He's a producer, a lover of online gaming, and the humblest guy that's on his way to the top. Seriously. The stories he tells with the most unassuming manner...

And now, there's been an addition to Team Masthammer. He loves to smile, he hardly ever cries, and his deep baby belly laughs could melt Everest in January. He's the cutest, chunkiest four-month-old you'll ever see. Dear bloggy-blog, meet Beckett.

You may remember Josh and Kate from their adorable and Etsy-fied destination wedding in Cabo San Lucas in 2010 (check out Kate's Etsy shop, Camlie Inc - she's now making adorable colored mason jars for weddings that I LOVE). Jeff and I love our sweet couples to death and we're always so excited to follow their lives beyond the wedding. Watching them create strong marriages and start their families makes this job worth every ounce of sweat and tears. Jeff and I hardly ever shoot families or baby portraits - we LOVE couples and specialize our skills in that area. In fact, I did all of the shooting here and Jeff was my doting assistant. But when one of our most favorite couples has such a charming guy like little Beckett, we couldn't help capturing this next step in their precious love story.

Kate decorated the nursery so well! She didn't want it to be too babyish. She figured that she would be the one enjoying the room the most, so she gave it a modern, cozy flair with a few baby details.

Kate looks soooooo good after having a baby!

I loved Beckett's Sophie the Giraffe. I hear that this teether is MAGICAL.

Remember these two lovable pups from their engagement session? Kylie and Camden are the cutest huskies in town!

I loved the wall art that Kate found on Etsy.

Time to change!

This guy can SMILE. He's such a flirt!

One of my favorites!

Another favorite - look at that guy laugh.

Beckett zonked out at one point, so we cuddled on the couch for awhile.

Time to update Kylie's profile pick! She wore pearls for the engagement session and now she's rockin' the casual bling. So versatile.

Camden stuck with a tie, but this time went vintage. And we had to give him a treat for smiling so big.

The whole fam.

Ha! This makes me laugh.

Josh and Kate: Congrats on this big step in your life together! Beckett is downright awesome and SUCH a cutie. He's definitely gonna be a ladies' man someday because he's already charming every girl he sees. You guys are incredible parents and your love for each other and for Beckett goes way beyond the walls of your home and deep into the hearts of those who are lucky enough to get to know and love you guys. Lots and lots and lots of loooooooooove from San Diego!

Hugs,

Erin

While we were in Philly for our four days of marathon shoots, we were able to set up a one on one mentor session with the sweet Ashley of Ashley Erin Photography, a budding wedding and portrait photographer from Bangor, Maine. Ashley wanted to do a shoot for her mentor session with us, so Ryan and Liz from Baltimore - the husband/wife wedding photography duo of Elizabeth Ryan Photography - stepped up to be our beautiful models for the shoot. Love these two!

These mentor sessions are so stinkin' fun for us. We get to spend a few hours teaching the ins and outs of how we work during a shoot, everything from the deep, dark in-camera technical stuff to setting up a cute couple to look their very cutest to how Jeff gets super emotional with his grooms. We get to bear our souls while dishing all about what goes on inside our heads when we have a camera in tow. I must give Ashley major props for soaking up the buckets of information we dumped on her! (If you're interested in a mentor session with The Youngrens, check out the details here and CONTACT US here.)

But not only did we get to pour into an amazing photographer, we got to capture the love between Ryan and Liz, two people that are head over heels in love!

I loved Liz's outfit and especially her leggings. In fact, I loved her leggings so much, that I bought some the very next day in Philly and have been wearing them ever since! Ha!

Squeeeeeeze!

The cute and adorable Ashley doing her fabulous thang!

These shoots tend to be 40% shooting and 60% teaching, so there was tons of instruction on lighting, posing, connection, and camera settings.

Ashley got to do her fair share of posing and directing, and she did an amazing job!

Ryan and Liz brought along a blanket as their prop - I thought it was such a creative idea!

My hubby is so brilliant. I love these shots he grabbed through a cafe window.

Of course, we were always around!

We came upon this Bentley outside of a coffeeshop and Jeff tracked down the owner to see if we could use it. Not only did he let us do a few photos with it, but he let Ryan and Ashley inside! Yay!

Love these!

The owner was so sweet, I couldn't help but give him a cameo.

A few more snuggles in the park.

Ryan and Liz: Thank you guys so much for being so open and honest in front of our cameras. Your hearts were so real with us and with each other, which is what made this shoot so amazing for both us and for Ashley. Thank you for being willing to get all emotional with us and for demonstrating what a wonderful love looks like!

Ashley: You. Are. Amazing. You are gonna go so far in this business and we're so proud of your hard work! Keep up the shutter clicking and never give up on this dream. You've got what it takes and we can't wait to watch you soar!

Hugs,

Erin

I guess that's just the magic of babies.

I know, I know - what's with all the babies on the bloggy-blog lately? I don't know to be honest! I promise that I don't have baby fever or anything. There's just a lot of really cool people having adorable babies lately. Don't worry, Jeff and I are still wedding photographers at our core - we're not going to jump the wedding ship and set up shop in nurseries anytime soon, but when there's a cool story to tell - like two becoming three - I'm there with camera in tow.

Today we're featuring Brianne and Chris, whom you may remember from their fabulous maternity session a few weeks back. Well, maternity has turned into nursery with the arrival Beckett, so I made the trek back up to their place a few days after Beckett was born to capture this brand new little one. A big thanks goes out to Julie, the newest addition to the Youngren team, for helping me with the shoot.

Brianne brought out a bunch of little meaningful details for the shoot. The cup, spoon and fork, and beaded hospital bracelet were all her father's when he was a baby. Don't you wish hospital bracelets were still that cute?

Brianne said she decorated her nursery with the help of Etsy, Craig's List, and Urban Outfitter's. I'd say she did a fantastic job!

A doting mom and the brand new man in her life.

I love how doting these guys are as parents. They're so cute to watch!

A guy's gotta have a sweet pair of shoes at all times.

It's so fun to watch these guys laugh - Beckett was a little wiggly!

Big eyes and teeny fingers.

Major props go out to Chris and Brianne for having awesome furniture, and for letting me rearrange their entire living room. Thanks for being so awesome guys!

Beckett made the cutest faces while he slept!

And then the wiggles set in, which always make for adorable photos.

Once we played with Beckett to our heart's content, we let mom and dad hang out some more.

Ha! Never underestimate a baby's poop!

Chris and Brianne: You guys are going to be some seriously awesome parents! It was such a blessing watching you guys love on each other and on your brand new Beckett. Your warm hearts and gentle spirits are going to make your family a loving bunch!

Hugs,

Erin

And yet it's still peaceful.

Jesse and Bethany have been friends of ours for five years now - in fact, they got married a month before we did - and little Kensington has just arrived. And even though a baby changes everything - I hear that exhaustion and selflessness become dear friends - there's something about a sleeping newborn that makes everything ok. The air almost stands still. It's the most tranquil, warm, soothing experience I know, and Kensington was just about the cutest little package I could ever imagine.

I loved the dandelion motif that Jesse and Bethany incorporated into the wall - if a sleeping newborn doesn't relax you, then a cute purple nursery with a drifting dandelion will!

Seriously - I have no idea how Bethany looks this amazing already!

Oh my goodness - look at that smile!

I have a feeling Kensi is going to be daddy's little girl...

A sleeping baby...

A big yawn...

And it's time to wake up!

Big eyes...

Lots of wiggles...

And teeny toes. Perfect!

Since we specialize in couples and their love stories, I always like to capture two people in the place they're going to spend so much of this part of their lives - the nursery.

Kensi is so little! I love it!

Ha! These ones crack me up!

More big yawns...

And more of those big eyes!

Jesse and Bethany: Thank you so much for being a part of our lives over the past five years. We're so excited for you two in this new journey and can't wait to watch little Kensi grow up into an amazing kid and wonderful person! Here's to many more memories together!

Hugs,

Erin

Soon enough, this thoughtful Reno boy and outgoing Texas girl were married.

We met over midnight beignets in New Orleans. Tiffany and Dean sat down across from us with a stack of beignets as we were plowing through our own plate of pastry goodness, and through the cloud of powdered sugar, Dean looked us in the eye with the kind of childlike smile that doesn't happen very often on a grown man and said, "I LOVE these!"

Soon enough, these San Diegans and Reno photographers were besties.

You may recognize this bombshell blonde and handsome artist from Brian and Susi's Lake Tahoe destination wedding we recently featured here on the bloggy-blog. Tiffany is Brian's sister, so we got to hang out with Tiffany and Dean and her entire Texas family for the weekend of the wedding. And if you know anything about Texas, we were part of the family instantly!

Tiffany and Dean are the Reno wedding photographers of Follow Your Heart Photography and good friends of ours that we met at our favorite photography conference, Pictage's PartnerCon, in New Orleans in 2009. We have been so blessed by their honest, refreshing, loving, caring friendship. If we ever need encouragement or an honest opinion, we can always turn to these guys! So the day after Brian and Susi's wedding, we headed out to the most beautiful meadow we could find in Lake Tahoe and photographed some new head shot material for their blooming photography website.

What did I say about a dynamite smile? This girl GLOWS. A big thanks goes out to Corey Rowe of The Decorated Bride for the amazing makeup design. The earrings were a gift from Dean for Valentine's Day, and the dress came from J.Crew's summer line.

Dean's smile definitely has that charm we all love.

My favorites of Dean, shot at f/1.2.

Together, these two are off-the-charts adorable!

Jeff and I were in HEAVEN with the golden meadow, the aspen grove, and an amazing couple.

Love, love, love!

I am so tempted to move to the mountains and tromp around in fields all day long!

These next ones are some of my favorites.

Major props go out to Tiffany and Dean for sitting in the weeds for us while we filled our creative appetites. You guys rock!

Dean and Tiffany: Thank you SO MUCH for your friendship. It's people like you that make this the best industry to be a part of. We cherish your artistry, your thoughtfulness, and your insight. Thank you for always being there for us when we need it the most, and we're so excited to be friends for years to come!

Hugs,
Erin

Danica brought along the perfect outfits for the shoot. I've fallen in love with stretchy dresses for maternity photos (much like Brianne's striped number and Crystal's raspberry dress), and Danica is so short and teeny that the long flow-y skirt gave her clean lines and long legs. Also, the feather clip for the hair added just the right amount of sass and style.

Good grief - this girl is dynamite! And her eyes are so crystal clear and gorgeous!

This soft flow-y top gave us a little more variety with the outfits. It was super easy to just slip over the black dress.

Danica is pretty much a rockstar. When I asked her to walk with her eyes up towards the light, she worked it like a seasoned model!

Absolutely stunning!

I loved this fun outfit for some bare belly shots.

Danica's toes matched her top which was so stinkin' cute. And we kept laughing because she couldn't see her toes over her belly! Ha!

Loved the baby boy shoes. They know they're having a boy, but don't have a name picked out quite yet.

We headed down to the beach at Cardiff by the Sea, where we had a beautiful golden sunset.

Some of my favorites!

I loved the pink dress and the bright earrings.

Beautiful!

Perfect photos to end to the day with!

Danica: You are gorgeous through and through and it was so inspiring getting to photograph you and your adorable belly! I can't wait to meet the little guy, and I hope that the last few months go well. Love you and Chris tons!

Hugs,

Erin

A few years later, Bryan married that cute girl he saw through the car window. Apparently when Bryan decides to woo a girl, it works pretty stinkin' well.

Not only did Bryan and Crystal attend the same college as Jeff and me, but they're also adorable married photographers here in San Diego. So when Crystal asked if I would photograph her baby bump, I just couldn't say no.

Everybody, meet Crystal. A sweeter-than-sugar musician, teacher, and photographer.

And now meet Bryan. The quiet yet hysterical woo-master himself.

Together, these two are a pretty dreamy pair.

My favorites from the session. I love the close-in moments and creamy, fun-filled portraits of these two.

Breathtaking.

Love, love, love!!

After an outfit change, we headed back out to the meadows to play.

Crystal chose the perfect outfits for this session - I loved the natural colors with a bit of bling in her first choice, and the bright color and flattering shape of this raspberry dress. It's just enough to frame her bump and still make her look like her fabulous self.

Bryan is an incredibly loving guy. I love this moment I caught of him making sure Crystal looked perfect in her photos.

And she definitely looked perfect!

Bryan and Crystal: Thank you guys so much for opening your hearts up to me and for making this session so creatively inspiring and downright fun. Your calm spirits and your love for each other are going to make you amazing parents! Love you guys!

Hugs,
Erin

At least, that's what I've been telling myself for the past five years. I fought tooth and nail not to shoot maternity sessions for a VERY long time. If you had asked me to shoot your prego belly, I would laugh and say, "Me? Maternity? Ho no. You must have me confused with someone else..."

Fast forward to today. I've shot three maternity sessions in the past month. Not because of me trying to book maternity sessions (quite the opposite), but because the right couples have come along that have - in their own quiet ways - helped me to realize that I'm a photographer that specializes in couples - in two people that have fallen in love and are making their way through life together one milestone at a time, and that the maternity phase of life is one of the last stages of just two.

And I relate to that. I relate to the strange thought of another human being entering into this little intimate duo that we've created. (Gracie would be so upset to hear me say 'duo'. Shhhh...). It would be such an off-kilter moment - the day that our world shifts from thinking about only us to thinking about only them. That day is still a little ways off, but photographing these couples that are in the thick of the shift has been such a new and inspiring experience.

And it's been fun. So much more fun than I ever expected.

So I've decided to blog the three inspiring sessions from this past month of three beautiful women, their adorable belly's, and their handsome daddys-to-be. This first session is Chris and Brianne, a couple that we met five years ago right before Jeff and I got married. We lost touch until Brianne contacted me for a session, and I love that I get to see this couple at a whole new stage in life, five years after we met.

Chris and Brianne are an adorably stylish couple, and I loved the horizontal stripes that highlighted Brianne's belly perfectly. It was so fun hanging out with just them and me, since Jeff doesn't come to these sessions.

After hanging out at their house, we headed towards a meadow filled with purple flowers that I had spotted from the street. So gorgeous!

What a stunning chica - even with a little one on the way!

Chris was always on hand to make Brianne laugh!

Some of my favorites! So creamy and lovely at f/1.2.

We spent that last little bit of light down at the beach in Oceanside. Brianne brought along the PERFECT scarf that we wrapped around her teeny body.

Ummm, can I have that perfectly golden, textured, and lovely hair? Pretty please?

These next ones are my favorite.

There's nothing better than some creamy black and whites with a lovely girl!

Love, love, love! I have a ton of favorites from this session, but these two images take the cake for CUTE!

Chris and Brianne: Hanging out with you two was just like hanging out with Jeff and me. The way you guys laugh together, smile together, hug and kiss together felt so natural and real. I'm so excited for this next AMAZING stage in your lives!

Hugs,
Erin

I told you it’s taken much too long. All of our shoots are blogged waaaaaaaay quicker than this, so don’t judge.

I hear you judging.

Last month, we photographed Craig and Melissa’s cheery summer wedding in Chicago, and while we were there, we spoke at the Chicago PUG, the South Bend, Indiana PUG, and did a photography mentor session with the lovely Jennifer Anderson of J. Lynne Photography in South Bend.

The mentor session was all things rad.

Jennifer chose to do a shoot with us for her photography mentor session, which is always equally fun and pure madness. We’re teaching, we’re shooting, we’re laughing, we’re shooting, we’re teaching some more, and then shooting, shooting, shooting. Madness. But so much fun I could do it everyday.

Not only did we get to hang out with the cutest photographer EVER, the three of us got to photograph Neal and Ash, a couple who redefine adorable. We have so many similarities with these two it’s nuts – they’re celebrating their five-year anniversary this year, they have no kiddos, and they roll around downtown Chicago on a Vespa. And Neal wear's Sperry's. Seriously purrrrfect.

We shot down in the middle of the Financial District in Chicago - and since it was a weekend it was basically completely EMPTY! We seriously sat out in the middle of the street shooting this for a few minutes with only 1-2 cars passing by. Crazy.

LOVE!

Seriously though, how ADORABLE is Ash in her Anthro dress? Perfect outfit for the shoot girl!

I just love how Ash settles into Neal. Amazing.

The way he looks at her kind of makes me a little emotional. Who's with me?

So cute!

Gotta give the Sperry's their moment...

Probably favorite two shots from our whole time together! Mine is on the left, Jeff's is on the right.

Look how cute my hubby is! Yes, folks. He always has that boyish grin on his face when he's shooting. And I love it.

This is one of my favorite things that Jeff does during mentor sessions or shooting workshops - he stands alongside the photographer we're working with and talks them through everything they're doing. He calls it being their cheerleader, I call it awesome.

Neal and Ash: Thank you for your fabulous style and your incredible love for one another. We couldn't get enough of you guys! We feel so blessed to have gotten to meet you guys in Chicago, and we're so excited for what's next for you. Next time you're out in Cali, I've got two words for you : SCOOTER GANG!

Jennifer: We absolutely adore you - and we'll treasure the time we got to spend together in the windy city. Thank you for your excitement and passion for photography and your tireless joyfulness. You rock! We're cheering for you.

Hugs,

Erin

One of my favorites - these two are super sweet and I just can't get enough of their smiles!

We had to get some San Diego beach time in for these two east coasters.

So cute!!

These are my favorite from the entire session - so sweet and soft. Love, love, love!

These guys are sweeter than pie.

Dorney and Liz: Thank you so much for your love for each other. It was so fabulous hanging out with you two and getting to capture your continued love story. Never stop loving each other like you do now - your lifetime together is going to be so sweet and perfect!

Hugs,

Erin