An Intimate San Francisco Family Session

When Cara reached out to me saying that she wanted a combo family and maternity session I was excited, but even more excited when she said that she wanted to do it in their San Francisco home. I love photographing someone in their space, in the very place that they call home. Not only that, but homes of this era in San Francisco photograph so, so beautifully. Light steams in from the large, oversized windows even on dark rainy days (like it was for our session). Cara was pregnant with their second child, a baby girl, and simply glowing. Together she and her family played, laughed, and had some quiet moments in between. There is something special about savoring those last few weeks as a family of three before a new baby changes everything. It's for the better, of course, but documenting their son's time as an only child is something special.

Your home doesn't need to be as beautifully decorated as Cara's to be a perfect setting for a session (I mean, I think West Elm should totally use some of these in their catalogue but I'm bias). Feeling comfortable is so important and where else do you feel more comfortable than in your home?

Sessions like this remind me why I am a photographer. It's not just a maternity session, it's not just a family session, it's documenting a fleeting moment in someone's life. I love that.

My Boys. Father's Day.

I've never attempted a real, and I mean REAL, session with my son. However, he's finally getting to the age where I thought that I might be able to get a few shots of him not completely hating my camera. I was right. On Father's Day the three of us went out for a nice walk in Riverside and I brought my camera. I was prepared to do a "real" session. I know the last thing my husband probably wanted to do was brave the 90 degree heat at 3pm on "his day" and try to keep our toddler from screaming or protesting photos, but he was a trooper and humored me. I promised him that it would be worth it. You know, in several years when Reid is all grown up. At first when I asked them to do certain things, well, that just didn't work out. So, I told them to play. Will was getting stressed and was ready to leave because Reid just wasn't having it, but I treated them like I would any other client. "It's okay. He's 2 1/2, just let him walk around for a while. Just let him hang. Okay, now go run and play with him". Guess what? Success! I was able to stand back and snap away as my boys played. It was a great mommy moment for me. Thank you, my lovely boys, for gifting mommy with these precious photos. On Father's Day :)

We saw a ton of wildlife - frogs, lizzards, turtles in the pond, hummingbirds, and lots and lots of rabbits! Reid loved searching for them :)

The Winners are Announced!

Head over to Facebook (since this was the celebration of my 1000 fans, you know!) to check out the winners! Bre Thurston Photography on Facebook

Thank you again to everyone who participated! Next big contest will be when I hit 10,000 fans. Kidding. Kind of ;)