LOS PEÑASQUITOS CANYON PRESERVE
When my oldest friend in the whole wide world reached out to ask me to photograph her family portraits, I got super excited. Not only do I absolute adore Marin’s family, but she and I have been friends since we were 14. 14! A lady never tells her age, but just know it’s been a long time. Marin and I first met Freshman year of high school when for some reason we had 3 classes together. Health, Foods, and Physical Science. Thanks to the school administration for that I guess. We have been through everything together, school, boys, smoking cigarettes, stealing her parents car without driver’s licenses (so sorry Bob and Cheryl!), prom, weddings, kids, you name it! I was also a bridesmaid in Marin and Alan’s wedding, so Marin asking me to take their family portraits was very special to me.
Fall has arrived in San Diego! I really wanted to create a Fallscape feel for this session and we lucked out with this scenic Fall backdrop of perfection. Fall rarely means anything in San Diego, except for maybe the temperature falls below 80 degrees. We don’t have a ton of seasons here in San Diego, it’s pretty much all the same. Which as great as that sounds, can sometimes be a bummer if you’re a Fall person like me. So can you imagine my surprise when I found this location and the leaves were changing colors?! Jackpot.
There is another reason that this portrait session was so special to me, Alan was recently diagnosed with cancer. Alan had cancer when he was a kid, but was able to beat it through treatment and went on to live cancer-free for years. Because of that he’s really active with The Seany Foundation and Seany’s Camp. Alan is super involved in this cause because it’s so important to him and really hits home. Marin let me know what was going on while we were trying to find a date and time for their session, she stressed that it had to happen before he started treatment. While he still looked like the Alan we all know and love.
My heart aches for my oldest friend, her husband, and her beautiful family. I’ve known Alan for almost as long as Marin and he’s just one of those guys you love to be around. He will constantly tell you bad Dad jokes, but he’s always trying to get a laugh out of you which I love. It’s endearing. I’ve been praying non-stop since we had the family portrait session. I keep making mental lists of how I can support Marin. Maybe bring dinners when things get harder, maybe take the kids out for the day so her and Alan can enjoy some alone time together, spend as much time as I can with them, without being overly annoying, check-in weekly, make plans. Help in anyway I can. I just have no idea what to do in these types of situations besides ask, “How can I support you?”
Marin has always been so supportive of me. When I wrote a cookbook she was my number one fan. In fact she was the one who told me I should start a food blog in the first place! She’s always been so supportive in all the adventures that life has taken me on and I appreciate that so much. She’s just one of those people you can grab a beer with or a glass of wine and just sit and talk for hours about nothing and everything.
I’m just so grateful to have Marin and Alan in my life, they’ve been there through ever season and I appreciate that probably more than I’ll ever be able to say. I’m beyond honored that they trusted me to capture these memories. These images really do capture their wonderful family and I’m so happy that I could be a part of this special moment in time.
