Tim, Samantha, Caiden and Nathan – Family Portraits

Living in the Northwest has it’s challenges… rain is a big one for us photographers, but I have decided that I do not want that to stop a day that the parents have worked so hard to plan. They buy special outfits, make sure their kids have good sleep, worry for days before and then to have me cancel on them because of weather, well that is just not fair is it? I think I may just need a water resistant cover for my camera!

So, when the rain came on this day we just ignored and continued with the shoot.

I don’t think the boys even noticed. You can see the rain in this shot if you look closely.

Isn’t little Nathan a cutie! Babies are so funny with their sometimes blank expressions… they are just in wonder at everything.

Caiden was fine continuing in the rain… can you see the slight red from the umbrella?

But the weather didn’t like that it was not affecting us and so started to rain even more… so gave in and moved locations! The family didn’t mind.

The boys liked all the room to run around and boy I got my workout trying to keep up with Caiden, but I did manage to get a few shots of him while recharging.

Nathan is a knee “crawler”… so funny to watch! He can walk too, but this was definitely his favorite form of transportation.

Since the garage didn’t have much color, I threw down some magic carpets for the baby to play on.

I love getting shots of the parents without the kids… once you become a parent it seems staying a couple can become more challenging. I wanted to celebrate their love too – just the 2 of them.

This is my favorite of them…

Sweet, young couple! Did I mention that Tim is my nephew!

Caiden and his mommy, Samantha.

Nathan and his daddy, Tim, with Daddy’s keys :).

Got a few more family shots…

I love the side shot of Nathan… cute baby head! You can’t tell in this, but Caiden has red hair :).

I think for 1 and 3 years old they did pretty well! Caiden is full of energy as he should be and Nathan is full of curiosity.

This family originally went to a department store portrait studio and was so disappointed that they left without one good portrait. I am so glad we were able to turn that experience around and get an entire CD full of family fun portraits. This is really the way to go at this age. It is so hard to get little ones sitting nicely in front of a camera… that is just so not fun for them!

Hope you enjoyed! xoxoxo

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Hand Made Aprons – Product Shoot

Saturday was a perfect day for a shoot… and a tea party! Remember to click on any of them to enlarge. I know I have been saying I will be getting a new site that will show the images off better and really, I will be very soon 🙂 yah!

This shoot was actually for a product, hand made vintage inspired aprons for adults and children. I think I like this one the best for the ad.

While we had these adorable girls dressed up so cute we decided we might as well take a few extra shots for the parents.

They are cousins – almost 2 and both mommy’s are pregnant with their second. What fun for them!

I know, I know… is she real? Mollie is such a doll baby!

And Peyton just a sweetheart… very quiet and precious.

Amanda made all the bows for their hair. It is one of her more recent craftings… she loves to make things and especially loves to make them for little ones like this.

The girls had fun the whole time. Such a perfect thing to do when trying to capture children – give them an activity and just let them play. They stay happy and you get great pictures. Helps to have an older girl around to keep them company too.

I know after it was all over Peyton didn’t want to say goodbye to Amanda and wanted to wear her bow to bed that night. How cute is that!

We took way more than we needed… so typical of a shoot!

You just have to click on this one for a closer look!

What a little cutie…

Yes, I have more…

OK, this is the last one… thanks for hangin’ in there with me. I just want to show you all of them!

Let me know if you would like to order one of these sweet vintage inspired aprons and I will put you in contact with the maker :). She doesn’t have a site just yet, but hopefully will be selling them online soon.

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Natalie – Ballet and Child Portrait Session

Meet Natalie, she is a dancer at the ballet school with Amanda and after her mom saw Amanda’s ballet session she booked me to do the same thing for Natalie. I loved so many images that it was almost impossible to whittle it down for the blog. I wanted to post them all!

I stared at this image for a while. The backlight is just so soft and the shape of her leg… so pretty.

Love the colors in the art and her dress.

I have fun looking for artistic graffiti. It’s highly requested in my sessions.

Natalie was a natural in front of the camera and had a ton of fun. Amanda came along to help me and keep her company and Natalie’s mom, Shelly, the sweetest lady! She carried the wardrobe bag around the entire time. I think she had just as much fun as we did.

Here it is again, that classic black and white head shot that everyone needs.

As soon as the rain died down we headed outside… I just love downtown Tacoma. The picture possibilities are endless! Who needs a studio when you have a whole city!

Her vintage looking ballet dress was simply beautiful and I loved it so much we used it for much of the shoot!

Since it was still a little misty we decided to use an umbrella in some of the images and they ended up being some of my favorites.

Pointe shoes can be tricky to master on the ground, but even more tricky up on a pedestal high above the ground! This was Amanda’s idea and she helped her get her pointe shoes on, so Natalie didn’t lose her balance.

In my top 5 favorite images…

I have always admired the Spanish Stairs next to the old Elk’s building. I have watched them deteriorate over the years and it is sad. Many of the small stone columns are no longer standing, but the stairs are still grand to me. I love how they change with the season. In the Fall they have leaves littering the ground, but in the winter and early spring there is moss. It is a popular place for local photographers.

After taking this shot and seeing it at home on the computer, Joe said to me, hey that is the exact spot we used in our band photo (back in the best era of all times, the 80’s)… I think he is actually standing on the same step that Natalie is sitting on.

I have more… so many more to show you…

This is Amanda’s favorite…

I didn’t plan on using my ice cream chair in this shoot, but it came in handy with such a wet ground.

We headed down to a nearby parking lot to get a few more… can you say 80’s!!!

In fact, it oddly reminds me of someone else in the 80’s! 😀 Gotta love it! Sorry Joe, I know I will be sorry for this… be kind :).

This is one of Joe’s favorites.

What a great day!

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Amanda – Ballet Session

I love experimenting with textures, colors and effects, so I thought I would use Amanda’s images to experiment on. I am working on a new site that will show larger images, but for now remember to click on any of them if you want a closer look.

Amanda and I are always thinking of shoots… love that she has a creative mind too. This time we planned on a more traditional ballet session, but turns out I drove to an untraditional spot :). The weather just wasn’t right for the original idea, so we quickly changed course and came to this garage I found in downtown Tacoma. I have shot here before, but the graffiti is a new addition to it. It’s a great spot to use if it rains… there was even some fresh art being worked on as we shot.

I get my inspiration from a lot of different places… for this one it was a Marilyn Monroe photo I recently saw.

Sometimes the inspiration comes from the place I happen to be at… the light behind Amanda is magical and I love the grainy look if this image.

Or sometimes it is just from my thoughts in the middle of the night or how I am feeling at the time…

I have loved ballet since I was a child. There is just something about the movement of the ballerinas and the powerful and romantic music behind it. I love how I feel when I watch it… it envelopes me. Amanda attends the same studio I did as a child and she loves it too. It might have started out because of my influence but it has continued because of her love and dedication to it.

I have another ballet session coming up in a few weeks with another ballerina from the studio. Can’t wait! I know it will keep me up at night thinking of ideas for it, but that is ok… I am most creative then.

I love the power of this image…

And the beauty of this one…

My sweet girl…

There is just something about this that I like…

It’s funny, we never even noticed some of the writing and images on the floor of this garage, but when we got home and reviewed them on the computer I had to skillfully do some editing 🙂 hee hee

Notice the red polish…

Love eye shots!

And close-ups…

Hope you enjoyed! xoxoxo

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Montgomery Family – Family Portraits

Meet the Montgomery Family, staring Sara, Zach, Ava and Olivia. We had such a great time!

As soon as we made it to our destination the rain came… but knowing that this sweet family took so much time in preparing for the day, there was no way we were turning back and I am so glad we didn’t.

Sara is a photographer and we met at a MeRa Koh photography workshop a few years back. We have stayed in contact since and I was honored that she wanted me to take their family portraits.

This family brought colorful clothes, chairs, scarves and lollipops for the kids. I can’t stress enough how much color brings out an image. I just have a love fest going on with it right now… maybe because it makes me feel cheerfully good!

These sisters were priceless!

Ava is the oldest and loves the camera!

Olivia is full of laughter and joy!

Sara and Zach met on a blind date… so sweet…

We found a great garage to duck into to get out of the rain… graffiti everywhere!

I love that my daughter is taking interest in my photography. The pink lollipop shining through the black and white was her idea. Love it!

Love this shot too! So fun!

Sharing between sisters… you have to click on this one and look at the larger image… it is just precious!

Olivia, Olivia… can I kiss ya!!

Ava’s eyes just sparkle…

Beautiful soft colors.

Go ahead melt my heart…

There are so many images I want to share with you! Just love them all!! Just a few more, ok :).

Mom with her girls.

Dad with his girls.

I know, cute right!

What a fun day… has to be one of my favorite shoots! I think I say that a lot :).

Joe is always so amazing with kids on these shoots! We could hear the kids yelling “bye Joe” out the window as they drove off… how cute is that!

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Amanda – Anytime Portrait

…Romance, not the kind between 2 people, but the kind with nature… that was my inspiration for this series with my daughter, Amanda.

I love the outdoors and since this year I will not be taking my annual trip to a National Park I am going to spend more time outside in my own community! This is far from a National Park, but makes me happy anyways! I love the feel of this image, her hair romantically falling over her shoulders, the colors of the leaves in the back, the softness of the focus, the whiteness of her skin…

Although her eyes are quite dark in this one, I love it.

It started to rain on us for this shoot, but we continued and I am so glad we did. The rain is a regular occurrance around her so why not just go with it! We found a broken down shack to hide in…

I have been experimenting with more color and exposure for these last few shoots and I am loving the outcome! I love the little “over” exposed look with such yummy white skin matched against a colorful background.

I have also been experimenting with different focusing techniques. This image is purposely out of focus… clarity is not always the goal.

Another “different” focus technique.

Another new found love is the look of “vintage” 70’s… not the romantic feel above, but the overly grainy and washed out colors of years past…

This is one of my favorites of the shoot. Amanda wasn’t so impressed with my choice of hairstyles for her, but after seeing the outcome she liked it… just needs to learn to trust her mommy on these shoots!

Nothing better than a good Amanda laugh! She is wearing the special ring I bought her for Christmas… you will see this in another shoot we are planning later on… can’t wait!

We did this shoot with Joely, Amanda’s cousin and I have some funny ones I am saving for another post, but for now, wanted to show you this sweet picture of the 2 of them together. They have a very special relationship since Joely’s mom (my sister-in-law) used to take care of Amanda when she was just a baby…. so Joely and Amanda had a lot of time together as youngsters… now that Joely lives in PA Amanda cherishes those times she can come and visit.

This year is starting out well, a new decade to look forward to with a new career, support from family and friends, great kids and the love of my life sharing it all with me… thank you God!

One last one… more later…

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Sneak Peak – 4 Beauties

I am working on 4 beauties right now and am so excited I just wanted to share a sneak peak with you… each shoot was done at one location and each while we dealt with the rain. You really can’t get away from it in the Pacific Northwest, so I am trying to embrace it and shoot regardless… unless it is just pouring! It’s amazing what you can find in just one location.

Melaina:
Melaina had her senior pictures done last year, but wanted to get some new pictures with her Little Mermaid hair and before her BFF went to California.

Heather:
Heather is Melaina’s BFF. I have never “shot” Heather before, but she is a natural in front of the camera.

Amanda:
As you probably know, Amanda is my daughter and I love doing shoots of her. We have several more planned out this year.

Joely:
Joely is my niece and has been featured on my site before with her friend, Steph.

Stay Tuned for upcoming posts that will feature each one… I LOVE how 2010 is already kicking off!

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The 2009 Riggio Christmas Card

I would REALLY love to learn how to custom design my own cards in Photoshop… maybe a goal for next year!!  This year I will go with a pre-designed Costco card. There are lots of options from other photo service labs, but really, these are the most economical for me this year and I found a retro-looking design that I liked.  What is great and is when you have a photo shoot with me, you get the images and you can order your Christmas cards this way too, as well as getting enlargements framed for the relatives as gifts.

The 2009 Riggio Christmas Card

Since Amanda has the Nutcracker every weekend it has been hard to get a picture of her, so I went with one from the summertime and then just took a shot of Nick yesterday. He’s a funny one… that kid of mine… you should see some of the shots I got of him making one goofy face after another… until I finally landed this one… heavy sigh… I am keeping the others for the great moment in time when he has a girlfriend and she wants to see old pictures of him and boy do I have some good ones from when he was just a little guy! Can’t wait… :).

For those that didn’t get to see last year’s card, I thought I would share…

The 2008 Riggio Christmas Card

Now to get them all addressed and sent in time for Christmas!

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Todd Family – Family Portrait

Time for family pictures again! Do you have yours yet? This is the second time I have taken the Todd’s family pics, but this time they have a new little one… baby Autumn Joy.. what a little darlin’!

Big brother Benjamin is an active one, but the sweetest thing! I chased him around the yard trying to capture what I could before he ran to the next interest.

We did manage to get him standing still long enough for a few pics with his little sister.

Then off again, playing… kids are so much fun at this age… I definitely get my exercise during these shoots. It was such a cold day that we didn’t venture off too far… jut stayed in the backyard…

Click on this one to enlarge it so you can see the art fun… love making artistic images. I will be doing a post soon featuring some favorite art images. What do you think for something different?

Then Benjamin found out that we had a drum set! Inside we go! Joe says he’s a natural… come on parents… time to get this guy a set of his own (Benjamin told me to tell you that :)).

We exhausted poor little Autumn… nothing sweeter than a baby sleeping…

Thanks for a great morning you guys! Such a cool family!

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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

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