The {D} Family - Santa Rosa Family Photographer

I am having so much fun looking at completed work from last fall and blogging about them.  All of these sessions were posted on my facebook business page within one week of the session, but the blogging just fell to the bottom of the priority list.  I am currently in my slow season with sessions and am waiting for the wedding season to start in a few months.  But, I miss being behind the camera and reviewing these images makes me feel closer to my camera than I have lately.

This family was so beautiful, and I had a wonderful time walking around their property talking with their little girls.  Photographing sisters is special to me and it always reminds me of my own special relationship with my own sister.  

Love the dresses too!

We spent time walking around their home, all the while I photographed the family being a family.  

Natural.  Real.  Authentic.  Lovely.

Their backyard was amazing with big trees, tire swing, vineyard, and a garden...it had everything!  I can tell that many memories are made exploring their outdoor environment.

What an honor to be invited into the home of the {D} family and assist with their holiday photos for 2011.  I look forward to seeing them again in 2012 :)

The {E} Family - Windsor Family Photographer

I believe that the family that plays together stays together and the {E} family has fun together like its their job.  And their photos depict the bond of love and fun that the party of five has on a daily basis.

We had a great time walking around the picturesque Riverfront Park, talking about the new school year, the summer travels and the beloved family dog.  I shrieked with delight when I saw their dog jump out of their car with a wagging tail, as my blog readers know, I love my own dog to pieces and she has been involved with most of my personal photo sessions.  I love love love to include all of the family members in photo sessions - it is so special on so many levels.

I was super nervous for this session (although, I am always nervous before a session) because this fierce and fabulous mama of three is a phenomenal local photographer.  So having another artist in front of my camera made my knees shake a little more. :)  Our goal was to capture complete family photos, authentic and real images.  Plus lots of images with her kiddos.  As photographers we often forget to include ourselves with our family photos and I was honored to assist in completing this goal.

In addition to family photos, we definitely needed to sneak in a few of how the family all got started.  It has been eleven years since their wedding day (and their last set of pictures together) and they still look like newleyweds :)

The {E} family - I enjoyed meeting your entire family...your love is evident beyond words and an inspiration for others.  Thank you for taking the time to schedule this session and make it all happen, I truly hope that you treasure these images for years to come.  And thank you for trusting little ol' me to capture them all.  

2011 Holiday Session Specials

Today is August 25th, which means that the holidays are approaching fast and that it is time for the Melissa Morelli Photography holiday session packages to be released!

Starting with sessions scheduled after September 1st, the following specials are available.

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 Life - $100.00

* Thirty minutes of photography services (location to be determined by photographer)

* One high resolution image with full client copyright

* 15% off purchased prints, digital images or greeting cards

* 20 - 30 images displayed in an online gallery within 7 – 10 days of session

Laughter - $150.00

* One hour of photography services (location to be determined by client)

* Three high resolution images with full client copyright

* 25% off purchased prints, digital images or greeting cards

* 40 – 50 images displayed in an online gallery within 7 – 10 days of session

 Love - $250.00

* Ninety minutes of photography services (location to be determined by client)

* Ten high resolution images with full client copyright

* 35% off purchased prints, digital images or greeting cards

* 50 – 70 images displayed in an online gallery within 7 – 10 days of session

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To book your session please contact info@melissamorelliphotography.com.. Dates and times are limited and are reserved on a first come first serve basis. All prints or card orders must be placed by December 1st to guarantee a December 12th client delivery date.

Bonus: Coordinate a date and location with three additional families/couples and your session will be complimentary. 

The {S} Family - Windsor Family Photographer

One proud mom plus her three children plus her five grandchildren equals one fun photo session at Riverfront Regional Park in Windsor.  

The families were all visiting Sonoma County for their annual summer vacation.  Each year they choose a different location to rent a house and spent one week of togetherness.  Each family hails from different parts of the country from New York to Oregon to California.  And I was so excited to become part of their week long vacation by capturing the organized chaos that occurs with a family as fun as this one.  Enjoy the images of summertime memories :)

The {L} Family - Sebastopol Family Photographer

Since the beginning of my photography business I have relied strictly on referrals to grow the my clientele.  I can retrace every client back to one of my original photo sessions three years ago.  Since my first 'real' session I have become genuine friends with many of my clients and nothing makes my feet do a little happy dance than a client referral.  My gratitude for referrals runs very deep.

Such is the case with the {L} family who was interested in a session to commemorate their family of five after seeing images from another their friends I recently photographed.  After debating over the location of the shoot we ended up settling on a piece of family property in Sebastopol.  When it was described to me as an apple orchard with barns I was excited.  When I arrived I was even more excited.  It is a perfect photography session location - so much so that they could rent it out :)  We had grass, orchards, redwood trees, tire swings, tractors, and more.  My feet really did a happy dance.

Meet the super fun, super cute {L} family...

And their three adorable kiddos...

And, of course, I cannot forget about their original family member, Nemo the dog.  As a family who considers our dog as our first born I know how important it is include our furry friends in photo sessions.

A barn with a green tractor and two cute kiddos on it...perfection!  These two love on each other so much and were so sweet to each other all evening.  You can tell that they have a great brother-sister relationship, which is inspiring.

During my family photo sessions I let the mood of the little ones determine what we do next, but my goal is to continuously shoot and have my camera ready to go.  When one, or more, littles need a break I take the opportunity to grab individual shots or different pairings of family members.  Plus, it is always a great moment to steal a few pictures of the original family members - the couple who started it all :)

Love love love the next image...

Getting a dog to pose isn't the easiest feat in the world, sometimes you just have to let them meander around and continue shooting.

The toothless smile on Miss {J} just gets me every time :)

I will end this post with a great classic family photo...

The {L} Family - Thank you for being so patient with me finally getting this blog post up and, of course, thank you for letting me capture your family of five (six including Nemo!) I had a great time meeting each of you.  Your family property was amazing to photograph on and I enjoyed every minute chatting with your kiddos.  They have the best personalities and were so sweet to me.  Quite a testament to their parents :)  Looking forward to seeing you again in the future.