The JOURNAL

The Gamboa family is one of my favorites to photograph and is one of the sweetest families ever! We all met through Horizon Christina Fellowship in Rancho Santa Fe, and I first photographed their family portraits a few years back in 2009 when everyone was a tad bit littler. Well, Noah’s headed off to college […]

Fall has fallen in southern California, even though the temperatures are being kind of bi-polar. Fall means school, shorter days, the race to find that ONE changing tree in SoCal, pumpkin everything… and family portraits. Even though most of my work throughout the year is weddings and engagements, I get to change it up a […]

It’s always so fun getting to spend time with great families each fall. It’s my opportunity to run around with kids, and laugh and talk about super heroes and princesses. It’s also a chance to be there to document this season in each family’s life. For the Puertas family, this season is such a fun […]

It’s that time of year again. Whaaaat?!! I know. Time flies. Today, as I walked to get the mail, my feet crunched a pile of fallen leaves…. already…. in August! Summer is officially over, and the holidays will be here before we know it! Time to start making lists, buying gifts, planning parties, and getting […]

What can I say about the Rhee family? Well…. they’re a family after my own heart. Inspired by my own family’s crazy Christmas tree photos, we planned a crazy fun holiday shoot with a little “nice” mixed in there for good measure. We started off at Irvine Regional Park, where we discovered acorns, romped in […]

The Maghy Family arrived full of energy and ready to go. It was…. awesome. There’s usually at least one person in every family that DREADS taking family portrait…. but THIS family was great! We smiled, laughed, talked, and had a great time shooting at Jeffrey Park in Irvine. And even though there were probably 10 […]

Meet the McKinnon Family…. McKinnon Family, meet everyone. This is yet another beautiful family I had the opportunity to photograph this holiday season…. and once again, I left the shoot with feelings of joy and encouragement from these smiling faces. This year, Katie is off at college, Andrew has moved to the midwest, and Emily […]

It’s crazy  how fast time flies…. and it such a strange feeling running into someone and remembering the way they were when they were 5 years old. I’m not quite sure what to do in moments like those…. hug them?… or bury my head in my hands and try to make time stand still for […]

When I was younger, the change of seasons meant different things to me: warm sunny weather meant no school and lots of time in the pool, cooler weather and falling leaves meant the beginning of school and Santa Ana winds, and rainy weather with green leaves meant Easter was coming. While somewhat correct, my perceptions […]

Grandmother’s china tea set, a big stuffed bear, a warm autumn afternoon, and cookies…. could there be a better set up for a family portrait? I think not! When Mary first contacted me about taking her family’s portraits, we brainstormed a bunch of ideas on how we could make it creative, fun, and unique to […]