No matter how misleading the title, I must tell you I really like Peyton Manning. I think he’s hilarious. Ever see him on SNL? Yeah, that sealed the deal for me. And the commercials he does? hilarious.
But our guy’s already got one ring on his finger, and the Saints needed some lovin’. I admire Drew Brees and his teammates for how they’ve supported and the community of New Orléans. After all the pain the city has gone through, it’s pretty awesome for them to go from no Superbowl wins to being the kings. So congrats Saints!
At half time me and the party’s kiddos went outside to mess around with the pig skin. I know, crazy that I didn’t want to watch The Who, right?
This is the “Go Saints!’ face…
Shopping or football, who can decide?
Don’t knock him for grabbing the wrong ball for the day. He looked good doing it.
“Two Forty two…HIKE!”
Aren’t these the coolest Nike shoes ever? Why don’t they come in my size?
Congratulations again to the Saints, and great game Indy!
I believe that it had to be the coldest day of the year, or maybe even of all time. Who really knows. It was fridged, that’s all I knew for sure. It was also the day of the Mitchell’s Christmas shoot, and little Emma was just a couple months old. If you ever want to see a shoot done in a big hurry, put your family in freezing weather and have them take their coats off for a picture. That will get you in and out quick. And even though we were all in pain, we still got some great glimpses into this precious family’s life.
Don’t you just love the smile on this beauty?!
If you know the Mitchell’s, you know that Jesse is a ham. I think that Samantha must have gotten the silly gene too.
This is one of my favorites. You can see how much Tammie loves her girls in this shot!
This was when Samantha decided to make her big escape to the car. Inwardly, I think we all were wishing we were in the car. Actually, I think we were wishing that there was a Barista waiting for us with a mocha made with craft and care to our personal likings. When you’re cold, every one should have a barista to wait on them.
This was shot afer the great escape, hence no smile from child number one. That’s ok though. She had done a great job! And actually, I really like this picture. There is something hilarious to me when kids have that blank expression. Someone needs to find her barista.
And this is baby Emma. She was such a doll!
It was wonderful working with you Mitchells! You are always a joy! Let’s just do Christmas pictures in July next year (In Hawaii. With Baristas.)
I promised you last week that I wanted to start a series of my favorite things. What better way than for me to start with some of my favorite pictures from last year?
There are so many things that I see in a photograph. First off, people’s expressions. What are they thinking about? Were they happy? Dreaming? Making a joke? The next thing is lighting. I cannot tell you how much I love beautiful light! Oh, it’s gorgeous!! If you’ve ever done a shoot with me, you know I’m always looking for “the perfect light”. I’m enamored with it! And then there is framing. You’ve got to get it just right to make my first love show off completely.
All that said, here are a few of my favs. And to add a little fun to this post, I thought we’d turn it into a game. Vote for your favorite pictures by leaving a comment, and I will give the winner a 5×7 print of the picture! Get your votes in now, because on Friday I’ll announce the winner! Good luck! (Pictures are in no particular order)
Samantha in the Sun. Pic #1
Kaeph and Latara #2
Abigail in the grass #3
Jackson on the run #4
Archer Fam #5
Erin and Isabelle #6
Adam and Kristina #7
The Arrigoni Fam #8
Kennedi #9
In the air #10
Thank you to all of my awesome clients that helped to make 2009 a fabulous year of memories!
I promise, it’s not the rain, but I am hopping a plan to SoCal today though for the rest of the week. Just thought I’d give you all a heads up so you didn’t think I was MIA. When I get back, I’m going to have a few new fun things on my blog. Chiefly, Amber’s “Favorite things”. Yes, you will all be able to see where my money and calories go when I am unsupervised.
Oh yeah, and GO SAINTS!!!! Well, and go Colts. I’m so torn, I love them both!!!
Don’t get me wrong. I was born in the Northwest, and most days my heart burst with the beauty that surrounds me. And I actually love the rain. I love it when I can curl up with a cup of coffee (yes, decaf. Don’t worry, I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing) and reading or watching a movie. I love it, except on the days when we’re trying to do an outdoor shoot. On those days when it’s raining and I’ve got a little baby that needs her picture taken, I wish we could all jump on a plane and head to Hawaii. That said, the weather didn’t harm us this day. Don’t get me wrong. It was fridged outside, but we just went inside. I had never done a shoot at the Seattle Library before, but I thought it could be cool. And thankfully, I was right! Check out how chic Kennedi is. She’s the best dressed baby in town!
Yeah, she knows how to work the camera.
I totally love this picture. The color, the windows, and even though she’s crying, Kennedi looks cute too!
Another one of my favs…
Look at those eyes! I love how clear they are!
So we didn’t have to go to Hawaii after all, and I’m still happily living in the Great Northwest. For one more day. And Kennedi, you are beautiful! Thank you for another wonderful time with me and the camera! I can’t wait until your one year shoot!
As I had mentioned before, I am a bit back logged on getting some shoots up. So as you look at the bright sun in these pictures and think “wait, I thought she was in Seattle…?”, don’t be alarmed. It’s still raining here, this is just a couple of months ago.
You know the time of day where the sun is getting lazy and sleepily sets in the horizon? And then that glowing mess of light is up in the sky, making you think everything is spun out of gold for that remaining hour of light? Ah. That is my favorite time of any day. (I guess you could also think of the beginning of the day when the opposite happens. But then the sun jumps up from behind the mountains and comes screaming in your window that it’s time to get up. Oh sun. You’re like a little kid on Christmas every day. Not all of us want to play when you do). These pictures always remind me of that time of day (the good late one, not the early bad one). The glow in Heidi’s hair, the sun on Emily’s face. The illumination of the whole family. Perfect.
This little man was our semi focus as it was near his first birthday. He’s a natural in front of the camera.
Look at this beauty. And look at the sun on her face. Sigh.
I LOVE this picture! The horse was giving Emily a kiss and I think it freaked her out a bit. Too bad her first kiss had to be so slimy, but it sure was fun to catch with the camera!
Look at how proud Sean is to be standing on his own! You own that ground!
I’m totally in to pictures of families like this next set. To me it captures a family more than just standing in a line. You get to see the interaction. The love.
Archers, thank you so much for this shoot. It’s always a pleasure!
I am a very concentrated girl. That doesn’t mean I concentrate well on what I should, but more likely on what I shouldn’t. Ever since I wrote the blog of Grace in the Market, I have not been able to get the coffee from the Chocolate Box out of my head!!! Mike and I are trying to limit sugar and caffeine (Doctor’s orders…nothing I would ever try to do with out a firm fist enforcing it!), which means it’s all I can think about!!! Mike keeps asking me “are you upset about something?”. I look at him confused and say “no”, and then I realize I’m thinking about coffee and how I can’t have it! So, yesterday was a VERY special treat for me. We went to the market so that I could get my cup o’ joe. And yes, it was worth it. And yes, I can feel it adversely affecting me. And yes, I would do it all over again. And yes, it was hard for me to throw away the empty cup even though the joy juice was gone. I thought just smelling it was worth it.
Now that you all think I’m a nut job, I should probably sign off. Hope ya all had a great weekend!
This is my "I'm in love" look, if you haven't seen it before
When I was young I didn’t like Pike Place Market. I’ve always been a germaphobe, but it was super bad when I was young. The smell of fish flying through the air made me gauge. I must admit, I still hold my breath when I run past the fish, but I live in the air of culture and creativity there. I always linger on my way to Le Panier, the French bakery. I think about the dough, the crust, the tradition. Beechers, Sur La Table, ah! I love it. Love it! It is all topped off with a mocha from the Chocolate Box. Seriously, if you like coffee and chocolate you MUST go there. Now I must go there! Just writing about it is making me crazy!
Enough about the Market though. It’s the people I photographed there that are important. I’ve loved working with the Arrigoni’s in the past, and this was no exception. They are a family of love and joy, and it is contagious! Their adorable daughter Grace is their delight, and she’s one of my favorite kiddos to photograph!
Look at her expression!
I absolutely love this picture! I look down at my tummy too, but it doesn’t look this cute.
Grace was hamming it up for the people in the alley. This was supposed to be a all together family picture, but Grace needed room to perform.
Another one of my favorite pictures.
You’ve seen this one in color from the preview, but I had to get it in here in black and white too.
Arrigonis, I had such a great time with you guys! Thanks again for the honor of working with you.
The first element to a good party; pizza. The second good friends. Third, knowledge that a good dessert will follow the pizza. Fourth, no inhibitions.
On Sunday, we had all of these elements. My cousin Julie and her family all have their birthdays in January. We decided that we should celebrate with a Wii party, which included pizza, lemon cheese cake (that I made from scratch) and guitar hero. First we tried a new pizza place in Black Diamond called Sahara Pizza, and it was awesome! That got our spirits in the right mood. Then we grabbed our guitars and rocked out. And I do mean rocked out. We sang along with the songs, Sammie (my two year old 2nd cousin) and I danced to the music as others played their songs, and then we ended it all with one of the best cheesecake ever!!! BTW, if you are a foodie and have never tried America’s Test Kitchen, you are missing out. That’s where the cheesecake recipe came from, as well as all of my other recipes. Check that out next…
Oh, I guess Sammie didn’t dance the whole time. She did stop for a while and pretend to eat the cheese from her play kitchen. Ah to be two again.
You may think the face is innocent, but he was killing us softly with his song (and outrageous score)
Julie pondering how she’ll beat us…
Chad going straight to “medium” hardness on his first attempt.
This is when I was playing one of my favorite songs “Eye of the Tiger”. It doesn’t get better than this.
