SAN CLEMENTE & ORANGE COUNTY
Growing Families
From the first flutter of life to the cap and gown - every milestone deserves to be beautifully preserved.
a lifetime of portraits
Every season of your family's story is worth remembering.
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From the anticipation of pregnancy to the pride of senior year, these fleeting chapters deserve more than to live just on your phone. Choose your session below and discover how each one is thoughtfully crafted for this exact moment in your family's life.
choose your session
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The first days with your baby are beautiful, emotional, and gone before you realize it. These portraits preserve the tiny details and deep love of this fleeting season. Newborn sessions are reserved before your due date.
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The first days with your baby are beautiful, emotional, and gone before you realize it. These portraits preserve the tiny details and deep love of this fleeting season. Newborn sessions are reserved before your due date.
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Family life changes in the smallest ways every year. These beautifully guided portraits preserve the connection, personality, and love that make this season worth holding onto.
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The missing teeth, growing independence, and personalities that get bigger every year — childhood and tween portraits preserve the season you wish you could slow down just a little.
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Senior year is filled with excitement, change, and the beginning of everything ahead. These portraits celebrate personality, confidence, and the unforgettable season between childhood and what comes next.
a gift for grandparents to give
The Legacy Experience - give the gift of a newborn session.
Baby clothes are outgrown. Toys are forgotten. The portrait on the wall is still there in twenty years. The Legacy Heirloom Newborn Experience for the grandparents who wants her gift to last a lifetime -- complete with hair and makeup for mom, a $500 artwork credit, priority booking, and a fine art portrait just for her.
If you are expecting a grandchild -- or you know a grandmother who is -- this is the gift worth giving.
not sure where to start?
Let's find the perfect session for your family.
Every family's story is different. Reach out and we'll guide you to exactly the right experience - from your first inquiry to your finished portraits on the wall.
Questions about Growing Families portrait sessions
When should I book a maternity session?
The sweet spot for maternity portraits is between 30 and 36 weeks — when the belly is beautifully full but you're still feeling comfortable in the studio. Most moms book during their second trimester so their spot is secured well before baby arrives. If you're past that window, reach out anyway. We'll make it work.
How do I book a newborn session before the baby is born?
Newborn sessions are ideally held within the first 5 to 14 days after birth, when babies are still sleepy and curly. Because availability is limited and timing is tight, we book your spot during pregnancy and confirm the session date once your little one arrives. Contact us in your second trimester to get on the calendar.
What baby milestone sessions do you offer?
Baby milestone sessions include the sitter session around 6 to 8 months, the cake smash around 12 months, and first-year collections that capture the full arc of your baby's first year. Each session is designed around where your baby is developmentally — so the portraits feel natural, not forced
Do you serve families outside of San Clemente?
The studio is based in San Clemente and serves families throughout South Orange County — including Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, and beyond. Many clients travel from throughout Orange County and greater Los Angeles for studio sessions.
What makes Julie Irene Photography different from other photographers in Orange County?
Every session at Julie Irene Photography is designed as an experience, not just a photoshoot. The studio is a true luxury portrait studio — not a traveling photographer working from your home or a park. Sessions are carefully planned, expertly lit, and followed by a guided artwork consultation so that your portraits end up on your walls, not forgotten in a folder on your phone.
Julie Irene Photography, a luxury portrait studio in San Clemente, California. Newborn, family, maternity, headshots and personal branding for Orange County
san clemente, ca
Follow @JULIEIRENE
Dr. Christina Jenkins is a board-certified colorectal surgeon who also runs an aesthetic medicine clinic in Irvine. She built both practices around one idea: that patients deserve to feel heard, safe, and genuinely cared for.
She came in a little camera-shy. She left with these.
That`s the job.
She Means Business sessions booking now. Link in bio.
@NuVieMD
#shemeansbusiness #sanclementephotographer #brandingphotographer #ocwomenentrepreneurs #orangecountyphotographer
This is what an extended family session actually looks like before you see the final images.
Two strobes on the beach are a must with this many people if you plan on getting that gorgeous sunset perfect. Twenty-some people in eucalyptus trees requires hauling some stools.
Then you have me trying to get everyone to look the same direction at the same time, which never happens.... but good thing I know how to head swap!
Swipe to the last slide.
That`s the part they actually hang on the wall.
#extendedFamilyPhotography #SanClemente #OrangeCountyPhotographer #familyportraits #southOC
Yesterday I took a mental break. I’ve been dealing with some perimenopause symptoms for the last few years and the worst part of it all has been my sleep.
2am. Wide awake. Again.
my mind goes from thing to thing – nothing important, not one clear thought I could actually grab onto. I’m laying there doing breathing exercises, hoping that will help but sometimes that just makes me more aware that I’m still awake. My heart’s going a little faster than it should be. I’ve read enough about cortisol at this point to understand why, but understanding something and being able to fix it are two different things.
I have been doing everything. Functional medicine appointments, every few months, bloodwork, daily workouts because they’re supposed to help, supplements I could fill a small cabinet with. I just received a cooling mattress pad last week in hopes that will help as well. I cut off all caffeine after 10 AM. Even warm showers at night. Next step I’m gonna consider acupuncture.
Some months are great. Then all of a sudden weeks will go by without one good night sleep.
The thing that nobody told me about Perry menopause is that it’s different for everybody. Nobody hands you and manual, and most of the advice you get doesn’t actually apply to you.
I’m figuring it out. Slowly. Some nights are better than others.
If you’re in the same place, I generally love to know what’s helping you. I’m sharing this for another reason then I know I’m not the only one lying awake at 2 AM doing math and how many hours of sleep I can still get.
The women who book She Means Business sessions are usually the ones who have been doing kick ass things for years and still don`t have images that show for it.
They`ve got speaking gigs, writing books, and clients who trust them — and a headshot from 2016 they`re quietly embarrassed by every time they have to use it.
The session is a full day at my San Clemente studio. Hair and makeup. Multiple looks. Behind-the-scenes footage they can use for their businesses. A feature in the She Means Business Orange County magazine at the end of the campaign. As well as an invitation to the campaign-end Gallery Exhibition.
We still have space for 17 more amazing women. If you`ve been meaning to do this, this is the one for you!
Link in bio to start the conversation.
Summer is almost upon us. This is the time of year the whole family may actually be in the same place.
Cousins running around and having fun. The grandparents getting all their hugs and snuggles in with the grandkids. Someone is grilling and there is always that one complaining about the sand or heat. And sadly, nobody has thought about portraits — because why would they? The moment feels infinite.
It isn`t.
I`ve been photographing families for almost 20 years, and the sessions I think about most are the extended family ones. Not because they are the most complicated to coordinate (they are), but because I feel they are the most important. From personal experience I had these done before my father passed and those photos I treasure the most.
If your family is together this summer, it`s worth a conversation with everyone to make it happen.
My studio is in San Clemente. Sessions booked by retainer, and summer fills faster than people expect. If you`ve been thinking about reaching out, the sooner the better.
