Meet the Hayman Family! ~ Tacoma Family Photographer

Do you remember this past fall when I had that big photo shoot giveaway...?

Well, the lucky winner of that shoot was none other than my old college pal, Sarah Hayman!  Since college, she's gotten married, had an adorable little girl, and is now expecting another precious daughter in just under a month!  She and her husband now live a couple hours south of me, so we knew we would need to decide on a good halfway-point to do their session.  Of course, the spot also needed to be beautiful, easily accessible, and open to the public at this time of year- not a small list of requirements!  The location we ended up deciding on was Seaquest State Park, which is quite close to Mount Saint Helens.  In fact, in some of the photos, you can see that beautiful, snow-covered volcano off to the right of the frame in the background.

Sarah and her husband, Phil specifically requested to do their shoot before a certain point in her pregnancy, so when we agreed on a date, we knew there'd be no rescheduling; we were going to have a photo shoot, rain, shine, or thunderstorms!  On the morning of the shoot, the forecast called for rain and clouds, and potential thunderstorms in the afternoon, so I loaded up my car with all the usual props, plus umbrellas, rain boots, blankets, and plenty of towels for potential muddiness.  I'd never done a full-on "rain shoot" before, and I was actually pretty excited to have the chance!

Alas, the weather turned out to be beautiful!  Aww, shucks.  Not a drop of rain fell until we all got back into our cars after the session was over.  Of course, we were all grateful to have good weather, and the shoot was a great success with the partial cloud cover (a photographer's best friend!) and lack of mud.  In fact, the weather and scenery were so nice that I got a little carried away and took many more photos than I usually do.  I couldn't help it- I had the chance to do a family, maternity, and child portrait session all rolled into one!

Take a look for yourself and see what a great time we had!

Gabby gives her baby sister a kiss.

Phil and Sarah were a very sweet couple to photograph.  "Simple and sincere" was the approach I took for the shots of them together.

At least for now, Gabby is a definite Daddy's girl.  It was fun to see their relationship highlighted out in our shoot!

I will give Phil the credit for this adorable shot: the double kiss!

A candid moment- and one of my favorites.

Family hug!  :)

Some people love shots of children looking serious; some people don't.  Depending on the mood, I like them.  What do you think?

Gabby was keeping her eye on me!

The shots above and below are both sweet moments between Gabby and her Daddy.  After sitting at the table for a few minutes between shots, I asked Gabby if she'd like to dance with her Daddy on the table.  You would have thought I'd offered her a lifetime supply of ice cream with the way she jumped on that idea!  :)

Picking flowers for Mommy...  :)

Never underestimate the power of a good prop!  This chair was the perfect piece for our shoot, and I'm so glad we used it!  (It's also helpful for keeping busy toddlers in one place...)

What a little ham.  The camera loved it!

And there you have it!  What a fun shoot it was, and so full of energy with sweet little Gabby running around enjoying her environment!  I hope you've enjoyed perusing these highlight shots as much as I enjoyed taking them.  Have a wonderful week, and don't forget to let me know if you liked this post!

~ Kathryn

Drew is Two! ~ Tacoma Children's Photographer

As I sit down to write this session wrap post, I am amazed at how quickly time is passing!  Wasn't it just a few months ago that I posted about covering little Drew's 1st birthday?  Well, it must have been longer ago than that... because I just finished doing his two year shoot.  Whew!

By now, many of you know my little buddy Drew.  I've been taking his pictures since he was brand new and it's been so fun to see how he has grown.  Even more fun is the fact that Drew is just three months older than my own son, so it's fun to see a little peek into the future every time I photograph Drew and his family.  This time I was determined to get outdoors for our shoot (we have previously done a lot indoors), so we all bundled up and headed down the road to Chambers Bay (one of my favorite shooting locations).  It was gray and chilly and a tad windy, so we knew we were racing the "toddler clock"- that is, hoping to get as many good shots as possible before Drew got too cold and cranky to continue.  :)

Even with the cold weather, we got some great shots.  I made the best possible use of the times that Drew was being held by his Daddy (I'm assuming it was much warmer being held than not!) and even took his close-up portraits that way.  We also included the family dog, PJ, and got some very sweet "candid" shots of the family as Drew's determined and creative Mama pulled out all the stops to make him smile.  Yes, I'd say it was a very good shoot!  Go ahead and take a look...  ;)

 

Thanks for looking, friends!  I hope this session is proof to you that 45-degree photo shoots can turn out really well!  After all, we've got to make use of these Western Washington springtime days somehow!  :)

~ Kathryn

Introducing... Capri & Isabel! ~ Tacoma Newborn Photographer

About two weeks ago I had the distinct privilege of doing a newborn shoot for some friends of mine who just welcomed not one but TWO adorable baby girls into the world.  In the weeks leading up to the shoot, I daydreamed about fabrics to use, researched twin portrait techniques, sketched out shot ideas, and called in a favor from a very talented friend of mine who makes beautiful and unique headbands.  It's been one of my most highly-anticipated portrait sessions in recent memory.  So you'd better believe that when I got the "announcement" e-mail, I was practically giddy.

Fast-forward two weeks, and there I was, hauling about five arm-fulls of equipment and props up to the warm, bright room that Amber and Ryan (the blessed parents) and I had decided would be perfect for the girls' first modeling debut.

For the first half of the shoot, Capri (the sweetheart with the grey and white headband) was the sleepy one, giving me plenty of time to take way more photos of her than I really needed.  :)  Isabel (the cutie with the pinkish headband), took a little more convincing to get sleepy enough for the oh-so-peaceful newborn shots I'd been envisioning.  Finally, after a little help from her Mommy, Isabel joined Capri in dreamland and our shoot really started cooking (almost literally, since the room had to be about 85 degrees).

As I look back over them now, I am just so pleased with the shots we got, and I'm honored to have been able to work with such an easygoing family of four (two in front of the camera, two behind the scenes).  Not to mention the incredibly stylish and sophisticated headbands that were hand-made by my good friend and fellow creative person- Lillie, of Flourish by Lillie.  In case you're wondering, most of her headbands are actually for women, not just adorable babies, so go check her out!

All right, well enough of me blabbering about these girls, you might as well look at the photos, right?  Take a gander through the pictures below for some highlights from our shoot, and don't forget to click on any photos that you want to view in larger format.  Have fun!

This was one of those that I dreamed up long in advance.  I only have one of these beautiful antique doll cradles (picked up from a garage sale this summer), but with the magic of modern photography, there are two!  :)

Probably one of my favorites!  Isn't she just so peaceful?

Isabel is hiding in the back there, letting Capri get the limelight...

I love Isabel's "thinker" pose here.  I didn't do too much posing with the girls during the shoot.  I suggested the general poses, but I wanted to avoid having them look like there was no possible way they could have gotten that way on their own.

I like to think they're whispering secrets to each other in this one.

Can't you just tell they're most comfortable when they're cuddled right up to each other?

Isabel relaxing in her luxurious fur-lined cradle.

Isabel's foot.  Detail shots are some of my favorites from newborn sessions.

Toward the end of our shoot, Capri got a little more wakeful, and started making some very cute little faces...

Quite the glamour shot!

And one last shot of Isabel enjoying her cozy little nest!

Well, thanks for joining me for this session wrap-up of a truly wonderful newborn shoot!  Thanks also to Lillie for her gorgeous newborn headbands (see more here).  And especially, I want to thank Capri, Isabel, Ryan, and Amber for letting me intrude on their lives for these three hours and for being such good sports through the whole shoot!

Oh, and one more thing:  This shoot has made me even more excited for the next time I get to do a newborn portrait session!  So if there's anyone out there who's having a baby soon... drop me an e-mail!

~ Kathryn

Snowed in! ~ Tacoma Family Photographer

For those of you who live in the Pacific Northwest, you've likely heard about "Snowpocalypse 2012," also known as... about 6 inches of snow (in Tacoma, at least).  Well, it was our first snow of the year, so it HAD to be a good one.  We here in the Stevens household loved it!

For photographers, snow can be both an opportunity and a challenge.  On the one hand, it's beautiful, it's instant texture, it adds contrast where you want it (coat collars, scarves, hair, eyelashes, mittens, etc.) and it gives a dreamy, far-off look to anything even twenty feet away.  On the other hand, it does melt instantly on the camera and threatens to leave little water droplets on the lens if you're not careful.  Regardless, I was really excited to shoot in the snow yesterday!

My loving husband (who was home from teaching on account of all the snow) helped me bundle up our little marshmallow boy and put himself on "snow rescue" duty so I could wear only the photographer hat (and not the Mommy hat, too) for just a short while.  What ensued was a whole lot of fun, albeit brief.  (We knew we didn't have long with just jeans and leggings on those little legs!)  So take a look, and make sure to check out what happened during the second half of the shoot!

Daddy is such a good teacher!

"What?  I can jump into this stuff?  Cool!"

Milo just looks so pleased with his situation in this one.   It warms my heart.

Processed a few in black and white, just for kicks.  I think they have their own charm that way.

Examining the snow on his mittens...

"Plop!"

Once we'd all had enough of the cold and our socks were a bit soggy, we headed into the house, changed into comfy clothes and turned into home-bodies for the day.  Daniel and Milo cuddled up on the couch for some reading time, and I decided to extend the photo shoot a little.  

How could I resist this cute little toddler draped all over Daddy?

Milo's very serious about reading.  Note the knit brow.

Clearly, some of the best parts of a snow day happen indoors!  Thanks for taking a look into our ordinary life here at Camellia, Meet Baby.  Some days I think it's pretty extraordinary, myself.  Which is why I always have a camera handy!

Happy snow days!

~ Kathryn