❤ Judy's Mesa Family Photo Shoot  ❤

        Such a fun photo shoot with a dear friend of mine, her two beautiful kids, and their sweet puppy Oakley (who unexpectedly passed away a few months after the shoot). I'm so happy we were able to get Oakley in several of these photos....it was a magical evening with that dreamy, creamy sunset peach light! 

        She ended up choosing several of the same favorites I had from our shoot together and ordering some gorgeous large prints from me and Zenfolio (Awesome Professional Photographer's Lab) for her living room. So fun to see them being appreciated and enjoyed on a daily basis!  ❤

Carolyn and David's Family Portrait

Carolyn and David's Family Portrait Session
Santa Barbara, CA

"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."  ~Joyce Brothers

I first met Carolyn over the holidays at our AWC Annual Holiday Party and was delighted to meet a fellow Midwesterner who has recently relocated to Santa Barbara. I have a special place in my heart for Midwesterners and have many close friends here in SB who hail from the flatlands of the U.S. like me. There's a common heritage that we share that's unique and familiar and, from my experience, Midwesterners tend to be pretty down to earth, kind-hearted and authentic people.

I was delighted when she and her husband wanted to put together a photo shoot for their family's reunion out here in their beautiful new home.

Life is truly short and it seems to be speeding up for me every year. I have lived 1,000s of miles from much of my family now for over two decades so I cherish every moment I have with them.

It was a delight being there to celebrate Carolyn and David's time with their family who were visiting from around the country. It's a precious thing to spend time with the people we love no matter how many zip codes exist between our homes.

Sending you and your family my love and blessings this year! I hope we can make this an annual tradition. 

Cheers,
Rachel

The Reynolds Family Reunion and Anniversary Celebration

❤ "When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."  ~Joyce Brothers ❤

I was fortunate to have photographed an absolutely lovely and sweet-spirited family visiting from down South recently to celebrate their parents'--Joan and Chet's--anniversary. You never know what's going to happen when there are more than two people included in a photo shoot....so capturing thirteen family members (including 5 children) could conceivably be a challenge with so many personalities. 

I'm happy to say that I honestly couldn't have had a more delightful time with each and every one in the Reynolds Clan. The sky was crystal clear, the air had a sweet spring chill and the sun poured down through the branches of oak trees in a magical way. They were infinitely patient and stood happily smiling through multiple poses, always respectful and loving to each other. 

The whole morning with them made me so incredibly grateful to be doing what I love and to regularly have the opportunity to be a part of families and friends celebrating their relationship with each other. 

Thank you to the Reynolds Family for hiring me to be your photographer for a very special reunion and celebration! I'm sending a big congratulations to Joan and Chet for your anniversary as well~ You all are so very blessed to have such a beautiful family!

I hope I have the opportunity to photograph you all again for future celebrations!

March 26th, 2010
The Best Family Portrait Shoot (I love that I can say that!)
Elaine, Mike, and The Little Man...Mister Ethan Best
When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.
~Joyce Brothers

I had a truly wonderful afternoon photographing Elaine, Mike, and their young son Ethan at a nearby beach. Although the beginning of the shoot got off to a somewhat chilly start for the little tyke we really gained some great momentum as the sun set lower over the ocean and we tried out a few fun poses. I especially love the little Scottish Hat that Elaine brought along for Ethan...a few of my favorite pictures feature him silhouetted against the sand and lapping waves...the images could just have easily come from Isle of Skye, Scotland as Santa Barbara. Ahh, the magic of photography!

Instead of posting individual photos, I'm going to post slideshow of the shoots I'm doing. I'm so incredibly stoked that I've found a new service which allows me to create slideshows which maintain the integrity of the photos' vivid colors and sharpness! Enjoy some of my favorite pics of the Best Gang. I hope you enjoy them!

Pugs, Play-Time, and Parenthood
Photo Shoot with Jeff, Hilda, Quinn, and Sturgis Kirchmaier
With Special Guest Appearances by Buster and Rocky



Okay, I really have it rough. I've braved it as a kitten wrangler and now I'm courageous enough to take on pugs. I originally met Hilda and her family through my Baby Love (aka "Steve") but never had the opportunity to spend more than an hour or so with her family. Let me tell you, you really get a sense of family dynamics and how someone is as a parent or a child when you're photographing them. I was truly blown away by what good parents both Hilda and Jeff are and how patient their sweet kids Quinn and Sturgis are. And as if that wasn't enough, I got to shoot the pugs, too!







I'm a total sucker for puppies and kittens, I've gotta say. I grew up with animals (peacocks, bear, turkey, exotic deer, crocodiles, ferrets, raccoons, horses, dogs, cats, and so on...just your typical Midwestern Childhood on an exotic animal farm) and I feel real comfortable with them. But it's a true treat to have the chance to work with them as well! And let me say, these were the most photogenic, patient puppies you could imagine...as soon as they knew I was pointing the camera at them, they relaxed and put on their best "mugs." Since they're growing fast, Hilda wanted to catch some great pics of the family with the little ones before they get any bigger. At the time of the shoot, they were a couple of months old.

OH MY GOSH. THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!





Towards the end of the shoot, the sky had turned really dark from storm clouds. I had hopes that we'd get a thin sliver of light down at Hendry's Beach before nightfall. We raced down there and literally had about three minutes to get in a couple of really magical moments of light before it was gone. Such are the moments in photography. As an old friend once told me, "Everything in life, like in photography, comes down to two things: good timing and good lighting."
Touche!