Kevin & Erika, Part II

So my goodness, I have loved editing these pictures. I love editing all of my pictures, but the gorgeous Seattle scenery in these, Erika's natural talent for looking beautiful on camera and the sunny weather (when we were in the shade) made these just such a treat to edit. Does Kevin look familiar to you? He's my friend Brian's younger brother ... I did pictures of Brian and Lindsey's twins a few months ago. I've known Brian and Kevin since high school and their parents still live in the same neighborhood my parents do.


See what I'm saying about the natural beauty? I love this calm, secretive look on Erika's face.


Kevin and Erika got engaged in Vegas and are planning their wedding for late July. Erika said she's got her dress picked out and the colors all figured out (black and white) and they still needed to figure out the cake and get their invitations out. They wanted to include a picture in their invitation so hence the engagement photo shoot.


So we had a little fun with an impromptu dance lesson here. I asked them Kevin how he felt about dipping Erika for a picture (some couples feel cheesy doing that, while others love it). They were both totally up for it, but we needed to work on their form just a tad. They were great sports at listening to this dancer-turned-photographer as she critiqued their performances.


Can you say CUTE CUTE CUTE? Just look at them! I love these!


Anyone want to have a session at Pike Place? I am up for ANY kind of session there. I could have shot there all through the night. So many corners and alleys and views and colors and textures to work with. I love it. And it's such a Seattle landmark. One of my favorite pictures from my own wedding was taken right in this very spot.






I have this one in black and white too and for a long while, I couldn't decide which I liked better. I decided to post the one in color because of the mossy green all over the steps.





Remember this one ... it's coming up again in a few.


It was SUCH a wonderful afternoon for a walk around Seattle. I love this city. I love this state.



Ahhh, romance. Engagements. Weddings. It's a glorious time of year. I want to have another wedding. I want to have engagement pictures taken with James again.

Congratulations, Kevin & Erika! You are such a great-looking couple and so sweet as well. I had a blast with you on Sunday. Thanks for sticking with me for all those hours. Enjoy every minute of this time in your life ... you'll never want to forget any of it!

Creativity?

I really liked this post on a photography blog I visit. This is how I feel about my work a lot of the time ... I totally feel in a trance when I'm on a shoot and when I'm driving home I'm almost panicking because I can't really remember what kind of pictures I got. I worry that I didn't get anything good, that I made the clients uncomfortable, that I was overwhelming in my excitement. I always hope the clients have as much fun as I do and sometimes I know I can shoot for a long time (so far, everyone's been such troopers). Then usually, I get home, look at my pictures and am SO THANKFUL that I've been getting to do this. I have so much to learn and I have a looooooooonngg way to go in this journey, but for now ... I'm thrilled with what I've been doing. And proud. Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me in this adventure -- my clients, my friends and of course, my family.

We're ready to file the paperwork to make the business official. And we're not filing as "m. photography" like I thought we would. I'll share the new name and a new blog address in a few weeks. I'm working on logos, doing research for website development and planning out my rates/packages. My goal to have everything complete and to start shooting at my official rates is June. I have a lot to do between now and then ... and maybe I'll make that deadline, maybe I won't. I have several other commitments smack dab in the middle of that timeframe. While getting the business up and running is a big priority for me, it is lower in my lineup when it comes to tasks during the day. The kid, the hubby and the home life come first. Once both lovies are snug in bed, I regularly find myself staying up past midnight just so I can do some research and some editing.

Also, thank you to everyone who's still waiting for me to schedule their session ... I have at least six different people I still need to call back to work out schedules. I'm working on it, I promise!

Anyway, come back soon for more pictures from my awesome engagement session with Kevin & Erika. I am so excited to share more of these images.

K&E processing question

As I'm working on editing more images from Kevn & Erika's engagement shoot, I am just THRILLED at the beauty of some of the locations we went to yesterday. I am SO EXCITED about these pictures! I'm truly having a blast and am just ecstatic at how some of them are turning out. I'm practically bursting at the seams and I so can't wait to share more. I'll have more to share later very soon and also more on what a sweet couple Kevin & Erika are, but for now ... which version of this photo do you all prefer and why? I love them both!

Kevin & Erika sneak peek

I had so much fun with Kevin & Erika this afternoon. Here's a sneak peek. More coming soon...

Easter session -- Thompson

I had the privilege of getting together with Paul, Marissa and Cooper again last weekend. I got to take their family pictures this winter -- two different times! They just might win the record for being having the most family pictures posted on this blog. They have been so supportive of me and my photography. When Marissa wanted Easter pictures, I was so excited to work with them again. We were all hoping for nice spring weather ... but it was REALLY cold and quite gray outside. We'd run outside, grab a few frames, then run back inside for a warm-up. Cooper was in a great mood the entire session and didn't even mind wearing bunny ears for a few pictures!

Marissa loves pictures in sepia -- nearly every photo on their wall in the family room is sepia. I had to convert a few for her here.




I love the smile on Marissa's face here ... even though you can only see a small part of her face (and those pretty eyelashes), there's no doubt she's smitten with her sweet son.


You think Cooper has fun with his daddy? ;-)

It's Cooper's first Easter and he's got to figure out what the deal is with these plastic eggs.

For all you photographers out there, I used a new action on this one. I downloaded a few new free actions from MCP Actions and used her action called Take Action on Cancer to turn this black and white with a blue tone. Normally I'm not a fan of pictures with duotone-like colors, but for some reason I really like how it worked on this picture.


So I think Cooper pretty much has the coolest nursery. I should have gotten more pictures of it. It's blue and brown, a classic color combination, but Marissa has also collected a ton of baby boy items with a theme of "Prince" and it's just adorable. He's got an awesome set of shelves that are filled with adorable stuffed animals, picture frames, baskets and signs. You can see one of the "Prince" frames in the lefthand side of this picture. Check out the huge diaper pin on the wall, the fun stars and the custom artwork (painted by Marissa's brother!) in another nursery picture a little further down in this post.

Can we take a moment to point out what a beautiful smile Marissa has?



Happy Easter, Thompson family!

Cooper Bunny preview

More from this little guy and his parents, coming soon...