Christmas Camping Family Session

When Archive Rentals, owner, and also mom, goes into family Christmas card mode, there’s bound to be a whole lot of amazing-ness that spawns from the shoot! And that’s exactly what happened at this Christmas camping family session. All decked out in holiday red & green Regina and her beautiful family “camped” around an abandoned orange orchard with their pups as Chris & Kristen Photography captured their ultra-fun session! Here’s what she has to say about the day!

My kids have long known that when mom calls everyone together for holiday photos, they won’t be gathering for a quick pose in front of the fireplace. And now, as a Designer and co-owner of Archive, these photo shoots have only gotten more… creative. (The kids might use a different word.) This shoot in San Juan Capistrano was no exception.We had recently bought our dream Airstream, a mint condition 1957 Custom Model, which had only one owner since purchased from the factory, and stored in a barn for the past 40 years. We didn’t buy it just to add to the Archive stable of vintage trailers, it was our new home-away-from-home. My husband and I both grew up camping, but had tired of how much work it was, so we hadn’t camped for years. Our new Airstream “Baby” was going to change everything, and we’d be in the new glamping scene! [Sidebar: Glamping is harder than we thought. In fact it’s a lot like camping. Regardless, winter camping in California is spectacular and romantic, so this was all the inspiration I needed for our holiday photo shoot.When I called my treasured photographer friend Kristen of Chris & Kristen Photography, that’s when things really escalated. Kristen’s enthusiasm and energy is like throwing gasoline on my creative fire. Oh yes, we’re going to bring the Holiday Cheer, and we’re not leaving anything out: Airstream? Yes please! Abandoned orange orchard? Why not! Dogs in sweaters? Um, of course!? “Let’s make a day of it!,” she said. And we did.My husband hooked up the trailer and I rounded up some of my favorite vintage camping items from Archive Rentals inventory. The girls, who are artists themselves, chose what they wanted to wear; my husband wore what he actually wears camping, which made sense to him; and I dressed to match my dogs, which made sense to me. Naturally, the morning of the shoot everyone was bickering and uncooperative. (Why would this holiday shoot be any different??) But even the saltiest crab is no match for the charm of Chris and Kristen Maple. Ten seconds into the shoot we were all laughing, playing and truly enjoying our day of family “camping.”We took our turns in front of the lens and relaxed in between, soaking in the peaceful setting on an idyllic fall day. Warm sun but crisp chilly air that smelled of fresh oranges and sagebrush. Sure it was another one of Mom’s highly curated holiday photo shoots, but it also turned out to be the real thing: An unexpected and perfect holiday family memory.