Every year we’re overwhelmed with the clients we encounter, and every year we think WOW that was an amazing year, how could we ever top that?! YET somehow every year, it happens, we meet new wonderful clients, catch up with old ones. This business, our life continues to grow in richness and joy. I don’t want to sit here and pretend it’s all easy all the time, in fact it’s often hard, owning a business will test your character. Choosing what’s right, not what’s easy, choosing to invest in something you never know if you’ll see a return in. But it’s one of the most rewarding experiences we’ve ever had. SO to celebrate the start of what we KNOW will be another incredible year, I’m listing a few of my favorite things (Betsy here). AND We’re going to be giving away a few as well. THANK YOU everyone who made this an incredible year, and THANK YOU everyone who will be a part of 2016 being an incredible year. HAPPY NEW YEAR! See you in 2016 your California Photographers Justin + Betsy Erickson.

1. Starbucks Coffee YUM (I’m not going to lie here, I bought an espresso machine a year ago and have had little need to make frequent runs to Starbucks, however in the realm of coffee they are still my favorite, and coffee in general just makes me happy! PLUS we use only Starbucks beans at home, in honor of my #1 I will be giving away 1- $10 Starbucks card.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
2. Music, specifically Coldplay’s NEW ALBUM “Head Full Of Dreams” (If you haven’t heard it yet, your missing out, “Adventure of a Lifetime” is the perfect jam to get me through my long editing days while keeping me optimistic about the future. I’ll be giving away a $10 iTunes or Amazon card, your choice. To use on YOUR favorite music.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3. Photography (as if you didn’t know that would be on the list! We love photographing all the special chapters in your story, and this final giveaway will be for your choice of a family session or an engagement session valued at $350.)a Rafflecopter giveaway

A few of my favorite photos from 2015! 

The post Goodbye 2015…. & a few of my favorite things- California Photographers Justin + Betsy Erickson appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

The post Ali {Senior Story} – Redding, CA Senior Portrait Photographer appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

The post Lacy’s {Birthday Story} – Redding, CA Portrait Photographer appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

Sara & Stuart Sutherland

This is the Hot Chocolate they made my Daughter Patience, a little heart, she was pretty thrilled about it!!

The post Heritage Roasting Company – Shasta Lake, CA appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

The post Protected: I’m a Believer! – doTerra Essential Oils appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Nominee {NAME}’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Nominee {Email}’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Nominee {Story}’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Nominee {Phone Number}’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Relationship To Nominee ‘ type=’select’ required=’1′ options=’Self,Husband,Child,Friend’/][contact-field label=’Your Contact {Email}’ type=’text’/][/contact-form]

The post ~G I V E A W A Y ~ Mommy & Me {Mini Story} – Redding, CA Portrait Photographer appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

Really excited to kick off Senior Portrait Season! Spring & Summer 2014 is the BEST time to capture your Senior Story! We work together to create an incredible adventure that tells the world a bit about who you are! AND THIS YEAR we’re looking for {4} [Special] Seniors to go above an beyond not just telling THEIR {Story} but Encouraging others to tell theirs! 4 Lucky Seniors Will Be Chosen to Represent Essence Photography!! This year we’re also offering Fully Styled Senior Portrait Packages, complete with Makeup & Floral Design. To introduce these new styled Sessions I am going to be picking 1 WINNER to do a FULL Styled Session completely FREE! To apply for the opportunity to represent Essence Photography & BE ENTERED TO WIN A FREE STYLED SESSION please EMAIL ME a PHOTO of you that really highlights who you are to Betsy@CaptureTheStory.com and fill out the contact form below! [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’High School You Attend’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Tell Me About You! ‘ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’What Makes You Special?’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’How Excited Are You To Win This Session?’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Are You Willing To Share About Your Senior Session Experience?’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Contact Phone Number’ type=’text’/][/contact-form]

The post Calling ALL 2015 SENIORS!! – Redding, CA Senior Portrait Photographer appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

The post Get Inspired To {Capture Your Story} – San Francisco, California appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

I had the honor of working with my friend Anna, who runs the most incredible Home Organizing and Cleaning Blog called “Ask Anna”. If you haven’t checked it out you really should, you’ll be inspired to organize your home and life! Thank you so much Anna for having such an incredible resource, and for being such an incredible person.

I met Anna last year, our two precious girls go to school together, and we started car pooling. Little did I know then what an incredible inspiration Anna would be in my life, and what an incredible ENCOURAGER should would be. I knew her blog inspired me, but Anna as a person really does bring life everywhere she goes. She’s full of love, encouragement, and she just shines in her Identity. She’s a woman that will call out the best in you, without you even knowing that’s what she’s doing!

Whenever I get to spend time with Anna I feel uplifted, completely full to the brim with Joy, and like I could take on the world. {When you go on her blog you get a glimpse of that, I know I always feel like I can take on my house, which is usually pretty daunting}

Anna contacted me a month or so ago about doing this photo shoot for her daughter. She’d has some special things planned for a while, and I was excited as her vision began to unfold. I also happen to know that her daughter is AMAZING much like her mom, and that she would tell a beautiful story! Below are some of my favorites from our shoot. Thank you Anna for the opportunity to capture her story, and THANK YOU for being YOU, your changing the world, and I’m grateful to be your friend. If you want to check out her Blog she blogged a few of her favorites from this shoot and you can see them HERE

P.S. I was so inspired by the idea to capture her daughter in her wedding dress that I am going to run a “Wedding Dress Mini” Special in SPRING 2014. So get ready to dust off those wedding dresses ladies!

The post A Princess Story- Miss M appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.

So lets begin with a glimpse into our life. Justin and I bought a house on 8 acres in March of this year. And with it we began our secret dream of being farmers… okay not really full time, up at dawn farmers, but we did want free-range chickens, and to enjoy some of the “simpler things” life has to offer.

We started with just 4 humble hens, gifted to us from a friend on facebook.

Below, our 5 yr. old daughter Esther holding our very first egg! {YAY FOR FREE RANGE EGGS} We were well on our way!

BUT THEN we got chicken addicted you could say, and before you knew it we were way past the 4 hens, we had collected over 50+ chickens! { We know it’s a bit extreme }

At first it wasn’t a big deal, they didn’t eat that much, and they weren’t all laying so we just let them roam our property and enjoyed their company and the few eggs they gifted us each day. NOW though, they’re picking up on their laying! It’s exciting to never worry about running out of eggs again.. really… if we could just have milk and butter we’d be set! BUT we’re finding ourselves a bit OVERWHELMED lately with our egg supply! So that got me thinking… how can I use all these eggs… I have 4 hungry kids… I need to figure this out. SO there I began my pinterest adventure! {Don’t worry Justin was working hard editing weddings while I was pinteresting.. so we were using our time well, that’s what I call team work!} ANYWAY I found this cool idea of making breakfast sandwhich eggs in a muffin tin, and since I’m a fan of easy I tried it! It worked awesome, so next thought! LETS TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL! Let’s FRITTATA in a muffin tin!! For those of you who haven’t tried Frittata, I’m sorry.. they’re delicious.. and you should try them! It’s basically a yummy baked egg dish, better then quiche because it has potatoes instead of crust! SO GOOD!

So here is step 1, you can either fresh grate potatoes to make your hashbrowns or do what I did and defrost some tater tots and call it good!

Grease the muffin tin well with butter or bacon grease whatever you have on hand 😉 LOL and smash the tater/hasbrowns into the bottom. I baked them for 10 minutes at 375 before adding anything else.. I really like my taters crispy and cooked.

After they’ve cooked they’ll look like this! Mmmmmm

THEN Mix 12 eggs salt & pepper, 1/4 cup milk, shredded cheese, and 1 cup spinach. {I use my kitchen aid mixer to really make sure this is mixed well!}

use a 1/4 cup measurer and pour the mixture into each muffin tin. P.S. I WAY over poured on accident more then once and had some overflow, so if you do it too, that’s ok 😉 It just means your awesome and your frittata will turn out that much better!

When your done top with a thin sliced tomato and put in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 375! They’ll puff up and get a little golden brown! Basically when they look edible take them out and eat them!

Here they are RIGHT out of the oven! They will deflate a little as they cool don’t worry too much about that they’re still yuuummmy! To make sure they don’t get stuck in the pan I like to use a butter knife to go around the edge while they’re still warm and scoop them out gently with a spoon. Below is a picture of the finished product! These are so good I highly DOUBT you’ll be able to eat just 1, but if you have a smaller family then us, you can deff. freeze these beautiful creations to enjoy another time!

Thanks for checking out the blog today! Hope you enjoyed your glimpse into the “Erickson” life! If you have any awesome Egg using recipes feel free to send them my way! And if your in the area and need free range eggs you know who to call!

The post Easy Breakfast Frittata- {A Glimpse Into Our Life} appeared first on Essence Photography | California Photographer | capturethestory.com.