The Gathering
Extended Family Photography in Orange County
Grandparents, adult children, grandchildren, the in-laws, the dog. When your whole family is finally in the same place at the same time, you get one chance to photograph it properly. The Gathering is built for exactly that.
The whole family is rarely in one place
Someone flies in from out of state. A milestone birthday lands on a weekend everyone can make. A wedding brings the cousins together. Whatever gets everyone into the same zip code, it usually doesn't happen twice — and the last real portrait of the whole family is from a decade and two grandchildren ago.
Most family photographers are set up for four people and a toddler. Twenty-four people across three generations is a different job: different lens, different light, different pacing, and a plan for every grouping before anyone arrives. We've been photographing Orange County families since 2002, and large groups are the sessions we're asked for most in the weeks when relatives are in town.
The Gathering
Where we photograph extended families in Orange County
The right location for six people is often the wrong one for twenty-six. These are the places that work when the group is large:
Heisler Park, Laguna Beach
Bluff-top lawns, stairs that work beautifully for tiered group posing, and the coastline behind. Best early, before the park fills.
Resorts and rentals
Staying at the Montage, the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Surf & Sand or a rental for the week? We photograph on-property regularly and know what each one allows.
Little Corona Beach, Newport Beach
A sheltered cove reached by a paved path rather than a staircase, which matters when the group includes grandparents or a stroller. The cliffs cut the wind, and the tide pools give the children something to do between groupings. Best at low tide, when there’s more usable sand to work with.
Your family home
For the largest gatherings this is frequently the best option available. No permit, no parking problem, nobody dropping out because of the drive — and the house means something to the family in a way a beach doesn’t. We’ll look at your light on the planning call.
Newport Coast
Open bluffs and long, even light. Good for a group that wants the ocean in the frame without walking anyone down to the sand.
The Gathering
One session, built around a whole extended family. We photograph the full group first, while everyone is fresh and the light is best. Then we work through the family one household at a time — each set of parents and their children, the grandparents alone, the siblings together, the grandchildren all at once. Every household leaves with portraits of their own, and the family leaves with the one photograph that has everybody in it.
Built for three generations
Planned groupings, a shot list agreed in advance, and a pace that works for a two-year-old and an eighty-eight-year-old on the same afternoon.
Every household photographed
The full group, then each family within it. Nobody leaves with only a picture they're standing at the edge of.
At the coast or at home
Laguna's coves and bluffs, Little Corona, Newport Coast — or your own back garden, which is often the better answer for a very large group.
Permits and logistics handled
Beach permits, parking, timing around the tide and the sunset, and where twenty-six people should actually park. That's our job, not yours.
How a Gathering session works
We plan it before anyone arrives
A call to work out how many people, how many households, who has trouble with stairs, who's likely to be difficult about it, and what the family actually wants on the wall afterwards. We build the grouping list from that.
The whole group first
We photograph everybody together at the start, while the children are still cooperative and the light is at its best. The hardest photograph of the day gets made while it's easiest.
Then household by household
We work through the family in a planned order so no one stands around, and so each household gets real portraits of their own rather than an afterthought.
Your reveal and design appointment
About two weeks later we sit down together, look at the images properly, and design what goes on the wall and what goes in the album. Each household chooses its own artwork.