Ryan – Senior Portrait

Finally, a guy! I was beginning to think that only girls graduated! Ryan is a Stadium High School Senior and will be attending WSU next year.

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!

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Rebecca – Senior Portrait

Rebecca is my niece and I was so excited to hear that she wanted me to do her senior portraits. She attends Puyallup High School and is still deciding on the college she will attend in the Fall.

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 :D.

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!

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Deedra and Tori – Sr. Portraits

Believe it or not, Deedra and Tori are TWINS!

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! 😀

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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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Amy – Senior Portrait

Amy is a Kentridge High School Senior and is FULL of laughter. It was not hard to get her smiling, in fact, is was harder to get a serious look out of her.

Even though it was raining we had a great time and got most of the shots before the rain really started coming down.

Amy took advantage of the mini-session offer during December and used it for her senior session.

Amy’s green eyes just stood out to me… goes along with her personality!

Makes me smile!

So cute!

Love this of Amy!

Angel Amy…

Hood images are some of my favorite.

I had to include this one… do you see the shoe? Amy’s Mom, Julie, threw that at her to get her to laugh even more and I didn’t even see it when I took the shot! Too funny!

Another fun shoot! Joe was such huge help too, holding the umbrella for me, making suggestions, making us laugh… love that man!

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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

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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!

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Karly – Senior Portrait

Meet Karly, a bright, beautiful and talented Bellarmine senior.

Karly was a lot of fun and so relaxed and down to earth. She came with jeans, t-shirt, sweatshirt, flip-flops and 2 shirts shoved in her purse. Love it! A gentle confidence…

Nothing like capturing someone’s happiness and joy…

Wide angled images are quickly becoming some of my favorites.

And an almost sepia wash is becoming one of my favorite effects.

What a beauty.

Natural and relaxed.

My favorite of the shoot…

Had fun hanging out with Karly for a few hours and can’t wait to show her the rest. I will leave you with one more… I love the blues… reminds me of a mermaid. 🙂

Love to you… until next time.

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Marlayna – Sr. Portrait

Marlayna is another fun Bellarmine Sr. and has a full ride scholarship for her awesome volleyball skills. So cool! I love hanging out with seniors!! She was a sweetheart and full of joy! Beauty in all directions.

I love the softness and the colors of this image…

Wind… love it!

This was one of my favorites. It’s the perspective… the wild nature of it.

Can you see the pink streak in Marlayna’s hair? What a beauty… love the contrast…

The sunshine spilling on Marlayna in just the right spot is peaceful to me.

My friend the wind in perfect form again.

I have always loved art. As a child I spent many days and nights drawing, painting, making something… and today I find that photography fulfills the artist in me. Angles, colors, lighting… it all plays a part to the feel of the overall image.

A picture tells a story, evokes an emotion… this one is happy, tells me that she has the whole world ahead of her and that she is ready to make a difference, to be that light.

Thanks again for letting me share this with you, for wanting to share it with me. It is truly part of my heart and soul.
xoxoxo

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Marissa – Sr. Portrait

It’s been a busy week – my phone has been dead for days and I haven’t opened my computer in over a week… that is a good thing!

Marissa, another Bellarmine grad, was one of 2 sisters I photographed. We had a great 3 hours session shooting the girls individually and together. We were exhausted by the end, but had so much fun together!

The girls looked so much alike at times that is took me a while to separate the shots outs. Marissa has gorgeous light eyes with beautiful thick blonde hair.

Laughter is the natural state for Marissa, so getting a serious one took concentration, but it was worth it!

Loved the little yellow flowers… we found them in the front lawn of someone’s house and just plopped right down to take a few shots.

A few quiet moments.

Another close up on those beautiful eyes of Marissa’s!

I will leave you with one more shot of our senior… with her whole life ahead of her!

{{hugs}}

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