Watch Out World, Here Comes Aly!

One unexpected benefit of photography for me is reconnecting with people I have not seen for years. Last week I had the opportunity to see a friend from high school that I had not seen for probably 17 years! When she walked up to me with her gorgeous little girl, Aly, my jaw just dropped!Her features are just striking!

She has beautiful twinkling brown eyes.... crazy beautiful hair....

and a very sweet demeanor...I am not sure if I do her spirit justice with my descriptive words, but when I look at these next two images I feel like I am able to see right into this spunky little girl's soul. How STINKIN' adorable are these!!! I love those shoes, Converse are the BEST!

When we were downtown, we stopped into Hello Cupcake and took a few images there as well. Hello Cupcake is like a dream for a little girl.... beautiful chandeliers.... lots of perfect cupcakes with sprinkles and flowers..... the smell of frosting...lolly pops... sparkly things... and very nice people!
I think this image is great because it makes her look so small. It makes me remember that she is only 3 and 1/2. After gazing out these huge windows, we had to head outside to play a bit.
We skipped and we ran...We spun and we swung...We explored and we observed.... we even made fake cherry pie, Aly's favorite!
Aly, Thank you for spending the morning with me... thank you for making me laugh and thank you for my cherry pie. It was delicious!

Meet Liam

Meet Liam....
Liam is one of the most adorable little boys you could ever meet! I had a few minutes alone with Liam before we started the session... it was great. What a pleasure it was to just spend time with Liam playing and reading, I had a blast surprising his parents with images that they did not even know I took.You never know what you are going to get with the weather around here these days, and on this day the Northwest was living up to its reputation. BUT... we were blessed with about 45 minutes without rain! I am actually glad it had been wet, it allowed me to get some great wet and rainy shots!! What could be better than a traditional yellow rain slicker and froggy boots?There was a great little park right by Liam's house that had amazing birds, a pond, bridges, beavers and lots of neighbors (I thought it was amazing that Liam could identify all of the neighbors by their dogs!) This place is a toddlers dream. Do you remember walking like this with your parents....What do you think comes next?.... one....two ... three.......swiiinnngggg.
It's no wonder that swinging like this makes every child smile and giggle with delight. Liam had the security of his parents hands as he flew through the air. I can look at this image and imagine the drop in his stomach as he wooshes up in the air and feel the cool breeze over his face.
It is amazing what all I can learn about a family during a photo session.....
An hour after our shoot, they were headed off to the airport so that Liam's daddy could go out of the country to visit his own dad. I love this shot of Liam with his daddy... can you imagine what they both were thinking about.... Liam was twirling his daddy's zipper probably not really aware that he was leaving... and his daddy was squeezing him tight and probably thinking about how much he would miss this precious son of his and how soon he would be able to be with his own father.In this short 45 minutes, I was able to play with this amazing and articulate little boy who loves reading and playing with his toys... he loves his silly glasses..... he loves singing with his mommy... he loves splashing in puddles... and he loves spotting birds and beavers at the pond.I can not tell you what it feels like to have families trust me enough to capture these special moments in their lives. I am such a lucky girl!!

Do You Know the People in Your Neighborhood?

There is a man in my neighborhood that I see almost every day. I see him on my way to work... I see him out for walks... and I see him sitting in the park... For some reason, I wonder about him.

Do you know someone like this? Is there someone that you see at work who inspires you? Is there someone in your neighborhood that makes you wonder what their life is like? Do you wonder what they have been through in their lives that have allowed them to end up in the position that they are in?

This is the man that I see...He is around almost every day. It is so common for me to see him, that on days that I do not see him, I worry about him. I have wanted to talk to him for some time. I am sure that my conversation would NOT go the way I imagine it would, but that is part of what intrigues me even more.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving home from a shoot.... and there he was... right outside my car. I snapped this image of him and will continue to wonder........ I will wonder and pray. No matter what conditions or actions got him to this place, I pray that God takes care of him. I pray that he finds his way home... where ever that may be.

Today I had the day off... I was thinking about this man, so I decided to try to go find him. There he was again, walking down the street. I was on my way to the daycare, so I thought I would drop the kids off and head back over to talk to him. Of course when I went back to find him, he was gone. I drove by all of the spots I usually see him, but no luck. That is when I saw another neighborhood regular. Jinni.

Jinni sits outside Tully's almost every day. Today she was bundled up, sitting in the rain with her head slumped and not visible. She has so many layers... black plastic, clothes, blanket, more clothes... her shoes are untied, her laces were wet and her legs were swollen. I went into Tully's and asked about her.... I bought her favorite drink for the next time she comes in and headed out to talk to her.

I said her name and waited .... I said her name again and this time her head jumped up quickly. I had obviously startled her and woke her. Her face was weathered and wrinkled, and she had no teeth. She was surprised I knew her name, and at the same time did not ask me how I knew. I wondered how sleepless her night must have been like to allow her to sleep so soundly in the safety of daylight. Without saying much I handed her some money... she thanked me.... and I left. Within seconds her head was back into the safety of her layers... and her mind returned to the escape of sleep.

How is it that we so often drive by people like Jinni and as soon as we pass them, we forget about them. We let ourselves escape to the warmth of our nice SUVs with our lattes and our i pods. I am guilty of doing this as well, but I am challenging myself to change. I am going to try to keep my eyes truly open in my neighborhood and community... we all need to help, we all need to care, we all need to give back.

This Thanksgiving, I would encourage you to remember the people in your community who do not have families to care for them, no warm food for their tables, no pillows to lay their heads. Take some extra food from your cupboard and donate it to your local food bank. Let your kids donate some old clothes. Take a card to a home bound neighbor. There are so many ways we can help, both big and small.

God Bless you and your family this Thanksgiving.

Squirrel Chasing In The Park

What do you get when you have three young boys, a new puppy and a park full of squirrels?? You get everyone moving in their own direction. It was great! This is EXACTLY how my life feels most of the time and is part of what I love about it. It was great seeing all of these independent minds running through the park. This family was a blast! We had a great time at the park, even though it was a bit chilly! I could not believe how many squirrels there were. These boys loved seeing all of the squirrels, actually I did too...even though this one almost ran right up my leg!!!These three brothers are going to be heart breakers! They all have the most beautiful eyes!!Everyone knows I love black and white photos.... BUT with these great colors, and these amazing eyes, I had to leave some in color too!
Their new Australian Sheppard puppy has some pretty amazing eyes as well!Isn't this is a gorgeous family. After we hung out in the park we snuck into the Wright Park Arboretum to explore and warm up!
Another great holiday session.... I have had so much fun this year meeting all of these great families! I want to send a special "thank you" to this family for coming out in the chilly weather to get these shots!

A Brisk Morning, A Cold Nose and A New Puppy

Last year I was leisurely driving up to a Sunday holiday shoot when I realized that I had my husbands Seahawks tickets in the seat right next to me. UGH... I really HATE to be late, and on this day, I had no choice but to turn around... drive home.... drop of the tickets to a slightly irritated but grateful husband... and then head back up to the session.

When I FINALLY arrived at the session, I met a completely amazing and kind family. They had a beautiful little girl, a wonderful dog, and smiles full of forgiveness for me! How lucky I am to meet families like this!

This year, I was so excited when they called me for another holiday session. We went out on a brisk fall morning, and had a wonderful time. Zia is not even two but she is sweet as can be and one of the best little talkers I have ever heard!Zia carried around little bear and big bear all morning! I loved her soft hair and her beautiful brown eyes... what a sweet girl!
One of my favorite types of family photos are the ones that come after the "perfectly posed everyone smiling at the camera" shots. I love seeing the natural smiles, the love, and the emotion when you catch people being themselves and loving their family.Earlier this year, this family lost a very important member of their family... their amazing dog that I mentioned earlier. Well, while Nala (their new Labrador) does not take the place of their amazing doggie, she is an amazing addition to this family.Isn't Nala beautiful?! The morning did not warm up at all, and by the end... all of our noses were a bit chilly, but Zia, she remained happy as ever! I love this toothy little grin!Zia was so sweet... at the end of the session she ran up to me, gave me a big hug and a cold nosed kiss and said, "Thank you Sawa" in her adorable tiny little voice!Thank you again to this wonderful family... for your forgiveness and for sharing your family with me! It has been wonderful watching Zia grow! It has been a complete honor for me!

Three Weeks of New Life

Meet Mason.
Mason is three weeks old, and recently I had the honor of spending an afternoon in his home with his family. His parents selected the WATCH ME GROW package, and I had a great time taking these images at our first session. If you have ever looked through any of my images, you know that my favorite thing about a newborn session is the detail shots. So without further ado.... here is Mason!
His perfect lips....His pudgy little feet and toes....That beautiful swirl of hair on the top of his head... and his tiny little finger brushing up again his daddy's hand.Mason had the coziest, softest, blanket I have ever ever felt. I would LOVE to have one like it for myself... especially if I could be as comfortable as he is in it. Mr. Mason loved being wrapped up tightly in his new little blankie, almost more than I loved seeing his beautiful mama staring down at him. It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with Mason his family. Thank you for letting me into your home and into your lives and I CAN NOT wait to see Mason grow through out this year.