happy sunday! holiday photos in san diego

we kicked off the holiday photo season early this year, with an end of september shoot that was so much fun.  this family is so amazing, full of love, goodness and friendship (plus, they are gorgeous!) --we've known them since before the little guy was born!  this was at tamarack beach in carlsbad, take a look at a few of our faves...

i mean seriously, does it get any more picture perfect than this? i'm waiting for the magazines to come calling...

happy holidays swensons!

holiday photos are coming to san diego

it's that time of year...
...when we pray that the kids will smile just once and at the same time
... when we hope that the weather will cooperate and not give us crazy hair
...when we hope that there won't be 500 other people with the same idea in the same place at the same time
...when we go shopping for the perfect outfit, coordinated, but not matchy, and what color is in style this year? 
...when we wonder when holiday photos got so competitive
...when we become those parents we never thought we would be just to get our kids to smile -- I'll buy you a candy, toy, puppy, _____! if you would just smile once

Yes, it is that time of year we all love, HOLIDAY PHOTO TIME!!!!

We are coming to San Diego a few times over the next couple months for holiday photos, so sign up now and pass along the info.

Oct 24-26
Nov 7-9
Thanksgiving Weekend

Cost is $125 for the mini session (15 minutes) and $200 for the 30 minute session.  Locations TBD.

Email us at daniphaneufphoto@gmail.com or find us on facebook and let us know what date / time works for you.

And to get you in the mood, here is one of my favorite photos from our shoot in october, at tamarack beach in carlsbad. imagine the envy all your east coast and midwest friends will have when you send them your holiday cards...

dec 18: a month of charitable giving -- princess project | sf bay area photographer

who doesn't remember pretty in pink? molly ringwald in all her 80s glory, desperate to go to prom, but didn't have the money for a dress. so she made one, a beautiful (in her mind) pink gown. well if she had known about the princess project, she might have been able to save herself some time.

the princess project is a cool organization that supports a girl's dream of being able to attend prom. through this organization, you can donate old dresses that they will in turn give to young girls so they can fulfill their dream of attending prom.  they also have opportunities to volunteer, both in san francisco area and in san diego, so there is plenty of opportunity for you to get involved. 

and today's post features an adorable little princess who was just about 3 months old for our shoot.  from engagement to wedding to maternity to newborn and now family photo shoots, we have loved getting to know lisa and tim and giving them the memories of a lifetime. 

 happy holidays,

dani + james

dec 14: a month of charitable giving -- american cancer society | sf bay area photographer

i'm not sure about you, but whenever i see one of those commercials about celebrating another birthday, i can't help but feel grateful for the american cancer society.  cancer is such a vicious disease,  it seems like it is everywhere i turn these days -- from family to friends to my favorite tv characters and fictional book heroines, i just can't escape it.  so i help in the little way i can, by donating to the american cancer society throughout the year. 

james and i met sandy and john at a cooking class years ago, and we love seeing them every year.   enjoy today's family holiday photo, taken at hotel del coronado. 

happy holidays!

dani + james

engaged! heidi and tyler | san diego wedding photographer

can i just say wow?! heidi and tyler are not only a gorgeous couple, but they are fun and were up for anything for their engagement session. since tyler is a football coach at a local school, we wanted to throw in some football fun into the session. we started out at ferry landing in coronado before we headed down to their hometown of imperial beach. IB is so under-rated, it has a cool funkiness that is perfect for heidi and tyler. here are our faves from the session...



football time...

i love how gq tyler looks here...

some of IB's funkiness...


and now for some beautiful so cal golden sunshine, i was just a little obsessed with these...

just a nice portrait...


yummy, taking a break before sunset...


and wow!

we couldn't be more excited for your wedding this weekend!!!

mia | san diego children's photographer

happy friday! i wanted to share this little cutie, who we photographed this year at the hotel del. she has grown so much since we first met her last year, but she has that same adorable smile. it was a super-bright sunny day, somewhat uncharacteristic for a san diego morning, so we tried to find some hiding places for mia. here are some of our faves from the shoot...

wedding: nikki and josh part II | san diego wedding photographer

ok, so it has been forever since nikki and josh's wedding at marina village and since the first post, but maybe the suspense is a good thing. we loved, loved, loved this wedding party because they were down for some fun, and they brought props. not just some cute props, but props for a fight scene, a la anchorman...

first all sassy and sweet...





and then...not so sweet...



and now for our faves of nikki and josh, how hot are they???





and some rings, just because they look cool...


time for the grand entrance and the reception fun...





yummy churros at the reception...

and cake too!