How cool is it when I am able to not only stay in touch with a couple after their wedding, but photograph other awesome milestones for them along the way? You may remember Hana & Toshi from their beautiful Palos Verdes wedding and dreamy day-before session. Flash forward to today – they’re currently living in Japan and now have a joyful baby boy named Kento! I was so excited when they got in touch with me letting me know they’d be back in town in LA and were hoping to take some family portraits. Kento seriously is one of the happiest little guys I have EVER met – he has a huge smile & killer personality which I know he gets from his awesome parents! So happy I could meet him & reconnect with this wonderful family while they were in town :)

Some portraits I shot for my friend Stephanie, the wonderful wedding/event coordinator and face behind Preppy Chic. Stephanie & I randomly bumped into each other in Santa Monica recently and after a very animated high-pitched huggy-jumpy screamfest (think Sh*t Girls Say), we chatted a little bit about working together for headshots for her new website. I was so excited that our vision for her portraits was so similar {soft, feminine, natural} and love the result! :) Can’t wait for our ramen date!

As a daughter, it’s an interesting thing seeing how your relationship with your mother changes as time goes on. As an adult, you begin to see her also as a woman, you start to more clearly understand what kind of challenges she may have faced in her life, what kind of sacrifices she made. The parts of you that are maybe like her become more evident, you find that she may understand you more than you realized, that you can relate on levels you hadn’t been able to before.

Suddenly you wake up one morning and realize that your mom — the one who reminded you to always finish your veggies, or maybe pushed you to do well in school, the one who said “you’ll thank me for this, you’ll understand when you’re older” — is not just your mom, but also one of your very very best friends.

I had so much fun capturing this sweet mother-daughter session. Two women who are both so beautiful inside and out, and have such a wonderful bond…