Nugent Family • December 2013 • North Bend, WA

Happy New Year, all! The passing of Christmas means I get to blog some past shoots I have been sitting on. Yay!

Despite the frigid temperatures (no lie, it was below 30), this family was committed to getting some beautiful shots and that we did! The benefit of also being a runner? I discover gorgeous locations you can't see when you are driving, which is exactly how I found this gem. I can't wait to keep coming back to this place because the light, background and open space is truly magical.

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!