Engagement Photos | Stephani & JB

This is was such a fun shoot!  JB ABSOLUTELY adores Stephani (you're thinking, yea, he should, they're getting married, duh), but it was so heart-warming to watch them together!  He just wanted to kiss and hug her the whole time, it was precious.  My lovely BF Stacy came along and was my awesome assistant...(I'll put up some of her action photos she captured on her phone). 

It was a beautiful, chilly afternoon in downtown Portland, the sun even made an appearance so we could get some need shadow shots.  By the end, both Staph & JB were comfortable in front of the camera and so full of LOVE!  It was amazing....and Stacy and I were both jealous ;-)  I cannot wait for their wedding in July, it will be absolutely beautiful!

So here are some "how the photo was made" shots!  So much fun!

Newborn Photos | Austin

Sweet little baby, Austin.  I couldn't have asked for a sleepier baby.  He was absolutely perfect.  Auntie Stacy contacted me a couple days before the session asking if I would squeeze them in, Mallory & Blake didn't think they were going to want newborn photos, but Stacy convinced them that in fact, they did.  So, at 7 days new and a day before I left on vacation, we tackled the 3 1/2 hour session...or more! 
Right from the beginning, he was sleepy and let us pester him.  Little mister was gassy, so we got some adorable smiling photos.  And for the first time, I wasn't peed or pooped on by the baby.  Success!  However, we had so much fun dressing him and putting hats on him, that we didn't leave enough sleepy time with mom and dad.  So, at the end he was awake, but we were able to capture some sweet photos of the parents with their new baby. 

Newborn Photos | Timothy

Sweet little baby Timothy.

Ohhhh newborns, they sure do have minds of their own.  One thing that I have to tell myself is that we're on their time and schedule and sometimes things just do not work out the way you want or expect. 

Little Timothy here just decided that sleep was not in his agenda this afternoon.  Anytime we tried moving him slightly, his eyes popped wide open and he let us know he was not going to let us mess with him!  After hours of rocking, shhhing, white noise, lots of heat, and lots of urine, we had to change our pace and snap lots of candids.  He is such a beautiful baby, some basket shots would have been adorable, but they were not in our cards that day.  Pretty sure that little man is going to hate me forever ;-)  One great thing was that we got some amazing shots of him with his parents, which are often more cherished.

Family Photos | Gehlen

These are 2 of my nieces and one of my nephews.  For my brother's birthday this year, my mom had me do some photos for their dad, my brother.  I adore them...and their daddy.  They all live in Tacoma, and unfortunately don't get to see them often, so it is so much fun when they come down for a visit.  Such beautiful and sweet kids.   

Baby Shower Photos | Kathleen

Serious baby boom around here! 

This was a BEAUTIFUL baby shower, elegantly decorated and catered by the gals who put it on.  The gal who was having the baby lives in Seattle and her friends from Portland gathered together to throw her a beautiful shower...and hired me! 

She was so thrilled, because she wasn't going to have the time to get maternity photos taken, so we snapped a few after the shower.  The food and desserts and decorations were any girl's dream to have for their showers or parties.  I could have put 100 photos up here of the details, a lot of time and hard work were put in, so I am glad I was there to capture it all. 

Mini Session Photos | Valentine's Day

One of my most favorite families ever, had some great ideas for a Valentine's Day session.  So, I through together my backdrop in my living room (like I do with all indoor sessions) and we had a ball.  Dylan, the daughter absolutely cracks me up.  She's is at the "I know everything and you don't know squat" stage.  She didn't want to have her photos taken until her little newborn brother was in the spotlight, THEN, she'd jump right back in!  LOL.  She was a riot, I got some adorable photos that capture her sassy spirit perfectly.  With some bright red lipstick and some adorable accessories, it was the perfect VDay mini session.  I'll have to plan something for next year, too much fun!

Maternity Photos | Ranger

Mallory & Blake

Stacy, one of my best friends in the world's sister is pregnant.  So, when I went to their house to do photos, I brought my 2 year old Jackson along to play with Stacy....really, he just terrorized the soon to be parent's house ;-)  I guess preparing them for a little one.  Ha. 

No name yet, but Mallory & Blake are going to have a little boy in March.  They were so sweet and anxiously waiting their new addition.  Blake was such a good sport, he didn't complain about any of the cheesy poses we made him do.  And when we took some intimate photos of Mallory, he ran around with Jackson.  All in all it was a great day, besides how chilly it was outside! 

Boudoir Photos

I love Boudoir! 

It is classy, beautiful and artistic.  And becoming oh so popular!  I just love being able to capture the beauty of women, they SHOULD feel beautiful in their own skin.  For most people it takes them completely out of their comfort zone.  They want to feel sexy and confident in their skives and heels ;-) 

The Hotel I used (Hotel Deluxe) was AMAZING, and perfectly located downtown Portland.  I called ahead and spoke to their event coordinator to give them a heads up for my shoot.  She and the desk and the bellboys were all completely friendly and accommodating (even when we reset the breaker in our room twice because we had so many things plugged in....whoops :-\ ). 

The girls were so much fun!  Thank goodness some of the girls weren't modest, at one point in time, we had 6 girls in the room for one shoot!  We were laughing and having a great time.  (That's not for everyone though, I had a couple girls just by themselves, it's all about comfort for them).  This shoot was so much fun, I'll be doing another one this summer.  If you're interested, contact me for details.