Not Your Typical Family Session

My phone rang a couple of weeks ago and to my surprise my caller ID read “Brandon.” Brandon and I are great friends from high school who were fortunate to also go to college together at Cal State Long Beach. (He was a film major and I was a PR major… now he’s a cop and I’m a photographer. Go figure!) But, since graduating from college a few years ago our lives have become very busy and I unfortunately haven’t talked to him much. So, I was so happy to receive a call from him so that we could catch up and also schedule a family portrait session that we had discussed ever since his amazing little son was born more than a year ago.

Brandon and his wife Amanda wanted a session of just them and their awesome little boy Hayden, but Amanda also wanted to get some portraits of her siblings and neice as a gift for her mother for Mother’s Day. I think this is such a great idea for a Mother’s Day gift!

We all met at an awesome spot in our hometown of Lancaster, CA (yes– glorious Lancaster) for the shoot and had a fun time running around with the kids –actually, mostly running after the kids. 😉

Here’s the shot of Hayden from the preview post. Such a cutie! He’s such an awesome little boy.

Just a few impromptu shots I grabbed before the rest of the crew got there. I love this one of the three of them!

I think this is my favorite photo of Hayden. He certainly is a lively little boy.

I remember doing this with my parents as a kid… one of my favorite things.

The whole group– a photo for Mom.

On the left: Brandon, Amanda and Hayden. In the middle: Amanda’s twin sister Maria, her husband Aaron and their adorable daughter Abigail (baby Leah is on the way and due in August!) On the right: Amanda and Maria’s brother Josh and his wife Kristina.

I loved this cove of joshua trees. Amanda and I came up with this location since the desert landscapes would go well with the artwork her parents have on their walls. Good thinking!

Brandon quickly learned that when you’re shooting in a little cove of prickly joshua trees, you have to watch out for the prickly things. Everyone thought it was really funny when he yelped after he got stuck by one in the back. Sorry, Brandon! 🙂