I love being able to photograph families doing life together.  We photography my cousin Jackie's little family adventuring through the UCR Botanical Gardens.  Finding sticks, playing hide-n-go-seek, and counting turtles.  Capturing their family just as who they are.  More and more I find myself doing these kinds of photos.  It just feels more natural to me than the smiley ones.  But not so aloof or stylized as the lifestyle photos.  Just more real.  And I love getting a glimpse of the real in families.  Because some days are just so good your heart wants to explode.  And we should always try and remember those days and how they make us feel.  

Anyway, here are the beautiful photos! Click on the photo to make them larger. 

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Monica had contacted me a couple weeks into December asking for a portrait session of her and her husband.  Monica revealed to me that on her wedding day back in August, everything that could go wrong, did.  It rained, her bouquet was wrong, her hair style didn't last, and as a result, they got very little photos of the two of them.   So while she and her husband, Paul, were on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, they took advantage of having a session done to make up for all that happened on their day.   After hearing everything that had happened, I wanted to make sure we got some killer photos of the two of them.  Never did I think she would bring a gorgeous wedding dress to the shoot!!!

It was absolutely fantastic and even though it was a bit cloudy, we did get a little sliver of sunset.  And a whole lot of beautiful photos!  Enjoy!

When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately thought of doing a studio type of session when the time came.  I was super happy to have my husband take the others in the mountains for me and they are some of my favorites, however, these in studio just have a different feel.  I am so happy with them!!!

If you know me, you know that I'm not particularly fond of showing so much skin but being pregnant I feel like the tummy needs to be shown off!  I love it when my clients show off their baby bumps and so I too had a lot of fun. 

We took our own photos right here in our home last night and it was such a great experience to be able to take photos and pose all while trying to beat the 10 second timer, haha.  

So here they are! (You can see Part I HERE.)

I love having the beach so close by!  Makes it all that more fun when I have families who are from out of town come visit and take advantage of the view with a fun family portrait session!

Tere contacted me via Facebook letting me know that she and her family were going to be in town.  We coordinated and I met them at their resort, The Grand Mayan, in Nuevo Vallarta.  What a gorgeous location! The best is when the hotels have beautiful  beachfronts to soak in the sunset!  We had fun splashing in the water and getting to know each other a little better.  

If you are traveling to Puerto Vallarta or anywhere in the Riviera Nayarit area, please let me know and we can take advantage of the beautiful views and get a sweet portrait session done! An amazing memory to take back with you from your vacation 😉

Sometimes, things don't go so according to plan and you end up with even better results! We were headed to the beach on Saturday to take these but low and behold, it was pouring rain.  Like thunderstorm and wind pouring.  No chance of getting any sunlight at all.  So we aborted the mission and on our way home, Aldo turned to me and said, "Can I take some with the hills and the fog if we find a good spot?" I said, "Sure!"  As we made our way back home, we found a few good spots and quickly jumped out to take some photos.  

I love that Aldo has such a different perspective when it comes to taking photos and he can always make me feel absolutely comfortable in front of the camera.  

I LOVE these photos!!!

This is only part one.  Part two is coming soon ;).   We are so ready to meet this little baby of ours... the due date can't come soon enough!

I love when families come back and have more photos taken.  I met Nereida and Gabriel close to two years ago by pure happenstance.  I walked up to them at a Starbucks and offered them a session seeing that Nereida was pregnant baby Leah.  I handed them a business card and then went back to my seat and a few weeks later, I got a call from them!  They revealed that they had a bad experience with another photographer and were apprehensive to have the session done.  I could tell during the session they were worried as to whether I'd do the same.

I can honestly say it's such a gift for me to be able to give clients a great experience and have them come back for more.  Means I have restored their faith in photography and I can't wait to photograph them once baby Lucca is here!

Watching families grow has been such a great experience for me and I love having clients be happy with their memories, as we all know, babies grow up so fast!  You can view the previous session HERE.

This session was done on the last day of 2015.  Definitely the best way to end the year on a high note with this amazing and loving family!  They took me in and made me feel like hoping into the photos with them, lol!

That's why I love my clients.  I love that we get each other, joke, have a good time, and feel like family.  That experience is what I live for, really.  The photography is just a plus!

Thank you Mariana for inviting me into your home to spend a incredibly lovely morning with your family.  I love all of the Ulloa family!

I think I'm going to switch to these slideshow posts, what do you think? Or should I keep the old format?

*Español*
Esta sesión fue tomada en el ultimo día de 2015.  Definitivamente la mejor manera de cerrar el año con una familia increíble y llena de amor.  Hicieron que me sintiera como uno de ellos que casi sali en las fotos, jaja.  Por eso amo a mis clientes.  Amo que nos entendemos, que tenemos mucho en común, poder reírnos, y sentirnos como familia.  Esa es la experiencia que me hace sentir viva, las fotos solo son un plus!  Gracias, Mariana por invitarme a tu casa y hacerme sentir como uno de ustedes! Tuve una mañana increíble y los quiero a todos!

Officially December! I don't know about you but that makes me super excited!  

Back in October I had the privilege of photographing some really great families.  I always have such a fun time and love catching up with clients.   Especially when I see the children grow over the years! 

Here I am combining them into one amazing post because they really were so fun to photograph and just love all of these people! 

I am currently editing a wedding and after, I'll be prepping my home for Holiday visits! I'm so excited for our families to come and I'll probably be a little tied up with that so I want to wish everyone a mega happy holidays and see you in the new year!

Forsee Family

1//Forsee Family        2//Jones Family       3//Valdez Family       4//Garcia-Medina Family           
5//Shramek-Miranda Family          6//Torres Family

Again and again I am blown away by how wonderful my clients have been!  The mini sessions this year were just downright FUN!  I am so glad that I was able to create something unique and beautiful for each and every one of my clients this year.  Mostly, in the streets of downtown Riverside.  

One thing about shooting in the same location is that it never gets boring.  It makes me work harder to get something different every time.  Use the energy of each client to make something new and one of kind.  I like that. 

I can't believe how grown up Astrid is now! Graduating next semester is a huge step toward something bigger and better!  Congrats beautiful!  I can't wait to see how you make your mark on this world!  

Oh boy, this beautiful woman is just breathtaking!  Laura and I have been friends for a few years now thanks to photography!  Can't say enough about how fun she is to be around and even more when she's growing a human. 

Everything about this shoot was just perfect.  The light, the dress, the location, and especially Laura!  Such an amazing shoot!  

Got like 10 more coming up so stay tuned for each sneak preview!