Starting at the Fantasyland Castle in Disneyland

I love this photo in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, which is the picturesque entrance to Fantasyland.

Here’s using the iconic Disneyland Carousel (also known as the King Arthur Carousel) as a backdrop for these graduation photography portraits. We do a lot a photography sessions at Disneyland, so check out the many other examples we have on our blog.

And they aren’t graduation photos without a cap and gown.

Toontown Grad Photos

After Fantasyland, we hopped up to Toontown for grad photos at Mickey’s house.

And yes, there is a graduation pin that you can pick up at the Disneyland City Hall.

And you gotta love retaking a photo from the past in the same spot over It’s a Small World ride.

California Adventures Graduation Photography

We headed over to California Adventures, since the background of the Incredicoaster and the Pixar’s Pal-a-round is unmatched. It was previously known as the Sun Wheel and Mickey’s Fun Wheel, but we like to call it the Death wheel (You can get soooooooo dizzy on the sliding ones).

Gotta love doing graduation photos with the Pixar Pier in the background, capped off with a cap and gown.

And it’s always a good time to bust out your letters jacket for the grad portraits.

Finishing the Session in Carsland

We wrapped the session in Carsland.

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Judy started the family photography session with both of these cute sisters, being loving sisters.

Oh and this year they had a new addition to their family; a new and adorable puppy!

And here is the whole {R} family together for a family portrait.

Here is are family photos with a large tree where we could sit them on it like a log. This is one of the reasons we love doing family photography at Jeffrey Open Trail.

Then we went down the path to a tunnel, which makes a great backdrop for these family portraits. Orange County family photos are seamless when you have a beautiful location to shoot at.

After the tunnel, we headed to a small creek bed for more Irvine family photos. Gotta love the cute leg extension!

And it’s always nice to get photos of the parents together, by themselves.

And here is their cute little puppy dog all by itself.

These are family photos in Irvine, at the Jeffrey Open Trail and Park. There are two adorable daughters and a puppy dog. This family is one of the families we get to see year after year, watching their family grow and mature. It’s a real pleasure and honor to be a part of that.

Make sure to check out our Instagram for more examples of recent family photos we’ve done, whether in Irvine or Orange County. Family photography in Irvine can be seen here on our blog.

When looking through our many examples of families we have captured throughout the years, we hope that you see each family in the unique and beautiful light that we see them in. This is a personal job and a loved hobby for Judy, and it shows in the many smiles and moments she has captured. If you’d like to book Judy for your own family photos, make sure to check out our Orange County family photography prices and packages first. We offer discounts for local sessions to San Dimas and the surrounding cities, but we also shoot often in Los Angeles and Orange County.

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Here is our purple and pink cake smash setup, with a super cute owl banner.

We then took her to the side to do some quick portraits on a chair on a dirt path.

And here is where the cake smash starts! It’s always neat watching a kid react to a cake, especially when they look up as if asking “can I really just touch this?!”

And you gotta just fall in love with that super cute smile!

This is the cake smash photography session for our second kid, Hayden. Judy has been capturing families and their little ones for over a decade now, and our own family experience has only made it that much more special. Cake smashes are a popular option for a first birthday photo session, mostly cause it’s a perfect age to let a kid innocently tear apart a cake! It does require a sacrificial cake, but in this case we just got ours from the local grocery store (sometimes you are just too tired to do everything, especially with 2 kids)! You can see many more examples of our work on our family photography instagram page, along with many more examples of cake smash photos and more on this site.

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San Dimas Family Photography

We started with individual portraits with the daughter and her HUGE balloon.

How cute are these family photos with balloons and a happy, pregnant mother?

Maternity photos with a toddler daughter

We brought their daughter back into the mix of family and maternity photos. This is a really cute photo of them all kissing.

And how cute are these pregnant mommy and daughter photos?

Family Photos with a Picnic

Then they laid out a picnic setup, including the balloons for decoration and a blanket and wooden crate. They had a Minnie Mouse stuffed toy too, which their daughter loved playing with.

Family Photos with a Balloon

Look at how huge this balloon is!

Walnut Creek Park Family Photos

These are family photos taken at the Walnut Creek Park in San Dimas, a small local gem in our hometown. It’s a beautiful place to showcase a family that is growing, and a beautiful place to showcase a mother that is expecting. The session above shows how we can handle a pregnant mother and a toddler child in the same session, bring the whole family together in the combined family photos. San Dimas is a local location, which means we discount it when shooting in San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Covina, or Glendora. This portrait session includes elements with the color yellow and pink, specifically yellow balloons and pink balloons. They were surrounded by trees and greenery in this picturesque location.

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I love the frosting on that pink cake. All the better to smash the cake with tiny one-year-old hands!!

Here you can see the simple cake smash setup with wooden crates, pink and white balloons, and a pink blanket. She also had streamers hanging in the background using two wooden sticks driven into the ground.

And the first birthday cake smash begins!

That’s a whole lot of pink! Pink tutu, pink blanket, pink flowers, and lots of pink frosting.

Then the family (mom and dad) got into the action for some first birthday family photos, with a lot of pink cake frosting to boot!

And that is definitely a messy, but super fun and cute 1st birthday family photo.

Judy is an experienced family photographer of over 10 years, doing family photography sessions and wedding photography. She also has done cake smashes for both of her own daughters and it very familiar with working with young children. Dreams & Darlings can capture your 1yo cake smash birthday photos with fun and ease. These photos make for an amazing memento, but also are great for promoting a first birthday party (for invitations or a website). Make sure to give the shoot ample time before the birthday party to use the images for that. Make sure to look at our website for more examples of cake smash photos and first birthday photos.

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Starting at a Wood Fence in San Dimas

We started the San Dimas maternity photography portrait session at a rustic wooden fence surrounding by greenery and trees.

We absolutely love it when the sun peaks through the trees and leaves to add highlights and a warm glow is cast on our pregnant couple. Pregnancy photos always look nicer with that glow that reflects the mother-to-be.

Look how elegant she looks in that black maternity dress.

From a Black Maternity Dress to a Pink Maternity Dress

After the pregnancy photos in the black maternity dress, we switched to the pink maternity dress for something different.

We love how there is a stream here, though we made sure we gave her insect repellant (and one without deet)! This is one of the little gems of Walnut Creek Park.

San Dimas Maternity Photography

This is a great example of San Dimas pregnancy photos in Los Angeles County. We did the portrait session at the Walnut Creek Regional Park and Trail, which has trees, leaves, wood fences, and a serene stream. Our pregnant mother-to-be wore an elegant black maternity dress to start, and finished the session with a pink maternity dress. You can find more examples of our family and maternity photography with the color pink on our website.

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Starting Graduation Photos at the California Botanical Garden

The California Botanical Gardens are a special and hidden gem in Eastern Los Angeles County. It’s located right north of the Claremont Colleges, which is where we went for the second half of the graduation photography portrait session.

Claremont Colleges Grad Photos

After graduation portraits at the California Botanical Garden, we headed over to the Claremont Colleges for more grad photos. I think it’s considered one of the more beautiful college campuses un Southern California. Our recent grad actually graduated from UCSC, but her family is here locally in the Claremont area, which made the family photos much easier.

We then did some fun grad photos with confetti, placed on her cap.

Here is a great graduation photo of confetti being blown off the the top of her grad cap.

And of course it’s always a tradition to celebrate a graduation with a bottle of champagne!

Claremont Colleges Family and Graduation Photography

This is a great example of a graduation portrait photography session done in two locations in Claremont: the California Botanical Garden and the Claremont Colleges. Being from San Dimas, we consider the City of Claremont to be in our neighborhood. They are both local treasures and amazing for both grad photos and family photos. You can see many more examples of our work on our website, including many more examples of grad photos.

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