My Guinea Pigs

My friends, Monica and Scott, and their kids have been my guinea pigs through the years. I've honed my portrait photography skills on their family. This was their most current family photo and it was one of the quickest photo shoots I've ever had. I think we took about 15 shots in all in about 15 minutes (hey, that could be a new niche market for the impatient!). Lucky for us, we got a good photo of the family. I like it because the pose forms a triangle--just what the photography experts say is one of the best ways to arrange a "pleasing" group portrait.

wedding details

One of my favorite things to capture on a wedding day are the individual touches that sets each wedding apart. It may be the cake or the decorations, the church or some other aspect of the big event, but it's so much fun to capture the details and try to find a new way to photograph it. I gather inspiration from all types of magazines and from other photographers.

babies, babies

Kathi, my sister-in-law, and I got to do photo shoots for two adorable babies last month. We did Mikayla's one year portrait (Mikayla is Kathi's granddaughter). We also took baby Sophia's portrait at 9 weeks old. Both were sooo cooperative and so much fun to photograph. For Sophia, we experimented with a white backdrop and actually had our whites look really white! Usually, the winter in Oregon can have gray, dreary days, but we were lucky to have sunny days for both shoots. I also got to take photos of another little girl, Anna, in December. She came with her older brothers and while it was a challenge to get all 3 of them together, she was so good in front of the camera!

senior photos

The last few months have been filled with senior photos. It is so much fun to take their photos. I'm posting just a few of them here.

looking back

I've been putting my old negatives on cd. I started with photos of my kids and our best friends, the Robinsons, as a birthday present for my friend, Marian, but have kept on because it's so much fun to see my kids when they were young! I like having easy access to all my old photos now. It's nice to see that my photography has changed too (not as many blurry photos!). Here are just a few of those photos from years ago. The "dancer" is my oldest who is now 19. He was just two years old when he took tap and dance lessons with some of his friends from church. The dark-eyed baby is my oldest daughter. She's now 17 (almost 18). Don't you just love those big, dark eyes? The just-bathed babies in red jammies are my now-fifteen year old daughter (on the left) and a family friend.

tayler's style

While I didn't take these photos, I love them! I love when a photo can capture a moment or a bit of someone's personality. These photos show my daughter Tayler's unique style. She and her friends sewed matching tulle skirts and then color-coordinated their shirts and shoes. Clothing is one way that Tay expresses her exuberant personality.

favorite photos

In honor of learning how to finally post with photos (thanks, Kathi!), I am posting two of my favorite photos from the wedding of Jena and Doug. We were asked to do this wedding last-minute, and had the best time. The family was so nice and we enjoyed being part of their special day.

Now that I've got the hang of this, I'll be able to easily post some of my favorite photos!

just getting started!

Blogging is brand-new for me, so I'm just learning!

I really enjoy being able to post my photos on the web for people to see. Photography has been a long-time passion (since my first camera at age 13)!