Tag Archives: family

zeszut family | family portraits | santa cruz photographer

When my kids were still babies I used to pack them up in the car with my massive double stroller and go exploring through new neighborhoods all over town. On one of those adventures I discovered the most amazing and sunshine filled road that led up to beautiful views of the Santa Cruz mountains. I remember walking past this one particular property on that road and thinking what a magical place it would be to grow up there. Well it turns out I had the honor of photographing the family who live on that very property and honestly, between the the persimmon tree, the kind and carefree kids, the swings, the farm house, grandma’s cottage, the art, the views and the parents’ love, it was everything that I imagined…and then some.

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cornerstone gardens with my two moms

I asked my Mom what she wanted for her birthday, and she said that all she wanted was a girls’ day…so we chose Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma as our destination, and had the most idyllic summer day wandering through the sculpture gardens, art installations and shops, followed by some wine and olive oil tasting and ending with dinner on the water in Sausalito. Now that I am a mama myself I can appreciate my Mom to a whole new level of love, and every year I come to celebrate her life a little more. She is the most amazingly strong, huge-hearted, fun-loving, passionate woman you could ever hope to have nurture you from womb to adulthood. She brightens the lives around her with her enthusiasm for life, her invented vocabulary, her liberal use of curse words, her over-zealous hand gestures, her beautiful shock of red hair and her youthful spirit. I love the fact that she continues to celebrate her 18th birthday every year. Mom, I hope that all of your wishes are granted and grown upon.

I had to post this first picture of both of my moms. I love them both to the moon and back, and my life is infinitely better thanks to their presences in it.

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a family portrait session with my family

I am so in love with this family…because they are my actual family, (thanks to my husband Gabe having Jessie as his sister.) I honestly have no idea how I lucked out in marrying someone with a family that I actually enjoy being with, and even calling after the ‘being with’ to talk for a few late night hours. This is a family that offers a permanent supply of  love, support and hand-me-down gossip magazines, so they definitely deserved a little something back, but being an artist with little to offer besides some creativity and heart I was forced to give the lamest excuse for a present ever: a hand made gift certificate. Granted it was an excessively large gift certificate, colorfully written on a stretched canvas, with instructions to hang the certificate on a wall in their home until it was redeemed for the real gift; a family portrait session, but it was still essentially a gregarious coupon posing as a Christmas gift. Finally, a half a year later, I’m finally offering something back to the most deserving and beautiful family ever; documentation of their connection as a family and some memories of this fleeting moment in the girls’ lives. I usually post mostly color photos, but for this session the toned black and white images felt much more powerful to me. I think when the color is removed from an image we are more easily able to focus on the emotion within the image. I find so much love and spirit communicated in all of the expressions and gestures that these four share. I included a little color some color at the end,  to show that it really was a stunning summer day at the beach, that there are some insanely dazzling blue eyes in this family, and to convey that there is a very vibrant future ahead of this crazy hula hooping crew!

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family portrait session at cowell’s | santa cruz photographer

A husband who makes every effort and arrangement to grant his wife’s birthday wish is the sweetest, but a husband who has a super-hot wife who cares for their three angelic kids with her calm and kind ways is the luckiest….so I guess these two are even. Dad scheduled this family portrait session on Mom’s actual birthday, (right before the party that was happening at their house that afternoon) and chose the brand new sand bar beach at Cowell’s for the location. I drove by the spot earlier in the day and was a little worried to discover that there was no beach, only waves crashing against the cliff. When I went back only a few hours later the little beach had appeared, along with the crowds of surfers and families eager to experience the novelty. We explored around and found cliffs covered in algae, a kid-sized cave, beautiful boulders and mounds of seaweed. I had so much fun getting to know each of the personalities within the family, and the whole time I couldn’t help but be inspired by the grace of these two parents, the beauty of their kids and the amazing obedience of their dog. They definitely made having three kids look far easier then I imagined. Getting all three to look at the camera and smile, however…not so easy. Sending out a big Happy Birthday to Chelsea! Wishing you a wonderful new year filled with good times and many more beach days (oh, and a daughter who completely overcomes her fear of the beach! )

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family portrait session | santa cruz photographer

I got to photograph the very beginning of this family, back when big sister had just been born. Fast forward two very short years, and I am back to photograph this family again, together with it’s newest member; a little sister! It’s always so amazing to get to experience the growth of a family and the personalities that emerge once those newborns grow up into toddlers. I loved being introduced to little sister by big sister, and as I stared at this beautiful new life I wondered who she would grow up to become. We managed to have some fun and get some shots in between the fussiness and fatigue that is expected of a newborn, and the desire to play and resistance to pose that is expected of a toddler. In those ‘between’ moments I am always trying to capture the character of each child and each family at that time and the beauty of this ‘stage’ because I am so aware that we’re all in a constant state of evolution.

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dad & daughter | portrait session | santa cruz photographer

I have to say that I love a Dad who keeps his daughter home from school on a Friday just so that they can hang out together, (I hope I’m not ruining any alibis ) a Dad who wants to remember each stage of his daughter’s childhood by doing annual portraits together, a Dad who builds the things that his daughter designs and launches a business together called Sugarline because her middle name is Sugar, but mostly I love a Dad who simply adores his daughter.

I am a self proclaimed post-a-holic, and so I’m going to do my best to resist the urge to post about 100 images form this single portrait session. There were so many great moments, expressions and acrobatics documented that I find it really challenging to be selective. I think that I get extra snap-happy whenever I sense a depth of connection between the people I am photographing, and this father and daughter are so beautifully close and comfortable together that I never noticed the time nor the frames flying by until the raindrops started falling. I could tell that they just truly enjoyed each other’s company…and of course I loved being around them too.

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three sisters | portrait session | bay area photographer

Three beautiful sisters who live in different parts of the country were united in Palo Alto for the holidays, so I came to capture some of their time together. Lots of laughter and sisterly antics ensued, as the youthful spirit of adolescence re-emerged while they posed, pulled funny faces and played in the park together. The three of them have such a connection with each other and with their sweet father, who joined us too. I love how they were all up for anything and even agreed to lay on the ground and let me hover over them to get the shots I had in mind. I love my brother to pieces, but I kinda wish I had two sisters now.

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the brians | family portrait session | bay area photographer

I have known this beautiful mama since the 7th grade. She is a such a loyal and dear friend and I feel so honored that she has chosen me to photograph her wedding, her pregnancies, her first born and her now her complete family. We met at Pigeon Point Lighthouse on the California coast, and had so much fun just hanging out together in the salty and brisk morning air. I don’t think I have ever photographed a young boy who is as sweet and as good a listener as her son, and her daughter has grown up into the cutest and most curious little toddler already. Seeing them all reminds me of how quickly time passes, and I love photography for helping to slow things down a little by freezing a few fleeting moments.

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