Beautiful Baby ~ Kate

One of our fabulous clients volunteers for the National Charity League, Juniors of Ventura County. Back in March they held their annual Art of Giving event where they raised over $90,000 to support the new Children's Cancer and Blood Diseases Program at Ventura County Medical Center. We really wanted to participate in such a wonderful cause, so we donated one of our Beautiful Collection portrait packages for the silent auction.

John and Kristin were the lucky winners of a Beautiful Baby portrait session...at least we think they're lucky! John is a physician with one of VCMC's Ambulatory Care Clinics. He and Kristin are two incredibly devoted parents...they have to be with FIVE beautiful daughters! We had the pleasure of being invited into their lovely home to photograph all of them - John, Kristin, Sarah Rose, Emma, Julia, Mia and Baby Kate. Whew! Baby Kate is just two months old but she's already an old pro handling a busy household. She didn't cry once while we were there and watched everything we did with such intensity and listened to every word we said. It was amazing! In fact, all the girls were amazing! We had so much fun with this beautiful family!

Thank you John, Kristin, Sarah Rose, Emma, Julia, Mia and Kate! We can't wait to see you again! And John, good luck on your adventurous hike...

* If you are interested in donating to the National Charity League, Juniors of Ventura County, or seeing more of what they do, please visit www.ncljuniorsventura.org *

Beautiful Baby ~ Kierstyn

Baby Kierstyn made her debut on July 30th in a beautiful and peaceful home birth surrounded by her loving family. Well, big sister Brynn did sleep through most of it! But she is so proud of her little sister and has been quite a big helper!

This adorable little beanie was made by Kellie's midwife (Mary Jackson Midwifery). Who also helped make Scott and Kellie's home birth an awesome experience!

Congratulations Scott, Kellie and Brynn! Kierstyn is absolutely perfect and so very loved! Thank you for letting us share in this special time with all of you!

Julie & Peter ~ Engaged

We spent a beautiful morning in Santa Barbara with Julie and Peter, a wonderful couple that we could have spent the whole day with. They are getting married in September...on 9-10-11 at 12 to be exact!

We started out at a park across the street from Peter's home, which has a gorgeous view of the ocean. If this was our view, I don't think we would ever leave home!

Peter has the coolest little red dune buggy!


From the park, we headed to La Casa de Maria in Montecito. We've lived in this area for nine years and traveled to Santa Barbara many, many times, and had no idea this little gem of a location existed! It's a non-profit organization, whose mission is to provide a sanctuary for people of all faiths to gather and serve their community. It's tranquil and so beautiful. We didn't want to leave! And this is where Julie and Peter met...the rest, as they say, is history.


Rule #62...don't take yourself so seriously.

On their wedding invitation, it reads "This is where Julie and Peter met. We sat on a small wall and looked down this road, talking for hours. This place, this spot, what we saw, the road we were going to be on, is so significant that we've made it the background for our wedding invitation."

Julie and Peter, we are so honored to be a part of your lives and your journey together. Thank you so much for inviting us to this very special place.

Susan & Al ~ Engaged

He couldn't take his eyes off her...the ENTIRE time! And when she smiled at him, her whole face lit up. We spent a beautiful Saturday morning with Susan and Al and we are so excited for their upcoming October wedding. They will be exchanging vows at the gorgeous Padre Serra church in Camarillo in front of their closest family and friends. We headed to Hartley Botanica for their engagement session and had a blast! These two laughed...a lot. Which means we laughed...a lot! Although we also felt a little guilty being witness to some tenderly intimate moments...but we still captured them with our cameras forever freezing those moments in time.

We can already tell these two have a wonderful future ahead of them. And we are so happy we get to be a part of it! Thank you Susan and Al for a great Saturday!

Beautiful Belly ~ Amanda, Mohamed & Liyana

We got to the house a few minutes early and when Amanda answered the door, she anxiously said, "we're not quite ready, but make yourselves at home and we'll be right down." So, Terry and I began looking around the beautiful, spacious home and getting our equipment ready. When Amanda, Mohamed, and Liyana came downstairs, we realized how worth the few minute wait they were...these three were adorably dressed with big smiles on their faces! Two and a half year old Liyana wasn't the least bit shy...in fact, she performed for us the entire time! We were so amazed at how SMART this kid is. She recited her alphabet, named the days of the week, the months of the year, said hello in three different languages, and did gymnastics! I'm sure it has to do with the great genes she has. Her mom is a nurse and her dad a lawyer. And she spends lots of time with a very smart grandma! Needless to say, baby Adam is already one blessed little boy...and he isn't even here yet! But smart genes aside, this family absolutely loves and adores one another and it showed every second we spent with them.

How CUTE is this little girl?!?

Thank you so much Amanda, Mohamed, and Liyana! We had so much fun photographing your beautiful family and we can't wait to meet baby Adam!

Beautiful Belly ~ Kellie, Scott, & Brynn

Scott, Kellie and 2 year old Brynn invited us into their wonderful home for a portrait session starring Kellie's beautifully pregnant belly. Their baby girl will be arriving soon and you can just feel the excitement and anticipation radiating from all three of them!

Brynn isn't quite sure what to make of all of it yet. She knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy...and she knows she will get her very own big girl bed...and she knows it's getting harder and harder for her little legs to wrap around mommy's waist...but she is still mommy's #1 girl!

While we were there, Kellie and Scott read "I'm a Big Sister" to Brynn. But Brynn was much more interested in reading "Parenting from the Inside Out." It was so cute to see her with that big book! We know that Brynn will be a great big sister and Scott and Kellie's hearts are bursting with love for their new little baby girl.

Kellie is something of a basketball player and this is very much a basketball loving house so this was a must have shot of ours. We love it so much!

It doesn't get much cuter than this...

Congratulations Scott, Kellie, Brynn, and the rest of your family! We can't wait to meet this beautiful baby girl!!!

Beautiful Family ~ The Tobin Girls

Their mom has been begging for a loooooong time for portraits of the two of them...and as Hannah gets ready to go off to college, she and her sister, Shana, finally agreed. And we were the lucky photographers chosen! These two gorgeous sisters, and their mom, came to visit us in Fillmore for an early morning portrait session. And although it was rather gloomy (and chilly!), they brought color to the day and totally rocked!

These two had plenty of sisterly "inside jokes" that had them cracking up. We still wish we knew what they were talking about...

Thank you Shana and Hannah for the opportunity to take some gorgeous portraits of you two! And thank you Margaret for trusting us with your family's memories. Next time, it has to be all four of you!!!!!