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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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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Heather – Anytime Portrait

Heather was a doll and so comfortable in front of the camera. I wish I was that comfortable… but when it comes to getting my picture taken I run – as far as possible! I am trying to get better and the fact that there is even a picture of me on this site is a step forward! So, for those that are shy with the camera… I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND!

I love shoots like this that just develop as they go along, in totally new untapped spots.

This is one of my favorites.

This is another… I knew it when I took it.

Another favorite and this one I wasn’t sure about until I loaded it on the computer and then it just jumped out at me. LOVE IT!

I have taken pictures of friends before and I really love the connection true friends have with one another. It is so heartwarming to watch.

Melaina is the one that brought Heather along on her shoot and we went crazy with the pictures of them both!

This was a cool doorway!

I don’t get to photograph tattoos very often, but I love it when I do! Can you see the “tear” on Heather’s cheek? This image gets to me…

Such simple beauty…

Her eyes!!! Her eyes!!! WOW!

Sweet smile…

Love the seventies color!

One more for you…

2 more beauties coming within the next week! This is so much fun!

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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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Sisters – Family Portrait

I love the relationship sisters have. I know how important my sister is to me. She is the only one who understands the full scope of my life from childhood to adulthood. She is my supporter and my best girl friend. I adore her!

Marissa and Carly have one of those relationships and it was so fun to watch and be part of it. Their laughter was contagious and their care for each other evident.

Sisterly hug!

I love shots from above…

I love when I get the chance to fulfill a vision. I have been thinking about this concept for a while and finally had subjects to use it on. I absolutely love how it came out! It is a series of 3 shots… with 3 colored round carpets on black cement. Pretty cool!

Love the colors of summer.

Carly and Marissa have opposite personalities and we wanted a picture that would show that! This one captures it all don’t you think?

We ended at the beach for one last sister shot. I think this one shows their personalities too.

Thanks for letting me share this day with you girls! I know we were tuckered out by the end, but we had so much fun doing it!

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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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