When Dina messaged me and told me she had been dying to do a family session in the blossoming almond orchards and every year they’ve tried and missed the blooms by a few weeks, I was thrilled! I absolutely LOVE shooting in the fluffy white blossoms! They are such a trademark of Northern California and so so dreamy. But making these gorgeous images come to reality wasn’t as easy as we had thought….

Missing the prime bloom week is unfortunately easier than it seems because the blooms only last maybe two weeks and the weather has a huge effect on them…. but the weather in Northern California this winter has been very wet and erratic, so we were a little nervous. We set the perfect date, only to have the entire weekend rained out by a huge storm and obviously needed to postpone the shoot (seriously disappointing). The following weekend open was our plan B session date but I couldn’t guarantee that the orchard had withstood the brutal weather so I took half a day to scout for the perfect orchard all over Dixon, Davis, and Woodland… some orchards were flooded, some had their blossoms knocked off because of the rain and wind, and some were already finished blooming and the leaves had grown in. Thank goodness I found a still perfectly fluffy white orchard after a few hours of driving around and our shoot was on!

You wouldn’t really know it from the looks of the photos, but it was FREEZING and super windy. Dina, literally shivering from head to toe, was determined to tough it out #doitforthegram and I freaking loved it. We laughed and joked about how nobody would ever know since the photos look like a picture-perfect warm spring day; meanwhile our shoes are caked in mud and we were trying out finish up before the next storm rolled in about an hour. IT WAS SO WORTH IT. They slayed the entire session and I’m so thankful for loyal and determined clients like them.

Bonus surprise, I learned that Dina and Andre are expecting another little “monster” too! (Dina’s words, not mine lol)

Literal perfection, am I right?!

The whole family’s outfits were on point!