Well, it feels great to be settled in to our new home in Ladera Ranch and living the Orange County life! The family community and feel is incredibly strong here, and I’m so thankful to be getting connected to local families just in time for fall mini sessions around Orange County.

Jessica and her family were extremely patient and helpful in figuring out where we even wanted to shoot, and what type of feel we wanted for the photos. It’s crazy how many parks and open spaces there are in Orange County—I didn’t even know where to start! Eventually we settled on the Jeffrey Open Space Trail in Irvine and planned for a golden hour session an hour before sunset.

When we got there, the scenery and the lighting did not disappoint. This place is absolutely gorgeous!

I like to start off with some walking and talking to get everyone comfortable with being in front of the camera, and this family were instant pros, relaxed and having fun right out of the gate.

Now, it’s fall photo season and there were LOTS of photographers at the park, so finding empty locations was a bit of a challenge. We decided on some tall grass just getting the last of golden hour light and took a break from walking with some seated poses. Of course, the little one eventually got bored and made a break for it! Thankfully mom was able to corral her and coax her back for a couple more photos.

Then, with our “ideal” location still in use by another group, we stumbled into this gorgeous empty creek bed and got a bunch of different candid photos in just a few minutes. This was great because we had a chance for the kids to run around a bit, and even steal a couple moments for mom and dad to take center stage!

After getting “the holiday card shot” in some nice tall grass, I kept the camera out as we walked back toward the car. This is often a great time for candids and spur-of-the-moment photos, and the love and connection between this family really came out in full force. I was so grateful to get to share a small portion of this and capture a few of these tender moments!