Payne Family

Whew. I'm so many posts behind ... I've had lots of wonderful clients this summer. So many kind families, cute babies, toddlers with immense personality ... it's so fun to see how each family member reacts in front of the camera. This particular cutie is Cruz. I worked with the Payne family back in June and Cruz's mom Courtney has been a huge help in so many ways.

She's given me great feedback and I've learned several good lessons from my time with this family.

It was so warm this day in June and the sun was very bright outside. We tried to shoot a lot in the shade and Cruz definitely preferred that to squinting in the sun. :)

Here Courtney's letting Cruz get a closer look at some ducks at the water's edge. Courtney wanted to do their family pictures in her parents' back yard, which is a gorgeous property right on the edge of Lake Sammamish. It was just beautiful. Courtney's mom is an interior decorator and her home and yard were just stunning with all the colors she'd incorporated.

Courtney also picked out a great wardrobe for the family to wear. All coordinated but not too matchy-matchy. I loved the turquoise, orange and white!

While Cruz took a little snooze, we ventured out into some woodsy areas to get some mommy/daddy pictures. I made the two of them trek out into a really weedy area and both Courtney and I were totally scared we'd encounter some sort of snake (apparently they'd seen several in that area before). We made Courtney's husband Matt go out there and clear out the area of all potential snakes before we'd follow him out there.

I love these pictures in this little stairway alcove.





When Cruz woke up from his nap, we had a little fun near the hot tub. The water was pretty cold so we weren't able to let Cruz take a little dip but everyone got their feet wet for a few pictures.

This was one of the most fun parts of the session because Courtney's mom took a break from the gardening she'd been doing all morning to come out and help us get Cruz's attention toward the camera. She was dancing all around behind me, shaking toys and making funny noises. I laughed so hard -- it was hilarious, appreciated and so cute.

Courtney made this quilt Cruz is laying on here and in a few other pictures in this series. It is a BEAUTIFUL, intricate design and I was so impressed with it. It is a remarkable work of art.





Thank you once again, Payne family, for letting me spend that beautiful afternoon with you and also for your patience with all of the things you helped me work through in regards to our session. Thanks also to your mom, Courtney, for letting us invade her beautiful home and entertaining ALL of us!

4th Avenue Media

I was honored to be asked to take pictures for 4th Avenue Media, a new kind of advertising agency in the Bellevue/Seattle area made up of seasoned media professionals who have made it their passion to tell their clients' stories in unique ways. The team at 4th Avenue Media excel in media buying, advertising, story-telling and public relations. To learn more about this group, visit their website here or check our their blog here. Anyway, the business owners, Robin & Lucas, wanted headshots and group photos for their website and I was excited to be able to help them with this.

I faced quite a challenge with nature this day. The sun was really bright, the wind was so powerful and the air was bitter cold. That meant we had people squinting to keep their eyes open against the sun (even at times in the shade), hair flying in all directions, and freezing noses, fingers, toes ... brrr. I tried shooting in the shade and did get some good pictures there, but I really wanted to get the Bellevue skyline behind the 4th Avenue Media team and for our location, that meant we had to stand in direct sunlight. The wind never died down, but in a few of the images, I think the windblown hair actually gave a little more character to the pictures. Anyway ... I am hoping to get back together with 4th Avenue Media when the weather is a bit warmer to get some really neat shots at dusk with the Bellevue skyline (it is gorgeous right around 5:30 p.m.). Until then, here are just a few of the images we ended up with ...

New things

So I'm trying out a few new looks ... not sure any of this is permanent, but I need a better face for my blog, even if it's just temporary. Still working out the logos, colors, layout, links, size of photos, etc. I haven't had a chance to do much research on how to change up the layouts in Blogger because I've had a very sick little munchkin to take care of, but I'm really anxious to switch all of my pictures to the larger sizes and get this show on the road. I have an engagement shoot this weekend that I'm really excited for and of course I still have more images to share from a few other shoots. And maybe a few from the munchkin's first birthday party this past weekend. Yippee! I can't believe I have a 1-year-old.

Larger pictures on Blogger

I'm trying something out here. I want my pictures to be bigger than the predetermined "large" size Blogger offers. I want this blog to be about the pictures ... not about the background or the words I type. So ... I'm trying to figure out the best way to feature my photos and make them much larger. I'm even looking into switching blog sites (Wordpress or Typepad?), but for now I'm just researching. Do you have any suggestions? What do you think of blogging sites other than Blogger?

Please bear with me for a few days while I am trying out a few new layouts and new ideas. The blog may be down for awhile if I end up doing some serious construction to it. I am working on a header and some other features that will hopefully make it more MINE and less Blogspot. And I'm checking out some other sites too ... so I apologize for the cluttered, unorganized appearance of the blog right now. This wife/mom/photographer with a little OCD is frazzled, looking for the right layout and fixing the things that have been bothering her graphic design eye for a long time now. So ... stay tuned. Please.