I’ve worked a lot with Crystal over the years, mostly on big corporate gigs and a few weddings – but I’ve never had the privilege of photographing her and Gerald’s lovely family. Even though we’re almost in December 2023, it was sunny and 62 degrees for this morning’s family portrait session in Woodside, CA. Crystal wanted to explore the expansive, amazing property of Filoli Gardens, which is one of the few private locations that are actually pretty friendly to professional photography (as long as you purchase an entrance ticket). This means we had to dodge around a few other families of like mind, but the place is so huge this isn’t a big deal. Oh, they don’t allow dogs, but there’s some cool areas adjacent to the parking lot so we were able to include their best friend Lexi in a few photos at the start. Their 2 1/2 year old son kinda stole the show with his adorable grin, which required only a little M&M-fueled inspiration at key points during the hour-long session :)

I’m really happy with how the photos turned out, and I hope the family is thrilled with the results as well. It’s good to know that Filoli still looks amazing in the wintertime – even though there’s no blooming flowers, there’s so many nooks / archways / doorways / walls with tons of character to explore, I didn’t miss the flora one bit. Enjoy may faves below, there’s so many more than this in the full collection!