The Coulston Family Portrait - Dana Point, CA

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The Coulston Family Portrait - Dana Point, CA

We don’t remember days, we remember moments. It’s one thing to have a family portrait, but it’s pretty special when you can bring the extended family to join in on capturing important memories. The Coulston’s are the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Their expressions captured are a reflection of just how kind and awesome they are.
Pines Park in Dana Point, CA is one of the locations that we use for family portrait sessions for those who want a green lush backdrop

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Top 10 Fun Photos Of People And Animals

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Top 10 Fun Photos Of People And Animals

Photography is Val’s life and passion and if you were to ask Val if he thinks photographing families, Kids, pets and animals of all sorts is “Fun”, he would say “Absolutely”! But as you can guess, photographing as long as Val has, there are going to be some pretty hilarious and fun shots that can happen, especially when children or animals are involved. Our clients really know how to keep us and Val on his toes and here are some of our favorite fun photos.

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Top 5 Family Portrait Outdoor Locations - Orange County

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Top 5 Family Portrait Outdoor Locations - Orange County

When it comes time to update your family portraits, one of the most important things to consider is location. The location you choose will become the backdrop to portraits of you and your family that will most likely be seen for generations to come.

According to our family portrait clients, here are the top 5 most desired Orange County outdoor family portrait locations.

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Rustic, the New Formal Family Portrait

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Rustic, the New Formal Family Portrait

If you’re looking for an alternative to the studio, the beach, or the manicured parks for your next family portrait, consider using a rustic outdoor location. With indigenous plants, ancient trees and untouched landscape, these rustic backdrops can be found in almost every Orange County, California and Reno, Nevada city.

The Chang family portraits are such a great example of adding formal to a rustic backdrop. By keeping it simple with light colored clothing, their family portrait pops from the wild, untamed wilderness backdrop. It has turned their beautiful family portrait into an elegant piece of art that can be displayed in the finest room of their home.

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Including Your Pets in Your Family Portraits

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Including Your Pets in Your Family Portraits

Stephanie and I have always had dogs, cats, birds and horses in our lives. All of our children have grown up with a house full of loving animals. We would always try to include our pets in our family portraits whenever possible, which created wonderful family memories.

We encourage those who have pets to include them in their own family portraits, as we have many pet friendly outdoor portrait locations.

The Cohee family included their spectacular horse and their beautiful dog in their last family portrait session. The rustic natural trail was the perfect backdrop for their family portraits…

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The Jacob's Family Portraits at the Beach - Laguna Beach, CA

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The Jacob's Family Portraits at the Beach - Laguna Beach, CA

One of the most rewarding parts of my job as a family portrait photographer, is watching my clients children grow up over the years. Kelly Jacobs and her crew of guys always pull off a great photo session. I don’t know how she does it though, because it’s not like the old days were she would just show up for her family portrait session with all of the kids in one car. Nope, with boys of all ages, they now come to their photo session in several cars, all coming from different directions.

The Jacob’s most resent family portrait session was at the beach in Laguna Beach, CA. Kelly (“Super Mom”) did a spectacular job in making sure that each of her boy’s shirts matched her dress. The soft light created

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Christopher's high school senior pictures at his home

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Christopher's high school senior pictures at his home

Over the years, the Tokarse family has used just about every one of our outdoor locations for their family portraits. When it came time to chose a location for Christopher’s high school senior pictures, Lisa Tokarse thought that her home might make a great backdrop for Christopher’s senior photo session.

Well, she was right. With the beautiful landscape, I was able to give Christopher many different looks, including looking like he was in a forest, capturing him with the American flag, using his truck as a prop and using their swimming pool for some of his photos.

This photo session meant a lot to me because I have watched Christopher grow up

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Victoria's Spectacular High School Senior Pictures at the Beach

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Victoria's Spectacular High School Senior Pictures at the Beach

I met Victoria and her mother at the pier in San Clemente, CA. After spending some time looking over Victoria’s outfits that she brought, we decided to start her high school senior photo session with her black leather jacket. This was a perfect way to start because of the contrast between her light hair and the dark jacket. For an interesting background affect, we did a good amount of her senior pictures under the pier.

Victoria then switch into her college sweat shirt and we were able to get the shot before getting pummeled by the waves.

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The Hayden Family Makes A Splash With The Ultimate Family Portrait Session

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The Hayden Family Makes A Splash With The Ultimate Family Portrait Session

Every time that we update the Hayden’s family portrait, we use their beautiful home and we always end up with amazing accomplishments.

Lori Hayden had three things that she was hoping to accomplish for this years portrait session. Her son’s high school senior portraits, update a special moment with her daughter and her horse (taken ten years ago,) as well as an update of their family portrait. So, my goal was to pack three photo sessions into one.

I was so eager to share this experience, so you get to see their family portraits straight out of camera.

We started with Charlie’s high school senior pictures. Here are a few of his mom’s favorites. Charlie is such a great person. Besides being super handsome, he is really down to earth and loves his fa

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All American Pet Photography Month May 2019

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All American Pet Photography Month May 2019

In recognizing our fuzzy, fluffy, feathered best friends, celebrate the month of May with pet photos that capture the unconditional love that they have towards you and your family.

One of my favorite jokes that highlights the dedication and unconditional love that our pets give us, goes something like this:

How can you tell who loves you the most? Your dog, or your wife?
Put them both in the trunk of your car for an hour, then see which one is the happiest to see you.

Looking back at photos of my childhood, some of my most memorable times were shared with my dog “Queenie”. Our family photos always included my dog, whether we were camping, hiking, at a picnic, or opening Christmas presents, she was always there by my side. I strongly believe that she was a key part of my great childhood. Every time I see a childhood photo with my dog, it brings me right back to that moment in time.

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2020 High School Senior Pictures Ideas and Tips

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2020 High School Senior Pictures Ideas and Tips

For the best 2019 high school senior portrait experience ever, read through these ideas and tips and use them as a guide in preparing for your perfect senior photo session.

How can I find the best high school senior photographers near me?

Searching for the best of anything can seem overwhelming. To make it easier, be as specific as possible about what you are looking for, as well as including your location. For example use search terms such as, high school senior photographers Mission Viejo, CA.
When looking for the best high school senior photographers near you, there are three things to consider. Experience, quality and style.

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My Approach To High School Senior Lifestyle Pictures

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My Approach To High School Senior Lifestyle Pictures

My main approach to high school senior lifestyle portrait photography is keeping it as natural as possible, with location, lighting, posing and expressions as the key elements.
I describe lifestyle photography as capturing real-life moments. To accomplish this, I keep my high school senior models out of the studio and in natural environments of their choice, such as parks, the beach, historic locations, where they work, or at their home, just to name a few. To keep it as real-life as possible, I capture my models with available natural light, which is much more convincing to being real-life looking than studio lighting.

By having fun, it then becomes easy in coaching my models to keep their posing and expressions as natural and real as possible.

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Family Portraits With Their Dogs and Horse - Empire Polo Club Coachella

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Family Portraits With Their Dogs and Horse - Empire Polo Club Coachella

Anyone that knows me, knows that I’ll go anywhere for the opportunity to photograph a family with their dogs and their horse. So, when I was approached by the Beadle family to photograph them, I was happy to travel to the Empire Polo Club in Indio California. Besides photographing their family with their beautiful children and their spectacular pets (two dogs and a dappled horse), I also dedicated a large part of the photo session to capture photos for their recent wedding engagement. The Empire Polo Club offered a tropical Southern California look with palm trees and lush tropical gardens. As you can see in the images below, it was pretty awesome that the entire family took part in this special time of their lives.

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High School Senior photos - Girl, Horse and Puppies

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High School Senior photos - Girl, Horse and Puppies

Our approach to every high school senior photo session is to personalize it with props and locations that celebrate just who you are. Stephanie and I have known Sydney for over 10 years and we were so excited to do her high school senior photos. To personalize her photo session, Sydney wanted to be photographed at the stables that she visits every weekend and of course, her props were her horse and brand new puppies. As you can see in the photos below, she had quite the variety of looks to celebrate her true personality.

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Children Portrait Photography - Spring Flowers

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Children Portrait Photography - Spring Flowers

The first day of spring this year is Wednesday, March 20 and there is no better way to celebrate the magic of spring, other than to surround yourself in a sea of flowers. We have been photographing children in the flowers every spring since 1994 and each and every child seems to come alive with happiness during these very cute portrait sessions. Since there is such a short window of opportunity to capture photos of this new beginning that spring offers to us, our children portrait sessions have become quite popular. If you want this moment captured of your children, contact us while the flowers are alive and in bloom.

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100 Best High School Senior Photography Images Of Girls

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100 Best High School Senior Photography Images Of Girls

Here are the best 100 images from high school senior girls to help you decide on the look that you would like to convey for yourself. Take a close at these images to get ideas on hair, makeup, clothing, posing, and location, so that we can customize your perfect photo session.
My high school senior photography photo sessions are designed to capture images of who you are in this awesome stage of your life.
Check out the 100 examples below of senior girls and let us customize the perfect high school senior photo session for you.

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120 Best High School Senior Photography Images Of Girls and Boys

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120 Best High School Senior Photography Images Of Girls and Boys

Here are the best 120 images from 30 of my high school senior clients, girls and boys, to help you decide on the look that you would like to convey for yourself.
My high school senior photography photo sessions are designed to capture images of who you are in this awesome stage of your life.
Check out the 120 examples below of boys and girls and let us customize the perfect high school senior photo session for you.

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12 Lifestyle Headshot Examples For Men & Women Business Professionals

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12 Lifestyle Headshot Examples For Men & Women Business Professionals

Lifestyle corporate headshots are usually accomplished with the use of natural light, that visually feel like everyday life. Here are 12 Men and Women lifestyle headshot examples of two of my clients, Melissa Mercantel and Larry Broughton, to help you decide if lifestyle headshots are what you are looking for yourself.

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12 Corporate Headshot Casual & Formal Examples For Business Professionals

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12 Corporate Headshot Casual & Formal Examples For Business Professionals

Here are 12 examples of some of my corporate headshot clients to help you decide on the look that you would like to convey for yourself. As a business professional, you can connect with your clients with both formal and casual attire. Coming across friendly, approachable and professional can be accomplished with both looks.

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Photography expeditions adding epic adventure to our lives

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Photography expeditions adding epic adventure to our lives

Photography expeditions along with traveling make our job one of the best occupations we could have ever hoped for. Val and I started teaching photography in 2010. We took our students on photography expeditions after teaching them the basic elements of photography to help cement our teachings with our students. Initially we stayed close to home taking our students to local venues such as Laguna Niguel Regional park, Sunset Cliffs beach in San Diego and The Mission San Juan Capistrano. As Val and I started to realize that their was suddenly a high demand to learn photography, we took our “Show” (Basic Elements of Photography Workshop) on the road. We went to some really fun places to help our fledgling photographers test their new skills, such as the Portland Oregon Zoo, Seattle aquarium, The Museum of the Rockies in Montana and the Harry P Leu botanical gardens in Orlando Florida, just to name a few.

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