Meet the Wood Family! This is one fun, sweet, beautiful loving family. Kate has the patience I think many of us wish we had, which makes her an amazing kindergarten teacher. You can see that the love her and her husband Jo have for each other really influences their children. All 3 of their children are so polite and kind.

Their family photo session took place in the gorgeous Armstrong Woods State Park in Guerneville, California. What a fun a magical place for family photos! We spent part of the session doing posed photos. I enjoyed getting to see them have fun together and create family photos they can treasure.

Once we got the posed shots finished up I wanted to capture some more documentary or lifestyle images of them exploring together as a family. This is usually where I end up with my personal favorite images. I can definitely appreciate the posed official photo on the wall but having those real moments with genuine smiles is the best in my opinion :)

I am sure the Wood family will have many more fun adventures ahead together. As they adventure through life and kids grow they will always have these photos to look back on.

If you would like to have your own custom photography session for your family please contact me today.

I love being able to work literally in my own backyard. All of Sonoma County is beautiful no doubt. However, my heart lies here on the Russian River surrounded by ancient majestic redwood trees and awesome people both long time locals and tourist alike. This session was one I had envisioned since the first time I discovered this beach here in Guerneville. I was thrilled when Sarah chose this location. When they arrived for their session I found out that Sarah’s husband Ezra, actually grew up nearby and had spent time hanging out at this very beach, how cool! It was the perfect location for their family photographs.

A documentary approach to a family photo session like the Deering Family’s is not only my favorite way to capture images, it is a great option to alleviate the stress and anxiety that can come with the idea of a family photo session. I use my all mighty photographer super powers to get a feel for who you and your family are and then do my best to help bring that out in your photos. You get to have fun, play with your family and be yourself.

Some families are shy,  some adventurous and some are really silly. Every family is unique and I love being able to see the differences and then capture them. I start my sessions by giving a little direction as to a good place to stand or say something like  “hey, do you know how to play ring around the rosies?” or declare a silly face making competition. You can see these two little cuties seemed to enjoy that.

While having fun I mix in a few “posed” shots too. I believe in having photos on the wall that you can look back on remembering how it was for real, not necessarily a perfectly posed photograph. Emmett is  like a lot of 6 year olds and loves pokemon cards!  When it came time for a photo of him alone I thought it could be fun to incorporate that. He liked the idea and his parents will treasure that sweet little grin forever..win, win!

Since they are such good sports they wrapped up their session  with a group family Pokemon card shot…how fun is that?!

Lets plan your family photo session experience today!

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Meet the Coel family! Michelle contacted me about a family maternity session and also wanted to have photos of  their son Christian for his birthday. Maternity photography sessions hold so much excitement. It does not matter if it is the first child or 10th…everyone is anxiously awaiting of this new life coming. Mothers are glowing and I say this honestly they look amazing! Even if they may feel they don’t they do. I have yet to photograph a pregnant woman that did not look gorgeous. We chose one of my favorite Sonoma County Regional Parks for their session location. The light and scenery never disappoint.

I really enjoyed getting to know this sweet family and capturing the last photos of them as a family of three.

The bond between mother and son is like no other, it warms your heart and soul to see how much they love each other. Playful Christian would run only so far before running back into his mamas safe arms.<3

Christian was a little shy at first and I don’t mind that one bit. It gives me a chance to get to know my clients better when I put the camera down a bit and take some time to talk and play. I know it is worth it to take the time to have him feel comfortable around me and get beautiful photos than rush it and force him only to end up with something not as sweet as these images. These are the moments of a soon to be big brother and 5 year old captured forever.

I have to share one of the things that I loved to hear from Michelle when we were setting up her session was how she heard that I offer prints and she really wanted to be sure she had her photos to display. Yay! Then she shared with me how her maternity photos from her first child are still on a disc, eeek! I know that is all too common I totally get it! It is so easy to feel like you had them done and you will print eventually, when you have time, the next time you see a great deal from your favorite place to print only to then find yourself years later with them on a disc and then you feel like it is too late. First it is never too late print them anyways, please please please!! Second avoid that in the future by having a full service photographer 🙂 You will want to look back on these photos and having quality prints is the only way to ensure you can see them later. Since I started photography the disc drives are not being part of computers just as floppy disc went away. Technology is always changing and we can’t keep up. Ok sorry to go on and on but I do feel as a professional it is important to remind everyone of these things 🙂

I will leave you with this the Coel family. Thank you Michelle, Will and Christian for having me photograph your family.