Mecona, Alex & Journey | A Fall Family Session at Lake Chabot Regional Park in Castro Valley, California
I came into Mecona's orbit through her aunt's wedding — you can see that celebration here — and I'm so glad she found her way back. Mecona is a talented aesthetician based in the Bay Area (find her work at @mecos_wellness), and she showed up to this session in a red satin dress with her whole family in tow, looking like she'd been styled for an editorial shoot. She had not. She just looks like that.
Lake Chabot Regional Park sits in Castro Valley in the East Bay hills, a 315-acre reservoir surrounded by parkland, hiking trails, and rolling golden hills that in the fall go amber and warm. It's the kind of place that feels removed from everything even though the city is right there — quiet water, wide sky, the light doing something beautiful at the end of the afternoon.
Mecona and Alex coordinated beautifully — his burgundy sweater against her red dress, and Journey in a cream knit sweater between them, those curls absolutely everywhere. They stood at the lake's edge for their portraits and just looked like a family that genuinely likes each other, which is the best thing a family can do in front of a camera.
We also captured some breastfeeding portraits — quiet, intimate moments of Mecona and Journey that I think will be among the most treasured images from this session. There is something about that particular kind of closeness that is so worth documenting, and Mecona wore it with complete ease and grace.
The wide shot at the water's edge — the two of them sitting together, Journey tucked between them, the lake stretching out ahead, the hills rising in the background — is one of those images that doesn't need anything else. Just a family, at the edge of a beautiful lake, on an afternoon that was entirely theirs.
Journey, Alex, Mecona — you are wonderful. Thank you for having me.
Lake Chabot Regional Park is in Castro Valley, California — part of the East Bay Regional Parks system, with over 20 miles of trails, scenic lakeside paths, and some of the most beautiful golden-hour light in the Bay Area.
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