The McCombs Crew | San Francisco Family Photographer

Maybe it's my generation, or maybe it's the fact that I own a small business working from home, but I meet most of my friends online these days :) Corinne McCombs is no different. Corinne is a newborn and family photographer here in the Bay Area, but we actually met while I was still living in Seattle. She is good friends with a few of my good friends and the rest is history! We actually met in person for the first time at an Ikea in West Sacramento where we ate meatballs, french fries, and took super nerdy photos all around the showroom (to much acclaim, I must add). From that point forwards we chatted often and I would meet her for a quick lunch while I was in town shooting weddings here in the Bay Area. Now we live just 30 minutes apart so it was only natural that we would photographer each others families. Corinne has three kids - a middle schooler, a 7 year old, and sweet cherub baby Reese. I'll be real and say that all three of them put on their best "Photographer's Child Syndrome" act on the day of our session, but thankfully Corinne likes to keep it real and enjoyed their funny faces and goofy personalities. All three of them are amazing kids so we had a good laugh about it. I even made a collage of her 7 year old's "outtake faces" for good measure.

I am so thankful to have met this family and to call Corinne one of my bestie photographer friends.

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.

The Avrechs | Los Altos Hills Family Session

Many years ago when I was living in Southern California Heather hired me to photograph her maternity session while I was in town for a wedding. Well, now that I live in Silicon Valley Heather asked me to photograph their family again! They've grown just a little bit - her oldest from a giggly 2 year old into a still giggly 6 years old and that baby in her belly is now a rambunctious, joyful 3 year old! Heather is a friend of mine and often second shoots weddings with me here in the Bay Area so it was an honor to take their photos.