But that’s not all!  Because of the great response for the contest, our second and third place winners won’t go empty-handed—they each receive an 11″x14″ print of their winning photos.  Congrats to the Matsuo Family (15%, 50 votes) and April & Matt (13%, 40 votes)!

In last year’s contest, the cute O’Connell Family won the grand prize of a 16″x20″ canvas gallery wrap.  This year’s winner will be taking home an equally cool prize: a 4″x4″ leather flush-mount album featuring photos from their 2009 photo session.

And we’ve got a great group of clients—eight fabulous families and three cute couples—who wanted to participate in this year’s contest.  Each photo below was hand-selected by them as one of their favorites from their sessions with us in 2009.  We might be a little biased (they’re all winners in our books), so we need your help to pick the winning shot! Whether you’re a friend of the family or just stopping by our blog, we invite you to cast your official ballot.  And it’s easy to do!  Simply review all the pictures in this post and then select your favorite in the poll box below.

To make things easier we’ve included client names on each image (and listed them in alphabetical order), which correspond to the appropriate line on the poll. Whichever family or couple receives the most votes by 9 a.m. on Saturday, February 27, wins the leather album.

But there’s no winner without your vote! So cast your ballot today, and remind all your friends on Twitter and Facebook to do the same. And we’re sure our families and couples would love to hear your cheers. Feel free to leave comments below. We look forward to seeing the results!

These two looked great—and kept laughing and smiling—as they inched their way into the water.  

By this point in the afternoon, we started to lose light fast.  But it was worth it.  The reflections in the water were awesome.

And it made for a few priceless moments.

To Sarah and Daniel…thank you for being such a fun-loving couple and for being so willing to brave the water.  This is one session we’ll never forget.  And we’re sure it will inspire some other adventurous brides who are planning their big day, or a day-after session.

And they are talented, too!  We had brought along this awesome red guitar (thanks, Dad!) as a prop.  We had no idea that any of the couples we’d meet that day could actually play.  But Daniel provided some fabulous music as he strummed through the session.  Plus, the red added a nice punch to the photos.

Be sure to check out the slideshow for more images.  Enjoy!

Answer: You get gorgeous bridal photos of one of Orange County’s sweetest couples, Lisa and Jake.

Last Fall, Keith and I met up with a number of other local photographers for a special group photo session.  The group, organized by fellow photographer, Diandra Ann, had one goal in mind—to take awesome bridal portraits of couples who craved a few extra photos to round out their wedding albums.

As luck would have it, we were paired up with Lisa and Jake.  It was great to photograph these newlyweds at such a fun location—a remote trail area in Yorba Linda, CA that was full of trees, tall grass, a pond, and plenty of open space.  For the session, Lisa wore her original wedding gown, while Jake opted for a more relaxed look with a vest and slacks.  Their wardrobe selections were perfect—Lisa’s dress provided contrast to the location, while Jake’s earth-tone inspired outfit blended beautifully with the landscape.  And let’s not forget about the details.  All the brides were treated to hair, makeup, accessories, and fresh bouquets.  Much thanks to these vendors for their help in pulling together the brides’ polished looks:

Hair & Makeup: Diana Deiny

Hair & Makeup: Lindsay Flieshman

Hair Accessories: Lauren Christensen

Flowers: Angie Varela

And much thanks to Lisa and Jake!  We hope you enjoy the slideshow!