Claire - 2 years old

Claire was my last photoshoot for the year of 2008! I met her at her home because the weather was not being very cooperative for an outdoor shoot. I think I had finally run out of luck with outdoor photography for this Seattle winter! Claire was quite spirited and kept me on my toes trying to get some good shots of her and her lively personality. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Meet Miss Claire


Where's Claire?


There she is!


Pensive toddler


Actually looking at the camera for me


We brought out some books for her


telling me exactly what she thought about the photoshoot

Cormier Family

I met this family at Discovery Park in Seattle for a holiday portrait session. Once we got to the park we discovered that it was fairly cold and windy BUT it wasn't raining which is always a bonus. The twins weren't really sure about this whole photo taking in the cold, and often the twins would be looking at each other instead of the camera. However, we were able to get a couple of family shots and some nice captures of the kids. I hope you enjoy their pictures!

meet the Cormiers


the kiddos


sweet big brother moment


as you can see, it was pretty windy during the shoot and small people were starting to get unhappy


and one of their oldest. look at those eyelashes!

Mitchell Family - redux

I had a session with the dad's side of the family earlier this year, and this is the mom's side of the family. I met this family at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, which I cannot stress enough is so well suited for photographing large families in a great setting. I tried to center the shoot around the one year old, who is the first grandchild and was trying desperately hard to walk around during the shoot instead of pose for me. It was a fun family to shoot because they were pretty amicable to positioning themselves in fun silly poses for me.

The family


Mom, dad, and baby


Grandparents


dad and son


The men


siblings


happy kid!

Raina - 2 years old

I met this 26 month old toddler and her family at Gas Works Park in Seattle for their photoshoot. This was also my first rescheduled session because of rain! I've not had the opportunity to wander around Gas Works before and it was a pretty neat location. Along with the old gas works factory, there is a great view of the Seattle skyline and Lake Union.

Raina wasn't so sure about having her picture taken, and I had to resort to every toddler bribe I had to get some smiles. Bubbles, my panda Pez dispenser, food, and The Ultimate Bribe Lollipop. Evevtually we got some nice pictures as she ran around the park and I chased after her with the camera. :)

Meet Raina


a sweet moment with dad. This was how she was for most of the beginning of the shoot.


the bribe lollipop in action!


running down the hill


classic toddler


with mommy


Here you can see the gas works plant


The whole family

William - 5.5 months

William is, by far, the most smiliest baby I've had the opportunity to photograph. The kid is a charmer, with big, wide open laughs and grins I was able to capture on camera. He was not shy about the camera at all, and his parents went above and beyond to get him to giggle and allow me to capture his great personality on camera. He was a hoot to photograph and I enjoyed capturing all his antics.

Meet William. This was near the end of the shoot and he was feeling a little tired


Mr. Personality


look at that laugh!


with dad


checking me out


with mom


family shot

The Skiver Clan

I met the Skiver Clan at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, which seems to be my default meeting place for Seattle and the Eastside lately. They were my first big family photo session, complete with three separate little families combining to one giant clan. Two grandparents, two grown siblings, two spouses, four little kids/cousins/grandkids. Whew! The two little school aged boy cousins were extremely adorable and really fun to capture on camera. I also had a lot of fun posing the families in different ways to represent all the different relationships that existed.

The Skiver Clan


My theory that the chance of getting everyone to look at the camera grows exponentially more difficult with a) more people and b) younger people is again proven. thank goodness for lollipop bribes!


Grandparents and grandkids


cute cousins


Siblings and cousins


Family units!

The Blumenthal Family

This mom and I have been in the same playgroup since our oldest sons were wee little tykes so I was pretty excited to do their family portraits. I met them at my favorite eastside outdoor location, the Bellevue Botanical Gardens where her two boys gave me a glimpse of my future life! Rambunctious but full of brotherly love, I tried hard to capture their personalities in the pictures. The older one was at the age where he was so willing to ham it up to the camera and pose for me, but the younger one had more reservations. Together though they made some very sweet moments I was able to capture and hope their parents will treasure.

Meet the Blumenthals!


this was taken towards the end of the session, I think you can tell the boys are getting a little tired


Do you know how hard it is to try to get TWO toddlers to look at your camera? :)


older brother


I always try to get the mom in a picture alone with a kid, because mom is usually the picture-taker and never in the pictures herself!


brotherly love

The Smith Family

It's definately the time of year everyone wants nice family pictures done. I've been pretty lucky in that the weather has generally been not raining, which is all you can ask for in the Seattle area. :) I met this nice family at Bothell Landing Park as park of my Holiday Portrait Package. They were very fun and amicable to trooping all over the park to find different shot locations. The biggest factor to work with was the little girl's interest in eating leaves and not smiling at the camera, but I think it worked in our favor. I hope they enjoy the picture as much as I enjoyed shooting them!

The Smith Family


Dad and Emily


mom and Emily


baby on a bridge!


but she's so cute!


one last leaf picture!