My Favorite Day in 2009

Since today is my birthday, I started to reflect on this past year. There were days I would rather forget in that time period, but other days that were magical. I decided to blog about the number one magical day in 2009 to celebrate my 44th year… can’t believe I am already 44!!

Back in May Joe had this great idea to go to New York again, but just the two of us this time. It had been a long time since just the 2 of us had been on a vacation together. So, he sold a guitar and off we went… to New York City!

We met up with some great friends, Melissa and Brad for the first few days and visited sites we had never seen before. Brad hates getting his picture taken, can you tell by how excited he looks in this one! Too funny!

Our first stop, the Empire State Building.

It was a foggy and wet day, so there was absolutely NO ONE in line. If you have ever been to NYC and waited in this line, you will appreciate that there was really no one in line this day! We were told the whole way up that there was zero visibility on the top, but we continued anyway and when we reached the top, the fog started to lift…

We walked around a couple times, then suddenly we stopped. Joe took his backpack off, opened the top compartment and pulled out 2 small blue boxes wrapped with white ribbon. I was confused for a second and then Joe explained that we were renewing our vows… well, from then on I was a mess! Brad is a pastor, so performed the ceremony and Joe read vows he had written for me. I unwrapped the little blue box, to find a white gold band with the words Tiffany inscribed on it. He placed it on my finger and I did the same for his and we… kissed… Melissa was quick to grab my camera and get a shot for me…

What a kiss!

That was day 1 of a wonderful second honeymoon! We escaped from the reality of the world and embraced what was really important to us, that we were together, having fun, enjoying each and every moment and kissing a lot!

We walked in the rain…

Road the subway everywhere, saw museums, a broadway play, shopped on Canal street for purses, watches and scarves, ate good food…

And visited the sites…

It was all magical…

Read Full Post »

Amanda and Bailey – Child Portraits

Bailey is my daughter’s friend. She is a kind, loving child and is always laughing. Her and Amanda love hanging out together. Even though it was pouring rain all day we took advantage of a few minutes when it wasn’t raining and took some pictures of them.

They are both ballerinas and I thought it would be fun to get some shots away from the studio.

Love this one!

Before the rain hit, we also managed to get a few other images captured.

We had a great time together. I love that Amanda begs to go on photo shoots! It wasn’t that long ago that she dreaded me dragging her out, so I stopped. Now, she is begging ME. Nice change of events! Now to get that to happen with my son, I don’t think so!

I will end with a typical Bailey… happy and laughing! The movement in this image helps tell the story, don’t you think!

Thanks girls! xoxoxo

Read Full Post »

Karly E. – Senior Portrait

Funny how many Karly’s I have photographed in the last year :). Meet my newest Karly… she is a Bonny Lake High School senior; beautiful, talented and fun to hang out with.

Karly brought along her boyfriend, Aaron to watch the fun and help us make her laugh. It is always a good idea to bring someone along on the shoot. They wanted one of the two of them… but I wanted one of just Aaron too… so…

I talked him into giving me a shot… it was a hard sell… but worth it! 🙂 I know his mom will thank me!

Karly has these incredible eye lashes!

I love the richness of the colors in this one and Karly looks so beautiful and natural.

Love the reflection…

Karly just jumps out of this image… scarves make all the difference in an image, this one is my daughter’s, she is a scarf girl like her mom!

Fields can be found along any rural road. This is one of my newest favorite spots and it’s different every time I visit it.

Karly is a volleyball player and brought her letterman’s jacket with her. Love all the blue in these shots…

The many faces of Karly…

I feel so fortunate to finally be pursuing a love I have had for many, many years. Photography is more than just using the camera technically correct. It is capturing someones spirit and soul. It is having fun with people and creating art. Thanks for sharing my love with me.

I will leave you with one of my favorites… xoxoxo

Read Full Post »

Abby – Senior Portrait

Abby is a special girl and I was honored to take her senior pictures. I have taken pictures of her family before, but now this time it was all devoted to sweet Abby.

She has a quiet spirit about her, but if you become her Facebook friend you discover a whole other side to her. Hee hee…

The fall colors can’t be beat right now.

Funny what you can find to use in a portrait session. We found a “storage” yard on the side of the street in downtown Tacoma. I love how junk can look good in a photo! Abby helps by being so darn cute!

Another cute image of Abby. I was so glad it wasn’t raining so I could get some shots on the ground. This time of year it is a little hard to predict what the weather will be like on the scheduled shoot day, but it worked out for us this day!

I’m into scarves right now… been wearing them every day. Back in May Joe and I escaped to New York City and on Canal Street there are tons of vendors selling purses, watches and scarves. I packed about 10 purses in my suitcase and at least 20 scarves (yes, some were for friends!).

I recently had a friend ask where I go to take my senior portraits… my answer… anywhere! Really, you can do a portrait session anywhere! I find most my locations while driving around to other events. I especially love graffiti walls. This one is on 6th Ave. in Tacoma. It changes every once in a while, so I can get different images at different times of the year, so cool. This is one of my favorite images of Abby. It just shows her personality so well.

Love this image as well. Her eyes pierce right through you!

Simply beautiful…

Hugs to you sweetie… loved hanging out with you like always!

Read Full Post »