I still remember photographing my first Day in the Life shoot and feeling like I had found my photographic soulmate with documenting families. There is just something so magical about photographing a family when they are in their element. There’s a relaxation that isn’t forced in a rushed timeframe. They can truly be themselves. And more importantly the kids can really be kids which is one of my all time favorite things to witness in life and to get to capture. I love getting to document them doing their favorite things, their little rituals and growing personalities. I love that these pictures will only get more and more meaningful over time. That one day the families can look back at these images and not only remember but feel how their life was, once their kids have outgrown their princess stage or that cute little baby they used to bathe in the sink is now graduating college. That’s so much better to me than any one single seemingly perfect image of everyone smiling at a camera.

This shoot with Kate of Style Smaller and her ridiculously cute family was one of my all time favorites. If I could make a perfect recipe for these sessions it would be love, joy, color, play, and of course dress-up and make believe. And as you can see this session was the perfect blend of all of those ingredients to make one incredible treat. Take a look at their insanely amazing home in San Francisco and all of the love it contains. I may have had a hard time narrowing down images for the blog but it’s just too much awesomeness to not share. There’s even a little bonus behind the scenes video at the bottom.