Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve Family Portraits | Ducot Family | San Diego Family Photography

We are the sum of our parts. I’m no mathematician, but it’s clear that we inherit a part of everyone that we love and care about—especially our family. We are shaped by our experiences with our family growing up.  To many, it’s difficult to find commonality with family members, but not with the Ducot Family. They are close-knit and comfortable with each other. The genuine smiles and laughter that I captured from our  family portrait session at Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve are not solely prompted by my quick wit and cat-like reflexes. The Ducot family was so easy to photograph because the smiles and laughter came so easily. They are such a kind, happy family that genuinely enjoy each other’s company. (Thank you anyway for being gracious enough to laugh at my silly  jokes that I craft together from behind the camera. 😉 )

Carmelita was the “girl next door” from Ray. They were neighbors when they were growing up and they later married each other. Is that adorable, or what? It must be an amazing feeling to be married for so long and see the sum of your parts growing up and following their dreams. Their eldest, Matt, likes to ride his bicycle and has done several long bike trips from Oakland, California down to sunny, San Diego. Their daughter, Joanne is eight years younger than her brother, Matt. I can tell how much Joanne adores her older brother. During the family portrait session, the two of them would walk to our next location, arms over each others’ shoulders, like old friends do… A trail of laughter behind them and a lifetime of inside jokes between them. “Considering the large gap between me and my brother, I kind of see him as my role model. I never even told him this. When I was little, and even now, I always wanted to be just like my brother,” Joanne said to me.

Carmelita and Ray’s daughter, Joanne, shared with me that she has her family to thank for inspiring her interests and talents: she learned how to cook from her mom, she is an avid golf player because of her golfer dad, and she loves film and media  like her older brother, Matt, who creates web videos for a non-profit organization in Berkeley, California. She mused that she was probably the coolest third grader with awesome taste in music because of her then teen brother.

Here are some of of my favorite images from the Ducot Family’s outdoor family portraits at Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve. I love this family’s beaming smiles and the equally shining sunset behind them.

Thank you for spending your Saturday afternoon with me! It was a pleasure sharing fits of laughter with the four of you.

xoxo,

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