Amy asked if I could do family portraits for her again, and I was glad to say yes. I knew that this time around, I would have a better idea on what to do. The first time we did it, I was just starting out and playing around with the camera. To be frank, I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Since then, I have come to a better understanding of everything. So I had to do this portrait session because 1. I wanted to give the Fong family better photos and 2. I wanted to show myself that I am a much different, and better, photographer than when I first did that session on the beach. My oh my…what a difference a year (almost) makes.
For these family portraits, we stayed close to home and actually captured the beauty and community surrounding the Fong family residency. It is beautifully landscaped with a variety of flowers, gardens, and fountains. A favorite location of Amy’s is the butterfly bench. It provided a colorful backdrop to a family who plays an important role in Taro’s life. Growing up, Andy lived a couple houses down from Taro and they have been friends since…forever. Taro witnessed the development of Andy and Amy’s relationship, played the role of best man at the wedding, and has an unconditional love for Kaitlyn, their daughter. On a side note, I am still surprised each time when Andy tells us Kaitlyn only lets a few people (other than them) hold her – we made it on the list! They are a special family to both of us and we were happy to capture their warmth and love that Sunday evening.
It was a fun photo session and dinner after was awesome! Thanks for the yummy lobster and we cannot wait until next month when we take more photos of Kaitlyn along with Macy’s family portraits!
The last shot of the day:
In between Laney’s birthday party and the Edmunds family portraits session, Taro and I explored Temecula wine country. We were looking for potential places to shoot at – we actually found some cute areas at a handful of the wineries, but a two hour portrait session goes by in a blink of an eye! – and eventually, have dinner at. After driving for a bit, we settled on Ponte Winery and headed to the Smokehouse Restaurant. There we sat down to enjoy two glasses of wine and ordered the Zuppa Di Giorno, which was broccoli, Sea of Cortez Shrimp – wild caught Mexican white shrimp, house sauce, poblano goat cheese grits, pesto crostini, and the Pizza Di Giorno, which had squash on it. Of all the dishes, we enjoyed the Sea of Cortez Shrimp the best; the house sauce had some spice in it and Taro realized he really enjoys grits. The pizza was good, but did not compare to the squash pizza at Mozza (Oh so delicious!).
It was a long day – even taking photos casually at a birthday party for hours can be exhausting, especially in the sun. However, it was a good day and to end it with a glass of wine overlooking the winery with live music in the background, that was exactly what I needed.
When Julie asked me to take family portraits for her, I was ecstatic, yet nervous at the same time. Ecstatic because I LOVE taking photographs and the Edmunds family is truly picture perfect, nervous because Julie takes stunning photos of her children and I always have high expectations for myself. Being the good friend she is, she simply said, “It’s going to be better than me setting up the camera on a timer and running into the picture.” That calmed my nerves – slightly. Regardless of my nerves, I slept with ease and we woke up early in the morning to head off to Wilson Creek Winery & Vineyards for a family session.
We arrived and it was a beautiful morning out on the winery – hidden spots with tables, trees, and flowers, a bridge next to a pond, and a playground that provided the backdrop to a fun-filled day with the Edmunds family. There was laughter with the “Ca ca ca!” sound to get Laney’s attention, the rabbits that provided some spur of the moment photos of surprise, the intrigue of the crawfish climbing out of the pond, the family interaction and the mom/kid and dad/kid photos, Seth’s song about the planets, and the elongated “Cheeeese” from Seth before I would snap a photo of him. There was so much going on, yet everything centered back on the bond within the family – Caitlyn giving Julie a hug and kiss, Craig blowing and kissing Laney’s tummy, and the love and friendship between Julie and Craig.
Thank you for allowing me to share and be a part of your family, Julie and Craig. It was an amazing day spent with the two of you and the kids!
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