San Diego Blog Stories
Within this blog you will find everything from Funeral planning for Veterans to Newborn photography. While we capture many events and share as much information as possible, our main goal is to serve others. We currently do that by providing information and curating things that are needed, primarily for our Military community in Southern California.
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From Bump to Pup: Capturing Pregnancy Memories with Your Dog | San Diego, CA
Looking for a unique way to add some personality and character to your maternity photos?
Consider including your fur family, However, before you do, it's important to plan ahead and make sure your dog is calm and well-behaved during the photo session.
Keep reading to find 3 reasons why you should include your fur family in maternity photos, some tips to do it the right way, and some reasons NOT to.
Boys ONLY! - The Hasicks’ 3rd Son | Escondido CA Newborn Lifestyle Photo Session
Newborn Session | Thanksgiving Baby | San Diego, CA
Having three sons is like having an unpredictable roller coaster ride. There’s never a dull moment, and you never know what’s going to happen next. One minute they’re playing video games and the next they’re off on some wild adventure - You are guaranteed to have a huge grocery bill!
When it comes to sports and activities, having only sons can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s great to have them all playing soccer or basketball together. On the other hand, it can be a bit overwhelming to try and wrangle them all into one place at the same time.
Life with three sons is a lot of fun. It can be chaotic at times but it’s always full of laughter and joy. So if you’re a parent of three sons, just remember to buckle up and enjoy the ride!
Here are a few photos of all three brothers together and some with dad.
In-home newborn | What to have on hand | 2018 San Diego Throwback
Tips for parents who are having an in-home newborn photo session and want to know more about what to have on hand, what to focus on cleaning, and how to relax knowing you’re about to have an amazing experience!
Morgan L So Cal Newborn Photographer
3 Ideas for Epic Multigenerational Family Photos | San Diego, CA
Extended Family Photo Session Ideas for the family on Vacation in Southern California.
It's not just about the kids.
A family portrait should celebrate all generations. The special bond between grandparents and their grandchildren is worth capturing with a multigenerational family portrait. These images will celebrate the full family story can become an invaluable part of YOUR family history, and will also look great on the walls.
I will always encourage adding a generational component to anyone’s yearly family session. Weather it be family jewelry or a framed portrait of great grandma that’s recently passed away - It may not be something you have even thought of, but you are sure to love the images captured. Capturing a few extra frames with the children and grandparents doesn’t add too much time to your session and often having another set of hands-on set to assist with the kids can be extra helpful, especially when your children are small.
Here are 3 ideas to incorporate multiple generations in your next family portraits.
Good Reads for New Military MoMs | 2022
Good Reads for New Military MoMs (Mom of a Marine) | 2022
Navigating life as a new parent of a Marine headed off to Boot Camp is hard enough. If you love reading or want to read up on how to better understand the transition your new service member is going through, here are our top picks! Saving the BEST MoM (mother of a Marine) book for last!
The Heart of a Military Mom by Army Mom Strong & Elaine Brye 4.7 out of 5 #24 in Military Families (Books)
Rise Up Military Moms: A Journal for Living Life with Strength and Purpose by Army Mom Strong & Elaine Brye 4.8 out of 5 #67 in Military Families (Books)
Be Safe, Love Mom: A Military Mom's Stories of Courage, Comfort, and Surviving Life on the Home Front by Elaine Brye & Nan Gatewood Satter 4.8 out of 5 #11 in Military Families (Books)
Top 4 Book Reads for Military Spouses
Top 4 Good Reads for Military Spouses & Significant Others
Navigating life as a spouse or significant other of a service member headed off to Boot Camp or deployment is hard enough, want to stay busy reading? If you love reading or want to start up to better understand the transition your love is going through during their first years of service (including deployments), here are our top picks!
Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives by Jocelyn Green 4.8 out of 5
The 5 Love Languages Military Edition: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman & Jocelyn Green 4.7 out of 5 from 1,814 global ratings on Amazon #4 in Military Families (Books)
You Are Not Alone: Encouragement for the Heart of a Military Spouse by Jen McDonald 4.7 out of 5 #155 in Military Families (Books)
Open When: Letters of Encouragement for Military Spouses by Lizann Lightfoot 4.5 out of 5 #93 in Military Families (Books)
Mom Reuniting With Son After Deployment | Chunaco Family | USNS Mercy | San Diego Naval Base | pt2
Mom Reuniting With Son After Deployment | Chunaco Family | USNS Mercy | San Diego Naval Base pt2
USNS Mercy T-AH-19 is a 1,000 bed hospital ship commissioned in 1986 and currently lay berthed at Pier 1 on Naval Base San Diego, California. Along with USNS Comfort, USNS Mercy provides an afloat, mobile, acute surgical medical facilities when called upon to the U.S. military, and hospital services to support U.S. disaster relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.
Mom Reuniting With Son After Deployment | Chunaco Family | USNS Mercy | San Diego Naval Base |
Mom Reuniting With Son After Deployment | Chunaco Family | USNS Mercy | San Diego Naval Base
Deployed Mom VS Deployed Dad…
Lets be clear, deployments are not easy nor are they really comparable. As a female service member I do recall my husband being home with our daughter versus the times he was deployed and I was home alone with her. I was blessed to have never needed to leave my daughter for an extended amount of time; therefore didn’t know what to expect watching LCDR reunite with her son.
Of course, he started getting mad at dad holding him waving at mom ( he was trying to nap haha) right as she was walking up and did warm up. This exact same thing happens when I see dad’s come home. At the same homecoming, another little kid ran up to his mom with a huge embrace! They are each unique and require reintegration to really feel like a family again.
Marine Dad Meeting Newborn for the FIRST TIME | Marinaccio Family | VMM-163 Fly-in from Africa | San Diego Airport Military Homecoming |
Check out photos and a video of this Cpl meeting his newborn for the first time after being deployed in Africa with VMM-163 at the San Diego International Airport.
This deployed Marine dad returns home to his beautiful wife and baby girl for the first time. The anticipation of this moment and importance of this first meeting was so important we decided to do video, too.
Lets be real, this sweet family of three are clearly lost in the moment enjoying their firsts. Cpl seems to have a good handle on fatherhood already because it doesn’t take long for him to embrace his girls and enjoy his first (adorable!) father/daughter bonding moment.
Why you need to hire a photographer at least once in your Military Journey
Why you need to hire a photographer at least once in your Military Journey.
Investing in photography is something we all consider a couple times a year but rarely follow through. Sometimes there is a budget concern, other important events around the corner, and so much more. As a photographer, even I have missed the past TWO YEARS of family photos…. And I do regret it. What I do not regret is getting a post deployment photographer for my husbands last pier side homecoming where I announced the gender of our baby.
Bonus Note about How Special Airport Homecomings are.
4th Birthday Portraits | East County San Diego, CA
Annual Birthday Portraits | Novalee | East County San Diego, CA
Last week we went down the way from our home and decided to take a few quick photos of our little lady to remember her last week as a three-ager. I am so glad we did. She was starting to feel better from sickness so we only stayed for about 10 min and it was so worth it! hope you enjoy this quick mini photo session.
Grandma Carol found this beautiful dress at a thrift store and Nova fell in love!
Fresh 48 Photography - Dealing with Dark & Small Hospitals | Balboa Naval Hospital
Fresh 48 Newborn Boy Session | Balboa Naval Hospital | San Diego, CA
Lets talk about the 4 most important things to remember when going into a dark and small hospital room for Fresh-48 Newborn photo session.
1. Make the Most of the Natural Light…First. I stay far away from flash when working with newborns in a lifestyle fresh 48 type of session. Not that there is anything horrible about it, I just don’t prefer it's disruption.
2. Focus on Details & Emotions Versus Perfection. We’re not here to worry about perfection. Fresh 48 or birth space sessions tend to trend towards the documentary photography end of the spectrum. This means that they are more true-to-life, less styled, and more “real”.
3. Black & Whites Can Improve the Emotional Value of an Image. Sometimes you can just embrace the grain or go with black and white. Honestly, black and white images are really iconic!
4. Utilize High Key Lighting & Silhouettes. In addition to black and white imagery, shooting towards the window allows for highlighting of details like peach fuzzy baby faces, and more.
Photographers-Child Syndrome
I was on the brink of recovering from some icky sickness and felt creative. Asked my daughter to put on an outfit I made (thrifted crochet tree skirt turned into skirt and crocheted top by me). Needless to say, it was funnier to be sassy and play than listen to mom. I am going to miss these days, I am sure. Enjoy!
Here are a few photos that show the start of my vision of shooting through plants in a boho style. Next time, taller ladder, and bribery for good smiles, lol. Not perfect photos or super fine tuned just quick edits to show off this goofy girl!
76th Annual 4th of July Celebration | Crest, CA
Yesterday, my family joined in on Crest, CA’s 76th annual 4th of July parade and park festival! Our first “public” event since we moved here was last year during their 75th and it was rather small due to the pandemic. Of course, this one was very ‘Merica and Novalee had a blast!
Very Patriotic - Red White and Blue!
It was so cool to see Bad Rabbit preform and the National Anthem sung. EVERYONE stopped to render honors. One of the hot dog vendors actually started crying. I over heard her say it was just so neat to see that there are people who still love our country. The veteran population up here in our area is huge, so no lack of patriotism was left at home. Candy and water guns. The sights and sounds of Crest’s 76th gala July 4th event never disappoints. Thanks to all those that worked so hard. All your efforts show. I hope everyone realizes all the effort it takes to make this unique down-home event so much fun.
Five reasons why you need to schedule an extended family photo session
As we all know, life moves quickly. It's time to get the family together.
We’re busy keeping up with work, family and other commitments. But it’s not just the pace of life that is increasing—it’s also the distance between us as families.
Perhaps none is more important than preserving your family albums full of photos of loved ones and getting to spend time together. As a mother myself, I can’t encourage you enough to prioritize extended family portraits. Years from now you will be so very grateful that you took the time to get everyone together for a large family session. It's more than worth the effort and I guarantee you'll love every minute of it!
Here are five reasons you need to schedule an extended family photo session.
5 Reasons why you should get an airport homecoming photographer
Do you feel robbed of a typical post deployment homecoming experience because your spouse or significant other was selected to fly off the ship early?? Did you have a difficult birth or high risk pregnancy and need your SO home? Perhaps they were injured or came home due to unfortunate circumstances? Don’t worry! You, too, can have a beautiful homecoming experience that can be even more special than meeting on the flight line or deck of the ship.
Here are 5 reasons you should consider hiring a photographer for your airport homecoming.
ECHO Co MCRD Graduation Day 03.11.22
Here are amazing families of the nation’s newest Marines. I met up with these folks at Liberty Station, formerly known as the Naval Training Center San Diego, which welcomed its first Navy recruits in 1923 and closed after 60 years. Liberty Station is now San Diego's Town Square and perfectly replicates Marine Corps Recruit Depots architecture.
Hospital Fresh 48 Newborn | Mara Vesper | Sharp Mary Birch San Diego, CA
Making sure to capture emotion & connection during a hospital Fresh 48 Newborn Session.
I am so glad Laura found me on social media and hired me to capture her newborn baby girl for the first time. Laura had been a nanny for many years and had an amazing mother’s touch and a gentle hand.
I was so nervous with everything going on here in San Diego, I was so afraid they were going to limit those who could visit in the hospital due to the nasty virus going around (He who shall not be named). I wore a mask juuuussttt in case. Little did I know this would be the last baby girl I would get to photograph but funny enough, not at this specific session but at her in-home lifestyle session a few days later! she's such a great model and mom ROCKS at decorating. I actually didn’t know what miss Mara’s name would be until the second session. Sorry mom and dad, had to tell on you for waiting to pick out a name. ;) All jokes aside, you guys are going to be great parents!
Oliver Light | Hospital Fresh 48 | Balboa Naval Medical Center
What is a Fresh 48 Session and why schedule one?
A fresh 48 is a session done in the hospital after baby is born but before you leave the hospital. They care called “Fresh 48” because they are captured within the first 48 hours of life to capture the details of a fresh babe. These precious sessions document the details of you and your significant other as you bond with your new baby. From documenting tiny little feet and ankle bracelets, to siblings meeting their baby brother or sister for the FIRST time, the authentic connection and emotion captured during this time will bring you to tears of joy every time you look at your Fresh 48 session.