Jenna Cole Photography – Palo Alto, CA

It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything Jenna Cole related. Too long! This is partially due to our move from Chicago to the sunny Palo Alta area just south of San Francisco, and also because I’ve been busy nurturing the two little darlings you see pictured above.  The littlest one you see pictured above was born February 6, 2013 and so I’m going to be consumed with family life for the next few weeks.

BUT

At some point I’m going to be ready to pick up a camera. I’m going to be experimenting with film this year. I miss weddings! I want to take a step back and look at the sessions I love most and focus in on those. I want to practice my craft and challenge myself and continue to improve with each experience.

Hopefully I’ll be able to work with some of you?

For the second time in under three years, my family and I have moved! Now we’re living in sunny Palo Alto, California, and I hope we stay here forever. Building up a photography business in a new area is difficult, but I’m committed to making it work. (Even with a baby due in February of 2013!)

A few weeks before we left Chicago I photographed my last session in Illinois, a family session with the A Family. It looked a little something like this.

Since that time I’ve noticed an increase in “Lifestyle Photography” sessions on my favorite photography blogs. These sessions capture families and couples in their home or their favorite places in a way that’s much more authentic and descriptive of the way people actually live. I love these sessions because they often take place in the home, as well as one other location, and they capture your life in a way that a photography session in a “pretty” or “artsy” or “vintage” can’t match. I hope future clients will be interested in doing them as well!

Below you will meet the F family. They’re our new friends in the area and agreed to let me come to their home and spend an hour with them on a Saturday morning so you could see what a Lifestyle session is all about when Jenna Cole is behind the lens. Up until the last photo absolutely everything you see is completely natural with no posing or direction on my part. The kids ate breakfast, showed me their bedrooms, spent some time coloring, and prepared for karate lessons. Once they were ready for the day we walked/rode over to a favorite park so the dog could run around for a few minutes. The light was plentiful, the weather was wonderful, and I couldn’t have asked for better subjects.

Please comment below and let me know what you think! Is this something you’d be interested in doing with your own family?

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Paige did well, don’t you think?