Rockin' the dress | del mar portrait photographer

In a few short weeks, Annie and Richard will be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary.  To celebrate, Annie emailed me and said she wanted to get back into her wedding gown and shoot at the very spot where she said yes to Richard all those years ago (how romantic is that?!).  I was so looking forward to this shoot because I've always wanted to do my own "trash the dress" session, so I got to live vicariously through Annie.  Plus, she just seemed like so much fun to hang out with it - and she (and all of her boys) proved me right.  

Have to start with the shoes.  I just love a pretty pair of shoes!



Rawr!  Check it - Annie is owning this shot.









Ten years and three kids later...



...it's no wonder she had such an amazing smile throughout the shoot!  gorgeous!


Happy 10th anniversary Annie and Richard!  Here's hoping the next 50 are just as fun and amazing!!!  :)

Ali in an alley | san diego family photographer

There's no better compliment than a lovely family coming back and trusting you to capture some memories for them.  Today I got to photograph Roxanne, Craig and Ali for the second time and they were such great sports, trapsing up and down the streets and yes, even alleys of downtown san diego.  Here are just a few from today's session...

Let's start with our blog title - Ali in an alley ;)  Isn't she adorable!?










I love this one...

Shameless plea for votes | san diego family photographer

Hi friends and readers.  Today is the last day of a contest I entered my daughter into about a week go.  It's a contest to win a session from one of my favorite local photographers, Melissa Koehler.  My sweetface is trailing in the votes so I figured I'd try one last avenue to garner a few votes for her.  In order to vote you have to have a Facebook account.  I don't expect anyone to go out and create one just to vote, so no worries if you don't have one.  But if you are already a Facebooking extraordinaire, please read on.

In order to vote you have to first go to Melissa's fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Koehler/102897976989
Once you're there, click the "Like" button at the top of her page.
From there, go into her photo albums and find the "Cutest Kid Contest" album.
My daughter, Angelina (3 yrs), is the very first photo in the bunch.  Click on her picture and then "like" her photo.
Your "like" is your vote.

That's all you have to do and it only takes about two seconds.

Voting ends at 11:59 pacific time tonight.

Thank you!

xoxo
Gwen

Trisha |bonita maternity photographer

Sometimes I wonder if I should really call this a job.  Because, aren't you supposed to hate going to work?  Picking up my camera to capture special moments in time for people is, I imagine, much like the moment when a kid first hears the chiming of the ice cream truck.   A moment of joy and anticipation.  That joy is magnified when my clients are sweet, charming, funny, and gorgeous.  Trisha is all of those and thensome - even despite nearing the end of her pregnancy (and you other moms know exactly how hard that time can be).  I had such a great time photographing, and even better time just getting to know her and her family.  

First I'm going to start with this.  Because after my love of my family, photography, and food...there's my love of shoes.  I couldn't resist a shoe shot when Trisha broke out these little lovelies...




Did I mention she was g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s?








Finally, one of her and her boys.  How beautiful is this family?

For the sake of art | oceanside family photographer

Jessica paid for her family's session by check.  Right before I deposited that check I reviewed it for accuracy, and when I looked down at the "for" line, Jessie had written in "the sake of art" and it made me smile and literally laugh out loud, and I knew in that moment I had this session's blog title.

Jessie and her family welcomed me into their beautiful home for their photo session yesterday morning.  I had so much fun shooting them all - there was so much love, laughter, and even a couple of bottles of wine.  I swear I have the best clients pretty much ever.

Lovely ladies...

Let's end where it all started ♥ 

Box of chocolates | pacific beach family photographer

What's the saying ol' Forest Gump made famous?  Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.  Well, the same can be said for photographing young children - especially when they range in age from 10 months to 5 years old.  And especially when the 5 and 3 year olds are boys.  But these kids were such a breeze to work with, and the entire family is beautiful, sweet, and the camera loved each and ever one of them.  Take a look for yourselves...

I just love sweet, baby girls...

Seriously?  How awesome and adorable are these boys...

Mom and dad are totally working it for the camera.  Hotness! ;)

I heart the K family.  Fo' real...

Just Shoot Me | san diego urban photographer

Apparently, three photographers climbing shrub boxes, posing in front of buildings and laying down in the street to take photos of each other is quite the sight to see. Last weekend I met up with two of my photographer friends, Sophie and Jen, for a bit of a head shot exchange and a lot of photography fun. In the process, we attracted our fair share of onlookers and even one who decided to jump in the shot. It was so much fun talking shop with some fellow photogs and even being on the other side of the camera.  Here are a couple of shots of my photografriends ;)

Oh...and don't forget. Sweetface Photography is on the list of nominees for the 2010 San Diego's Parents Pick for family photographers. You can vote EVERY DAY for 19 more days. Click on the image below or click here to vote!