[YITL] The Wattersons 2021

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

The Wattersons took a month long road trip so we skipped this month!

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

We were unable to meet this month but I am very excited to deliver their yearbooks next month!

If you are interested in booking your Year in the Life, check out this page with more info on how to subscribe. You can start your subscription in January to go from Jan-Dec or start it as you are expecting a new member in your family, or at the beginning of the school year!

Days may be long but years are short, so don’t let another year pass by without documenting your family’s legacy with you all in front of the camera. Just think of all the growth and memories that can live forever through professional photographs in a beautiful heirloom album to be passed on to future generations.

[Picture LOVE] The Sweeties are hitched! | Destination Photographer | Oregon wedding

My niece was born when I was almost 5 years old. We have a lot of special memories together and the most recent is the honor of being her photographer on her big day as a bride. She got married at her parent’s newly acquired farm house property in Oregon and it was gorgeous! It was one for the books and I’m delighted to be the historian to document it all.

Thank you for checking out my work.

Year-In-The-Life aka YITL - Orange County Photographer

A NEW service I offer is Year-In-The-Life (YITL) sessions. Starting in January, I photograph you (and your family) at your home, work, or out and about on an adventure on a monthly basis through December. Throughout the year you get an online gallery of your photos and at the end of the year, I put together a "yearbook" album for you to cherish for years to come. It's a great way to document your life without having to worry about missing those big or small moments. And this yearbook can be passed down to your kids and grandkids. I started YITL this year and it's been amazing! Each month it's a condensed version of Day-In-The-Life and my clients pick an experience they want memorialized each month. It's been really fun to watch growth (in many ways) over the course of a year as an outsider.

For the PSP Class of 2022 I am only taking on 5 clients, so if this is something you want to do next year, let's chat ASAP ! Imagine what you can have documented in a whole year of your life!

These documentary sessions are not just for families that include children and two parents. They can be for a couple, a single parent, just you, a business (I have a slightly different package for brand content you can ask me about), etc. Skies the limit! If you are seeing this blog, these sessions are for you!

If you’re interested in being part of PSP Class of 2022, let’s make it happen!

Lifestyle vs. Documentary

Being an artist among so many others in Southern California is tough with stiff competition. You may be familiar with the popular Lifestyle photography style. Many of my photoshoots have been considered Lifestyle over the years. With this style the photographer stages the scene by asking questions or prompts their subjects to do a certain thing that would look great on camera and can capture emotion based on what they envision in their heads.

LIFESTYLE

About 6 years ago I discovered a different style of photography. It has many names: documentary style, photojournalistic, organic, etc. This style is used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. And because I am interested in working with families and couples, I want to focus on documenting everyday life as well as the big stuff. I believe that the chaos of everyday life is just as beautiful and meaningful to the subjects as the big important moments.

DOCUMENTARY

Some examples of BIG moments that can be documented in this style: nesting, birth of a child, birthday celebration, baptism, graduation, wedding, anniversary, family reunion, celebrating sobriety, celebrating remission, spending time with loved ones in their last days, funeral/celebration of life, etc.

Some examples of every day life moments: morning routine, bath time, bedtime routine, breastfeeding/bottle feeding, playing in the living room or child's room, play dates in the park, doing chores together, swim lessons, pool parties, picking a Christmas tree and decorating it, carving pumpkins, holiday decorating, hiking adventure, going out for ice cream/a treat, baking cookies, cooking and eating a meal together, arts & crafts, taking your kid to school while you still can, girl scout/boy scout/other community group gatherings/events, family camping trip, getting a tattoo/cover up, meeting up with friends, Disneyland Days, trips to the farmer's market, block parties, etc. So many memories waiting to be frozen in time.

I want to be there to capture memories, not create memories.

This style has captured my heart in a big way and I have recently decided to exclusively shoot in this style moving forward.

So I found my niche and want to share it with all of you and the world!

Day-In-The-Life sessions are the best way to shoot in this style. In these sessions I spend several hours (3-4+) with my clients either in their home or out and about (or both) capturing their normal routine. The Lynns were the first clients of mine to indulge me in this style and it was perfect! The Evans family was fantastic as well! Learning about a family, their dynamics, personalities, and capturing that with my camera is what makes me come alive.

These sessions can include video or be video only. With these sessions I have prints and products you can purchase to give the photos life after the session. Things like a box of mounted prints, to large artwork for your walls, and coffee table books you can flip through for years to come. If this is something you would be interested in booking, you can download and fill out this questionnaire and email it to me or we can chat on the phone!

Hope to see you and your loved ones in front of my camera soon!

[Picture Life] Carmen and Flint

Carmen, aka Sprocket Rocket, plays roller derby on my team High Tide Derby and she reached out to me to take photos of her and her little man Flint. For his 3rd birthday he got a pair of roller skates, ”just like momma”. So a day at the beach was the perfect way to capture sweet memories for these two with things like, a playground, sand, the ocean, and roller skating. I had a blast with this shoot because roller skating is a HUGE passion of mine so I got to combine my two biggest passions into one which was a dream.

Enjoy these photos!

If you are interested in booking your day-in-the-life session at home, or on an adventure, drop me a line!

Thank you for stopping by. Check out our Facebook and Instagram for updates.

xo,
SJ

[Picture Life] Sunflower field

As you may know, I LOVE sunflowers. They are my favorite flower and I love them so much I have them tattooed on me (see last image below). Tanaka Farms opened a sunflower field on Mother’s Day this year and I had to go. So my partner and I had a double date and I took the opportunity to use my new FujiFilm X100 camera! Peep these fun photos from our visit!

If you are interested in booking your authentic session at home, or on an adventure, drop me a line!

Thank you for stopping by. Check out our Facebook and Instagram for daily updates.

xo,
SJ