Williams Family :: Photo Swap

I remember one of the first times I met Jessica. We had just started at a new church and didn't know many people but she was always so nice every time we crossed paths. One day I decided to offer my photography skills to her (she was pregnant at the time and I was still pimping myself out offering free sessions for practice) and handed her my card. Lo and behold she says, "oh I'm a photographer too." For some reason it made me totally embarrassed and I think I awkwardly smiled and said, oh cool! Or something lame like that! I don't know why I was so embarrassed. Perhaps it was my pride or maybe I felt like she was thinking how silly it was of me to be offering photo sessions to random people when clearly I was an amateur. Who really knows. I look back on it now and just laugh because had I never offered them to her, I may have never really "met" her or become friends. 

Fast forward a year or so, I approached her again about photos (apparently I didn't learn) but this time I was more interested in a photo swap. I'd do their family pictures and she'd do ours. We had started to get to know each other by this time so it wasn't as awkward as I'm making it out to be hehe. She was totally game and I was excited to be able to get more practice and have some awesome pictures done of us as well. We headed out to my new secret shooting spot and had fun. There wasn't any pressure and they were so relaxed about it all. They put up with my random requests and smiled through the directions as if I really knew what I was doing! 

Baby G totally cooperated and laughed through the whole session which made it even easier to capture some pretty cool memories. I'm super excited to get ours done this weekend!

 

Jess, thank you for being so approachable and for letting me "talk shop" with you. You've encouraged me and supported me without even knowing it. I'm so excited about our new adventure but I'm even more thankful I can call you a friend. 

♥

mandi

Check out their full gallery HERE!

Soto Family Session :: It Started With a Vision

This was my first time shooting the Soto Family and I was more than excited! I've known Marisa since college but we've become even better friends in the last few years or so. You might remember a mini makeover I helped her with a while back. We talked then about me doing a family session for them but time took over like it always does and we never got around to it. With Christmas (and another baby) rapidly approaching we finally nailed down a date and prayed the weather would cooperate. Marisa had a vision from the start about what she wanted from this photo session...to sum it up in as few words as possible, she wanted "open field" and "sofa." I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit stressed at first because what if MY interpretation of what she wanted didn't match her vision?? I would hate to disappoint a client and a friend! The more I thought about it though the more excited I became because without knowing it, Marisa actually helped me to focus. Knowing she wanted a certain "look" allowed me to think only about that and not about all the millions of other options that run through my head during a shoot. I'm hoping my interpretation of her vision meets her expectations! Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

Soto family, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of such a fun day. I truly enjoyed the challenge and I love that you knew what you wanted from the get go! BIG props to Dean for carrying the sofa (I told you Marisa knew what she wanted...she even brought her own props!) and to Mrs. Emde for helping corral, entertain, and support this adventure.

You can enjoy their full gallery HERE or view the slideshow below:

♥

Mandi

Pinto Family Session :: 2012

Once again I got to shoot a family session for our good friends (and neighbors!). You may remember them from their shoot last year when I was just branching out and practicing on anyone who would pose for me! This year we visited one of my favorite "woodsy" locations and had fun gallivanting through the trees. It's fun to look back on last year's pictures and compare them to this year and see (hopefully) some growth in my work. More importantly though, you can see how much their little girl has grown! Isn't she just beautiful?! As always, here are a few of my favorites

Thanks guys for coming back and letting me shoot you all over again! You guys are awesome.

You can click here for their full gallery!

Gauss Family Session :: San Juan Capistrano

For this family session, Danielle wanted to head back down to the mission/train station in San Juan Capistrano. You might remember we did this shoot down there prior, so I was excited to find new areas and looks for their family shoot. I knew it was going to be lots of fun. Her girls both have such great personalities and none of them are shy in front of the camera! Boy was I right. These girls gave me poses and worked their angles and faces like no other. Ryan was a trooper and went along with whatever we decided, making us laugh along the way. Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

 

We had a great time and I enjoyed spending the afternoon with long time friends. Thank you Gauss family for making my job easy...you're definitely pros!! Can't wait until our next session!!

♥

mandi