So I’ve been told this technically isn’t a dandelion, but humor me here. This is my daughter, captured in the same pose, same location, same outfit, same pigtails (as a toddler will allow, of course) for the past three years in a row.

The first photo, when she was two years old, is what I call a happy accident. At that point in time, I was trying to master shooting in manual mode and getting the shot right in camera. I had not gone into business at that point. I dressed my daughter up and made her be my model (a role she quickly learned how to avoid). I found a great location near our home that I use all the time now for photos. It was then that I saw this MONSTER sized dandelion. I had never seen anything like it! There was only a small patch of them near the rail road tracks. I picked one, put it in her hands, showed her how to blow to make the seeds fly away, and frantically ran over to set up my shot because I knew it was impossible to ask a 2-yr-old to wait for such an awesome task. Lucky for me, no matter how hard she blew, the seeds wouldn’t fly away, so I just had to be quicker than her realizing that all she had to do was shake the flower to make all the seeds blow away. I believe I got the shot seconds before that revelation happened. I actually didn’t think the photo was anything special until I posted it on a photography forum I am part of and the thread took off like I was posting a hot piece of gossip! I was incredibly flattered that the photo got so much attention and didn’t really see the beauty and wonder of the photo until after that point. My favorite part is seeing the sheer determination on her face and knowing that more spit than breath was blowing out from in between those gorgeous red lips.

The next year I asked myself, “now wouldn’t it be cool if I could get the same photo one year later?”. Achieving this feat was like a complicated equation (you know how I love my math). This is what was going on in my brain: [(big ass dandelions in bloom)+(overcast soft light in the middle of a summer day)]/(my daughter’s mood… she was 3 afterall) + (my 1-yr-old son’s mood and willingness to behave long enough to allow me to get the shot) = SUCCESS. The planets must have been aligned that day because it worked!

Surprisingly (or maybe not for all you moms out there), the third year proved to be the most challenging. You see, by this point in time, the only photos I got of my daughter were when she wanted them, and after having had so many photos taken, this mood did not strike too often. Even more difficult was getting her to wear the same outfit again. Mind you, she was 4 years old 4-and-a-half-years-old (mentioning the half is very important at this age), and the dress was size 2T and the sweater was size 18-24 months! Plus all of the conditions listed above had to be met. After an entire summer of begging, I was desperate because I really wanted that photo. If I never get one again, I had to at least get three, right? I had to stoop to bribery. I promised her a cupcake from Bliss Cupcakes if she let me get the photo. Of course her brother would get one too. Food always does the trick… they are my kids afterall. So, a patch of these dandelions usually grows across the street from my house. On our way to driving to the location, there was a single flower growing near our house. With the utmost of care, I gingerly picked it and wedged it in between the passenger seat and the center console so as to not knock any of the seeds off. Sure enough, when we got to the location there wasn’t a flower in sight. I knew she was now old enough to blow the seeds off with one single breath, and if she wasn’t successful on the first attempt she had enough sheer determination to eliminate the rest with a follow up breath, so I gave her very specific instructions to wait until I was ready. Lucky for me she is a good listener… when there’s a cupcake on the line, that is.

I just showed her the series of pictures and asked if I can get one every single year until she turns 18. With a big grin, she looked at me and nodded yes. Getting her to fit into the same clothes will be a challenge, of course, especially if I keep bribing her with cupcakes.

Finally! My house somewhat resembles the kind of house you’d expect from someone who loves to take photos all. the. time. I’ve been shoving my big camera in front of my kids’ faces for years and what was the result? Lots and lots of photos on my hard drive. It took me years to figure out what color I wanted to paint the walls and then actually paint them – I can cut a mean wall to ceiling line now, by the way. But my walls either remained bare or had things hanging on them which I really didn’t care for the way they looked. I am soooo far from being done, too.

I’m showing these photos not because I’m trying to plant the seed in my clients’ and future clients’ heads that they need to spend oodles and oodles of money with me and buy tons and tons of products (although, I won’t argue if they do), but I’m showing them because it feels so awesome to have photos of my family up on the walls. Memories that I can relive every time I walk by them. I don’t care if every photo you have isn’t spectacular from a technical perspective – not the nicest background, harsh lighting, etc. What matters is that the photo is important to you because of who is in it, what was happening in your life at that moment in time, that expression they were making, whatever! Photos don’t deserve to be shoved in a box or stuck on your computer. Get them up on your walls! I love going over to people’s homes and looking at any photos they have up. Just last week we went to a friend’s house for the first time so our kids could have a playdate and I learned all about their family and the incredible hardships my friend had growing up, and as she opened up to me about everything, I got to know her family through all the photos on her walls and in an album on display.

The first set of pictures is of my frame wall. I’m really freakish about measuring twice and cutting once. That is why I planned the display out on paper first. A good photography friend of mine has a bunch of these frames that look amazing in her home (actually, all the photos in her home inspired me to get mine up on my walls) and she’s the one who suggested sketching them out before I ordered anything. Funny thing is that I based the entire design on the fact that I had a big thermostat in the middle of the wall. Had it not been there, my design would have been different. Anyway, all the frames show up and my husband says “Let’s just move the thermostat to the other side of the wall. That’s a better place for it anyway because it shouldn’t be right below the intake vent and its such a pain to get to with the couch there. Plus, now, we can easily turn the heat down when we leave the house.” That last part was a big bonus for him… we call our house the Ice Castle and he loves being able to turn the heat down easily whenever he can.

Here’s my sketch:

And here’s what they look like on the wall (sorry for the glare, they’re directly across from 3 big windows):

And I’ll show a few close ups. We dedicated this wall to putting our family photo in the middle (sadly, my stepson wasn’t in this one – we’ll replace it when he’s in the next one). On the right side is my entire extended family and on the left side is my husband’s family.

The frames are all handmade in the USA. I love the distressed look. The right side is the exact same layout as the left side, only inverted. I’m a huge fan of symmetry.

The silhouette photo on the bottom doesn’t exactly “go” with all the other photos, but it has particular meaning to me.

My grandma in the top frame and my grandpa in the bottom (both +/- 90 years old by a few years). My mom loved seeing the photo of my grandpa. She asked, “How did you get him to smile?” I never thought about it until I went through some old photo albums the other day and even in photos from 25-30 years ago, he was serious in every photo.

Here’s another frame that I recently ordered. Its pretty awesome. I just selected the photos I wanted to display and my lab prints the photos, assembles the frame, even seals it for moisture, and sends the whole thing to me ready to hang. I’m showing it because its HUGE, I think 40″ wide, but it doesn’t look like it is once it got up on the wall. So many times people want an 11×14 or 16×20 for the wall and think it’ll be too big. I say go big, or go home. Big is better. Show off those photos!

Here’s another example of a big photo. Its a 24×36 canvas and I have it on a hallway wall. I used to have a 16×20 hanging up in this spot and the 24×36 looks way better there.

I love that you can see my big daddy 40″ frame at the end of the hall from the point you walk in the front door.

Here’s my stair display. This wall is only dedicated to pictures of the kids and I seriously want to get twice as many frames as I have right now. My intention was to rotate out the photos as they got older… but as they keep getting older, the more I cherish seeing the photos from when they were so little. So, instead of rotating out the photos, the only solution is to add more frames, right?

Hopefully this post has given at least one of you inspiration to go hang more photos of your friends and family. Please let me know if it has.

Naughty Krissy.

Naughty naughty naughty.

I have neglected my poor blog for over two months. I still have 13 mini sessions, 4 senior sessions, 6 family sessions and 1 wedding from 2011 I have yet to post on my blog. Naughty.

I have excuses though. Wanna hear them? Well, I’ll explain anyway. I just got busy. Real busy. So busy that anytime spent on the computer was editing sessions or ordering products. Once my clients were taken care of, I was a bit selfish and finally started working on stuff for me. I made a big album for my husband’s Christmas gift of our summer vacation. His reaction when he opened it? “Uh-huh, is this for me or for you?” It was for him. I promise. But I love that we have it. [insert evil grin] Then I spent a lot of time designing a big frame wall. You see, when you walk into my house, you wouldn’t really know someone who loves to take pictures lives here. I just never get around to editing them, let alone getting them displayed. My walls are bare no longer. I ordered 17 hand made in the USA custom frames and filled a 3×12′ area on a wall. I also got a huge framed print with a multi-opening mat to display three photos. I’m very excited. Pictures to follow…

So now what? Well, the first quarter of the year is always super slow for most photographers. Its not wedding season. Its not high school senior portrait time. And most families don’t want photos taken during an Oregon winter or early spring. But I love the first quarter of the year. It gives me time to post sessions from the year before that were never posted. It gives me time to update my website. And it gives me time to take a break, shoot more photos of my kids, and be inspired.

Now on to the good stuff.

Here’s our holiday card this year. Year 2 of showing an awkward family photo on the cover and a good picture on the inside. If you don’t think the photo on the cover is that bad, perhaps my blog isn’t the best one for you. Unfortunately my stepson wasn’t in this year’s card but there’s no way I’m letting him get out of 2012′s card. Sorry, dude. Its gonna be a good one too.

Here’s the front (it was a horizontal 5×7 folded card). What you see here is a super awesome photoshop effect called selective coloring. You have to have mad skills to do it. Especially when you color back in things like lips and eyes and super saturated denim.

and the good one, which will hang as a framed 20×24″ in the center of my frame wall (see reference above):

And in case you didn’t see last year’s, here’s the back and the front (it was a vertical 5×7 folded card).

and the inside spread (this one is a 24×36 canvas in our hall):

Last but not least, I would like to give a HUGE thank you to all of my clients who I love. I really do love them. Thank you for fueling my passion. Thank you for being so beautiful and easy to photograph. Thank you for trusting me to capture such personal moments. I picked just one photo from each session to show.

2011 was an incredibly memorable year; one I will never forget. Can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store!

Bad Krissy!

My poor blog has been so neglected. I have valid reasons, I promise. I will also promise you that from now through the end of the year, I guarantee this blog will be full of beautiful new photos.

I still have three family sessions I have yet to post on the blog and this Saturday starts my SUPER busy wedding season, so lots of good pics will follow.

For now, I’ll just share a couple personal photos. We got back last night from seven nights on the North Shore of Oahu. We stayed in a house that was steps from Three Tables beach and we went there every single day. At the beginning of the vacation, the kids were begging to go back to the beach every time we went back to the house. By the end of the vacation, they were telling us they were tired of the beach and wanted to go home. You know it’s a good vacation when you’re so exhausted from all the good times that all you want to do is sleep in your own bed.

I haven’t had a chance to look through all my photos (there are a ton, as you might imagine) on the computer yet, but as soon as I took this shot, I knew it was one of my favorites.

And you know that I can’t go anywhere or do anything without mentioning the food. We hardly ate out this trip because it was just easier to stock up at Costco and hang out at the house with the kids, but besides the powdered Love’s donuts that accompanied our 100% Kona coffee every morning, the local produce was my absolute favorite. Everyone has had pineapple and most people like it, right? Well, unless you’ve had a pineapple while you’re in Hawaii, you have no idea how good it is. I equate it to a person who is living in New Mexico and is used to eating strawberries that are grown in California and shipped in on a truck (this used to be me). Then, one day you go to Oregon at the end of June and for the first time you eat a REAL strawberry. Dark red, firm but juicy, sweet but tart, solid crimson fruit all the way to the leaves. There’s just no comparison. That was what the pineapple was like on this trip. We ate 3 very large pineapples over the course of the week. We also ate (from left to right): star fruit (always been a favorite of mine), passion fruit (I saw a local shake it to loosen the seeds, then cut it in half to eat it. Worked like a charm. Loved the flavor but it was really tart), tomatoes, papaya (we had one every day… when we barbecued hot dogs it *almost* felt like I was at Gray’s Papaya in New York), guava (not a fan – good flavor but the seeds suck), mango (OUTSTANDING), ice cold coconut juice, onion, avocado, dragon fruit (not great but everyone should try it once), corn, and cute little bananas (not pictured – ice cold sugar cane).

Aloha!

Let me start by reminding you how infrequent I actually post photos of myself. I love being behind the camera, but I’m usually only willing to post a photo of myself if I have beautifully applied make up on, am having a fantastic hair day, and a fair amount of computer cosmetic surgery has been done (reduce under eye circles, soften skin, liquefy certain body parts to make them appear smaller/larger, whiten teeth, etc.). Well, this shot is straight out of the camera. Not one single thing has been done to it. I even set the camera up for my dad so that exposure was perfect in camera – something I’m not able to do all of the time. But I love this photo. I cherish this photo. Do I look like crap? You betcha. We’re talking no make up, dirty clothes, exhausted, just came back from the pool, ragged Mommy. But I will forever remember what I was feeling when this photo was taken.

You see, last week I took my two babies to Southern California to visit my dad (Papa), my stepmom (Joni), my mom’s dad (Grandpa Gerry – 93 years old), and my dad’s mom (Grandma Freda – 88 years old). I was pretty nervous for the flight down because my kids are usually in bed by 6pm – no joke – and the flight didn’t leave until 7:30pm. They did fantastic. My son fell asleep half way through the flight but my daughter was wide awake with excitement the entire trip. I heard comments the entire flight from people all around us about how good my kids were. I was so worried my non-frequent fliers were going to have a meltdown at some point but they were phenomenal. They slept great that first night – another accomplishment because they are creatures of habit and have a difficult time sleeping anywhere but in their own beds. The next day started off with Papa making us delicious whole grain pancakes with Ghirardelli chocolate, real maple syrup, strawberries and whipped cream. A feast that we enjoyed at least two other times during our trip. We spent our first day down there enjoying the bright blue skies and warm weather at the pool. I thought for sure my kids would take a good nap but after reading them books and laying down with them, both were just too excited to sleep. We decided to park it on the couch. My daughter put her head on my lap and started snoring instantly. My son snuggled up with me and after about fifteen minutes of flopping around to get comfy, he too fell asleep on my lap.

This one moment was amazing to me. My kids have never been the types of kids that regularly sleep in the car. They have to be absolutely exhausted to do that. Have you ever seen videos of those kids that doze off in their high chairs and their head falls flat into their bowl of mushed peas? Yeah… those aren’t my kids. So to have not one, but both of my precious little babies sleep on my lap was absolute heaven for me. I sat there for two full hours watching them sleep and listening to them breathe. I got to watch a couple of ultimate cake making competitions on TV so that was pretty cool too.

This is what it is all about. Life is busy. Life is complicated. At the end of the day, nothing makes a Mommy happier than being with her babies.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Photography has opened me up to an AMAZING network of people. I first explored photography so that I could learn to use my camera to take better photos of my kids. Little did I know it would open up an entire new world. Not only have I been able to see life differently through my camera, but I’ve been able to build new relationships with the clients that I meet as well as other photographers. I can’t imagine trying to learn photography a decade ago. First of all, I don’t think I would have had the patience to learn how to shoot on film. I need instant gratification. I need to know if I completely trashed an image or if I accidentally did something remarkable when I was first starting out. Without my handy little LCD screen complete with the RGB histogram, I would have no idea what I was doing. Second, if I had tried to learn photography a decade ago, I wouldn’t have the online resources that are available today. I’ve learned nearly everything from the online community. I became part of a large and very active photography board and went from learning the basics of shooting to advancing my business skills, and along the way I was influenced by so many amazing photographers. From there, I was fortunate enough to become part of another very private invite online community – much smaller with some of the most amazing women I have ever met (I can say now that I’ve actually met them). We share an incredible tie – a love and passion for everything photography. They see the world through their cameras as I do. They thrive on capturing connection and emotion in one single moment. They are constantly looking at the light and surroundings of wherever they are envisioning what they could create. They share the same drive to constantly get better and to help others along the way. Photography has opened up an entirely new chapter in my life and I am so grateful to have found it.

A few weeks ago, I was finally able to meet some of my online friends in person. We’re scattered all over the world, but those of us in the Pacific Northwest (and a bit farther) picked a weekend to get together. One of my favorite photography friends, Laura, was the catalyst in our get together when she found a flight voucher that had to be used. I’m so glad she chose Portland as her destination. The girls got together for the entire weekend, but sadly I was only able to spend Saturday with them. From the time I met and hugged each one of them to the time I went to bed that night, it was one of the best days I’ve had since I can remember, for more reasons than I can even begin to explain.

Without further gushing, let’s get on to the photos…

One of our models took this shot with Leya’s fisheye lens. Yup, my never ending wish list just got longer.

From left to right:
Leya – Little Monkey Photography (Renton, WA)
Jenica – Lemondrops Photography (Longview, WA)
me
Laura Morita Photography (San Francisco Bay Area)
Cari Berry Photo (Western WA)
Terry (no website, but this awesome lady flew out all the way from NC)
Azure Marie Photography (Portland, OR)
Dawn – Fly a Kite Photography (Yelm/Olympia/Tacoma area, soon to be Portland)
Rebecca Rodriguez Photography (Salem, OR)
Fabiana Beatriz Photography (Eagle, ID)
Jerusha Chong Photography (BC, Canada)
Images by Kristin Custom Photography (Bellingham, WA)
Amber Anderson Photography (Vancouver, WA)

We started the day up at Washington Park with a gorgeous couple. They modeled as if it were an engagement session. I can barely relax in front of the camera when there’s one photographer. Can you imagine trying to look all lovey dovey with one another with more than a dozen crazy chicks pointing their cameras at you? The first shot cracks me up. I told him to go in and give her neck a little nibble…

First shot of Laura. I was breaking in my brand spanking new 70-200mm 2.8 VR II lens. Drool.

This shot cracks me up. Fabiana (who I’ll explain why I love her later on in the post) was directing the couple. We were getting shots of them moving in for a kiss. She told them there were going to move in for the kiss in super slow motion. Imagine moving in at the slowest rate possible, trying to get a passionate kiss with all these woman watching, cameras clicking away, all the while hearing this: “Slower. Slower. Slower. That’s it. Now pull out.” They were such good sports.

Here’s Laura rocking the boots. I need those boots. Why do I love Laura so much you ask? There’s too many reasons to explain here. I will tell you how we first “met” online though. I had posted some photos to be critiqued. I thought they were really good but I intentionally wanted people to just shred them apart so I could learn what to do better, both with my shooting for the next time as well as my post processing. Did I get ripped apart? You betcha. Did it hurt? Yup. Did I learn from the critique? You have no idea. But just as I was full of self doubt from the sting of it all, I get this private message from this chick named Laura. She gushed about my photos. She didn’t disagree with any of the critique but she pointed out incredible things about my photos and just made me feel like a million bucks. I’ve gotten a lot of emails and private messages from people I don’t know over the past couple of years, and hers stood out to me more than any other.

After the engagement session, we had a nice lunch at Henry’s and then set up in this little spot behind the restaurant. We had two senior models but I only shot one of them. I was so excited about using my off camera flash set up for the first time that I didn’t realize how much I was completely hogging one of the models. I’ve done an unbelievable amount of research on a one light off camera flash set up. I’ve watched videos, read tutorials, studied countless photos. I spent hours and hours researching what kind of equipment I should invest in and believe that I got the best of the best. Everything was sitting in my office until this get together when I was finally able to put it all together and try it out. Fabiana was so incredibly helpful to me. She walked me through how to set everything up and how to adjust my settings for different effects. She is one awesome lady, I tell you. Anyway, this shot isn’t anything fantastic (people in background, not super interesting, etc.) but it was my first one and I was squealing like a pig when I saw it on my LCD because I was so excited that it actually worked. I love how dark the flash makes everything look. These shots were taken in the late afternoon and it was pretty well lit all around. For an extra challenge, I shot all of these with my 24mm 1.4 lens. It’s a beast of a lens. Tack sharp with no distortion. It’s a challenge for me, though, because the angle at which I shoot completely changes the perspective and I really have to pay attention to all of my surroundings because it compresses so much of the background into the shot.

Slowly starting to get the hang of it. Struggling with composition…

This is what that same shot looked like from a different perspective.

Starting to feel more comfortable with the set up…

Quickly falling in love with my off camera flash set up…

Changed locations and outfit…

Saw a room full of dumpsters, recycle bins and a lift. Asked someone who works there if we could set up inside to shoot. After he picked his jaw up off the ground after looking at our model, he said “no problem”. I was so excited when I saw the grungy dumpsters with the old brick walls.

And the best part about using off camera flash was that I barely touched them in post. They needed little to nothing and that was sooooo stinking cool.

This set up was thanks to the fabulous Jenica and Amber. I would have had no idea how to set the flash up for a shot like this and it was so awesome to see them show all of us how to do it.

I can’t wait for the next get together. I love my girls so much!!!

I’ve always been inspired by my dad, and I bet after reading this, you will be inspired too.

Pretty awesome photo, huh? I took this last weekend when I was in Newport Beach visiting my dad, stepmom and grandma. I left the dark grey soaking wet weather of Portland behind for three days and enjoyed the most beautiful, upper 70s, crystal clear weather Southern California has seen in months. The sunset that night was out of this world and my photo doesn’t do it justice. But this photo is much more than a silhouette of my dad in front of a stunning backdrop.

This is why…

My dad made a conscious decision when he turned 60 almost exactly one year ago that he would start taking a more vested interest in his health. He’s always been active. Heck, one of my first memories was standing on the nose of a long board riding a wave on the North Shore of Oahu and I distinctly remember my dad telling me that if I fell, he would get me. He still surfs. He will always surf. He’s always had a healthy diet too. He used to have us eat carob instead of chocolate when we were kids for crying out loud (I think my older sister still harbors some resentment for the deprivation). Anyway, my point is that he’s always led a healthy lifestyle and was never overweight.

We have a family history of diabetes and heart disease on my dad’s side of the family. We have a family history of all kinds of cancer on my mom’s side of the family, but I’ll save that for a post about how much I love my mommy (still doing great after having two kinds of cancer).

I’ll try to make a long story short. My dad started listening to his body. He had a full work up done. He saw excellent doctors – this is very important, in my opinion. They found some issues and wanted to do further tests. My dad found out that he was diabetic. He found out that he has a thyroid issue. And most frightening of all, during a medical procedure, my dad found out that two of his main arteries were 99% blocked.

99%.

My heart sinks just to think about it.

He was surfing in Hawaii the week before the procedure. He was kayaking in Newport Bay alone two days before the procedure. What would have happened if he were out in the water and had had a serious heart attack? The doctors were stunned. They pretty much said that it was like being in a plane crash and walking away without a scratch.

Since the procedure, he’s been taking all sorts of medication, has made some major dietary changes and has pretty much cut out sugar, exercises regularly, has lost 35 pounds (I didn’t think he had that much to lose but he looks fantastic), and feels younger, more energenic, and more full of life than he has in probably decades.

So that is why I love that silhouette photo. He is triumphant. He is ALIVE!

We took the pic above during one of my sessions when I was in Newport. Don’t I look like him? Same nose anyway. Between my two sisters and I, I am the most like my dad.

I don’t like to think about what may have happened if he hadn’t listened to his body. He felt tired. Something didn’t feel right. He could have easily just ignored the symptoms. But he didn’t. Thank God he didn’t because he needs to grow very old and be there when my kids have their own kids.

So let my dad inspire you. If you or someone you love needs to get something checked out but you just haven’t gotten around to it, or can’t find the time, or think its probably nothing… don’t be stupid. Listen to your body. Think about your kids and your kids’ kids. Life is too short not to make every moment count and its too easy to increase the moments that you may have otherwise lost.

…

Oh, and how was my trip to CA, you ask? It was fantastic. I have the most beautiful family, newborn and engagement photos to show off so stay tuned. I am still playing catch up from my sessions this fall and have the cutest engaged couple to show off as well as a few more family sessions. I keep thinking that some day I might actually get all caught up!