Living What I Love

Fall shoots

A few favorites from recent family + engagement shoots this fall!

 I think I really captured Astrid's sweet essence here. =)

Such great brothers!

Katy + Sam + Murray the dapper dog <3

Marie, Bryce + Finn

Shot some fall photos for friends to use in their Holiday 2016 cards and we had the perfect fall evening with beautiful light. We took these downtown Ballard, one of my favorite places in the city. Marie's parents were visiting from Indiana so we got some with the grandparents, too! <3

A new addition

This was my third shoot with this family, and they've added one on since our last meetup! So fun to see families grow.

Favorite five-year-old toys: Cars buds

Families who read together = <3

Learning to ride a bike!

"Mom, a plane!"

Christmas card material, imo. ;)

 

Beach morning

This was my third (fourth?) time working with this sweet, adventurous family and we had a blast playing at Golden Gardens one Saturday morning this spring. It's so fun to watch the two brothers interact - they are full of energy and made me crack up more than a few times. I particularly loved how they chose their own outfits like they did last time, and chose their 'volcano shirts' again, too, fresh off a trip to Hawaii. The heart wants what it wants! ;)

This is a tradition with our shoots now - photos of dad throwing the boys into the air (SO HIGH.) Seriously impressive.

Spring shoots

Hello again! Been awhile, so here's a few fun shoots from the spring, starting with a 5K with a local chapter of great org Girls on the Run, which encourages girls to run and promotes a healthy self-image. It was a freezing, rainy day and I was so impressed with these girls' positive attitudes and with how much fun they had, despite the weather.

Next: some maternity photos for Beth and John, who two months later welcomed a healthy baby boy!

And finally, a portrait session with the lovely Inger, who gets told she looks like Jodie Foster a lot - I have to agree! I love doing portraits, and we lucked out with a gorgeous Seattle sunset.

Edmonds family shoot

This was my second time working with Lindsay and Bob and their sweet kiddos! We hung out and played along the waterfront in downtown Edmonds (and hello, such a cute town!) on a crisp fall morning. Families this fun make my job easy.

Family shoot at the beach!

Sometimes work doesn't seem like work. Spending time with this sweet family at Discovey Park was just plain fun, and their three-year-old son was one of the chattiest little guys I've ever had the pleasure to hang out with. He was curious about everything we found on the beach, totally obliging to pose for the camera and had lots of interesting things to say. =) Such a fun day!

Recent favorites

A few of my favorites from recent shoots this winter:

Love this one. =)

Beautiful child! Beautiful family.

The latest and greatest

Some favorites from a super-fun family shoot on Saturday in Redmond. This little guy is just too cute. Love it when the grandparents can get in some shots, too!

The golden hour

This shoot was at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, late in the afternoon when the sun was perfectly filtering through the trees and made for some beautiful photos. The little guy is only 3 months old, and I could definitely tell how much love his family has for him! We had his parents, aunt, cousin and grandparents all together, and no matter how many times he got passed around, he was a pretty content (and sleepy!) little guy.

I love the grandmother's sari and the bright colors she and her daughter both wore. Take note: bright colors make for gorgeous pictures!

Laughter also makes for great photos. =)

Granddaughter + grandfather

Father + son

Mother + son

Grandparents + grandchildren

Toddlers: keeping me on my toes

I thought this little guy was quick the first time I took his photo; I was wrong. Good thing I wore shoes that were easy to move in! A few of my favorites:

Fall + families

Work from a family session I shot this past weekend in South Lake Union. Check out these kids' gorgeous, curly hair!

Late September family shoot

Another lovely family who I worked with a few weeks ago with a beautiful four-month-old baby girl, and grandparents visiting from China. There's just something about those grandparent visits - crossing oceans to see their newest family members ... it just really pulls at my heartstrings. =) Maybe I just miss my own grandparents who also live far away; not as far as China, but far enough that I don't see them often enough. I hope this sweet little girl gets to see her family a lot over the years as she's growing up. They certainly adore her already (as do her parents!)

mini explorer

I had a few family sessions this weekend and had so much fun meeting more tiny people! Filtered sunlight, crisp air and an empty park made for a perfect shoot. This is Luna, who's 18 months and very, very busy, and very interested in the natural world (rocks and sticks and leaves) but not so much the dirt - her dad had to brush it off for her. =)

Family.

A sunny, warm day in Seattle, a happy, smiling baby and a light breeze mixed well for a great family shoot this past weekend at the Olympic Sculpture Park. I loved little Lily's expressions! Babies at this age are so fun to work with.

Saturday morning

This past Saturday I drove out to a cool little tucked-away park to meet up with a super fun family of three to shoot some photos. Their son was 14 months and man could he move fast! Probably half the shots I snapped of him were blurry; luckily I always keep that shutter clickin' and am left with plenty of great ones. =) When my photos of him were in focus, they turned out great - he just had this little glint in his eye all morning that was too cute.

Baby M's First Birthday

I had the pleasure of shooting the first birthday party of Baby M last weekend. She had the biggest, prettiest eyes and had everyone at her party wrapped around her finger. =) Can you blame them?

And what a party it was! There were gift baskets and bubbles and squirt guns for the kids to play with, a bouncy castle, a mini swimming pool and SO much food. It's so great to see families and friends brought together to celebrate, and I had a fabulous time getting to know Baby M and her parents and grandparents.

Baby Adrienne

We went out of town with friends last weekend and my camera couldn't stop snappin' photos of their beautiful 7-month-old daughter. Those eyelashes!

(Forgive the avocado, she was just saving some for later.)

 

Pumpkin patch!

A few weekends ago Chad and I went out to a pumpkin patch in Renton with his sister, brother-in-law and their twin girls. It was a sweet little farm, complete with geese, chickens, a calf, pigs, old tractors and trucks to climb on and plenty of pumpkins. The girls picked out one each and Uncle Chad surprised them both with a mini pumpkin, too. =) One of my favorite fall things, for sure. Hope you're getting out and enjoying the season!

One awesome fountain

Chad and I walked Luna to Seattle Center this weekend mostly to enjoy some sunshine and sit and watch the local kids play in the fountain there. Before you think, 'That's kinda lame', just wait. This isn't your run of the mill smallish fountain with a steady, unintimidating flow. No. This is something from a another planet; even the thing itself looks like a spaceship recently landed in the middle of Seattle. It intermittently shoots water from all sorts of weird places, but the main attraction comes from the four spouts on top that with no rhyme or reason suddenly shoot jetstreams of water hundreds of feet into the stratosphere, then with a burst of air shoot them higher until they fall with a thunderous crash back to the concrete and onto the heads of the tiny kids below. It's fantastic fun and so hilarious to watch. We sat there for a good 45 minutes, mostly wishing we'd worn our swimsuits. Next time, fountain. Next time.

You'd think this was 'full blast.' Not quite....

This kid sees the steam. He knows - STAY BACK! She's about to blow!

!!!!!!!

It's about here you could hear the high-pitched screams of little girls... and probably some boys, because:

...what goes up has got to come down. BOOM! So. Awesome.

Yet another point for the city of Seattle.

And p.s.: the corn dog stand near the fountain has *super* tasty dogs.

Writing stories/writing songs

A few photos from a 2nd-grade fieldtrip and a middle-school songwriters' workshop at the fantastic 826Michigan:

Loved this guy's collared shirt.

This kid was droppin' some beats in Garage Band. PS remember the Hornets? I think their team was popular among my 7th grade (girl) friends because their colors were teal + purple. ;)

I <3 826.

Just a Wild Things robot helping write some songs, nbd.

 

let's take a fieldtrip

...to 826!

826michigan hosts their own brand of field trips for local elementary school students, filled with brainstorming, writing, drawing, and finally waiting in agony to see whether or not the elusive and picky dr. blotch will 'accept' their stories. (miraculously and without precedent, *all of the stories* were accepted this time!) to which the kids celebrated with great jubliation, obviously. that dr. blotch is one tough critic.

my FAVORITE time.

fall!

for many reasons, but mainly for the cooler weather, for the apples, pumpkins, and cider donuts, toasty drinks, and because i can finally wear my BOOTS. brown leather boots, they're where it's at, ya'll. the most perfect september day today, and some friends and i celebrated with a little trip to a nearby apple orchard to pick us some apples, dodge the bees, and grab a few donuts to go. days like this, i love living in michigan. get back to me in a few months when it's -12. but for now, it's lovely!

the weekend.

driving home to wisconsin, we caught this sunset. an upside to chicago traffic!

i got to spend time with my mom and my sister maddie, who has very stylish tom's and very beautiful red hair =) :

we stopped down at the george williams pier, where i whiled away many a day getting a tan (and getting paid for it) - lifeguarding summers in college. also known as one of my favorite places, ever. lake geneva is the prettiest around 6pm in the summer.

the night before we had to head back to michigan, we made last minute dinner plans with some good friends of our and then stopped by their house to see their daughter. she is SO cute. moves a bit fast even for my f/1.4, but i got a few snaps in:

smiling faces

To start your weekend on a happy note: check out these beautiful kids! I was out shooting for 826 tonight at a local nonprofit and although I was supposed to be taking photos of other things, my lens kept turning to the kids instead! Have a great weekend everyone + remember to smile, whenever possible. It just makes things better.

 

Okay, so, not a kid. But if you don't also think this puppy is pretty dang adorable, you might not be allowed back onto my blog.

Some more 826.

Drop-in tutoring at 826Michigan: homework help! down-home remedies (chamomile tea bags) for itchy allergy eyes! an awesomely tacky gold couch! robots! all good things.

 

 

 

 

may 2010

Missin' these guys.

 
The last two years before we packed up and moved to Michigan, I was an assistant teacher at an all-boys school in San Francisco.  All boys! These guys were my third-graders last year.... and lately I've been missing them... even their fart jokes. I found them to be hilarious, inquisitive, charming, weird, and adorable. Sometimes all at once. I had the best time teaching these guys. Now they're big fourth graders, almost fifth graders. I hope to get back and visit them in the near future. I'm sure they're still making fart jokes, surprising their teachers with their brains and their spirit, and growing up into amazing young men.