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!

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contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

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kickin the can in coronado

i was wrong.
huh, i guess i can say it. :)
for years now i've been walking around thinking my family had the coolest names on the planet.
along comes sylvia's family and... boom goes the dynamite :)
sylvia and her husband david brought their two awesome boys, diego and joaquin, out for a full tilt fun family portrait session on coronado island.
it was a good thing we brought our smiles. we were gonna need 'em.

this is the only known photograph of david, sylvia, diego, and joaquin's fun being contained. shortly after this photo was taken the cage turned to butterflies and their fun was unleashed on coronado.

how far we goin back? way back.
back to when there was no such thing as a playstation 3, xbox 360, wii, psp, gameboy, sega, atari, or pong.
back to when all kids had for fun was an empty alley and a game of kick the can.
diego and joaquin are bringin it back.

mmmm, burger lounge.

one way... the fun way :)

here we have two families. let's call them family A and family B.
today's experiment is to see which family is more fun.
family A, on the left, wasn't much fun at all. they had to be vapoorized.
family B is SUPER FUN! yay family B!
thank you david, sylvia, diego, and joaquin for making us smile every time we look at you :)

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
please also take a look at 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 family photographer | orange county family photographer | los angeles family photographer

the maxfield ohana in oceanside california

if you're looking at this post you probably already know that ohana means family. what you may not know (until now) is that kim and i both come from ohanas with lots of people in them. another bit of kim and david trivia: we traced our ancestors from both families back to the same area of scotland. further proof that fate has bought me to kim. enough about us.
we'd like you to meet a small part of kim's ohana, the maxfields. they came from the frozen tundra of utah, and as far away as asia, to share some sweet sweet san diego sunshine. fyi, there are 48 images in this post and that's not even all of the maxfields. sadly, some couldn't make the trip to so cal.
kim and i were really happy to see everyone. it had been several years since the last time we saw them, so it was nice to catch up a bit. but i digress.
everyone, meet neil, jeannine, and their ohana.
maxfield trivia: maxfield's chocolates is neil and jeannine's family business. (and they're gooood)

oh, one more thing before we get going too far. you are about to see some of the cutest kids on the planet, so tell whoever else is in the room with you to not be alarmed when they hear you say "awww" repeatedly. in fact, tell them to "awww" along with you. it's ok. there's no other dudes around.
i'll get you started.
awwww isn't she precious? yes!

i haven't seen any pictures of bobbi when she was a kid, but i bet she looked a lot like this. love the red hair!

fishy kiss!

fact: if your dad throws you high enough, your hair will stay like this forever. true story.

fun with gif

we actually got all the kids to sit still for a second. one second.

brothers and sisters are so fun to take pictures of.

it's all fun and games until someone loses an eyebrow.

we couldn't end this session without getting a shot of jeannine with her brother don (my father-in-law). they don't get to see each other very often, so it was really nice to spend a little time catching up and take some family photos. we miss you already and we hope you all have a happy and safe holiday season.
God bless you. hope to see you again really soon.