Introducing Our Solanah!

I am so excited to introduce all of you to my new daughter-in-law. Well, almost, daughter-in-law. She and my precious boy are getting married on July 18th. You may have seen her splashed all over my wedding site and even my high school senior site. She is definitely a favorite model of mine! I mean, just look at her! She is absolutely gorgeous!

She is the quintessential "Vintage Vixen". She owns her own incredibly successful vintage clothing business Solanah She is the ultimate treasure hunter! I've gone with her a few time to the Goodwill Bins and where I see lots of trash, she finds the most incredible treasures! She can go through the entire place in a half an hour and have picked out every possible vintage treasure they've got! She's a marvel. She also has a blog Vixen Vintage where she has hundreds of followers. She dresses in completely vintage clothing every single day. If she is going out, she has the dress, the hat, the gloves, the purse, the shoes... Every day is such a nice surprise when I see her. She has been helping my son class up his wardrobe and the two of them are the most delightful people in the world. She loves my son with passion as he does her. He likes to make her giggle which she does freely and easily. She brings out his best qualities and I see him joyful when he is with her. What more can a mom want for her son?

I wanted to grab some photos of her in some of her vintage outfits so I could display them at an upcoming Bridal Shower I am having for her. We went out on a hot sunny day last week, and I was totally in heaven playing with her. I love that summer dress which is a shorts jumpsuit with an over-skirt. Then she put on that incredible black evening dress with the pink petticoat. Wow! I could have taken photos of her in that thing all day! Then we ended up at Esther Short Park with her floral print dress among the roses.

I'm sure you will see more of her. Every time I have a new idea for a photo shoot, I call her up and we set off on an adventure together! I love you Solanah and feel so privileged to have you as a treasured addition to our family.

My Play Date

Every once in awhile I get to do something different. I have a very dear friend who has three of the most adorable boys in the world. I cordially invited her oldest son to go on a play date with me. We first when out to ice cream at Ice Cream Renaissance and we acted as silly as we could. There is something freeing about taking out a child who is not your own. I didn't feel the slightest need to tell him not to be too loud or not to put his gummy bears into his drink to drown them, in fact, I gave him the idea!

After ice cream, we headed out to Esther Short Park and to a wet and wild time! He was jumping from place to place so quickly, I had to run to keep up! At first, he was a little tentative about jumping in, but it took about 2 seconds for that feeling to pass. I absolutely adored being able to capture his joyful excitement for life! He is the smartest and most delightful nine year-old I know.

As was inevitable, I eventually had to put my camera away and jump into the water with him. I got completely soaked as I was the private to his general and had to go wherever he told me to. We put an old Starbucks cup in hand of the statue of the older gentleman and thought we were completely hilarious. I haven't laughed that freely in way too long.

So here I introduce you to the marvelous Mr. "L". If you look closely enough, you may just spy the photographer in three photos!

Little Miss "L" and Her Baby

Here is the adorable little Miss "L". I first met her at one of my Halloween Portrait Parties in 2006! I have since seen her close to her 2nd, 3rd, and now 4th birthday. "Little Miss" is such the perfect title for her. She has a delightful personality as you will see here. Grandma brought her up to the Pittock Mansion to play with me. The blossoms were everywhere!

She always comes to play in the most stylish outfits! Her little pink cons were to die for! I pulled out a few petticoats for her to look at, and she wanted the red one. I love the shots of her in the tree! She can be absolutely stunning one moment and then become a character with the faces she pulls! It was a little chilly, so she wanted to wear the hats I brought. These are design originals from Sugarfairy Handknits, my fabulous friend and talented artist.

Well, Little Miss "L", it was a pure delight to see you again. These images warm my heart and make me want to squeeze you!

Playing in Portland

Just look at these photos! I have been playing with this family since "W" was 7 months old! These photos are of him at 7 mos., 1 year, 2 years and now 3 years old! They moved to Denver over a year ago but have promised to visit me once a year for photos. I can't believe how much he has changed! I get so excited to see my little ones each year!

We chose to go to the Art Museum area in Portland. It was a hectic day with a peace rally, policemen on horses and a hippy wedding! As always, it was delightful working with these dear people! Little "W" was in such an incredibly happy and active mood! I just loved following him around and trying to steal a giggle or two. I love his bright orange shirt. You can just see the joy he brings to this world. Mom and Dad were good sports, as always. I think I have made them go barefoot every time they come to see me.

I tried to talk Dad into wrestling on the grass, but there was absolutely no area where it wasn't muddy. We finally compromised and he wrestled standing up. "W"'s laughter warmed my heart and made me giggle out loud!

So I bring you wonderful little "W". He is a joy!

Chelsea & Joey

I had the pleasure of taking both of these amazing people's senior photos a few years apart from each other. Now they are getting married. They are my first official seniors to get married! (I have a plan, you know, to do this with all of my beloved seniors and then to take photos of their babies and kids and their own high school seniors and on and on until I am too old to know my own name!)

We had to reschedule the photo shoot about a zillion times before we decided to risk it and head downtown during a brief "sunstorm". They brought an umbrella just in case, but the weather was fantastic! It stayed that way until we were finished and then it began to pour!

I loved working with these two and am excited to be able to photograph their wedding this coming August. This will be the third wedding I have photographed for Joey's family! They are familiar with my weirdness and yet they keep asking me to come back and play! Go figure.

I love the feel to these photos. Joey is definitely head over hills and couldn't stop looking into Chelsea's eyes. I had to keep asking him to look at me and it was completely adorable!

So here are Chelsea and Joey. They are delightful and make such a great-looking couple. As always, I took way too many kissing shots, so if you are watching this Mom and Dad, you may need to cover your eyes! I can't wait until August!

You will need to pause my music (scroll down to find it) because this video I made for them has it's own music. By the way, Chelsea and Joey, you will have a copy of this video on your CD!

Spring 2009 Portrait Party

I had this wonderful Portrait Party back in April. It was a rainy day outside, but the faces inside my studio were fresh and full of spring! I have waited to post these so all of the participants could give me their orders, but, alas, I just had to post them today! I couldn't wait to share them with you. It was a roller coaster two days with sweet little ones coming in and out and I was exhausted, but happy!

They are so completely delightful! I hope to be having another Portrait Party for Back to School, so I will keep you posted!

Here are my Spring Buddies!

In Style Baby at 4 months

Here is sweet little angel "E" again. He has such a calm and loving nature, you can see it in his eyes. I'm not sure many babies grow up with as much love as this little one gets, but his mommy and daddy are completely head over hills! The incredible expressions he shows in these photos are the result of looking into his parents' faces. If he even considered getting a little fussy, all he had to do was look at Daddy and he would break into a giggle!

These people have become dear friends of mine. We went out to dinner last week, and I got to hold baby "E" all evening. I was in heaven!

When I photograph little faces, I feel so honored to be able to capture their personalities and their magnificent souls in their eyes. Baby "E" was a supreme honor for me.