Laguna Beach Photographer | Family Session with Alyssa and Jake

OMG!! How stinking cute are these four!??

Alyssa and her husband Jake reached out looking for “family photos” at the beach. While my mind went straight to kiddos in coordinating outfits, she was thinking of a whole different type of family! These two wanted to include their adorable little fur babies, and I am so in love! I mean, look at those pups!? How could you not love that?

Planning for this type of session was just a little bit different than many of the sessions I do! We selected a date based on the dog grooming schedule (definitely a first for me!), and picked the beach location based off of what beaches in South Orange County allow dogs! In case you are wondering this yourself, check here for a list of Southern California beaches where dogs are welcome!

Once we decided on the perfect spot in Laguna Beach for their family photo session, we got to it! They were such great sports, meeting me early in the morning, so we had a beautiful morning sky, and the beach was almost totally empty. The sweet pups were so well-behaved and Alyssa and Jake were up for anything I asked them to do! “Go climb up onto those rocks with your dogs” “Sure thing!”. “Please go run into the water in your jeans and let the waves crash on you.” “You got it!”

I always try to capture some silly reactions from couples during their photo shoot, and often times that means me asking them to say or do things that are totally ridiculous, but will result in some adorable photos or genuine laughter! See below for the perfect example. “Jake, hold Alyssa super romantically, and I want you to whisper in her ear in your sexiest voice what you want to cook for dinner tonight”.

And while I adore the photos of just the two-legged family members, this session was definitely about capturing their four-legged family as well! Jake and Alyssa each have “their dog”, and we were able to get some cute photos for each of them with their pup.

I can’t wait to capture more memories for this sweet family, and snuggle with those adorable dogs again!