Baby Eva

I had the privilege of meeting Baby Eva and her mom Jo and dad Vinod. I use the word "privilege" because it truly was. This family was so kind and thoughtful. Their interactions were so sweet to watch and Baby Eva was SUCH a happy baby!
I would estimate that Eva smiled approximately 94 percent of the time I was with them. She was so happy and her little grin was just contagious. You couldn't help but smile when she looked at you.
We started the session out at Jo & Vinod's home, which had several things in it that reflected their Indian heritage. The lighting in their home was a challenge for me and it made me realize how much I really do want an extra camera body -- one with a little more power to shoot at high ISO's for better results in low-lighting scenarios. Even so, Baby Eva was so cute that we were able to get some adorable shots.



Vinod and Eva loved playing together. He was especially fond of tossing her gently up into the air and I could see why. She giggled so well every time he did that. It was always a sure-fire way to get her to grin that beautiful baby grin.



Hi there, Eva! She was a very curious baby and I could tell immediately that she was very sharp. She was so observant and when she looked into your eyes, it was obvious this girl was studying everything about you. It almost felt like she could read my thoughts. Good thing all I was thinking was, "You're so cute, little one!" :)

Jo wanted to get a few pictures of her and Eva in traditional Indian attire, complete with the bindi (a symbol of beauty, associated with feminity and sometimes with marriage) between the eyes. When Jo first put the bindi on her daughter, she was so moved. She told me that the first time she'd worn a bindi was at her own wedding -- to see her daughter wear one at such an early age was touching and emotional for her.



Look at all of that hair little Eva has! My daughter at 18 months has probably a third of what Eva had at six months. :)

The whole family hanging out in their dining room at home.

Something about this picture is so striking to me. It's not a perfect photo and I usually go for the smiles, but something about how pensive father and daughter looked as they were waiting for Jo to join us outside just got me. Eva was so content just sitting in her Papa's arms.

She was also pretty comfy being held by Mom, too. :)

We walked to a nearby park to get some more family shots and Eva quickly showed signs she was ready for a nap and pretty much done with posing for the camera. So we tried to work quickly.

Vinod was ready to interest Eva with music and videos from his MP3 player. That bought us some more time to play. :)

Then, this is what happened on the walk back from the park:

Then, after we got home, this:

Jo and Vinod, thank you for letting me take pictures of your sweet girl. Thank you also for taking care of ME before I left your home and sending me off with lots of chocolate and snacks to munch on during the drive home. I so look forward to meeting up again with you soon and having some more fun out at the park!

Sister & brother

These are some of my favorite pictures ever! Mainly because these two cute young adults are part of my history. I've known Elizabeth and Brendan as far back as I can remember. We lived one house away when we all grew up in a little cul-de-sac in Renton. When I got old enough, I started babysitting these two and that's when our history together really began.

Elizabeth and Brendan were the CUTEST kids. Always polite, always cheerful, always ready to run up and give me hugs. Both of them. They both had unique personalities and as brother and sister, got along together really well. They were so easy to babysit because they minded so well and we all had so much fun together.

The only sad thing? Yeah. See below.

Pretty much I have to say GO COUGS, GO COUGS, GO COUGS! When Elizabeth graduated high school in 2006 (after being an awesome yearbook editor, just like me!), she chose the University of Washington. Brendan just graduated this year and what college do you think he chose?

Yep. I love these kids but NO ONE looks good in purple. :) (Clearly, I am a Washington State University grad.)

I'm proud of both Ebie and Brendan. Elizabeth's gotten really involved in her sorority and has chosen Informatics (basically a study of the relationships between people, information and technology) as her major and loves it. Brendan has always been an AWESOME student as well and I know he'll go on to accomplish great things in college too.

Aren't they cute?

I cannot bring myself to understand how Brendan grew from a quiet little towhead to this handsome college student. Seriously! He's 10 years younger than me and Elizabeth is eight years younger, but I feel with them like parents must feel of their children when all of a sudden they seem to blink and be looking at their babies as adults. I'm always amazed at the mature things both Ebie and Brendan say and accomplish.

I can only hope my own children get along as great as Elizabeth and Brendan do. They laugh at each other, tease each other, trust each other with some appropriate secrets and encourage each other.



You might not be able to tell here, but these are two tall cats. Like, six feet tall. I come up to Ebie's chin or something like that. And for so long it was pretty cute because Brendan was always shorter than Ebie. Not anymore!



They both have been waterskiiers since they were wee little ones. I'll never forget seeing their teeny life jackets and skis in their family boat back when I used to babysit them. Now they both wakeboard and Ebie is on the UW Waterskiing Team. I'm sad to say that I've never actually gotten to see either of them on the water, though! I'm not so much a water sports girl. :)



I love you guys. Thanks for asking me to come up to campus and spend some time with you. I hope your mom enjoyed her pictures (the two wanted to take these for a birthday present for their mom). I also hope Uncle Rich (their uncle is a photographer!) approves of how I portrayed you two! :) Keep in touch -- don't ever stop calling me and keeping your big "sis" updated on what's going on in your sweet lives!

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!

Marilyn Monroe?

I know it has been forever since I last posted. I have been so busy with shoots and editing pictures and setting up new shoots. I have lots of pictures I'm still working on and lots more blog posts to share. James and I are sitting in the San Diego International Airport right now, waiting for our flight back to Seattle. We just got finished with our first cruise, a 30th birthday present I set up for James to celebrate this milestone year.

I took these pictures here in early June. My former boss and dear friend Amy wanted to do some surprise pictures for her boyfriend, who LOVES Marilyn Monroe. We had so much fun doing these! My friend Rhea came to work on Amy's hair and did a FANTASTIC job! I had a big book full of Marilyn pictures so we could look at how Ms. Monroe posed for pictures, her expressions and obviously her clothing.

The verdict with Amy's boyfriend? He loved them! What do you think?










This classic Marilyn photo was was so hard to recreate. I took probably 50 different versions of this picture and this is the closest we came to the original shot. Obviously Marilyn was outside in her original picture instead of inside a house, but then again I'm sure it was more pleasant for Amy that a fan was creating that wind instead of the hot air coming from the smelly sewer grate Marilyn endured.










This one is one of my favorites!