My soon to be daughter-in-law is the daughter I always wanted. It was extra special for me to be at her wedding dress selection with her mother and best friend. Beautiful from the inside and out, I am so happy she fell in love with my son. I am looking forward to their wedding October 1st 2016 at The Rincon Beach Club in Santa Barbara.
In this day and age of digital photography, instant photographs, iPhone and iPad cameras, Instagram and the like, I wonder what will happen to the traditional classic family portrait photograph. In twenty years, where will your children find images of you and themselves? I think what is lasting will be what photographs are on your wall, in a photo album or on your desk. As a family portrait photographer my greatest gift to my clients is creating heirloom family photographs that will last beyond their children’s lifetime.
My ninety-three year old mother lives quite a distance from me and I visit her several times a year. Many years ago I had given her a copy of the photograph below, a special memory for our family. It was my birthday and she was making a carrot cake to celebrate! My youngest son Kristofer was in her arms tasting. My older son Jan had his own spatula to lick.
On my most recent visit my son Kristofer, her grandson came along. At first she wasn’t sure who he was. She looked perplexed at the handsome twenty-three year old six foot tall young man in her room. We showed her the photograph from many years ago and said this is your grandson all grown up!
The light in her eyes was amazing!! The joy she had in realizing who Kristofer was was priceless. Thank heavens for heirloom family photographs.
Making family portraits is my passion. I am thrilled to work with families that return year after year for family portrait sessions since I get to photograph the children as they grow. I started photographing this family when they were pregnant with their first child in 2005. Since then, they have a second child and Applejack, the family bulldog has aged considerably. The beach is a place they frequent and enjoy so many of the sessions have been at different ocean and bay beaches. I choose playful and fun activities that the family can participate in. This series of photographs was made in the summer of 2013 and represent pages from their family storybook album.
Each year this family chooses a new family activity to include in their album. Over the years, we have photographed Dad arriving at the train station, the town ice cream parlor, and pumpkin picking at Pumpkin-town. This year their older son had an interest in surfing. In the end, everyone participated.
Dad was a great sport opting for the final page with a giant splash!