Let me first preface this post by saying that these photos were not taken in Portland as the title indicates. I say “Portland Family Photographer” because I want the search engines and google crawlers to show my website when anyone does an internet search for a Portland family photographer. These were taken in Newport Beach, CA. Although I would love for people in Southern CA to stumble across my site while searching for a photographer, I live in Portland. I do, however, travel to Orange County several times per year to visit family, get a good healthy dose of vitamin D, visit my favorite restaurants, and squeeze in as many photo shoots as I can. So, if you live in Orange County and want me to take your photos, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be in your area soon so don’t be shy… send me an email so we can chat.
Now on to the good stuff… the photos.
This family has been a huge part of my family for decades. My dad and their dad have been good friends since they were teenagers. They’ve remained close through all the ups and downs in each other’s lives over the past 40+ years. I’m especially grateful for the support they gave when my dad recently underwent his heart procedure. I used to love hanging out with them while we were growing up – going to the taste of Newport, trips to Mammoth, swimming in their pool, and most especially eating at their restaurants (you can’t get Mexican food that’s even close to how delicious their food is anywhere in Oregon). Oh, what I wouldn’t get for a bowl of Avila’s famous homemade soup, some warm fresh corn tortillas, and a margarita on the rocks with salt right now. Mmmmmm…. As I’m sure you’ll see in the photos below, they are a very close-knit loving family, and they’re all pretty darn gorgeous as well.
You may recognize some of them from a session I did last summer. That session still goes down in my book as one of my favorites.
Amazing how many good photos can be captured in a little over an hour. What you see below isn’t even half of what’s going on their disc.
This is one of my favorite shots. I love how Victor, the patriarch, is standing over his family. He is truly a protector. In fact, the first time he met my husband, he told him (in so many words) “If you ever do wrong by her, you’ll have to answer to me.” It was like having a second dad that my soon-to-be husband had to answer to.
This one deserves to be printed on metal. How cool would that look?
Can’t forget the dogs in the family photo.
These two little guys have grandma and grandpa wrapped around their little fingers.
These two sisters married these two brothers. How cool is that? I mean, how easy does this kind of set up make holidays with the in-laws?
I adore these.
Look at that teeny tiny waist.
I love this photo. I knew I wanted it to have a panoramic feel to it and I would want to crop it to a 10×20 aspect ratio. I stood really far away to take the photo with all of them in one frame. Then I got up closer and took photos of each individual group to make sure that I could get optimal focus and resolution. Then, using the magic of photoshop, I overlaid the close up group photos onto the large image that I took of all of them. No tripod, just mad photoshop skills. 
Okay, you’re going to love these. Follow the images from the top down on the left column first, then move over to the right column and follow that side from the top down. My mom has told me stories about how Victor used to balance my sister’s and I on one hand (picture a 3 month old standing on the palm of someone’s hand) when we were infants. By the way she tells the story, I don’t think she was very amused at the time.
The center photo below doesn’t have the same crisp resolution as the others only because I zoomed in a lot to show you the look on their faces when I asked him to jump while she was on his shoulders. The photo on the left is mid air and the photo on the right is the (safe) landing.
So weird to think I’ve known this family for 32.9 years.
Giving their uncle a workout.
Don’t mess with the dudes on the left. The guys on the right are much more friendly.
Grandpa’s turn for a little strength training.
If you know my work, you know I love walking shots. It was hard to get a nice walking shot to look like a portrait instead of a snapshot with a beach full of people in front of them. I’ll show off my photoshop skills (referenced above) in a before and after post sometime in the near future. It’ll be fun.
Want a session like this of your own family? Contact me asap! My summer months are already almost completely booked up due to the busy wedding season. Don’t wait or you might not get a spot on my schedule. As far as Orange County dates, there’s a chance I might be down a couple more times this year.
