Katrina's Family Session at Araceli Farms in Dixon, Ca

Katrina is from San Jose and contacted me because I’m a local photographer in the Sacramento region. She wanted to go to Araceli Farms in Dixon to take some photos. It was the last day that they were open for booking and she wanted to take advantage of it as all the similar venues in her area were already closed for the season. I have never been to Araceli Farms, so it was a great experience to get out to this beautiful location.

We went out at 7am to shoot as it was the only time available other than 6am! Katrina and her family had to start driving out at 5am to get there! Wow, that’s some dedication. She and I actually arrived at the gate at the exact same time miraculously! After parking I got a chance to survey the area a little bit and saw that the farm is absolutely perfect for photos. I can see why it is such a popular destination!

Araceli Farms is most known for its lavender fields. They have rows and rows of gorgeous lavender all around. Besides the eye-popping beautify of the flowers, the scent is unreal. The entire area smells of lavender - it’s very calming and enjoyable just to be there. Besides the lavender fields there are other plants as well as a low hay field that is also a perfect place for photographs.

Katrina’s kids loved running around and enjoying the area. As always, one of my favorite things to capture is the joy and happiness that people are feeling. When Katrina’s daughter had her hands outstretched just playing in the field I had to take the opportunity to capture the image. These candid photos are so precious and rare to capture well, so I make sure when the time is right that I am ready to click the shutter button on my camera.

The two kids had very different personalities. Whereas the daughter had a ton of energy and was running around, her son wanted to be held a lot more. It’s definitely not a bad thing, it just means that there is a different mood when capturing him. He was being held by his dad and I asked dad to close his eyes to create this sweet and tender moment with his son. I love both the action shots with the daughter and the intimate sweet ones with the son equally!

Of course, we also took posed family photos along with many other types of pictures that morning. It was beautiful and fun, and I hope to visit Araceli Farms again in the future. For my clients that are interested in going, there is a fee associated with accessing the area. Check their site for details!