Katie & Nathan :: Couples Session :: Camp Pendleton, CA

Whew! This fall is going by so quickly that it's crazy. I am in the middle of a teaching credential program and am still continuing to shoot part-time, which is making for an incredibly busy year. It's nice to take a break from the schoolwork and be able to be creative for a while though :)

I met up with Katie and Nathan on Camp Pendleton last week, and we had a great time. Nathan was a good sport about being there, even if he wasn't thrilled about getting his picture taken! I could tell within the first few frames that they are one of those couples that is just innately comfortable together, which makes my job so much easier.

Here's a few of my favorites from their session -













Love love love this last one!



Thanks again for a great session, Katie & Nathan! I hope you had a wonderful time on your trip back East.

Barrett :: Newborn Session

I was so excited to meet baby Barrett a few weeks ago. Barrett's dad, Dave, came home from deployment this summer - you can see their homecoming photos here, and I'm so glad he was able to be with Ashley for the end of her pregnancy and for Barrett's birth.

I've been picking up a few newborn items here & there, and was so glad to finally get to use them - especially this fur.





Love all his hair!


And the little smile :)



There's a story that goes along with this photo...I brought up the idea of trying this with Ashley a few days before the session. However - since they are in the middle of PCSing, Dave's kevlar helmet had already been packed. I borrowed my husband's with the promise that nothing would happen to it. We thought we were totally fine, and everything went pretty well settling Barrett into the kevlar. However...when we lifted him off a few minutes later, there was baby poo inside! Oops! I obviously wiped it off and it was fine - but the first question my husband asked when he came home that night was, "Did anything happen in my helmet?!". I was going to try and keep a straight face and just white lie, but it wasn't possible. I ended up bursting out laughing at the look on his face. All of the pads went into the washing machine, but his kevlar is now fine - and this shot was entirely worth it.





Ashley and Dave's bedroom had amazing light from their sliding glass door - it was wonderful to shoot with!











I hope your move goes as smothly as possible, Ashley! I'm so glad I met you guys - enjoy your time in DC!

The A. Family :: Family Session

I recently met up with the A. Family on Camp Pendleton for a family session. Irene and Edgar's son is 10 months old, and just adorable.





I love this one of Edgar and Sebastian - so serious.









We had *gorgeous* light happening :)





I really like getting some images with just the parents as well. That way, the kids get a little bit of a break, and you finally have some images together that weren't taken by holding the camera out with your hand. I know my family has so few images of my parents together, because they were busy taking the photos all the time!





I was so excited for this shoot when Irene told me that they were going to bring along their English Mastiff, Charlie Brown. My parents had two English Mastiffs while I was growing up, appropriately named Tinkerbell and Pixie Dust. They were awesome dogs, and I really wanted to get a few photos of just their son Sebastion with Charlie Brown.

Here's one of me in elementary school with Tinkerbell :) I didn't have any photos here I could scan, so my mom sent me over a photo of one that they had.



And Sebastion with Charlie Brown! We tried to get him to sit on Charlie at the beginning of the shoot, but he kept rolling over, haha. Too funny!



This was later in the evening after we gave him a chance to relax a bit.



Thanks again for a great time, Irene & Edgar! It was so nice to meet you both.

The Ashley Family :: Family Shoot

Last weekend, I met up with the extended Ashley family in San Clemente for the evening. I had previously done predeployment photos for Shannon and Christine, and was excited to meet the rest of Shannon's family who were visiting from Illinois for part of his post-deployment leave.

Coming from a family of 6 kids, I understand how nice it is to have photos of everyone together since it rarely happens. And I also understand that it can be quite difficult to get that many people to cooperate at once, haha. But everything went super smoothly that night, and we got a lot of great images. Here's a few of my favorites so far.





The adorable Tatum and I played peek-a-boo under the pier :)







Thanks again, Ashley family! Hope you enjoyed the rest of your visit in CA!

Farnum Family :: Homecoming

Last weekend, the last group from 2/5 finally arrived home. I was SO glad that it worked out that I was able to be at this homecoming - my summer classes started last week, and I unfortunately couldn't make it to another one of 2/5's since it was during the week. Luckily, at least this one fell on a Saturday AND there was daylight (which has been hard to come by at homecomings lately)! I was doubly happy, haha.

I was also super excited to shoot this homecoming in particular. I have photographed a few of 2/5's homecomings last year, and met Cindy there last summer. She is absolutely amazing, and also runs Operation Help a Hero, which helps to care for our military families by sponsoring events like barracks drives and baby showers. She touches so many other military families lives that I was so glad to be able to document her family's homecoming. Just another example of how selfless Cindy is - she hired me not only for her homecoming, but to document other families in 2/5 as well. After the formation was released, my shutter was clicking like crazy for the next few minutes!

Here's Cindy and a bunch of other 2/5 ladies waiting for the guys to arrive.





Poor Kylie! Cindy's daughter was getting so bored & anxious by the time the Marines were almost there.



First homecoming photo I got after they were released from formation :)





Kylie's first hug!









In between photos of the Farnum's, I ran around and got a bunch from other families.

Love this one.






And then I went back to Kylie and her Dad - she was just so enchanted with him.







The whole family together again!



I don't want to totally overload the blog with images, so I tried to limit it :) You can check out more images on my Facebook page!

Welcome home again, Lt. Col. Farnum and the rest of 2/5, and thank you for your service!