Kendall had just recovered from a six-month stint in a body cast to combat her hip dysplasia, but you wouldn’t have known for all the smiles and laughter she brought with her. She’s even learning to stand and walk, which is a big, big accomplishment for her!

Kendall’s favorite thing right now is doggies, and there were so many dogs at Marine Park while we were photographing that it was almost impossible to keep her attention. But she was so cute shrieking at each puppy for attention that we found it hard not to immediately forgive her.

Her mom, who also goes by Kat (like me!) was simply radiant and beautiful. Aren’t they just a lovely pair? We’re so happy to have photographed them!

Watch their gorgeous photo slideshow to see more images!

We had a leisurely, casual, and contemporary family portrait session on the beach at Corona del Mar one morning. While the weather was surprisingly like Seattle (perhaps to make me feel at home?) we managed to evade the rain and spent several hours exploring the beach together, while I got to know them and their sweet little boy.

They were such a wonderful family, so good together and good to each other. It was really a pleasure to photograph them, and I think the results speak for themselves. I had such a hard time choosing photos for this post, and I totally over-delivered on their session. But, what can I say? It’s jobs like these that make me feel really glad to be a photographer and not like I’m working at all.

Thank you all for a fabulous California experience, and I look forward to seeing you later this year!

To see more images from their session, visit their online photo gallery or watch their slideshow!

Little Rowan, the oldest of the girls, was torn between jumping in as many as possible and maintaining her pristine, princessy dress. It didn’t take her long to decide that being a princess was overrated. She completely muddied her tights… and then decided that she REALLY wanted to be a princess and broke down in tears at the state of her shoes. So cute and hilarious!

This was one of our biggest family portrait sessions so far, and the one with the most kids under the age of three to date. A photographic challenge alleviated just a bit by the fact that two of the three children knew us from previous shoots… but a challenge nevertheless! We all made the most of the sunny day and got some lovely photographs we hope they’ll treasure forever. Enjoy!

And here’s a bonus behind-the-scenes picture of Justin holding two babies at the same time, one in each arm, while I photograph the ladies together!

Want to see more? Check out their super-cute photo slideshow!

But for now, we’re biding our time, so it’s back to editing and fulfilling orders for me!

I kind of left you hanging with a few family portrait photograph teasers of the lovely Maria and her two boys, Caleb and Liam. If you haven’t seen their last Seattle portrait session from 2009, seriously go check it out and then come back here. That was last September and now look at baby Liam. He’s hugenormous!

He’s teething (see below, in case you can’t tell from the drool) and I’m pretty sure he wants to use the camera lens to assist.

But seriously, these gorgeous kids make me so glad I’m a photographer. They have the cutest, most expressive faces and these insanely gorgeous eyes! The whole family is very sweet and super photogenic. I was excited to have the chance to photograph them all together: Maria, Caleb, and Liam; Maria’s mom and dad; Maria’s Aunt Donan (her mom’s sister); and the distinguished, 86-year-old matriarch of the family. I could have spent the entire day taking pictures of Maria’s grandmother… She’s as beautiful and warm-spirited as I hope to be when I’m a great-grandma.

While you enjoy the photos, I’d love to ask for some feedback… I added the portrait-oriented photographs at a larger resolution accidentally and decided to keep them biggity for a change. Should I keep them this way in the future or do you like them paired up?

Enjoy!

This was my second session with Maria and her two boys, Caleb and Liam. Last time I saw them, they were much smaller and Caleb wasn’t feeling nearly as shy! This is just a little snippet of our session in the Olympic Sculpture Park with the boys and their extended family…

Therese is an absolutely amazing single mom who came to Seattle with her daughter all the way from Alaska so that Therese could go through school to become a nurse practitioner. The two of them worked so hard for the last three years to get Therese through school while still making sure that they never lost their special connection. As I’m sure any single parents out there reading this know, it’s not easy having to be a worker, a student, a mother or father, a best friend, and a role model all at once. But Therese packs all of those things into her 5′ 1″ firecracker self and manages to still smile at the end of every day. Since we met her we’ve watched her conquer fears, overcome obstacles, and always be a shining inspiration to her friends and her family.

Rose, just now SEVEN years old, has also been a serious trooper and has stuck by her mom for the last seven years no matter how tough things got. She’s been a source of joy and inspiration to Therese and even an occasional study partner. While some four and five-year olds were getting run-of-the-mill bedtime stories, Rose was happily listening to Therese read aloud from Pathophysiology or Advanced Pharmacology. I have no first hand proof, but I’m pretty sure she snuggled right up with her mom and loved every one of those minutes they were together. Now she’s a wonderful young lady in her own right. She’s brilliant, energetic, compassionate and the kind of girl that any two-parent family would be blessed to have in the house. That Therese has done this on her own is a testament to how hard they both work and how much they love each other (Not to diminish the contributions of all of their extended family who’s helped along the way!)

Watching these two wander through Seattle’s Volunteer Park it was easy to forget they aren’t sisters. They’re that close. Kat and I had the privilege to bring cameras along for a quiet and chilly morning and watch them do their thing as mother and daughter. Throughout the whole shoot we felt absolutely blessed to be a part of their family and we can only hope that someday we have the relationship with our children that Therese and Rose have together.

I hope these pics will always serve as a a reminder to the two of them that together and individually they are beautiful, inspirational, brave and an an amazing team. Here’s to you Therese and Rose! Thanks for letting us be a part of your little something special!

Jess and I have become good friends since their shoot… she’s crazy, funny, geeky, and altogether someone I can absolutely relate to. Honestly, the grand prize couldn’t have gone to anyone better! These three were nominated for their touching and courageous story: Jess and Jeremy’s little boy, Connor, was born with a rare and serious chromosomal disorder that’s given him all sorts of difficulties. He has sensitive senses (say that 5 times fast!) and isn’t really keen on new things, which posed an interesting challenge for our shoot. I was pretty amused when I introduced myself to him and he signed “No. Don’t like. Go away” to his mom. Bonus points for being assertive, little guy!

We took photos at the Olympic Sculpture Park, which allows for some nice indoor shots in the event of rain and purports to be wheelchair accessible (though the ‘accessible’ path is unpaved and gravel REALLY isn’t wheel-friendly). At the time, Jeremy was in and out of a chair recovering from surgeries he’d had to repair injuries he sustained to his legs from an IED in Afghanistan. But the last time we saw Jer, he’d ditched his chair and crutches for a pimpin’ cane and now I guess he’s pretty much done with that, too! Good thing, ’cause we’re about to do a second mini-session to make up for getting rained out at the end of this one.

Check out the photos below, and be sure to visit Jess’s blog, Connor’s Song, to read her often-entertaining, sometimes-scary posts about their daily adventures.

That was a time of change for everyone. I was in Eugene for another year, Justin was in Seattle, and many of my graduated friends were leaving town or at least the jobs we shared at the University. Katie and Dave headed off to Cornell to pursue masters degrees, and I worried that would be the last we’d hear of them.

Thanks to Facebook, it wasn’t all static as the years passed… and suddenly, they announced their move home to Portland. Not only that, they were expecting! Before we knew it, they were moved in, months had flown by, and Katie was less than two weeks from her due date… and we still hadn’t visited!

Of course, we had to do something about that. So, last November, just before Thanksgiving, we all got together for an extended maternity & belly photo shoot around their quirky Portland neighborhood and in their beautiful home. I hope you all enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. It feels so good to be re-acquainted with our friends!

Katie and Dave are both avid cyclists. In fact, they don’t even own a car (Dave uses public transport and a car-share to get to work) and mod their own bikes for baby and grocery carrying. Portland is a very bike-friendly city… there’s a bike shop not three blocks from where these two live, and we took a few photos there later in the morning.

The expectant couple holding hands on the porch of the neighborhood church. Dave has been super supportive of Katie throughout her pregnancy. Can you imagine moving clear across the country from New York to Portland while expecting?

Katie’s happy that she had a relatively easy pregnancy. She confided in me that it wasn’t until her last few weeks that she considered she might want some photographs of her pregnant body to remember her pregnancy by… she was all to eager for her baby to finally be born so her body could start getting back to normal!

Katie wanted to document her pregnancy in their Portland neighborhood, so we took some belly photographs at the park down the street. A typical Portland November day, it had started to rain and gave the whole park a lush, green feeling.

I love the fullness of Katie’s belly. She was extremely close to her due date and all of us could feel (and even see) Jasper squirming around ready to join us on the outside.

It was a moody sort of day, chill and a bit dusky out even though it was only mid-morning. We took a few contemplative photos to capture the feeling of the day. I’m fond of this portrait of Katie leaning against a brick wall.

These two are such a tremendously cute couple. They just love each other so much. Baby Jasper is very lucky to have them as his mom and dad!

After the rain started to fall more heavily, we finished at the park and headed home so Katie could rest and we could capture some more traditional, artistic maternity photographs. We cranked the heat up and Katie laid on their fainting couch next to the window, where gauzy curtains filtered gorgeous diffuse light over her. She looks like a Grecian goddess!

Then, we moved into Jasper’s nursery for a few cutesy pictures. Did anyone else have these wooden blocks as a kid? I swear they’re the exact same as the ones I used to play with!

Our final set of photos was Justin’s concept… a bubble bath. These were taken in their awesome vintage-crazy bathroom: sea-green walls, a red and white claw-foot tub, rainbow opalescent flooring and an orange rug. Whoo! Katie was such a good sport, trying not to laugh as I stood on the toilet and attempted not to fall in, then crouched on the floor like a creepy stalker. How she managed to look so relaxed, I’ll never know. She must have really needed that bath after several hours of shooting!

It was a really great shoot, and the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday. We spent as much time catching up as we did setting up shots. Afterward, we ordered in and ate pizza until the sun went down and Justin and I had to start the long(ish) drive back to Seattle. Thanks for being willing “victims” for my first maternity shoot, guys! I’m looking forward to coming down and taking more photos of baby Jasper.

In  fact, here’s a peek at what he looks like at three months old. Justin captured him and his dad asleep on the couch early in the morning  before we caught our flight to Maui out of Portland. SO. CUTE.  And such a resemblance! D’aww. :3