Oliver - 9 days old

I had the pleasure of taking newborn Oliver's portraits last week. His mom and I actually went to high school together (way back when!) and reconnected through Facebook. She was kind enough to let me photograph little Oliver, and she also joyfully participated in my eagerness to stage as many hat pictures on babies as possible. The lighting conditions were a little challenging, but Oliver behaved like a champ and pretty much slept through most of the shoot. I present Oliver's sneak peek now, aka The Most Awesome Hat Shoot I've Ever Done.

meet Oliver


Oliver with mom and dad


beanie hat Oliver with a dimple!


I lent Oliver my own apple beanie hat


The Most Awesomely Terrific Baby Hat EVER


baby feet and rings


soft newborn head


baby bottom


kisses from grandma


snuggles from mom

Elizabeth - 3 months old

Elizabeth's parents contacted me to take portraits of their adorable daughter as part of my Grow With Me package. I was excited to meet her and am pretty excited for her next photoshoot to see how much she's grown and learn. I was also excited that their house had these huge, gorgeous windows that let in a ton of natural light and made for a great shooting area for me to set up.

Elizabeth is only a couple of days older than my youngest son Albert, so I had a lot of practice in posing the three month old. As a bonus, Elizabeth's maternal grandparents were there as well as we were able to get some nice generational shots with the whole family.

Meet Miss Elizabeth


her mom was very helpful in finding different hats to use during the shoot


look at those eyes!


baby feet!


a sweet moment with dad


Mommy and me


three generations

The Vo/Vu Family

This cute family wanted some shots of their three year old and seven month old boys, along with some extended family shots as well. We were lucky in that even though it had been raining cats and dogs earlier that morning, by the time of the photo shoot the weather was quite decent. The extended family humored my wishes by me posing them on the side of the street for some great fall foliage. These are the two things I learned: 1) the more people involved in a group shot, the greater the chance someone isn't looking at the camera; 2) the younger the person is in a group shot, the greater the chances are that s/he isn't going to be looking at the camera.

Once we got inside and the kids alone, they were much more cooperative and I was able to get some nice shots of the kids along with some candids of the kids with their parents. Here's their sneak peek and I hope they enjoy the pictures as much as I did!

The Vo/Vu family


their cutie 3 year old




their ever so serious 7 month old - I have a hard time getting babies this age to smile for me!


a sweet moment with mom


playing with dad


the extended family. In this shot they actually are standing by the side of the road, what good sports!

The Stubblefield Family

I first knew of this family once we had our first son Samuel and kept seeing these people walking around our neighborhood with a toddler in a backpack and two Great Danes in tow. We got to know them as neighbors better this year because our sons are in the same preschool class. I was excited to shoot their family pictures this year because they are such a cute family and were very amicable towards fun poses with their dogs. The mom explained to me that family photos including everyone in their family (mom, dad, kidlet, and doggies) were pretty important so I tried pretty hard to get some good moments for everyone.

We headed to one of my favorite nearby parks to shoot at, Bothell Landing, because there's plenty of open area, trees, the nice river backdrop, and it is very dog friendly. I will admit, it was difficult to get all five of them to look at me at the same time for pictures. Being Great Danes, they were bigger than the little boy so they couldn't get too excited or else he'd be dragged off his feet and out of the pose. I got lots of shots with the little boy looking at me and the dogs looking away, or the dogs looking at me, and the little boy looking away. It was a little frustrating, but some pictures did come out quite well. I hope you enjoy their sneak peek!

Meet the Stubblefields!


most of my shots had the dogs looking at each other instead of me!


the "kids"




their cute little boy


the human component of the family


and I finally found a family that would help me achieve my jumping family shot

The Parish Family

I've been friends with this mom and her family ever since my oldest son was a wee babe. I did their family pictures last year when I was just starting out and learning, and I was thrilled they asked me to take their family pictures again this year. We headed to my newest favorite location, Bellevue Botanical Gardens and walked around the grounds. I'm still working on my color balance issues, and worked pretty hard on getting shots of getting two small kids to stare at me in the same direction at the same time. It wasn't always successful, but made for some fun pictures. I hope they enjoy the pictures as much as I do.

Incidentally, Bellevue Botanical Gardens was preparing for its yearly Garden d'Lights. If you live around the Seattle area, definately check it out! They put up tons of strands of lights to make a virtual dazzling light flower display.

Meet the Parish Family. Notice how the oldest daughter isn't *quite* looking my way. the youngest makes up for it with her very determined stare in my direction.


hey! everyone is at least facing forward in this shot! :)


the oldest daughter


My stunning failure at trying to get this family shot. The youngest wanted nothing more than to eat the dirt and gravel of the trail than look at me.


mom and baby


taking a walk with dad


high flier


sweet daddy and baby moment

Jeung Family

I visited this cute family in their home to shoot some family portraits and more formal poses of their two kids. I have to say, I really enjoyed interacting and taking photos of their older son (who proudly told me he was 4 and 3/4 years old...that 3/4 was very important!) He was a fun kid and I hope that the pictures got some of his spontaneity and goofiness across. His seven month old sister was a different story, I don't think she cracked a smile for me once! She was very solemn about the whole experience. I hope their family enjoys this sneak peek!

The Jeung Family. The dad pulled this great bench out from their backyard for posing for photos.


All smiles


posing with his pals Duck and Cow






Little Miss Solemn




I love the look mom is giving her daughter here

James - two months

Adorable James and his parents came to me for a photoshoot. He's three weeks younger than my Albert, and it was really nice shooting a baby that would behave for the camera! James was awake the entire time, so we spent a lot of time trying to get him to smile. Ultimately, we were unsuccessful, as he'd only smile when I wasn't taking pictures, but I think I got some nice shots that showed the little strong man's personality. Here is a preview of their session!

Meet James


yes, he did find his hand quite tasty in all the shots


fuzzy baby head!


my best shot at a non-serious look from James


I love the looks Dad and James are giving each other


posing with mom


the mom had this idea for a family shot. I thought it was great, and something they could continue to do every year as a tradition as James grows older.


a more traditional family shot