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Oct 22 2015 
Sarah is new // Alaska lifestyle newborns // baby photography
I adore this family. I know – I say that about all my clients – but it’s true. I met Angie working at BP and we just hit it off immediately. She was my coffee date escape partner when needed to step away from our desks before going postal… We just get each other. Angie knew me through both my pregnancies and when she got pregnant with Sarah I was SOOO excited!
We had an incredible maternity session – she and Michael were just over the moon already for their little girl – and they made my job super easy! Check out those images here!
Angie also has impeccable style. She is about the cutest thing and her home in Wasilla was so beautiful. Sadly, they have since moved out of Alaska (and I miss her like crazy!) but it was so amazing to be able to capture some images of baby Sarah in the very first place she knew as home.
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Oct 19 2015 Kids fashion (or lack thereof) // lifestyle portraits // Alaska kids life
I’m really not sure what the appeal of nakedness is in Alaska. I mean- it’s cold here…
But my kids are all ’bout it. Today they stripped down the minute we got home from church and insisted that it was naked (ie, just wearing underwear) bike riding time, fortunately in the house, because it was pouring down rain and about 40 degrees outside…
And they didn’t put clothes back on until dinner time, when they were finally cold enough to allow jammies (NOT for bed mind you – just for coziness) – which I can definitely get behind because, um, I pretty much live in yoga pants on the weekend…
But I can’t lie, I totally love seeing them running around in nothing but just in their cute little toddler character underwear. They are growing up so fast, and this little bit of wild abandon is just so beautiful.
I hope they keep this freedom and love their bodies for a long, long time – and for sure I will be encouraging them to throw their clothes to the wind whenever they desire – even if we have to crank up the heat. And as long as we’re not at the grocery store. Please – for the love of God, keep your pants on at the grocery store kids… Mommy does not want to get arrested…
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Oct 12 2015 
Seattle Family // Lifestyle Portraits at home
First of all – I absolutely love this family. I have been photographing Kip and Taunisha since they first got engaged, like a million years ago. And I adore Avery – she is the most spunky, outgoing and joyful little girl around. My kids are totally in love with her.
Side note – when visiting Avery you had better request her Sugar Plum Fairy dance, because she nails it.
Taunisha really wanted to shoot at this incredible building near their home south of Seattle and the weather and golden light were to die for – we dream of such days in Ak…
And it was amazing and beautiful and we created stunning and gorgeous images!
Then we went back to the house, and in 10 minutes we created absolute perfection. As a mom, these images speak to my heart. There is so much beauty in these moments between – winding down from the grand photo-shoot adventure, everyone can just relax and be themselves – at ease.
These are the images that we will look back at (as parents) in 10 years that will bring tears to our eyes. They will spark a memory of the sound of a 3 year old’s laughter long forgotten. The way she loved to bounce on the bed and ham it up for the camera. The way she loved with abandon.
This is life. Real life. Beautiful, messy, perfect.
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Oct 10 2015 I love DADDY!
I’m sure all moms can relate to this one, but it’s still a WTF moment. Harps was sitting on the counter while we were prepping dinner and I tried to give her a kiss. She wriggled away and started hollering “NO!” at me.
I said something to the effect of – “what, no love for mommy?!” To which Chris responds from the dining room – “Do you love daddy Harper?!”
Harper – quick to perceive an opportunity to weave strife into the room responds back with “YES! I love DADDY!! I have kisses for DADDY!”
So he waltzes over, grinning like the Cheshire cat, snuggles in for a hug and a kiss and saunters back into the dining room, one hug happier.
WTF
Thankfully Torah is almost always ready to swoop in when Harper slights one of us to make up the difference and provide hugs and kisses above and beyond, so I got a little love from at one of my offspring, to take the edge off the sting of rejection.
Kids are such assholes.Good thing they’re cute.
I feel Taylor Swift said it best – “I knew you were trouble when you walked in…” she is. Trouble with a capitol “T”. Just like Two, with a capital “T”… coincidence? I think not…
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Aug 20 2015 
Chloe // 1 year cake smash // children’s photography
When Chloe’s mom’s showed me this adorable Beatrix Potter dress I was instantly in love. I adore it! Even if it wasn’t Beatrix themed, it would be an adorably vintage and whimsical dress for a little lady to wear – but I grew up on Miss Potter. And so did Chloe’s mom – so I knew it was a super special find.
Although the last time I tried to read Peter Rabbit to my 4 year old I was struck by the severity of the story. I mean – they didn’t sugar coat things back then! Old Mr. McGregor was seriously trying to kill that rabbit. No bones about it!
But I digress…
I had the opportunity to capture some 1 year images for Chloe while I was in Seattle recently and i just die for the trees there! They are so big! I love the giant maples and their huge leaves – and obviously kids do too! When I saw this little stair step area I knew we had to shoot there. I always love finding little gems like this in a new place! Even if the rest of the world has photographed there – I never have, and it was just so lovely. I was in heaven!
And to reward Chloe for being such a perfectly behaved little model – we let her have cake of course! Although I’m pretty sure she was much more interested in the strawberries on top… can’t blame her – they were pretty good!
Happy 1 year you adorable little creature! I can’t believe how quickly you have grown – and I look forward to many more milestone images with you!
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Aug 15 2015 
Nassau, Bahamas // family stories
My middle sister turned 30 this year (don’t even ask how old that makes me) and that is kind of a big deal – so one of her best friends planned an amazing surprise trip to celebrate. I was so excited to be able to go, and it was a kid-free trip, which is the first one of those I’ve been on in… 4.5 years… but who’s counting?!
I adore traveling, especially to foreign countries, and the ocean is my ‘place’ – so anywhere i can just sit on the beach and drink rum punch with the occasional excursion is fine by me!
We decided on Nassau, which was a fairly quick flight from Houston and I cannot rave about this place enough.
Side Note: We did not tell my sister where we were going. At all. Literally, we were in the Houston airport and she looks at the sign and says, “Where the F is Nassau?!” It was like 30 minutes into the flight before anyone announced anything about the Bahamas over the intercom. She then died of excitement.
So back to Nassau – Clearest. Water. Ever. Like crystal. And bathwater warm! Forget the beach – I just floated around in the amazing water for a week. The sunsets were so beautiful, and the one sunrise that I dragged my ass out of bed for was also amazing.
We were staying in a lovely VRBO that was right on the water. Open the front door, confront the massive heat wave that hits you like a ton of bricks, immediately begin to sweat as you walk down a little concrete set of stairs (you know, a little high water barrier to keep the homes safe or whatever) and here you are.
It was hotter than hades, so really – you did want to be in the water (or the Air Conditioning) during the day – but hey, it was July – what do you expect?
And the people are SO friendly. It’s definitely an island fueled by tourism, and thus, everyone wants to make sure you have an amazing time. And it truly was. I even put my camera on hold for most of the trip and only took a few pics – because really – I was in the water most of the time!
My gorgeous sister, ascending the Queen’s staircase. Check the history out on this place. I had no idea about any of the Bahamian involvement in the wars. Pretty crazy stuff!
Obligatory vacation food post! Obviously they have lots of fish. Red snapper from the local fish market – so delicious! And probably the most affordable meal we made. Groceries are not cheap… You’ve been warned!
The textures and colors are amazing. So many amazing trees and flowers!
Update: Yes, we did spend a day at Atlantis. It was super cool, but also soooo crazy/busy! I was really glad we didn’t stay there, but it was a really fun place to spend a day exploring. We did all the water slides, played in the pools and drank delicious frozen cocktails – in the pool – so that was awesome.
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Jul 15 2015 Featured Product // 1st Year Signature Album
I so admire the women that can scrapbook and create baby books for their little ones. I am completely inept at it.
So – I created my 1 year photo book to help moms (like me) who might appreciate the importance of capturing the memories of babies first year – along with the images that we create through the year!
These albums are perfect with a full year package – we capture your little’s one latest stats and what their milestones are at each session – weight, length, percentile, favorite foods or toys, words and actions (creeping, crawling, sitting, clapping, etc!)
All the stuff you think is so important and adorable that you will never forget and then… 6 months passes and you realize, you have no idea what your kids first food was! Or maybe you have super mom memory and you do remember – either way – this is a keepsake you can hand down in the tradition of the baby book to let your little one that you were, truly, a stellar mom, even if you didn’t scrapbook about it.
Gorgeous linen cover options
and leather cover options –
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Jul 04 2015 Classic Children Portraits // Behind the Scenes studio photography
I have been obsessed lately with capturing simple, classic, beautiful images of children. While I love the lifestyle images with all my heart – those images tell a beautiful, and often lengthy story! And really – those images often need to be viewed together – as a story.
But what if you just want a simple milestone portrait? Ie – this is Harper at 2. This is Torah at 4. This is Paxson at 3. And this is so easily repeatable year after year.
Beautiful. Classic. Simple.
So check out my BTS at the end and you can truly see how easy this look is to achieve. All you really need is a window – with indirect sunlight. This is important. Direct sunlight will be way to harsh and create terrible shadows. Of course, if you don’t have a great window that isn’t facing the sun – just wait for a cloudy day. The clouds will diffuse the light enough for you to give the same effect as indirect light. Soft, wrapped shadows.
AND – here’s my behind the scenes pull back! this was one of the easiest things to achieve – some black muslin, a couple dining room chairs and clamps and a window. Done! Of course, having a cooperative model helps. If you find any of those around – let me know!!!
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Jul 03 2015 
G Family // Alaska family photography
This adorable family has been in Alaska for several years and is getting ready to be re-located with dad’s military job. They REALLY wanted to capture some Alaskan memories before they leave for their next adventure – and I was SO excited to help them achieve that!
Mom was looking for a mix of urban and scenic – so we split the session with downtown Anchorage and then hopped over to the coast to finish off with a stellar sunset and some Cook Inlet vistas.
I absolutely loved working with this family – the kids were SO sweet – they each had such fun personalities – and were totally willing to do whatever I asked of them. And SO polite!
NOTE: I just appreciate polite children so much – one of our house rules is: always say please and thank you – because really – manners just go such a long way!
More than anything – this family loves to laugh. It was no hard trick to get real smiles from these guys – they are always joking around and having fun. Which really – makes my job easy! We really did have a blast – and when it’s such a gorgeous evening – it’s hard not to leave a session like this and feel on top of the world!
Also – they are a perfect example of the “what should I wear?!” question that EVERY family asks. Myself included when we have family pics! They kept things true to their style – relaxed, stylish, comfortable and simple! And above all – not matchy-matchy! If you can’t see in these smaller web images, the boys really are not both wearing white button downs – one has a nice faded blue stripe to it – so everything looks great together – but everyone gets to be an individual too.
I especially tell moms – feel good in what you’re wearing. If you’re uncomfortable (or your kids are uncomfortable) you are going to spend the whole session thinking about when you can take off your shoes/dress/shirt, etc – and not be enjoying yourself in the moment. And you’ll probably be frowning in 90% of your pictures!No frowns here – everyone was happy and comfortable in their skin and clothes! And we were able to focus instead on just having a great time!
These boys had me rolling – they were cracking me up with their ‘Blue Steel’ and I am pretty sure we even had some passerby’s comment on their modeling skills. So cute!
I always want to connect with families in a way that is real for them – and so I chat with parents about their children and spouses – and one of the things that really struck me about this family was how laid back everyone is.
They love to do outdoorsy things together and that inspired the shoes – even mom has her chucks and they just hanging out!
Moms and daughters have such a magical bond – especially when they are outnumbered by boys! I adore this image of mom and mia – just so much love!
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Jul 02 2015 
Amanda & Dave // a love story
I met Amanda just over a year ago – when I stepped in to my very first yoga class. She was the instructor and immediately put me at ease. I was super fortunate to have been the only student in class that day – which sort of sent me into panic mode for a minute – but Amanda was so sweet and walked me through everything. It was amazing and she got me totally hooked on yoga!
Fast forward 1 year – Amanda got in touch with me with the amazing news that she and her partner, Dave, were engaged! She wanted to capture some Alaskan engagement photos and of course, include their super sweet dog Kevin.
On a side note – every time she would mention Kevin I totally thought she was talking about a person! It was rather hilarious – because finally I just said something like – ‘and how is Kevin related to you?’ and she about died – um… he’s the dog. yeah.
I think I want to name my next dog something like Roger. just to throw people off. I love it!Anyway – I was so honored to photograph this adorable couple. They are so in love! Also – just a really sweet and fun couple to be around – they have great energy.
I always love to start or end couples sessions with a little down time – just sitting, laughing, having a drink or a coffee – to engage in some real conversation… It’s probably just because I’m totally starved for adult conversation where a kid isn’t interrupting asking you to cut their rice into smaller pieces for them, or get them more ketchup to drown their veggies in…
So we began at the Rustic Goat – which is such a gorgeous spot! The light… ugh! I die for the amazing light in this place.
Amanda’s brother was also in town visiting, so he came along to help with the dog, and also, so I didn’t feel like a total 3rd wheel!
After having some delightful drinks, we headed down to Point Woronzof for more stunning scenery.
We had fantastically warm weather this winter – so we were able to create some gorgeous winter images without all the heavy winter coats! They were such troopers – and we caught the most incredible sunset out on the coast – i just love the images that we created together.
