San Diego

The Acosta Family Portraits at Mission Trails

About 12 years ago I met Nena and her family for the first time on a mission’s trip down to Mexico. I had, of course, no idea how that trip would completely change the direction of my entire life. Just one of the countless ways that it changed was by binding my heart to my friend who has become more sister then friend. Fede and Nena are our children’s godparents, and truly love our daughter’s as their own. Those that have kids know that there is nothing greater than this that you can ask for in our friendship. They are also our pastors, our confidants, our encouragers, our “keeping it real” people, through the thick and thin they have stuck. I am so blessed to have this gift of friendship in my life.

I have taken pictures of Lesly and Aaron since Aaron was barely old enough to walk. Now, Lesly has just turned 15. It is sort of unbelievable how time flies by. And also, how my photography has improved, haha… when I was editing these pictures I was somewhat taken aback looking at how they have grown, almost adults themselves. Any parent will know that this is bittersweet. You want to pause moments, relive them- but you can’t. So we try to do these shoots as often as we can because in some way we are pausing the moment so that we can later relive it. This is a gift I can give and I can’t put into words how honored I feel to do so.

I am going to warn you ahead of time, I am going to overpost, I can’t help it.

The Papapietro Family at Presidio Park

This special family are no strangers to my blog- in fact, this fall I did pictures of Amanda’s family by themselves and Liz’s family by themselves. But I absolutely love that every year Katie, Amanda and Liz’s mom, makes it a priority to get them all together and do what I refer to as “the big family shoot”. It is always eventful- full of laughing, crying (mostly the toddler but sometimes the mom chasing the toddler lol), and lots of singing/dancing/yelling/hooting/anything to get the kids’ attention.

I love this family, each and everyone of them. I can’t imagine a single year where we don’t do this. I hope it never stops.

Kayla's Quinceanera Portraits at Steele Canyon Bridge

Turning 15 is a big deal- Kayla’s Quinceanera shoot had to be rescheduled until after her actual party due to rain- and I mean a lot of rain, days of rain. But she looked as cute as the day of her party in her vaquera dress and boots. Kayla, I hope this is a wonderful year for you! Happy Birthday!

The Shore Family Portraits at Lake Jennings

Trent, Liz and Penny are the perfect team! And when it comes to taking pictures I am telling you they were born for this. Literally Penny came out of the womb looking at the camera and hasn’t stopped since. She is my perfect little model. Her disposition leaves you just constantly wanting to squeeze her and she gets so much love and support from her amazing parents. Trent and Liz are amazing and they make my job easy!

When we started planning this shoot Liz already knew where she wanted to head to- Lake Jennings. Lake Jennings is a pretty dreamy location because of the way the sun sets glows through the trees and sparkles off the water. There are a lot of lakes but not many that have trees all around the edge of the lake, making shooting there peaceful, easy and beautiful. Liz is great about communicating with me for a few weeks before our shoot to make sure the outfits are just right. And as you can see in these pictures that makes all the difference! I love these pictures and Liz I hope that you do too!