So-Cal Family Portrait at the Iconic Del in Coronado, San Diego

Here is a beautiful Southern California portrait photography session captured in San Diego’s iconic Coronado’s Del. I love working with this family, whom I have had the pleasure of photographing for more than a decade, capturing the evolution of their family. A professional couple from Texas, they have exquisite taste and enjoy decorating their home with fine art photography. Many of my family portraits grace their walls and tabletops. I’ve joined them to document vacations in places like New York and Rome — even their ten year anniversary in Paris.

For this shoot, we choose the magnificent and historic Hotel del Coronado, affectionately known as “the Dell”in San Diego County, California. It’s a familiar setting for the family, with a beautiful beach front, and its iconic red domed-roof . You may recognize it as the scene of the classic film “Some Like it Hot,” with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.

Knowing the family as well as I do, I was able to grab the authentic spirit of this fun, loving family, at this stage in their lives. Photographing small children can be a challenge for anyone. Having begun my career with portraits of children, I was able to allow their adorable little girl to relax completely in front of my camera as you can see in the photo (I loved her hair…). I also wanted to capture the love between father and daughter. Encouraging them to play in the surf really brought that out. The mother, Mary, is a glamorous woman, and I was happy to be able to bring that out in her portraits.

I accept only a few travel portrait photography sessions per year, and  I love integrating the location with the subjects because it gives me a chance to bring out their unique personalities in an unfamiliar setting, choosing locations that mirror the people they are at this point in their lives.