Guichard Family • November 2013 • Preston, WA

One of the coolest things about being a photographer is when old friends seek you out to capture their families. Kimi and I have known each other since elementary school and grew up in the same neighborhood. While we were shooting, it hit me how surreal it was to see her and her beautiful family and the honor I felt to be capturing the love between them all. What an honor!

Double Senior Session • Kyle & Makayla • Snoqualmie/Preston, WA

Being a Northwest photographer means having the ability to be flexible. The weather is unpredictable and as the summer closes, rainy days become more frequent. I am still navigating the realm of darkness at 4pm and am continually trying to improve my indoor capabilities by equipping my studio set up with new and better things. But every now and then, I am graced with patient clients who are willing to brave a sudden rainstorm and still rock their shoot like pros. Kyle and Makayla were no exception. While we did do some more shooting on a drier day, the first 4 collages of images below were captured during the flash storm back in August that caused rivers to swell and records to be broken. Finding shelter in an abandoned mill proved to be the perfect backdrop.

Special Thanks: 

Kimberley & Kyle, Makayla & Jennifer, Jill O'Donnell (Owner, Salon O), Tracy Monahan (Hair & Makeup)

Cowart Family • September 2013 • Snoqualmie, WA

There isn't much I appreciate more than committed clients. Going into a family shoot with a 1.5 and 3 year old is no easy task. Not only did this mom execute the styling of her brood with expert hands, both Mom and Dad were patient and willing to put in the time to getting the shots. Not to mention, their adorable girls were absolutely joyful and it is capturing this joy on camera that makes what I do a blessing.

Sarah G. • Class of 2014

I am finally catching up after a very busy senior season. The best yet. I am so blessed to be partnering with such a phenomenal little salon in Issaquah and next year will be even better! We are constantly brainstorming ideas of how we can improve the entire experience. 

Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful subject to shoot against the backdrop of a quickly fading summer. Sarah was a natural and made my job so easy. Not to mention beautifully simple yet elegant hair and makeup job done by Tracy at Salon O.

Special Thanks: 

Sarah & Lisa Gaston, Jill O'Donnel (Owner, Salon O), Tracy Monahan (Hair & Makeup)

At the end of the day, I am still a mom with a camera...

I have seen a lot of successes over the past year with my career in photography. For that, I am truly blessed. My husband and family has been ever supportive of and patient with my continuous growth over the past 5 years of being in business and that is a blessing, too. Probably more than they realize.

I have been so lucky to get to know my clients at milestones in their lives and capturing those moments for them continues to bring me more joy than it probably should. Needless to say, I love what I do but it was not come by easily. I have had to work very hard to maintain the balance between work and life, as we all must. I am no expert in this arena and I continue to learn what it takes to remain level-headed.

When it all boils down to it, I am still a devoted mom with a really nice camera and sometimes I must force myself to lug it about to capture my own children's milestones. This time of year brings so many. I am emotional today for many reasons. I saw my oldest child off to her first day of first grade today. I sang happy birthday to my youngest, who turns 4 today. Even as I write this post, my eyes are welling with tears.

We all get caught up in the chaos of parenthood, work and maintaining our personal and business relationships and it can be easy to forget to stop and take time to be in the present. Especially when you have clients waiting on you, kids asking for you, dinner to be cooked, groceries to be bought, school to prepare for. It seems it never ends. It can be overwhelming. At least for me.

So, this post is really a release for me. It is important for me to show all of you that I am still a human being. I love being a person other photographers come to to ask questions. I am just like you. A parent, a teacher, an artist. And it is often a battle to maintain the balance.

This post is also a dedication to my two beautiful children and my awesome husband, whom I adore more than life itself. I am so proud of all of you and feel fortunate to have you in my life! You are the reasons I get up in the morning and do all that I do!

Happy first day of first grade, Anja! 

Being 4 means being still very small...but also a perpetually cool dude.

Elisabeth A. • Gasworks Park • SHS Class of '14

Not much needs to be said about these images, except for this: there is not many more things about my job that give me such great joy as does capturing graduates. I connect well with teens and love them so much for their fresh perspectives and their uniqueness. No senior shoot is ever the same.

Elisabeth is more than just a TPD Senior Delegate. She is a girl I have watched grow up from toddlerhood. She is a beautiful person inside and out and I am so happy to have her as a part of the TPD Family. Thanks, also, to her family for the years of friendship and entrusting me to capture Elisabeth in her final year of high school!

Thank you also to Lidiya of Dream Your Memories Photography for assisting on this shoot and, of course, Tracy Monahan for her hair and makeup skillz. (Yeah, with a "z" because somehow, that means more than the proper spelling...)

Here is to you, Elisabeth! Wishing you well as you enter the final chapter! Go Totes!

Asher Simcha, My Sweet Nephew • 9 Months

I have been on a terrible non-blogging streak! I am so backed up and in the throngs of senior season so I'm just starting to get to images that haven't been touched. Sometimes, a little time makes them even more precious. That is why I love what I do! Moments pass too fast and never come again!

My sister came into town from the East coast back in June and I got to meet her son, my nephew, for the first time. He is the sweetest, funniest, roll-polliest little thing. He looks exactly like my sister looked like when she was a baby.

And today, is his daddy's birthday...so happy birthday to Nate, who I don't know very well, but you make cute kids with my sister, so keep up the good work! ;)

This is my dad.

I've had this image in my head for a long while and I finally made it a reality. I didn't watermark it on purpose because it would take away from every item in this picture. I created this for myself. For my children. For their children. To show them all what he is to me. What he loves. What he collects. What inspires him.

My dad. In his shed. "The" shed. It's THE shed, ya know? It contains relics that have made a larger impact on my psyche than I ever used to realize.

My dad is a bug collector. He has cigar boxes full of specimens he trapped, humanely euthanized (ask me sometime how you euthanize a bug), pinned in place, labeled with dates and who found them where. My name is in those boxes over and over. As are my brother's and sister's. And his own and my step-mom's. Even some from my grandparents. And others.

My dad is a procurer of vintage men's shirts. His daily uniform since I can remember has been one his "shirts" (I put it in quotes because they're his "shirts"), shorts and Converse All-Stars. Although lately, he's on a Jack Purcell kick. (Bad pun.)

My dad is a brilliant artist. He has illustration abilities I can only attempt to emulate. I am lucky to have inherited even just a sliver of this man's talent. He is the reason I do what I do. My biggest inspiration.

My dad is a Lego maniac. I'm sure it killed him when I was little that I was never that into Legos. He tried to get us to play with them. But they bored me to death. But my children, Lego-obssessed, never stop talking about Grampaw's Mini-Fig collection. Or his self-designed Lego scenes. Like the one he's been working on recently, the underwater volcano, complete with a vein of molten rock flowing up the center of the volcano and the Lego sea life that has found respite and sustenance upon and around the flourishing underwater ecosystem he built from scratch. Did I mention he did this with Legos?

My dad has always been my voice of reason. Even when the reason sucked. He's a no-nonsense truth-teller, even when the truth hurt. He picked me up when I fell. Taught me to ride a bike. Taught me to draw. Taught me to drive. Taught me to camp. Taught me to fish. Taught me about film and photography. Taught me about graphic design and art direction. Taught me to not give a crap about what people thought of me because I was different. Taught me to follow my artistic inspiration, no matter how weird others might have thought it was. He was there for me even when it was inconvenient for him. My list could go on and on.

I am always proud to show him off and to sing his praises because I am proud of him. Proud of who he is and who I am because of him. Happy Father's Day, Dad. Love you.

Service Highlight • Custom Wall Design

We are continually adding to the services we offer. Custom wall design is one of our newest services. If you have a wall in your home you'd like to dedicate some beautiful images of your family to, one fee covers your photo session, cost of the collection, delivery and installation in your home. You can even see the collection on the wall before you hang it with our virtual wall design service, which is also included in the fee. All you have to do is send us a picture of the wall you'd like to design (or we can come in and do it for you!), with a piece of 8.5"x11" paper taped to it for scaling purposes and we will provide you with a mock up of what your selected collection will look like. All of our framed prints and other types of wall collections are from our amazing lab, White House Custom Colour. The collection we are using as an example is our Classic Black & White Collection. It's a clean and simple, classic way to decorate a wall with beautiful high-key black and white portraits we took in-studio.

This is an image captured of a wall in my new office I'd like to see some sweet pictures of my kids on. I took the picture with my iPhone 5. Note the letter-size piece of paper. That is a key element in getting an accurate mockup of your collection. Your wall picture doesn't have to be fancy...it just needs to show the whole wall and some of the surrounding space. 

We never pass up an opportunity to rave about our lab, WHCC, and the products they offer. From traditional framed prints to metal prints to canvas float wraps and everything in between, we are proud to provide our clients with their products matched with our work to create beautiful custom decor to fit any aesthetic.

So remember that TPD Studios is your one-stop shop for decorating your home with portraits (we do fine art, too!). We shoot, design, frame, deliver and install!

And, of course, any opportunity I get to showcase my two favorite little people, I will take. :)

Mommy & Me • Kristen & Liam • Kelsey Creek Farm • Bellevue, WA

Happy June, everyone! It's my birthday month and I am so excited to see the sun keep coming out! Gotta love light! Speaking of sunshine, this pair is close to my heart and I have had the pleasure of getting to know 2-year old Liam since he was born. He is a very inquisitive, special little person who loves rocks, tractors and running. He is a tough customer when it comes to getting those perfect smiling portraits you have to walk away with at least one of but if you know me at all, you know I love a challenge! And when I go back through images of him, I always have a big smile on my face because he's just such a fun kid and there are always some great moments captured. Kristen, his mama, is pretty easy on the eyes, too, and how sweet are they together? If you're looking for a quick, easy and fun weekend activity, Mommy and Me shoots are where it's at!

Weymouth Family • Kelsey Creek Farm • Bellevue, WA

The Weymouths are perfect examples of return clients who have become friends and given me the honor of capturing some huge life moments. See that beautiful bride at the top of the blog? That is Randi, absolutely radiant on her wedding day. She and her husband, Matt, now have a beautiful two-year old daughter, who I have been lucky enough to get to know. She is a little ball of energy with lots of personality. She's big into running as fast as she can, usually in the opposite direction of her parents. She is also really good at smelling the daisies. She will soon be a big sister and I am so looking forward to spending time with this beautiful family again when they welcome their new little bundle into the world.

Blogging, New Space, New Commitment

Who is watching the marketing workshop with Sue Bryce on creativeLIVE?? I am, I am! Every time I watch her, I am hit hard with truths I need to face. In business and in life. I am making a commitment (along with my friend, Christiana Childers) to blog not once a week but *GULP* twice a week. Not only that but I am going to be surveying all of my past clients (as many as I can get a hold of at least) to see how I can improve my products and services. Yikes. My newsletter will be coming out soon so I will be including a link to my survey there. I may even give out vouchers just for filling it out! Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

On another note, my family and I just completed a big move into a new home and I am so excited about our new space. There is tons of natural light and gorgeous birch floors to work on. Can't wait to get more babies in here! Lots of change in the air around here and I am looking forward to what life will bring! Now I just have to figure out what else to blog this week...

Elisabeth A. • TPD Senior Delegate • Sammamish High School

I am so excited about my senior program this year. I have spent countless hours refining the what and the how. Here is the promo I created for my rep for her to share, as teens love to do with those iPhones and Androids! I really hope this thing goes viral!

I am equally excited that my studio team is coagulating so well. I truly feel blessed. I now have a photo assistant/studio manager, a hugely talented second photographer and a hair and makeup artist to die for. What more could a girl ask for??

Hello, world! I'm out from under my rock!

My goodness. Such time has been lost. I'm still trying to pick up the pieces. The beginning of March was met with some unexpected emergencies in the form of a severe reaction to peanuts suffered by my daughter the same day I was supposed to run a Charity Booth fundraiser. Luckily, a very gracious photographer happened to be at Pioneer Coffee, where the event was to be held and he ran the booth for me while I accompanied my little one to the ER. Funny how things unfold and just seem to work out in spite of life throwing nails in the street you are driving down.

The event went forward without a hitch and we even made the paper! You can see the resulting images here. Thanks to Cedric Duty for covering for me and Deanna at Pioneer for hosting and her continued support!

My daughter's reaction was very scary. And led me to disseminate  a message to parents of non-allergy sufferers to coach their children on the importance of not sharing treats with their friends in case of those allergies. Coincidentally, the funds raised at Charity Booth event will be used to launch a safety awareness program in the school district next year and while it is still in its infant stage, I'm hoping that this message will be able to be communicated along with the message of the use of helmets while doing sports, such as skiing, skateboarding, snowboarding, etc.

Her reaction also sent her immune system out of commission and she developed a pretty severe flu, which was then passed to my son, me and my husband. We are all just now starting to feel normal again. We are a healthy family and save the normal sniffles winter brings, we have never had the flu in our house. It really is debilitating! In turn, I had to bump a shoot with two beautiful newborn girls so I didn't put them at risk. It made the shoot that much sweeter when I was finally well enough to come and capture them! Here are few favorites. The knit headbands were lovingly created by my mom.

March is also the month of my daughter's birthday and so there was some planning going on in there, too, and the day before her birthday is our wedding anniversary so throw in trying to maintain an immaculate home due to having it on the market, this March was pretty insane. Somehow, we made it work. 

I found a sliver of time to do a quick birthday shoot with my daughter, the results of which turned out absolutely beautifully. I am so very excited to start shooting in this style with girls and women. Stay tuned for more information on my makeover experience and more styled shoots! Thanks to the countless hours of studying the work and concepts of the incomparable Sue Bryce, I am truly starting to understand all that goes into making a truly beautiful, genuine, connected portrait. I am so excited to bestow this gift upon my clients!

I must also extend a huge thanks to all of my clients, fans, supporters, friends and family members who voted for me in the Macaroni Kid Snoqualmie-Issaquah Family Choice Awards! We walked away with our very first award! Without your votes, I never would have taken the cake so thank you, thank you, thank you! If you are a parent in the Issaquah/Sno Valley area, you should sign up for Mac Kid! It is truly an invaluable resource for families! If you aren't local, go to the national Mac Kid site and find the newsletter nearest you and sign up!

Weddings, Forming Partnerships and an Interiors Shoot • Erica B. • North Bend

I often grapple with the question "What sets me apart from other photographers?" The answer is quite clear when I think about my goals when meeting/shooting with clients. And how I make initial contact. This is where you will see the cross over between the photography side and the branding/marketing side of my studio. To illustrate this point, let's start with how Erica and I met. You may take away some insight by hearing how I see and ultimately approach projects.

After a couple of years of shooting weddings solo, I decided to take a step back and wait for a new opportunity to redevelop my wedding product. I knew that I would recognize the opportunity when it appeared to me. (Ever heard of Carl Jung's idea of Synchronicity? If not, now would be a good time to read about it. This is how I approach life, business and my pursuit of happiness.) One day, I was driving down 202 and saw Erica's sign for Just B Art & Design. After going home and doing some research finding that she was taking her years of graphic design and interior design experience into the wedding industry, it put the thought of undertaking weddings back in my head. So I reached out to her. Fast forward some months, we finally met and connected on many different levels; creatively, personality-wise and had some aligned professional goals, as well. During this period of time, I also connected with my now wedding photography partner and I am busily developing the brand for this new venture. (Case in point: Listen to your gut, you find what you need.)

At this point, you may be wondering why these details are important. My answer is this (I will try to be concise): I constantly strive to develop meaningful, personal relationships with the people I want to do business with. This is the foundation for developing my own business and ultimately, helping my clients develop theirs. It is one thing to cold call and meet for coffee. It is another to see value in a connection with a person or business before even meeting them. And this is synchronicity in action. If you can learn to have this awareness, the connections you make with other people in your personal life, business life and beyond will be that much more valuable. This is the nature of my network. I don't do a lot of cold calling. My social media followings are modest but they are valuable. I have met a majority of my fans and followers in person. My clients become good friends and I pride myself in that. 

These concepts are often easy to forget in the era of social media. Everyone has access to everything and often, especially in the creative industry, a thousand 'Likes' on Facebook can be misconstrued as this business is better than that business because of that fact alone. I am here to tell you that this is absolutely not the case. Don't misinterpret this statement as me discounting the value of social media as a business development tool. For that purpose, it truly is valuable. But only if executed properly. My studio provides this insight in the form of an array of branding and marketing solutions geared toward small (and large) businesses.

With all of this in mind, let's go back to Erica and what she does. She is a treasure trove of talent (pardon the unintentional alliteration). I get so excited when I encounter people like Erica because I know that I have followed my intuition and there is a reason our paths have crossed. You can imagine how excited I was when she hired me to photograph her biggest portfolio piece: her home. This is the ultimate compliment. She entrusted her art to me by allowing me to use my own to capture it. (Note to other creatives: when you are hired by another artist, PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK.) 

Erica can take a space and make it come alive. Her use of colors and textures, contrast and compliment and personalized pieces with meaning tell me that, she, too, is an intuitive artist and has a pulse on her environment and how to shape it to its fullest potential.

The great room exudes warmth, welcome and eclectic charm.

Erica is always good for conversation over a cup of tea. We chat about texture, color and life.

The media room offers a more neutral palette and plenty of natural light. Although it is open to the great room, there is a perfect balance of contrast and compliment so you know you are entering a separate space and the design remains insightfully cohesive.

Oranges in the kitchen were literal and interpreted, warm and familial.

The dining area brought natural light and neutrals with bold darks, warm lighting and natural fixtures full circle to naturally transition outdoors, where we'd find Erica's masterminding space.

A modest independent structure, erica's office is lovingly bespeckled with meaningful decor pieces that she says is the basis for her interior design philosophy. She enthusiastically professes her love of designer, Nate Berkus, who's book, The Things That Matter, is never far from reach.

For more information on Erica and her work, visit her website at www.justbartanddesign.com. Go 'Like' her on Facebook, too!

If you are interested in your own advertorial like this one, call 425.281.8312 or email me and I'd be happy to answer your questions.