I have a few new posts since moving over to the new site .

Thanks and hope to see you over there. Connie

His high school is a castle. Who can say that? This has to be the coolest looking school ever and it sits right on a cliff looking over the water! My son, Nick, attends the same one. What I really love is not only the historic value of this school, but because of what it is, there is very little vandalism. The kids respect it and know how fortunate they are.

I love this S in front of the school! This is my second favorite.

Ryan was great to photograph. So easy going and did everything I asked, only occasionally was there hesitation .

He brought his little sister, Kylie along to watch, so I thought I would get a few of her too. She just donated her hair (11 inches) to Locks of Love, so she is sporting her new hair do.

We tried to stay close to home around the castle.

We found a cool field and wall right down the street. This is my third favorite.

Don’t you just love the colors!

And an alley, right next to it with tons of colors and textures. The next set of pictures were ALL from that alley within one block!

Can you tell Ryan likes to work out?

My favorite of the shoot.

More alley pictures…

Last alley one, then we will move on, even though I do still have more .

We headed to the graffiti garages, since that is one of my staple locations!

And it’s a great place to show off your car.

Ryan loves listening to his music, even though he wouldn’t dance for me .

Had to get a classic shot too.

We had a great time and I even got Ryan to Let me get a picture with his sister… don’t these kids look alike!!!

Have a great day… I have another Stadium High School Senior coming on Thursday!

I picked M.O.M – My Other Mother. So lovingly referred to as Nani by all her grandkids.

Lou is my mother-in-law, but from the very beginning, when I first met her, 28 years ago at just barely 16, I have called her Mom. She embraced me as her own immediately, as did Joe’s dad, Nick. They are both very special people to me. Note: Dad passed away 2 years ago and my own Mom passed away in 1993.

It was the anniversary of Dad’s death on April 16 and we visited his grave that day. I love how Joe loves his Mom.

What a beautiful night at the cemetery.

Mom doesn’t like her picture taken… just like many of us, but she finally gave in and we spent an entire day together, just enjoying one another. She made sure she looked her best. She always does.

I love to see her smile.

One of Mom’s daily activities is doing word searches in front of the TV. So I captured that before leaving on our date.

Our first stop was Anthony’s for lunch. I really tried to capture those things that make her who she is… like ALWAYS remembering to put her lipstick on after eating… notice the leopard skin lipstick holder and manicured nails.

Mom’s favorite coin purse. Reminiscent of Hawaii, one of her favorite places.

I love how she loves everyone and until recently I had the ignorant thought that I was loved conditionally, that her love for me was based on the love she had for her son… but I found out that was not true. She loves me for me and unconditionally. I can’t tell you how that feels. Not only does she love me in this way, so does the rest of her family – my family. I wish I could convey what it feels like to be loved this way. It makes me speechless and I don’t know what I would do without her.

To have such beauty in your heart… it is a gift and a gift to be shared with all who have the pleasure of meeting her.

She loves flowers, so I took her to the Wright Park solarium.

It was a beautiful day and I could tell that she started to like being captured in this way. I think it was because she could feel that it was only out of love and admiration. There was no expectation to be perfect or be someone she was not and there was no other hidden agenda. I love her for who she is, as she is.

Hilltop Artisans (Chihuly students) adorned the solarium with beautiful art glass and all was for sale. She appreciates it like I do.

The sunshine was glorious!

She held my hand, kissed my face, rubbed my arm at just the right time and said the sweetest words to me.

We had to end our day a little short, since I had a photo shoot to run to, but we met up again later to continue. I wanted to really capture her life… a lifestyle portrait session. How many of us really have that of the ones we love? Very few!

Mom was wearing her favorite shirt when I arrived.

You are guaranteed chocolate in the chocolate drawer when you visit Mom! Everything has almonds of course.

And something home baked.

Afterwards you are welcome to just sit and chat. I love how Mom keeps a kleenex up her sleeve at all times. Too cute! You will also notice her striped cup that she has had since I can remember and her catalogs… she gets more junk mail than any person I know!

The best gift is her laughter. I don’t think I have ever seen a picture of her laughing and this will be something I treasure forever. She is the most beautiful when she is laughing with family. I think it is her most peaceful time. I love her… always. She is my hero, my M.O.M.

Next Challenge: In the corner – meaning frame the subject in the corner of your image.

Have a great Sunday night everyone. xoxoxo to you all and especially to you M.O.M. Thank you for letting me do this. I am grateful to have these pictures of you being YOU. The person we all love. You are beautiful!

We had a fun day together and laughed a lot! LOVE that! I had her dancing in the streets while we dodged traffic … I don’t ask for much, really.

Isn’t she a doll? Marsha, Marsha, Marsha… ok, are you all too young to remember that?

I love the colors, textures and overall feeling in these next images.

It wouldn’t be one of my sessions without the graffiti garages. Clients have come to expect them and I love seeing the refreshed art. This one has to be one of my favorite pieces yet!

Joe loves this image. Just such a sweet face.

Classic portrait, but lots more fun!

Some of the places I stop at are not planned, they just happen naturally and this time that paid off because we had a little visitor. Rebecca is a lot like me when it comes to animals. They spark pure and innocent laughter and joy! I named this little 6 toed guy Bandit.

You can’t fake this kind of laughter.

To be young again and have long pretty hair.

The movement in her hair and the light shining through is just so beautiful and I love the mood it creates.

Is this not just the coolest, awesomest, warehouse you’ve ever seen? My favorite image of the shoot. It is much more impressive if you click to enlarge.

The texture of the plant growing on the side and the color… perfect! Helps to have a cute senior too .

Rebecca is a cheerleader, so I had to get her doing one of her jumps.. WOW! Ouch! She managed to not split her pants. One of Amanda’s favorites. We will have her in her cheerleading outfit for session 2 next month… so be looking for it! You might want to click on this one too. Impressive!

I always love wide angle images and should really use that lens more often. Remind me next time would ya! Connie, use the wide angle, that is all you have to say. Thanks.

Next stop, grasses and railroads.

Amanda tells me this is a classic mom image… having my client smile looking at the sky. I can hear the birds chirping in the distance and feel the light on my face.

I use this railroad a lot since it is no longer functioning. I used to use “live” ones but for some reason that made parents nervous. Not sure why, we always jumped out of the way in time .

I brought the vintage luggage along to take my scavenger hunt photo, but thought since I had it with me, we might as well use it.

Wright Park is such a great park… there is a new addition to the arboretum if you haven’t visited lately. Chihuly art glass, some of my favorite stuff and Tacoma has lots of it. Maybe next time I am there I will get a few photos to share with you. Remind me of that too .

Now that Spring is here, we can lay in the grass again without getting wet.

Ok, this will be my last image. I know I have already shown you a lot… but I could show you a lot more, so no complaining!

We had such a wonderful time, can’t wait until the next session. We don’t get to spend much time with each other, so if it takes having more photo sessions to do that, then that is what we will do!

Even though there were no bridesmaids or groomsman…

No flower girls or big bouquets of colorful flowers, no formal wedding gown or veil… there was BEAUTY…

and LOVE…

and SMILES…

and COMMITMENT…

and SPECIAL MOMENTS.

There was a story to be told… a very special story and it deserved to be captured.

The wedding was at the church where Nate and Marianne met for the first time. They have dated for 4 years and are now committing to one another for a LIFETIME and even though there were only 21 guests, they were ALL very special and had the honor of witnessing this sweet couple’s love for one another.

During the ceremony Nate surprised Marianne with a song he had written just for her.

The tears, they came in abundance! I love this image with Marianne in the background completely sobbing and Nate walking away with a grin on his face. Priceless!

How fortunate to have a beautiful day for the wedding, when almost every other day has been rain!

The reception was at Pacific Grill in Tacoma.

It was cozy and warm.

There was no dancing, but there was laughter and good times.

The cake was small and elegant.

The rings, shiny and new !

And… they made US feel special too! We were surprised to find out that they had a special table for us too. As the wedding party ate a delicious meal from Pacific Grill, we had the same at a private table.

Then, we took it one step further and even ordered a YUMMY dessert. We felt like we were on a date!

What a wonderful day… we had so much fun capturing this day!

This was Joe’s FIRST time actually photographing with me (he is usually my gofer, support person, pack mule and my biggest cheerleader). Many of these images are his! I was overwhelmed with happiness seeing him do this with me. We are both so excited to see our new adventure grow! How great is it to work with your best friend!

Thank you Nate and Marianne for making us your wedding photographers. We are honored to have captured this day for you… forever!

xoxoxo… blog readers – just wait for the senior post on Thursday! LOVE, love, love the images!!! And… I might be a little biased, since it is my niece!

I am so thankful that God offers the gift of renewal; a new day. He is faithful to restore and we just have to receive it. Sometimes this can be harder than it sounds, but it is always my goal… to walk where God has called me to walk with nothing in my hands except love.

Next Challenge: Heroes – Remarkably brave person: somebody who commits an act of remarkable bravery or who has shown an admirable quality such as a great courage or strength of character or Somebody admired: somebody who is admired for outstanding qualities or achievements.

Have Fun!

They are soon to be Lakes High School graduates.

Deedra is a volleyball player, a black belt, water polo player and beautiful.

Tori is a volleyball player and harpist and also beautiful. This is one of Amanda’s favorite pictures. She always helps me pick the blog photos.

I love the yellow moss on the stones of this staircase.

I use the graffiti garages a lot, since I just love them so much and it’s a great place to go if it rains. There are just so many different ideas to try out. Believe me, when you go to the same place over and over again you are forced to think out of the box… you don’t want it to look like it did the last time you were there.

OK, these next ones have to be my favorite of the shoot. Click on them to enlarge and you just MUST enlarge!
Deedra’s eyes are stunning.

Tori’s eyes are so inviting and love the pink on her.

We laughed a lot. Deedra had a bit of trouble getting the concept of how the scarf needed to lay. hehe

Tori got it right away .

Really, if the weather cooperates, you can take photos ANYWHERE! I have always wanted to challenge my scavenger hunt peeps to pick one square block and do an entire photo shoot within that square block. I bet you would be surprised how creative you suddenly get!

We sneaked into store fronts…

Used cool doors…

Found cool stones and added a little texture…

Used blankets and scarves… all to add interest and show that you can make ANYWHERE a cool place!

Tori even looks good with one eye!

Eyelashes are just so pretty to me.

I think happiness is colorful. Don’t you?

Nothing better than people enjoying life and laughing together. This is when their heart’s are at peace.

Just a few more I want to share since I am having fun showing you.

OK, last one… promise. For those that have been on a shoot with me, you know it is always hard for me to stop… famous last words – “just one more”…

Thanks for letting me share with you… and if you have a challenge for me, let me know, maybe I’ll do it – just for YOU!

I need to also thank Caryn for the referral, you ROCK Caryn. I got to meet 2 very special seniors because of you!

I never really thought about how many we had growing up… we had a lot and that was just normal to me.

At the game farm the animals are very friendly and stick their entire heads in the car waiting for more bread.

I don’t just mean a lot throughout my life, I mean a lot at all times!

These Fallow Deer are so, so sweet and they roam with the Bison... amazing.

We had dogs, cats, ducks, chickens…

Waddling Geese, they want bread from us too!

Free roaming rabbits in the back yard… I used to wait above the den holes and try to catch the babies as they popped out.

Free roaming rabbit at the game farm... they had lots of different colors, breeds and sizes.

We had a squirrel named Mike (yes a pet squirrel, but he was mean) and a chipmunk named Joe… both purchased at the B&I when it still housed Ivan the gorilla.

Kodiak Bear - many of these bears have been in movies... fun to watch.

We had fish, a ferret (love, love, love ferrets, but they stink!), gerbils and hamsters.

An Arabian horse named Wun Knight (I didn’t name it!), but didn’t live on our property.

Aren't I cute?

And all this in a normal city lot! Nope, not on a farm.

Even Seagulls can be cute!

During college, I worked at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium; occasionally the thought of killing the rabbits for the snakes got to me and I rescued a few adding them to the rabbit family already in the backyard.

I rescued a few chickens too… just stuck them in my backpack and brought them home! It was during my vegetarian days where I was careful to only buy products not tested on animals and placed stickers on meat in the stores urging to not eat it (I’ve changed a bit, since now I do eat meat, but pretty picky about it still).

What are you looking at?

I didn’t have birds until later in my life after I was married, but before children. I love birds, love watching them, hearing them and having them as pets… but they are a lot of work and I gave them up years ago.

We were awe struck to see so many Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles in one place! Spectacular!

Today we only have a cat, but I still love animals… they are part of who I am… can’t help but point out every one I see as I drive – dog’s heads sticking out of windows, squirrels running across the streets, opossums and raccoons, hawks sitting on the light poles and occasionally a mouse or rat scurrying in the grass.

Bye! See you next year.

If you have not gone before I strongly recommend it… we laughed so much and the most fun for me has to be that Joe makes up voices for the animals. Cracks me up!

Next Challenge: Items we carry – This doesn’t necessary need to be what YOU carry but items people, in general, carry.

Have fun!

You will all think I am crazy, but my delectable is oatmeal! Yes, you heard it right, oatmeal… and not the kind with brown sugar and milk… I like it just plain!! Nothin’ on it. YUM!

I thought of putting all the other things I like too, but just didn’t find the time. I love black eyed peas, plain white rice, Haribo gummy bears and imitation crab… such a sophisticated pallet I have, I know, I have been told. The weird thing is that I am married to a foody… I mean very particular about the taste of food. Can critique anything and knows exactly what is wrong with it. I, on the other hand, am very easy to please when it comes to food. Follow the rules of no bones, no skin, only chicken or fish, maybe lean pork if it is chinese pork with hot mustard and hamburger, but no steak! Ok, maybe I am a little picky… but a plain picky person .

Next Challenge: Growing Up (open to your own interpretation). Have fun!