Right around that same time I got an email from another emerging photographer whom I had gotten to know through posting constructive photo feedback on a very popular (we’re talking thousands and thousands of members) online photography forum where I taught myself how to use my camera and shoot (whew – that was a long sentence). Anyhoo, in that email she said, “I think you work with my brother-in-law.” Turns out, she’s married to Christie’s brother. Very small world.

Now that I’ve shared my interesting story for the day, I’ll get to the good stuff.

I was all set up to do a downtown mini session with this family for some updated photos. I was headed down to the Woodburn Tulip Festival that morning. I haven’t missed a Tulip Festival since I moved up here 11 years ago. I ran into Christie at the Tulip Festival last year (see? Small world again) so I knew their family appreciated how gorgeous it was. I suggested we do their photos down there instead. It was a pretty cold early spring so the tulips took their sweet time blooming. This Sunday was the first nice day in a long while. We planned on getting there about when they opened. As we parked, I started to panic.

It was bright. VERY VERY bright. Normally the first bright day of spring makes me feel warm and wonderful like a bear waking up from hibernation. But bright isn’t always so wonderful when you’re taking photos. When its bright you have to worry about proper exposure, blowing your highlights, which direction you are facing, dappled light, shadows, squinting, and so on and so forth. Agh! Now, I could have lugged out my big off camera flash set up, but realistically couldn’t use it because of the other thing that was making me panic – the crowds.

Tulip Festival when the color is in its prime and the weather is nice and warm is like Disneyland on a Saturday in July. Trying to get a shot without a gazillion people in the background is a near impossible feat.

That being said, I am extremely thrilled with the way the photos turned out. As internally panicked as I was, I knew they would turn out fantastic because I’ve worked incredibly hard to be good at what I do. Little known secret – I actually have at least one moment of panic during every session or wedding because I’m such a perfectionist, but my clients never know about the craziness going on in my head as I try to get the most perfect photos for them. All I see in the photos is a family who loves each other beyond compare, the sweetest kids, and some freaking awesome color that is reason #423 why I LOVE living here.

Yeah, yeah. If you follow any photography blogs, every photographer says they love their clients. But I do.

Maybe a little too much.

For instance, I love this family. After each of their sessions (we’ve had three, yes, three over the past year) I come home saying how much I love them and I want them to be my new best friends and I want to drive across town regularly so my kids can have play dates with their kids. Then I get a lecture about how I’m bordering on crazy because I can’t be really good friends with all of my clients and I need to remember this is a professional business arrangement and so on and so forth. But I really do love this family.

The sisters are much like me and my sisters – incredibly witty, fantastic sense of humor and unbelieveably photogenic. Their entertaining family dynamic is extremely similar to my own. Their kids are freaking adorable and full of personality, just like mine. And they keep paying me to take their photos over and over again. What’s not to love?!?

Kelly & Megan & family – I can’t wait to take more and more and more photos of you and your beautiful famly throughout the coming years. Think of all the possibilities – extended family get togethers, weddings, parties, winter, spring, summer, fall, parks, the city, the beach, the moutains… the possibilities are endless!

The three sessions were last summer with their mom and grandma, right before Christmas to celebrate Kelly’s husband coming home on leave and finally getting to spend time with his daughter, and this spring with their dad. Its crazy to see how much the kids grew in less than a year. An important reminder of how important it is to take lots and lots of photos of your kids. Tons of photos to share – enjoy!

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you should take advantage of this opportunity. Trust me. Its worth it.

Here’s the scoop:

Its super easy. You just pick a 20min time slot, pick either date that works for you, make sure you arrive a teeny bit early so that you’re ready to go the second your time starts, and we walk around a small area and I get oodles and oodles of photos that you’ll cherish forever of you laughing and loving each other. This is perfect for the husband who hates getting his photos taken because its quick and easy. This is perfect for any mom who deserves to have beautiful photos of her family and actually be in them and not the one always behind the camera. And this is the perfect way to celebrate spring and the start of the next six months of beautiful weather that this incredible area has to offer.

Need more convincing?

How about a few examples from last year’s mini sessions.

Shall I sweeten the deal even further?

Sure, why not? How about having each family that upgrades to the full collection choose their favorite photo from their mini session. Then, I’ll let people vote on their favorite. Which ever photo wins will be turned into a top-of-the-line (trust me, I’ve searched far and wide for the best labs for each of my products) 24×36 canvas delivered to the winning client’s home. Not too shabby, eh?

The mini sessions will completely book up, so please contact me as soon as you can to reserve your spot.

You know the type.

They are incredibly nice. I’m talking down-to-their-bones-for-real nice. Not nice to your face and not-so-nice-when-you-walk-away kind of nice. You meet this kind of person and your first reaction is “wow… I don’t think I’ve met too many people like them”. This type of person is immediately easy to get along with yet knows what they want. They smile because they’re happy. They are giving. You can’t think of any other way to describe them other than downright genuinely good.

Have you thought of someone you know who fits into this category?

Now think about this… Have you ever met an entire family, a reasonably big family at that, where everyone falls into this category? I’m talking about a set of parents who visibly care for each other and their kids. I’m talking about a group of kids who behave in a way you wish all adolescents would. I’m talking about an entire that is so amazing together that you know they will have such a full life of happy memories together.

If you haven’t met a family like this, let me introduce you to one. Enjoy!

Anyhoo, these photos are of my stepsister and her family. I got a temporary baby fix last week when I got to hold the handsome little dude, but I’m sure that is close to wearing off so I’ll soon be on the lookout for another baby to hold. I was so lucky to be able to take their first family photos. To be able to capture how much they love their little man. To freeze in time all those awesome little faces he makes. I’m sure these are the first of many photos they’ll get from me (one of the little perks, in addition to enjoying my charming personality of course, of being related to me), and I look forward to watching him grow in front of my camera.

This first set of photos is kind of fun. The one on the left is from their wedding (their wedding photos were gorgeous). We were standing in front of a garage door and I told them to stand like they were in their wedding photo. They knew exactly which one I was talking about. Had we planned it ahead of time, we may have found a different door or put heels on her so she stood a couple inches taller, but it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I had to try and copy their wedding photographer’s processing and I’m the first to admit that I kind of suck at copying other photographer’s style, but I did my best by converting it to a sepia b&w and added a bit of grain. I’m a bit of a technical rule follower freak when it comes to photography so it just about killed me to crop in a finger chop, but I had to do it. Kinda cool, right?

We took a few at their place before we ventured outside. Look at those blue eyes. This won’t be the first time I talk about them.

This is Murray. He’s one of the best three dogs I’ve ever known. Kodi and Millie are the other two.

This is the first of many unbelievable adorable expressions this little man gave me. I love him.

See what I’m talking about? Look at both of his expressions, just seconds apart.

GORGEOUS blue eyes.

Can’t forget who the first baby was in this family.

Does this photo not melt your heart? This was one of those photos where I couldn’t decide whether I wanted it in color or b&w. I literally sat in front of my computer and converted it back and forth like 20x. Color won. Barely.

These two photos are two of my favorites from the session.

These two are my kids’ favorites. Look at poor Murray. Taking such abuse. Told you he was one of the best three dogs ever.

These two photos are why I named this post Happiness and Tenderness. There’s no other way to describe the photo on the left other than happy, and tender for the photo on the right. The two ingredients that make being a mom the most wonderful thing in the world.

I couldn’t decide which of the next two to post. They’re both very similar but have completely different feelings to me. My indecisiveness won and I posted both.

I know these two families because my daughter has been in preschool for the past two years with the middle son from the all boy group and the oldest son who has two sisters. I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible their school and their teacher has been. All of the parents are really involved and I am so fortunate to have made such good friends with the other families. I always refer to them as “my mommy friends”. These two families are no exception. Get this – the moms are sisters and the dads are brothers. How easy does that make holidays with the in-laws? They aren’t the only families that I know that have done this. Pure genius, I tell you.

Anyway, I already knew everyone’s personalities. I knew their smiles. I know how they bat their eyelashes to make the other moms swoon. I’ve seen them play and fight and joke around and be bashful. Knowing all of that made it so much more fun to capture the emotion, their personalities, and connect with them through my camera.

I just adore this photo. This captured their personalities that morning exactly. I love it when my camera is able to freeze a feeling like that.

Here are both sets of kids. Cousins.

The two sisters and two brothers.

You know I love my walking shots.

If only I were 6 years old again. I’d be chasing this little guy all over the playground.

Every family I photograph emits different energy and I feel something slightly different with each of them. Some are pure laughter, some are joy, some are love, some are affection, some are passion, some are content. This family is my Sweetness.

Look how much he’s grown! Little man just turned 2 years old a few days before our session.

I love the photo on the left. Picture this… a little two year old boy trying to be a stinker and get away with something. He had his back to a big cement pillar. He slowly was inching is way to the side to sneak around the back side of the pillar and make a toddler escape. Can’t you just picture him inching over, little by little, trying not to get noticed?

Boy, do I love this city.

One of my favorites from the session. I think 2 years old is one of the cutest ages. Add Mommy and Daddy tickling a cute toddler and I have nothing but a big fat grin on my face.

I can’t wait to photograph them again next year.

I found out that my husband is coming home from Iraq for a couple of weeks during the middle of May. He’ll be with our 7 month old son for the first time. I really want to surprise him with us doing family photos. I don’t know if you’re able to do this as it’s such short notice, but I think your work is so beautiful. We are available at anytime. I hope we can figure something out and get our first family photos! Thank you. -Caitlin

Wow.

I was completely humbled and honored to have the opportunity to take their first family photos.

Call my ability to take photos a skill. Call it talent. Call it pure luck. Whatever it is, what good is it if I don’t put it to good use? I called Caitlin up and told her it would be my privilege to take their photos, and for all that their family has sacrificed for our country, it would be my gift to them.

To Caitlin and her boys: Thank you so much for this opportunity. I’m grateful for everything that you do. Enjoy your first family photos!

I met this adorable family out at Edgefield. You know I love variety, and getting to shoot in a location where I normally don’t shoot makes me a very happy girl. We only explored a small part of the grounds. Good thing too, because I’ll be taking this adorable little man’s 1-year-old photos in August. I don’t know how I end up with such great clients, but after every session I could totally just hang out with them. Especially a family like this one. When you’re around people who ooze and radiate love for each other, you just want to absorb as much of that positive energy as you can.

I mean… just look at this guy. Does he not radiate joy and happiness? The smiles on mom and dad’s faces never went away the entire session.

A D O R A B L E

Happiness. Joy. Love. You feel it?

I love this shot. They didn’t know I was shooting. They thought I was getting everything set up. They’re looking at their son who is sitting in the stroller to my right. I have no idea what their little man was doing to make them smile so big, but I can only imagine it was super cute.

Daffodils and cherry blossoms. I love Oregon in the Spring.

Dad is standing to my right. I have no idea what he is doing, but it had to have been hilarious. I offered to pay him to come to every session with me to get the kids to smile.

Oh my God. Now I’m funny too.

The story behind these two photos will make you laugh… For the one on the left, I told them to stand together like they were at prom. If you know my style, you know I don’t ask people to do those sorts of things because I seriously want a posed shot. I ask them to do that so I can get the shot on the right. Funny thing is, I actually like both shots equally.

So happy! Look at those two little chompers.

I have to brag here a bit. I’m particularly proud of this photo. It wasn’t raining that day, thank goodness, but we had high overcast skies. The only thing in the sky was a dull ugly grey color. No detail whatsoever. Just ugly grey. When you live in Oregon and you’re a photographer, I suppose you have to figure out how to photoshop the occasional blue sky. Makes the photo a bit more interesting than ugly grey, right? How did I do?

As always, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my blog. I appreciate each and every comment that you all leave me!

Such an expressive little man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many expressions during a couple hour period on such a young little babe. He was so fantastic. Absolutely perfect, I tell you. Happy the entire time. He is so inquisitive. Nearly impossible to keep still in one spot. My camera was set to continuous focus mode almost the entire session because trying to photograph this little cruiser and still be able to get him in focus was like trying to hit a moving target with an arrow. He has such personality, such charisma, such joy. And boy does he love his mommy and daddy.

I’ve been to their home three times now for the pre-consultation, the session, and then their ordering appointment and this little guy had me wrapped around his little finger with each visit. His parents are absolutely fantastic too. They had music playing during our entire session and I swear, you couldn’t have chosen a better play list for me. I loved every song on their mix. Coldplay, John Mayer, Goo Goo Dolls. I loved every single song. They even had fresh baked cookies out for me (not a requirement, but I promise I won’t complain if you do it for your session). I enjoyed myself so much that I invited myself to just come back and hang out with them sometime.

One thing I know for sure… taking photos in my clients’ home is completely fantastic. Selfishly, I love the change of scenery. I have my favorite locations around town, but my creative juices really start to flow when I’m somewhere completely different. Unfamiliar layouts, lighting, space – all those factors make for new interesting photos. And for my clients, having photos taken in a place where they share all of their most intimate memories simply gives extra meaning to them.

I hope you all enjoy the photos as much as I do.

My favorite:

Puffs are goooood.

Super cool wall. They have the best style in their home.

Another favorite. Look at those two little teeth!

Yup. Love these too.

I can never get enough baby tooshie.

He has the coolest room. The wall decals were so awesome, as was the color of the walls.

Another favorite of mine.

I am baby. Hear me ROAR!

Look at that fine motor coordination. Such determination to get that delicious puff.