Whenever we get together, there’s typically a glass of wine or a golf club in our hands. But not this weekend. (Well, not on Saturday at least … On Friday? Hmmmm, there may or may not have been some alcoholic drinks and golf clubs in the mix.) But the point is: On Saturday, I got to spend time with this couple in a new setting. With their kiddos. At the beach. And what a great time we had!

As soon as their feet hit the sand, the flip flops few off and this adorable family was off running around, playing tag and silly games, enjoying each other’s company in a gorgeous setting. I was just along for the ride, ready to capture the beauty of it all.

Some of my favorite moments are from afar. When I can’t hear what the family’s saying and when I have no idea what they’re about to do. But from their body language and laughter, I know that they are bonding and having fun. Just being themselves. Those are often the images that speak to me most and feel so special.

I know from experience that mom and dad are a fun loving couple. We always laugh and have a great time when we’re out. Always lots to talk about and so many things to share a laugh over. But what I really enjoyed on Saturday was having the opportunity to witness the adoration and affection these children have for their parents. It’s clear that there is no shortage of love in this family.

Witness a quiet moment shared between father and son:

Behold a lively moment between mother and daughter:

I had a tough time narrowing down my selections for the blog but in the end, I decided to leave you with this family shot. It took us several tries — the water was cold — but I hope you’ll agree the freezing feet were worth it!

It took some coordination to get this session completed but in the end, we got it done. Beautifully, at that. After a few reschedules (yeah, I would take last minute tickets to a U2 concert over a photo session anyday, too!!) and after a lot of back-and-forth on location choices (beach or backyard? backyard or beach?), we finally were able to nail down a firm date and collectively decide to motivate for a beach session. I’m SO glad we did.

Our session was a fun little adventure resulting in some fun and beautiful images. Just wait ’til you see the awesome outfits K pulled together for her family. They were all dressed in these beautiful shades of blue (which complemented their amazing blue eyes, I must say) and I loved the way it all came together. A lot of people are hesitant to wear patterns (especially varying ones) and have been trained to only wear solids and non-distracting patterns for a portrait session. It takes a lot of thoughtful consideration to pull off a wardrobe like this one here. It truly isn’t easy. In fact, I know it can be quite frustrating at times so I understand it’s not for everyone. But I hope that by way of this blog — and showcasing the awesome outfits my clients choose — you can get an idea and some inspiration for new things to try. Ways to ‘change it up’ and make your family portrait unique and personal.

I really enjoyed my time photographing these guys. While my family and I get to see them off and on at social events (my husband plays golf regularly with Dad, I get to see Mom at parties and book club, etc. and the kids get to play together every now and then), the feeling is different when it’s just me being present to document their time together as a family. I get to know them in a different way. And I truly value and enjoy that experience.

You know it’s gonna be a great session when one of the first photos you snap is this:

Dad and big(gest) brother J had fun tossing around the football for a while. Keep an eye out for this guy, by the way. He’s only ten but is a fast-rising star in the world of water polo. He plays on THREE teams and is very dedicated to his sport.

I thought this photo was just so cool. It feels so peaceful and serene. And it also conveys a sense of us actually being a small part of this large, beautiful landscape. So nice to be able to enjoy and capture that.

Loved this photo of Dad and the boys. (And reference the picture above to see where they are sitting. Yes, I was climbing and scaling that rock to get this image. Anything for a great shot, right?)

I thought it would be a cool image if I gave it an old school sort of look.

Brothers having fun, goofing around:

There was a lot of this going on with baby brother:

Sweet moment with Dad and the little guy:

And then some “money shots”. (At least, I hope Mom and Dad will feel that way about some of these. And if not, there will be more in your gallery.) Dad and I were joking around about the money shot. It all started when we saw a group of tourists — at the most gorgeous beach — taking some photos. Facing the WRONG WAY. They were facing the ocean which meant their carefully posed group photo would contain a parking lot and a dude drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon in their background. Not exactly the “money shot” for their scrapbook. At least not in my book. But here are a few that I think might qualify for the E family:

And I think this might be my absolute favorite! It shows how little this guy is right now (and will be fun to look at someday when he’s big and tall)) and it also shows off all of those awesome blues!

K&C, I hope you had as much fun as I did. And I hope that you’ll like your first peek. K, I’ll see you this afternoon!

It’s not often that we’ll find the L family trottin’ around the beaches of southern California. After all, Dad’s a dermatologist (mine and my husband’s, actually) and choosing to spend hours in the sun at the beach isn’t actually in line with a doctor’s orders. That being said, we chose the beach for Wednesday’s photo session … and it was absolutely worth it. The kids had an a-ma-zing time frolicking around the waves, romping around on the play structure and digging in the sand. And they looked so perfectly cute and adorable while doing so! It was a perfect setting for our time together. I’ve said this before but it’s worth saying again … when the kids are having fun, it’s so much easier to capture those natural, playful smiles that you want to memorialize. As a children’s photographer, I will prescribe that formula over and over again!

E&J, I’m so glad that we finally met up for a session. Having taken a quick glance at your files, there are a lot of gems we captured earlier this week. Thanks for being patient as it took me a little bit longer to get your post up. (I think I caught a little cold and was a bit run down the past few days.) Hopefully, it will have been worth the wait. And thanks, too, for dinner following our session. I really enjoyed the extra downtime with you guys and can’t believe we laughed so hard as we compared notes on various aspects of family life … I had an awesome time photographing you guys and look forward to more fun times ahead.

This image feels so serene and carefree to me. One of the first pictures I snapped … love it!

LOVE this smile. J is clearly having a great time.

I will never tire of photos of a daughter holding her dad’s hand. At the beach, nonetheless.

And since it has such a timeless and classic appeal, I had to try converting it to black and white:

A few more photos that struck a chord with me:

I know J’s got a rock on his head in this one. But seeing as how this kid loves collecting his rocks, I found this image to be not just adorable, but a totally perfect capture of his personality as well.

And most of you who have followed me and my work for a while already know that my all-time preference for photos are the candid, spontaneous, unposed moments. These really show the everyday love and connection between family members. And I think that’s the beauty of photos and what we ultimately want to treasure. A few examples:

That being said, I know you all want the posed shots as well. And yes, we always do those, too. I loved how these turned out!

And just to show my commitment as a photographer … here’s my flip-flop floating away as I ran around in the {huge! and freezing cold!} waves trying to capture various playful moments. Thanks, J, for saving my flipflop before it permanently went to sea … !

And a final note to E:
I know I already praised your outfits at our session but I just wanted to give you some public love as well! You nailed the wardrobe coordination … they really enhance your images. Looking at these photos, one would never guess that you had no idea what you were going to wear just a few days leading up to our session. If anyone needs help with suggestions, I may start sending people your way …

When you see the photos below, it would be easy to assume that the title of this post refers to the family’s physical beauty. Granted they are attractive. I’ll even go as far as to say they are gorgeous. But what I love most about my newest viviZ clients is their inner beauty and loving spirit.

When I first moved to Camarillo about three years ago, I knew not a soul. My oldest son was just shy of two, my newest addition was eight weeks old and I went from a life full of corporate strategy, political agendas and board meetings to a full-time career changing diapers, juggling naptimes and desperately wishing my baby would take a bottle. That was a rough transition. Luckily for me, I met the mom in this family (as well as the mom of these kids) at the park one day. I think they noticed my look of utter despair, desperation and loneliness and took pity upon me! They took me under their wings and I am forever grateful. But wow, I digress …

Let me just say that this family holds a special place in my heart. Together these four individuals make up this beautiful family. One full of love and laughter, generosity and kindness, fun and spirit. I was thrilled when they “won” me at a silent auction earlier this year and I could finally drag them out for some photos. For whatever reason, these guys do not like being in front of the camera. I don’t know why because the camera sure likes them …

S & D, yesterday’s session was a blast! I hope you’ll want to do this again, even though it seemed like I/we ended up encouraging your kids to break all sorts of rules … Enjoy your first look. More to come soon.

L took on the role as art director. He had a creative vision and told me where I should stand to take photos. Not bad …

The beach is an integral part of this family’s life so it was no surprise that we ended up here for family photos:

I’m not sure how we do it, but we do. We manage to time our annual Seattle visits so that they coincide with the region’s craziest weather periods. Last April, we were here during the spring snowstorm. Yes, major snowfall in APRIL. (Turned out great for us as that was my boys’ first — and only — experience with snow to date.) In December, my brother visited only to be snowed in at Christmastime. He was unable to leave the house, let alone Sea-Tac airport, for several days.

This year we got the extreme heatwave. Yes, we arrived just in time to experience some of THE HOTTEST days in Seattle’s history. Ever. 104 degrees in a home ill-equipped to handle extreme heat (no A/C and only 2 fans for an entire home housing five adults and two children) does not make for happy campers.

But we managed to stay cool on one of those days, thanks to Alki Beach. Turns out it’s not just a great spot for keeping cool, but a fantastic spot to take some family photographs.

Captured some fun moments between my kids and their A-Gong (Taiwanese for grandpa):

My brother and his partner were visiting from Washington, DC:

Me and my big guy. I just love this picture … such gorgeous lighting!!

Here’s my oldest, mesmerized by the beach volleyball game going on behind us:

Another spot to watch the game:

I normally like to stick to bright & vibrant colors in my imagery, steering away from the different “looks” you can come up with in Photoshop, etc. But for some reason, I wanted to play around with this image to give it a nostalgic, lazy-days-of-summer sort of feel. Not my typical style, but just experimenting …

Warning: When you choose to be my friend, you take the risk of your children showing up on my blog!!!*

Below are a few images I took earlier this week at a BBQ with some of my longtime childhood friends. I’m currently on vacation in Seattle (where I grew up) and love seeing my children interacting with and developing their own friendships with my friends’ children. As evidenced below, it’s safe to say that my friends sure do have beautiful offspring! And this sampling doesn’t even represent them all. There were definitely more kids running around; they just somehow managed to escape my lens. Not to worry. I’ll get ‘em next time …

Here is J, my friend’s son, choosing my oldest son to be on his team.

J’s sister chose my younger son to be on her team. My little guy came home with the biggest crush on her!

* While my clients sign release forms allowing me to use images for my blog, etc., I obviously don’t make my friends sign releases wherever I go. So …. if you ever see an image you don’t want posted, just shoot me a note and I will be happy to remove it.

I’m often asked what the secret is to capturing genuine and natural-looking smiles. I don’t have a magic wand I wave. No top-secret code word to replace the “Cheeeeeeeeeeeeese” everyone winds up saying (what is up with that, by the way? Why do we all find ourselves doing that?). What it boils down to, in my opinion, is placing the children in an environment where they are free to be themselves and do what they love. If they’re doing something they love (or playing with someone they love), their spirit and essence will eventually show through. It has to. And that’s when it’s time to start clicking.

If your son loves to skateboard, we should photograph him at a skate park. Your daughter is infatuated with Hannah Montana? Let’s throw on Hoedown Throwdown and let your sweetie dance and sing to her heart’s content. For this little boy that I photographed recently, the sand and surf were what made him happy. So we headed to the beach to capture him in his element.

A&D: It was an incredibly fun experience watching L frolic in the surf and play in the sand. I think in about twelve or thirteen years, we’ll see him patrolling the coastline performing lifeguard duties. What a perfect summer job that would be for him!

We couldn’t have asked for better weather yesterday – sunny skies, seventy degree temperature and a gentle ocean breeze. The setting was perfect for a fun little photo adventure at Paradise Cove. And adventure it was! Chasing after four year old twin boys and a two year old baby girl sure is exhausting work. After all that running around, I was working up a sweat by the time we were done!

S&J: thanks for meeting up with me and trusting me to take your annual family photos. I know you are very particular about your portraits; I hope I can come close to meeting your expectations. (I’m nervous about that!) You have a gorgeous family and you deserve fabulous images to reflect that beauty.

Enjoy your sneak peek below:

I know there’s a police car in the frame, but I just loved J’s fantastic smile in this picture so I had to post this for you:

All of the hairwashing, blowdrying and hairbrushing this mom did for her girls went out the window the minute we stepped foot out of her car. We had no idea our little photo adventure was going to take place in the midst of all this crazy wind. But it did. As we stood there in the parking lot with the wind whipping through our own hair, the mom and I exchanged knowing glances. It was clear we were both thinking, “Are we crazy to go through with this? Should we just reschedule? Will the kids have fun?” But we cast aside our brief moment of hesitation and decided to give it a shot. I’m glad we did.

P: Despite the crazy winds we encountered yesterday, I have to say that our time at the beach was definitely well spent. Not only did the girls (and I!!) have a fantastic time, but it appears that we did manage to eke out a few great shots as well. Especially if you’re into the windblown look …

Just a few photos for you until your gallery goes up. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.

Aren’t you glad you spent all that time brushing K’s hair??