A day in this life - February 3, 2016.

Last year I decided to spend one entire day documenting what our life looked like at that time. Where did we live? What were we doing? How were we feeling? I loved being able to have these photographs to remind me of that time in our lives. And even though an entire day spent with camera in hand is EXHAUSTING it is also so gratifying. Honestly, I recommend that everyone do it. Even if it's just with a cellphone camera. What a treasure it is to have. You can see last years post here. 

This year I learned a few new things... first, trying to take pictures all day with a nursing, teething infant is nearly impossible. Second, things seem to be much busier this year. I know that comes with growing kids and their changing interests but for some unknown reason I chose to photograph a day that we spent many hours out of the house at karate and basketball. Chaos. Beautiful, fun, exhausting, infuriating chaos. Nonetheless, for better or worse, here is our day. 

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016.

February 3rd is my sister, Hallie's birthday. So we called to sing to her. 

Off to karate.

Off to basketball.

The boys went to see 'The Force Awakens' at the base theater while the girls and I went home for dinner, play and bedtime.

What a difference a year makes. Can't wait to see where we are in 2017. 

   

A winter beach session with the Lyson family. {La Jolla Shores, San Diego}

I've shown you what you get with a mini session. Now I want to show you what can get with a full session. Full sessions last at least an hour and allow for so much variety. It gives kiddos time to warm up a bit and allows for lots of play time which almost always yields adorable candid photos of kids at their best. As you'll see in this session we were able to do lots of different groupings - the whole family, Mom with each kiddo, Dad with each kiddo, sibling photos, couple photos and individual photos of each child. We were also able to move around quite a bit to get photos with the cliffs, the pier and of course the ocean. Mini sessions can be great but I love having enough time to get to know my families a bit better and to really capture those candid expressions that parents love so much. 

To see an example of a mini session you can go here.

Valentines Day Mini Sessions {Villa Norte Park, San Diego}

I often get asked what a mini session looks like and how it's different from a full session. 

A mini session moves fast - typically 20 minutes verses a full session that lasts an hour. Mini session images are almost exclusively made up of posed shots where as a full session includes many candid images and more variety. In every photo session I try to get photos of the whole group (family, siblings, etc.) as well as individual photos. Mini sessions go quickly which is often a good thing when you have young children with short attention spans. Are you worried about getting good photos of your children? Don't be, even in a short session you can definitely capture some beautiful images.

This is a mini session I captured of my own kiddos with my Valentines Day set up - I hope it helps to give you an idea of what to expect from your own mini session! 

To see what a full session looks like go here.