Little Livi was seven weeks old when we did her newborn pictures. She was just starting to smile and coo. As my daughter is now nearly 4 months old, it was hard not to think about how much my little girl has grown in just a “few” weeks.
Livi is the first girl for the family, who has two older boys that ADORE her. And with those big, dark eyes, who wouldn’t?
Welcome to the world, little Livi!
I first met this mama at a New Year’s gathering. She had a beautiful little girl who was just a few months old at the time, but who had already shown that she was a feisty one. This little firecracker and my son shared their first kiss together when they were about a year old at a pool party beside the infant pool in my back yard. (Gosh, they grow up fast, don’t they?) Now, this curly-haired, wide-eyed girl is going to be a big sister to another little girl. How could I resist doing portraits for this adorable family?
Best wishes to you and your growing family, beautiful friend!
When I found this vintage Priscilla of Boston gown for $20 and St. Vinnie’s, I just KNEW I had to do a session with it. A year and a half later, the session finally became a reality. I found the perfect couple (I was so thrilled the dress fit!), and the perfect place off a logging road, had the perfect bouquet made by Passionflower Design (they are seriously amazing!!), and happened to shoot on the only non-rainy day in late February.
Isn’t it wonderful when all the stars align so perfectly??
Thanks so much Annie and Geoff for being my perfect couple!
You guys!! I’m so excited to be a part of the Bridal Show at Valley River Inn in Eugene this weekend! The show includes a fashion show, ceremony giveaway, mock ceremony & reception, and… a number of the area’s wedding vendors.
I’ll be setting up shop with samples of my work, including a hand-designed wedding album (more details to come about these) and heirloom prints.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Last year I photographed some of my favorite weddings to date. The couples and venues were all amazing, and I can’t help but showcase these beautiful people and details on my site (which is also sporting a brand-new logo!). So excited to see what 2017 brings!
“May Laughter infect you;
Your Passion resurrect you.
May Goodness inspire
your Deepest Desires.
Through all that you Reach For,
May your arms Never Tire.”
― D. Simone
Featured images taken at Shadow Hills Country Club, Valley River Inn, a family-owned tree farm, Washington, D.C., and a quiet little spot off the Umpqua River just West of Oakland, OR.
Senior high portraits have come a long way from the stiff, cookie cutter images that used to dominate the yearbooks. I remember that for my high school portraits, we chose one of three days to go to the school where the photographer had set up the “standard blue” background. Girls got their choice between a blue or black boa, and had to wear a red velvet drape for the actual yearbook photo. Guys got to wear a fake tux. The result was a uniform (can you say boring?) set of images that all sort of blended together.
Today, many high school seniors get to choose who they go to for photos, and some even get to pick any kind of image they want to use for their actual yearbook photo. Which if you ask me is pretty dang cool.
Jenny is the daughter of a close family friend, who also happens to be very into photography. When she told me that she wanted to have me take her senior portraits and that she wanted to do some photos with a gun (Jenny hunts for sport and for food), my reaction was “Heck yes!” But she also wanted some girly, pretty shots, so we got a little bit of everything for her pictures. The photos were done on her family’s property, near Roseburg, Oregon.
I’m so thrilled and honored that Jenny chose me for her photos. She was such a natural, and I had so much fun!
Jenny spends much of her non-school time helping around the family “farm,” and is very much a jeans and cowgirl boots kind of girl. But I have learned that even a jeans and cowgirl boots kind of girl likes to get dolled up every now and then.
By far, one of my favorite images of the day:
A girl and a gun (this beauty of a rifle was lent to Jenny by a good friend, though she does have her own):
Loved this!
Good luck to you in your Senior year, Jenny! I know you’ll do great.
A pretty girl. A gun. A beautiful day. What more could you ask for on a portrait day?
Stay tuned for more soon…
Early in the year in 2011, Nicole wrote me about photographing her wedding in Pennsylvania in September of 2012. At that time, Josh was deployed and we had about zero clue that we would be moving to Oregon. So of course I said yes.
As soon as Josh and I knew we were going to be moving to Oregon, I changed the plane ticket that was supposed to be for my return trip (to Maryland after our own wedding in Portland) to a ticket to Philly. Aside from the obvious reason of getting to Nicole and Tom’s wedding, it was one last chance to see some of my Pennsylvania family for a while. Aside from photographing the wedding, I got to see my brother and his family, and my best friend and her new little girl (stay tuned for pics of her).
The wedding was held at the gorgeous Meredith Manor in Pottstown. I had never been to the site, and to be honest there weren’t a lot of images showing the grounds around the Manor online, so I was just in awe when I arrived. There is a winding road that leads up to the Manor. One side is lined with trees and the other side is one big open field. All around are these wonderful, old growth trees, and the manor itself is a stunning old stone structure. Really a beautiful place for a wedding. See for yourself!
What better setting could there be for an evening ceremony, with golden September light coming over the hills and through the trees just as the couple say their vows and kiss for the first time as husband and wife… Magical!
Ah, yes. The traditional men-with-no-pants shot. Wait… what? The story is that someone mooned someone while the group shots were taking place. (Who mooned whom and where this took place I could not say.) One of the groomsmen approached me with the idea of all the guys mooning the camera. I insisted that the only way this would happen is if all of them had boxers on, but the concept was modified to this version. Which I think is just hilarious.
Check out this cake! The detail work was amazing. And come on… who wouldn’t appreciate the zombie bride going after her as-yet human groom?
I loved the décor: it was a mix of Old Hollywood Glam and Fairytale Whimsy.
Funn!!!
A couple of parting shots for the night.
Nicole and Tom, I wish you all the best!!
When taking portraits, I’m known for pushing people just a little more than they might be used to. In some cases, the person I’m photographing vamps it up even more than I could have expected (as if they were a model in a previous life). In some cases, the result is a portrait that is way different than anything they ever had taken of them before – definitely NOT the same as a snapshot from their pocket digital camera. But in any case, I have LOVED photographing individuals to bring out the best in them, or a side of their personality that they just want to show off.
Below is a sampling of some of my very favorite portraits from 2011. Some of these are “head shots.” Others are simply personality shots.
Think this is something you’d like to try? Let me know – I’d be thrilled to talk to you more about the possibilities.
I recently shared a post about my session with my friend Linda and her (growing) family at their cabin in PA (check those images out here). And although I loved those photos, I consider these the true pièce de résistance.
Introducing Devon.
He is just so wonderfully and adorably precious. And, might I add, he looks just like his daddy.
Not long after Devon was born in December, he was showing signs of lung trouble. Nothing major came of it, but about a month ago he was sick again. Linda is such a trooper; when telling me about little Devon’s ordeal, she seemed so collected as she wrote:
“He was having a lot of trouble breathing and his heartbeat was all over the place and his skin was really blotchy. They checked him for RSV the flu, pneumonia – all negative. Then they thought he had a problem with his heart so they called in an echocardio gram. It was normal. No fever. They also gave him a bag of fluids cause he wasn’t eating. So once he was able to breath normally and his heartbeat was normal they let us go home.”
Here’s a photo by Linda of Devon, about three hours before he was released from the hospital:
All the while, daddy is on a submarine and has no communication with the home front…
Which brings me to the next point. Linda really wanted to do a session with baby D before daddy gets back. She wanted to surprise him (sweet, yes?) with the pics when he gets home. So as soon as Devon was better, we set up a session on one of those 60-degree February days we’ve been having, hoping to head outside. Well all baby D wanted to do was eat. He’s putting some of the weight he lost while sick, so I don’t blame the little guy.
And then – finally – the thing photographers hope for the most for a newborn session: sleep. Glorious, deep, malleable baby sleep. Linda was so patient through it all. It helped that I wasn’t rushing off anywhere, and we had time to wait for him to fall asleep. The waiting really paid off.
Happy viewing!!
He looks just like his Daddy here
Big sis (aka B) had to get her own pictures of D
Finally got a chance to get the two of them together
Enough said…
And… sleep.
I adore how his right cheek is all squished up!
Hope you sighed and smiled half as much as I did while photographing him!!
