ohana beginnings and xmas blessings

as another year comes to an end we are re-visiting our beginnings, our first clients to be exact. we, like most other small business owners, started out with a dream and zero clients. it took a little luck and a chance encounter to get us off the ground.
enter the xanthopoulos family.
after meeting them for the first time, the xanthopoulos' became our first clients and the first members of our extended ohana. since that day we have been asked to share and capture some of their most important family moments. the work they have given us aside, having this family come into our lives has been a HUGE blessing. they are some of the most wonderful people we could have ever hoped to meet in life. i am inspired to be better at everything i do because of them. they will always hold a special place in our hearts and in our ohana.
in what has become a tradition we look forward to every year, we joined the xanthopoulos family for a day at the la jolla beach and tennis club to take some fun photos for their family christmas cards. we didn't have snow, but we had plenty of sun, sand, and smiles. i couldn't ask for anything more.
these first two shots are fun little sample christmas cards. have you already sent yours out? :)

i LOVE taking photos of this couple!
they are the most in-love couple i know. their love reminds me of the love my grandparents shared for over 72 years. it is true and it makes my heart smile.

thank you both for believing in us and continuing to bless our family.
may all your days be merry and bright.
merry christmas and a very happy new year!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

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have you made your cards yet?

we are getting down to the wire, but there is still a little time left to get your portraits done for this year's cards. call us asap to schedule your session like the awesome valley family did.
for those of you that aren't sure what to do, there are also a couple card samples below. i do want to point out that photos are non-denominational, so you can make any kind of holiday card you wish.
speaking of the word "holiday" i've decided to come up with a phrase that's not so generic. this year i'll be wishing everyone a Meppy Kwastmakah! that just about covers everyone i know. :)

Here are all the details for our holiday portrait special:

1 hour portrait session
one set of custom designed christmas cards [25 cards per set]
two 8x10 prints of your choice
three digital images for you to print as you wish
price: $400.00 + tax

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

ohana photographers | ohana photographers blog | hawaii wedding photography | orange county wedding photography | los angeles wedding photography | wedding photographers | hawaii wedding photographer | orange county family photographer | los angeles family photographer

castro ohana in la jolla california

swim with dolphins at Sea World. eat a burger at in-n-out. catch a Padres baseball game at Petco Park. cheer for the Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. stare in amazement for hours at all the animals in the world famous san diego zoo. surf in la jolla. bet it all on brightly colored jockeys and their horses where the surf meets the turf at old del mar. have a margarita (or three) in tijuana. take a day long safari at the san diego wild animal park.
these are all things you might find on a to-do list for a lot of people visiting our fair city. one more thing that has been growing in popularity here in san diego... taking family portraits with ohana photographers. jaymie, his beautiful wife audrey, and precious daughter addison added a visit with us to their list when they came all the way out to san diego from the frozen tundra of new york. we spent an afternoon at the beach getting fresh new photos of their lovely ohana. jaymie's brother marc followed along and did an awesome job of standing stroller watch.
right off the bat we could tell that the castro's were very reserved and super serious. they were not about to make silly faces or act like goofballs in a public place just so we could get some "fun" shots, so...
we started off slow. :)

i kiid. i kiid. it only took jaymie about 2.5 seconds to have kim l-ing o l.
fact: jaymie and audrey have the most infectious smiles this side of the mississipp. addison however, wasn't buying our cheap parlor tricks behind the camera (ie. jingling keys and dorky sounds). for her, we needed to break out the big guns.

not even the crazy arm dance could get her to crack. notice her "i don't know those people" gaze.
what to do?
ah ha! suddenly it came to me. what's the one thing that always makes kids laugh? april's face? well, yes, but we employed something different this time...

tickle, tickle. 60 percent of the time, it works every time.

if you don't think this is one of the cutest things you've ever seen then my question to you is, who stole your soul? robot.

we get to capture a lot of cool moments in people's lives, but this has to be one of the coolest. during their trip to san diego addison learned how to stand on her own. this image documents one of the last times addison needed help to stand. it's one of those amazing moments in a child's life that we as parents are blessed to witness and be a part of.

happy parents. happy baby. happy ohana.

by a show of hands, or baby, who loves san diego?

rain said, watch the birdie.

addison found zero humor in the fact that that last wave nearly got her wet.

there's the smile we love. babies rule!

thank you so so much jaymie, addison, marc, and audrey. the fact that you chose us out of the 1.2 billion photographers in san diego to do your family portraits is pretty awesome, but what makes it more special to us is the fact that you are an amazing photographer. it's really humbling when other photographers ask you to take their picture. we feel extremely blessed for being given the opportunity to do this for you. mahalo plenty. God Bless you all.
try to stay warm this winter with thoughts of san diego in your heads. we hope to see you all again VERY soon. hint hint. who's up for shave ice and a 2nd round of portraits... on oahu?

p.s. happy belated birthday jaymie!

brunel keiki on the north shore of oahu

a couple months ago the brunel ohana came out to california and met up with us for a fun afternoon at the beach. one day with their wonderful family was just not enough, so when we recently flew out to their home turf we met up for a 2nd session. this time we met in one of our favorite places on earth, the north shore of oahu. first stop... waimea valley to get some shots of hayley and riley.
i'm envisioning these first two shots as large canvases. what do you think?
hayley's eyes are as cool as the pacific.

riley tried blending in to his surroundings, but you just can't hide a face like this.

if you've never been to the waimea valley here's a preview. it is such an amazing place. when i saw this spot i had to stop and get some shots of the kids. i love this shot of hayley.

on their way north pam picked up this beautiful fresh flower crown for hayley. it was perfect. hayley looked absolutely precious.

since riley didn't have his blue daredevil cast on anymore to show people he's tough, he opted for the manly vines. looking good my man.

that's more like it.

every time i get the chance to take pictures of young siblings i ask myself if the shot i'm taking will be something they remember and if they'll look back on it with a smile when they grow up.
just in case you forget, hayley and riley, this was when you sat quietly for a moment.
moments later, things were back to normal and you were running around like the wonderful little energetic children you are.

local feety feets

as the sun was setting we headed over to the beach to have a little fun in the water and catch the yummiest light of the day.

today's adventure... strawberry shortcake finds a sea slug. bet you haven't heard that one before.

after seeing the giant sea slug riley strapped on his goggles and dove right in. he pretty much bailed on the photo session and went snorkel exploring the rest of the afternoon. one thing i know is that when you're taking pictures of kids, they run the show. when they're done, they're done. we're cool with that. part of what makes our shots of kids look natural is because we try to be as hands-off as possible and let the kids be kids. they're happier that way and it shows in the pictures.

with riley out exploring the tidelands we got a chance to focus on hayley.

these last shots of hayley just make me smile.
they make me wish i was a kid again and that my only care in the world was how fun this moment is. laughing and splashing around in the warm water of the pacific as the sun sets behind me on the north shore of oahu.
does life get any better than that?

only if this is your house :)