lisa | steve | matty | david | morro bay family photography

i was beyond excited for the chance to photograph lisa leonard's family last weekend. i'm a big fan of her handmade jewelry and am consistently impressed with her lovely, creative daily blog.

we met up in morro bay for a fun family urban session.

matty and the trolley stop... matty is a superhero in training and is definitely faster than my camera:



i'm sure lisa and steve wondered what on earth i was doing with their son here... but they let us play, and i was rewarded with one sweet image (and a head on my shoulder peeking at the viewfinder to see himself, even superheroes have cuddly moments!)





this one just screams parenthood to me... mom & dad have everything under control:



some family randomness:



and some family sweetness:





thank you lisa and steve and matty and david! it was a joy to meet you.

head over to lisa's site and check out her gorgeous necklaces. (slip a link into your hubby's e-mail!) she's even sharing a 10% discount, just enter 'findbeauty' when you check out.

sydney & noah | san luis obispo family photography

a few of sweet sydney and noah. they were pretty unsure of me at first, but i was thrilled to get hugs from them at the end of our session.





i love when families just go with my odd suggestions for angles... i'd love my own family portrait to look like this:

it's about the happiness | santa maria family photographer

two-year-old j grabbed my hand the minute his mama opened the door to show me around his house. he was excited and exuberant and not so interested in posed shots (me neither!) but we had a blast rolling in the grass.

just a peek | san luis obispo family photographer

twin boys | arroyo grande family photography

doesn't this image make you want your own five year old twins?

kyle | jake | kelly | skip | santa maria family and senior photographer

part family session, part senior portraits... we had a great time laughing, climbing trees, hills and other random objects.



a few images of the graduating senior and his parents



and of course, a few solo portraits

kyle | stacia | their boys | avila family photography

her | boys

stacia is a mom to four (4!) boys. we did part one of our session today with her three younger boys... more to come next week when we get the whole family of six together :)

an | ordinary | friday

baby | hank

hank is five months old and just about as cute and drooly and chubby as could be. he was a joy to spend time with this morning!

hank decided to wake his daddy and mommy up extra early this morning so they'd have plenty of time to get ready for the photo session...



early wake-up = sweet sleepy babe

kai | leila | monica | jordan

monica owns the salon i go to and is one of the nicest people i've ever met. her family is gorgeous and fabulous!



kai the tree climber. the image on the right is one of my favorites of the day.





another fave... leila needed a little sugar to keep going :)





girls vs. boys. a little different?



the signature goofy family shot... they were so much fun!

reece | cara

these girls were so much fun to play with! i certainly didn't anticipate a toddler/preschooler tennis session when i arrived at their house, but it was a great way for the girls to warm up to me. plus, reese has an awesome backhand!



aagh! seriously.





their beautiful mama, ilsa, got a few sweet moments with her girls

bethanni | ryan | eli | thad

i will never claim that running around for an hour with a toddler and a preschooler (um, and trying to get great pictures) is easy, but i do love it! plus, i get plenty of practice in my daily life.

true to birth order personalities in my home, eli is older, more independent and exuberant. thad is beyond sweet (i adore this age), a little shy and aims to please--even if he doesn't realize it.






just when we thought eli was going to curl up on this bench and hide from me the rest of the day, he turned on the charm!