I met this family at their gorgeous home in Kelso. Their backyard was the perfect backdrop for photos. We met up early on Saturday morning and everything went well. Their daughter Miss M was the most well- behaved little one I’ve had the pleasure of working with. She completely amazed me!!!

Their dog was also really cool. She actually looked at the camera (a rarity with family pets). She was so fun and energetic. I love when families add their dogs into the photos. It’s so neat having the entire family together. It makes me wish I would have brought my doggie to our family session last week. Nina would have been so cute running around with the kiddos. Oh well.. maybe next year I’ll remember.

Here’s a few of my favorites…

My SIL and I swapped sessions for each other so we could finally be IN the pictures. I was really excited to have these done since we haven’t had a single photo taken together since before the baby was born (sad, I know).

She did a great job and I was really excited with the results. We clean up pretty well, I think. I’m really glad my hubby and kids were good sports about it. I know they’ll thank me later.

Hopefully they will anyway

this is a goofy one, but it really shows how our family is. total chaos and kids being uncooperative!!!

my favoritist guy in the whole world

this is one of my favs… I LOVE how mr. D is looking over at big sis. It’s too cute!!

Yeah, I post pics of my kiddos way too much. I can’t help myself… I was bored on a Saturday afternoon, so I bribed Miss K to let me take her photos in her pretty pink sweater. She thankfully puts up with me and allows me to pester her for a few minutes at a time. I usually just let her do her thing and she makes wild faces at me. Sometimes I catch that quiet moment where she’s just sitting there and thinking. Other times I can say silly things and she’ll laugh.

I love this little girl very much. As much as she can get on my nerves for being just like me, I love her dearly. I’m so grateful God gave me such a beautiful, smart, and fun little girl. My children are the greatest gifts God has ever given me.

While at a family session in Kelso today I had a break while they were changing, so I took a moment to take some photos of these gorgeous flowers. The family had the most beautiful backyard and I could have spent all day photographing there.

Flowers aren’t something I normally photograph but it was nice to do something different for a change. I’m constantly in awe of the beautiful things that God has created. One of the reasons I love being a photographer is I am able to try to capture that beauty (even if only a small part of it).

These flower photos are for my bestest best friend, Angie. I miss her dearly and am sad that she lives so far away. I love you my long lost cousin. Hope to see you soon!!

Mr. D is almost eight months and FINALLY sitting up on his own. He’s also quite the crawler and gets around the house fairly easily. We finally had to put the baby gates up over the stairs so he wouldn’t try crawling down them. He’s grown so big already!! It’s bittersweet watching him because he’s our last baby. It’s sad to think that I won’t get to go through these stages again. Though I would love to have a million kids, it just wouldn’t work out. My grandma says “ones too many and a million’s not enough.” She’s very right.

He drooled most of the time during our session and I could edit it out, but it’s just so darn cute. He’s getting his two bottom teeth and they have just broke the surface within the last week.

Since the weather has been so nice lately I’ve been doing all of my sessions outdoors. I know it will soon change once we hit the yucky Washington weather. I brought out the lights and played around. It was a pretty good time.

a few funny drooly ones…

here’s him looking cool (thanks Ms. J for the cute outfit!!)

a storyboard I made…

My favoritest family. This is my sister -in-law and her family (our husbands are brothers). I met them out at Willow Grove for a family session on Sunday night.  Willow Grove beach is one of my new favorite places to photograph. There’s so many wonderful places out there. We had such a blast together. She’s a fellow photog, so it was really fun coming up with ideas for her portraits. They are such a hip, fun family.

They make Derrick and I look like old folks when we hang out. I guess I need to become cool sometime soon. I love these guys and their originality!!

I hope you enjoy the preview…

Yes, it’s a clinical diagnosis. Often caused my having a parent (usually a mother) who takes photos of their kids on such a regular basis that they develop an acute awareness of cameras. Common reactions include screaming, running, crying, goofy faces, and outright disobedience.

Here’s some examples of what I’m talking about…

I did get some “normal photos” but it’s just not as fun as showing what really happens when I attempt portraits of my kiddos.

Happy Monday everyone!

I’m having a special for high school seniors who want to book a session for the fall season.

Book your session now and get 24 free wallets!!! (a $66 value)

Senior session fees are $100 for up to three hours of photography, two locations, and UNLIMITED poses and clothing changes.

Sessions can be within twenty miles of Longview, Washington. I will travel outside of the area for an additional fee (gas prices being so high these days).

Offer Valid until October 1st.

Call now to book!!  360-562-1879

I met up with a fellow photographer to do her families’ photos up in Centralia, Washington. It was a quick and fairly easy commute for me. She wanted pics of her and her family before her brother went away in the military (and they hadn’t had pics done in four years together.). I know what it’s like to not have photos when you’re always behind the camera. I have my family session this next Monday and I’m excited to finally have a pic of the five of us together. We don’t even have a single snapshot of us all together.

Anyhoo… this family was a hoot. I can’t believe how much fun they were. Normally when I do older families I get a good maybe twenty minutes with them. This time they were willing to do whatever. They were incredibly patient and well behaved.

I think they were well trained.

I had a blast and I hope they did too. Here’s some favs of the session…

My little guy dancing in the sun on Labor day weekend up at Silverlake near Mt. St. Helens. We went camping up there with our family and had a great time for a few days. We all got the rest and relaxation we needed and I think the kids enjoyed it even more than us old folks did.

I love to push myself with photography and experiment with lighting. The sun setting is my favorite time of day. Often I will schedule sessions at that time to get the beautiful light that only happens once a day. It’s such a beautiful time and the light just glows.

I’m sad that summer is winding down to an end. I love being outdoors and seeing the beauty God created.