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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Amanda and Friends at the 2009 Nutcracker Ballet

I know that I am a couple days behind in posting this, but come on, it’s the week of Christmas and there is just so much still to do! This is a special month for Amanda and I… it has been for the last 7 years. On the weekends leading up to Christmas we get to the Pantages theater in the morning hours and leave when it’s dark, we eat subway for lunch and sometimes dinner, we laugh, take pictures, play on our computers, read, listen to music and just enjoy the ballet family surrounding us. There are always a few new ones, but many of the familiar faces that we enjoy every year. The Tacoma City Ballet used to be called The Jan Collum School of Classical Ballet when my sister, Wendy and I took it many years ago. I can still remember the outfits we wore, the performances we had and practicing at the ballet bar in our living room. When I signed Amanda up for it I had no idea that she would fall in love with it… just as I hoped… maybe I had some influence or maybe she would have loved it anyway.

Amanda on her computer… it’s the glow of the computer screen so cool!

I love the long lashes they wear… there are days I put them on just because!

I love watching her put all the makeup on…

but she doesn’t like me in the dressing room… so I just ignore her comments and come in anyway…

I have always been impressed that most of the girls do their own makeup and have been doing it for years. Although, this year they had some help from another mom… made things easier for sure!

Amanda has been almost every part you can be, as a child, in the Nutcracker… most kids enter in as Bon Bons… it’s a very cherished part by many. Erin made an adorable one…

and her sister, Taylor a very cute soldier.

Taylor has a hearing aid in each ear allowing her to hear some of the music. I love watching her talk to the other girls… she is always full of joy and much loved by all the ballerinas…

There is a ton of waiting on these weekends, since the kids have 2 performances in a day… for me, it’s relaxing… I think Kacey likes it too…

Kacey let me take as many pictures as I wanted of her! Amanda processed this photo. Loved showing her how to use Photoshop.

She processed this one too… she calls it the “scary clowns”…

Hannah (Gingerbread Soldier) and Amanda (Bugle Soldier) struck up a friendship again after not seeing each other for a few years… glad to see her back!

Fun to see all the costumes… there are many… many… many different ones, but here are just a few…

Party mom… she is beautiful!!! So vintage!

Colleen as Chinese.

Her brother Alex as Fritz with attitude and everything.

Morgan as snow… even though her costume is undone… they are so hot after performances that they are half off my the time they hit the basement where we hang out…

Lauren as Fairy… It’s so fun to watch these kids grow up and take pictures of them along the way.

Natalie as a Gingerbread Soldier.

Another Party mom and her Party Girl daughter (really is her daughter :))

Amanda as a Bugle Soldier and Bailey as the Captain. Bailey is one of Amanda’s close friends. We did a shoot of her family on Monday and will be posting those soon. I also took a few with in this post.

Thanks for stopping by and if I don’t post before Christmas… Merry Christmas from our house to yours!
Much Love…

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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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