she was still in mama’s tummy…fast-forward to her second Bebe session (my favorite age!!).  Kudos to mom for all of the darling outfits and hair accessories, but K would have been adorable regardless; her million different expressions were accessory enough! 🙂  While K was awesome in the studio, it was a pretty cold & windy day outside, and she was pretty much over it by the time we ventured outdoors.  We have to give a big thank you to K’s grandpa for saving the day outside and getting those last few amazing expressions!  Meet Miss K (again…):

First off, our apologies for the lack of updates lately–we spent the last week in San Diego with James’ entire family, celebrating his grandmother’s 90th birthday and just generally having fun.  Stay tuned for images from that, as well as more updates about what else has been taking up a good deal of our time lately–moving into the new Enchanted studio (again, stay tuned for images!).

Now that I have that off my chest, on to more important things, like the lovely Perdue family.  We knew photographing this family would be a fun challenge, as they described wanting anything but “typical.”  They showed up fabulously frocked and up for anything; when I say anything, I mean anything.  Their session was on one of the windiest days in recent memory.  Thankfully a little wind and chill didn’t intimidate them!  We ended up down by the train tracks, and found a spot under the bridge that we first went to in an effort to block the wind, but found out it had more merit than just blocking the wind.  Just for fun at the end, we went further down the tracks.  Literally a minute or two after telling them that trains never come by when we’re down there, lo and behold, a train began approaching.  Jackpot!  Our favorite images (and theirs) of the day came as a result of this happy accident.  I should also mention, even though obvious through the images, that miss S was quite the show-stopper.  Thanks to the Perdue family for sticking with us through the cold and wind–it was worth it!  In fact, we loved one of their images so much that it is hanging in the gallery of our new studio…

It’s always a bittersweet thing when one of our Bebe Collection members turns one.  We grow to know and love these families over baby’s first year and know we get to see them every few months.  Then the baby turns one, and we know we won’t see them every few months anymore….:-(  Miss A is such a sweet girl and made every session even more fun than the last.  Her one-year session turned out to be quite a blustery day, but it didn’t seem to phase her.  We want to thank Briana & James for entrusting A’s precious first year portraits to us–you guys are the best!