Jessica & Benny's Football-Inspired Couple's Portrait Session - Hooker Oak Park, Chico, CA.

In honor of the Superbowl XLVII this year, I thought it would be great to take some football-inspired photos with a great couple. Of course, I thought of Jessica and Benny who are a former bride and groom of mine. Way back during their engagement session, we did some portraits of the couple in their football jerseys but what I was thinking for this session would be multiple poses and settings of the couple wearing their favorite football teams logos. They were totally game for my idea and we decided on a location that I knew would have a few fun backdrops to work with. The entire session was super cute and we got some really fun and playful images of the two of them. I even got some favorites of Jessica by herself - she is truly a beautiful person inside and out. Thanks Jessica and Benny for the fantastic couple portrait session. I always enjoy our sessions together and I can't wait until the next portrait session. Here are some favorites from the football inspired couple session.

Ashley, Andy & Maleigha - Chico, CA. Family Portrait Session

Ever since photographing Ashley and Andy in a couple photo session back in 2008, our friendship has grown immensely. It probably has something to do with the fact that I have since shot their engagement photos , their wedding, their maternity pics, their daughter Maleigha's first birthday, and even their uncle's wedding. It has been wonderful watching their budding relationship unfold into this beautiful, loving family. Every time we get to hang out and take photos it is so very special to me, and this family portrait session was no different. Since Maleigha is now two years old she is fast on her feet, so our goal was to get as many photos of the three of them as possible, even one good one would suffice - anything extra would be bonus. I think we did pretty good and we got some really fun pictures of Maleigha alone in front of an awesome mural and some CUTE ones of her alone with daddy and alone with mommy. Here are my favorites from this adorable family portrait session.

Brooke & Curry's Chico, CA. Maternity Session - Expecting baby boy, Benjamin

When Brooke contacted me inquiring about doing a maternity portrait session, I was a little surprised: almost all of the maternity shoots I do are with previous wedding clients or personal friends. But when she mentioned she and her husband, Curry, were referred by Julie & Jesse, I quickly scheduled them for a session. Julie and Jesse were one of my last maternity shoots and we had such a fun time I knew it would be a blast.

I had a feeling the expecting couple was going to be a lot of fun and I was right! They were up for whatever ideas I had and brought a bag full of ideas of their own. We started early in the morning at one of my favorite locations in Chico. I knew if we were going to find fall color it would be in the beautiful Mendocino National Forest Genetic Resource and Conservation Center. This location always provides a stunning Bamboo grove, many bridges to chose from, overgrown pathways with cascading foliage and other natural landscape settings. We found a perfect bush with red berries all over it which was perfect for a holiday mistletoe belly kiss.

After leaving the botanical garden, we raced the rain clouds to the Chico State campus to get some more fun images of the expecting parents. With the beautiful architecture and creativity of great minds, we collaborated and came up with some really fun images together. Congratulations Brooke and Curry on your Baby Boy, Benjamin. Here are some of my favorite images from your maternity portrait session.