When Jenna initially emailed me to ask about my rates and availability for a maternity shoot, I knew we would get along right away.  Here is an excerpt from her email:

“I LOVE your photos, so lovely AND natural (so many pregnancy photos look crazy posed with soft focus gauzy silliness, you know?).”

She made me laugh so hard, I couldn’t wait to meet her and her family.  They were such a fun family to shoot because they really wanted to capture this special time in their lives and their family interactions without being posed, which wouldn’t have worked very well for her 3 year old daughter Zoe, as you will see below.  ;)

Here is the lovely Jenna.  I’m so glad she wanted to celebrate this pregnancy with a photo shoot.

And here is the adorable Zoe.  I love her expressionate and pure personality in the photos.

It was good that Jenna and Wyatt are so laid back, because apparantly Zoe did not take her usual nap and was, as Jenna put it: “crazy with toddler non-napping spazzitude.”  Zoe wasn’t feeling this shot.  :)

So we headed to their front yard to get a few shots commemorating the sale of their house.  They are moving to Virginia this summer and will miss their first home.  I love Zoe’s expression!

Jenna and Wyatt sat on the lawn and let Zoe get out some of her energy.

While Zoe was busy running around, I wanted to get a few shots of just mom and dad.  But as you can see in the background, Zoe didn’t like being excluded.

So she jumped in the middle, where she wanted to be.  Hopefully she gets used to sharing the spotlight when her little sister comes.

We decided to head indoors for some family shots.

And finally one last portrait of Jenna.  I love this one – Jenna looks stunning and so radiant with her pregnancy.

Very soon after Beth’s beautiful maternity session (check it out HERE), she gave birth to her sweet son, Dietrich.  But for one reason or another, we were not able to meet up for his newborn shoot until a little later.  At the time of this shoot, little Dietrich was about 4 months old.

Dietrich needed a little snack before we started the session, so Violet showed me her pretty baptism dress.  She was a ham for pictures, which is funny because she wasn’t very interested during the last shoot.

LOVED the detailing on her dress.  So cute!

Once Dietrich had his lunch, he was good to go for his photo shoot.  I love the feel this one with mom and dad.

Dietrich was so happy – he would squeal and giggle with delight.

What a cutie!

Exploring toes…

Then we got some with the family in the background.

The next two are my favorite from the shoot.  I couldn’t decide which one I liked best, so I included them both!  I asked older brother Calvin to frame his family with his hands.  It took a couple of tries, but he was a good sport.

Little Violet decided she was done.  Her expression makes me laugh.  :)

Finally, we decided to go outside for some family music.  Their whole family is musicians and it was fun to see them all playing together.

When Sarah emailed me about a photo session for their newborn son and toddler girls, I didn’t realize how chaotic it might be.  Even one toddler is a “wild card” but you throw in another one and a newborn and you’ve got three kids that don’t necessarily want to take direction. :P  However even though the session was quite energetic, I think we got some great shots.  It definitely helps that they are all adorable!

The girls love their new little brother.  They were happy to give him hugs and kisses.

Then they had some fun playing on the bed.

Here is the sweet little newborn, James.  He was so patient throughout the whole shoot.  Sarah wanted to capture a crying shot, but alas, James was just to happy to oblige.

What a cutie!

While we took some individual shots of James, dad read to the girls.

Then James needed a little nap, so we headed outside for some family shots.

The girls love playing Ring-Around-The-Rosie, so we played together.

And then the girls played on their own.  So cute!

Thanks for having me over to take pictures of your family.  It was so much fun.

Our good friends, Brandon and Corinne were visiting Southern California for a few days recently.  We were glad to see them and have them stay with us for a night on their way back to Napa.  While they were here I took a few photos of their adorable little Lincoln.  He is so cute, I can hardly stand it.

Our son, Eli was so excited to see their little baby.  I hope he will be as excited when his little brother comes this August.  His only problem is that he can be a little rough while trying to give hugs and kisses.

Desiree and Pat booked a maternity/newborn session a couple of weeks ago.  Here are a few pictures from their maternity session at San Dimas Canyon Park.  And hopefully soon, I will share pictures of their new little angel, Abby.

Desiree and Pat have spectacular eyes – this baby will have beautiful eyes too I’m sure.

Desiree and Pat are so loving and tender with each other – they have such a sweet relationship.

And Desiree is simply radiant.  Pregnancy suits her well, even though her belly doesn’t poke out too much.  Maybe that means she will gain her pre-pregnancy belly easier.  One can only hope right?

My favorite of the day.  :)