frank-fowler family photos // san francisco, california

I was juuuust thinking about how a year ago I hit the road alone, and embarked on a little solo photography tour of Central California. I remember Michael not “getting it,” why I needed to drive there all by myself… but I remember only thinking how fun it would be. I didn’t ever think to myself that it would be a life-changing experience, or that I needed to find myself on the road; I had already found myself on the road before, and it was with Michael by my side. Really, all I wanted was to have a little fun, and a quick trip to the Bay Area & beyond, to see & to photograph some of my favorite people.

And here’s some of those favorite people, during one of my stops along the way.

Kena is a family photographer as well, and we had actually met a few years prior when I photographed a little annual reunion they do with their closest friends each year. They do this reunion each year in a different location, and a few years back they had chosen the Pacific Northwest. It was really cool to see such a sweet tradition being upheld, and they told me that through the years their trips have evolved from wild-young-and-free excursions to family trips with very growing families, as they each slowly settled down one by one and all started having families of their own. I thought they were so cool.

Many years later, on this roadtrip to California, I got to see Kena & her family again. I remembered photographing them so many years before, and her littlest one was still a baby cozy in her belly… and her oldest was very much the only baby at the time. She clung to her mom & hardly gave me more than a shy smile. And then I got to see her again, all grown & confident & very much a big sister to her equally confident & very rambunctious little sister. It made me feel so happy to see this life that they had all made together, in their beautiful home tucked away in the hills of San Francisco… and I felt so proud of them, as if they were my own.

Thanks to Kena & her family for being so wonderful to me all these years, and also to Little Bellows for featuring this family session on their blog! As you know, I will not be traveling as much as I’m used to for the rest of this year (growing another little seed of my own!), but I will continue to take family sessions here in the greater Pacific Northwest through October. Please email me to schedule yours: hello@catherineabegg.com