A Few Holiday Favorites

A snowy bus ride.

Charlotte and her favorite cousin Maddie.

My big sister.

More of Charlotte and Maddie.

And my favorite, looks like an add for a silly tv sitcom.

flash photo

I have been looking for a way to improve my indoor photos, especially when the light is low. I think the on camera flash looks so ugly and I wasn't quite ready to look at an external flash. I stumbled upon www.lightscoop.com, it looked like it might be a good thing, and it was quite inexpensive, so I ordered it. I was pleasantly surpised. This shot was taken at night with flash and I think it looks great! Happy Me!

Please tell me...

There is no playboy mansion in their future...



Because it is not going to make Dad very happy.


Disclaimer* poor lighting + on camera flash = pic I love, even if quality is quite poor

Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours...

the ones that started it all

I had to take a moment to post these pics I took over the summer while visiting family in Montana. Something about this particular group of photos made me fall in love with photography. Also taken with this group is the pic on the blog title. I"ll keep it up for awhile to remind me how much I love this new path I'm taking:)

Seriously?

How could any Baby be so cute? Awwww...love my Baby Mac!

The Windows to the Soul

Participating in The Paper Mama photo challenge where the theme is "eyes". I had fun messing with this photo of E and thought her eyes said so much in this shot. I had so many others that I thought about using, but kept coming back to this one. I love this girl.





PS: I realized a couple of hours after I linked up that I posted the wrong pic and had went back and changed it. It is slightly different than the one I used in the thumbnail, but nearly the same:)

Before and After (Pixel Perfect Blog Hop)

Here is the before of Sara and Henry. Clearly I just shot without adjusting exposure, white balance, etc. I didn't like this pic at first.




Here I tried a black and white effect and I really like it.



The color was trickier, but I thought I salvaged it. I tweaked the color and exposure, popped the colors and softened a bit.

The other silhouette shot

I might like this one better, but it's not like I will actually win or anything:)

i heart faces silhouette contest

Just thought I'd try this for fun, so I thought this one might work. I had a darling one of Evelyn on the beach, but I realized it seems most silhouettes are beach pics and I thought I'd try something different.
Go check out the site, there are some amazing photos up!

Maternity preview for Sara

I did my first maternity shoot the other day, and I have to say, I am very pleased with these. They are lovely. Thanks so much Sara for letting me spend a couple of hours taking pics with you, it was so fun! We did have to practically break down the bathroom door to rescue her son Henry, who somehow got stuck in the bathroom. I'm quite comfortable with Sara already, but if I wasn't, I might have considered that a great icebreaker!
I really hope you like these Sara, Feliz said this first one reminded her of the painting Leo did of Kate in "Titanic"! Haha, it kind of does...

PEPS + L.A. = Amazing

We are the most fortunate to live in Seattle because of a little program called PEPS. This stands for program for early parent support and it really is life changing. You are matched with other brand spankin' new Mommies (sometimes Dads too, but I did a group with only Moms) who live in your neighborhood or very nearby. The sort of formal part of the group lasts for 12 weeks and meets once a week with a volunteer leader. Each meeting begins with some sort of discussion involving your highs and lows of the week. As a new Mom, this was so cathartic! It also felt so wonderful to know that other people are having the same sort of lows (and highs) that you were. It made me feel normal. The next part of the meeting would usually be a group discussion about a topic relating to new parenthood. Feeding babies, sleep issues, relationship with your partner, brain development. You name it, we probably discussed it. Our group clicked so amazingly well. I had suddenly acquired 14 new best friends! When else does this happen in your life?
We have now been together for 5 years and we don't meet every single week anymore (but we sure try), we still have a bond that just continues to strengthen. Some of those newborn babes are in kindergarten! We do girl's weekends at least 2 times a year and Mom's nights once a month. Many things are different in our lives, most have a second child, some have a third. Some now live out of state, some are no longer married. Trying times, joyful times, sleepless times, we've shared all of these. I liked the way one friend put it as we toasted each other at a dinner out in a recent weekend in L.A. "No matter what else changes in our lives, we will always be here for each other." This is such comfort. I love these girls.
We spent 3 days in L.A. last weekend and as usual, it was a blast! Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip. Of course, some of the girls couldn't be there, but they were of with us in spirit:) For any of you readers out there who don't know me, I am the blonde with the pink sweater. Now you can put a face to the name!

Favorite

This is for Photo Freak's blog. She has a fun contest going on, post your favorite photo. I think this is still my favorite, or at least one of my favorites. I just love Evelyn's serious face, the way she has the sweater jauntily tied around her shoulders, and mostly, I love the old blue door!

Fall Photo Contest

I am entering the "Fall" photo challenge over at Simplicity. Go check it out, there are some amazing fall photos!!

My Mom and Dad

Who doesn't love an impromptu photo session with Grandma and Grandpa sitting on a piece of old farm equipment?

Lovely Girl

I know they must get sick of having a camera in their faces, but they certainly will never forget their childhoods!

Tricks and Treats

My sleeping beauty

Vampire Baby

Just cute!

Not a Halloween shot, but wanted to stick this one in of my little beauty.

Hey Look! I'm actually in a photo:)