Their mama had been dreaming of this shoot for months, so when she came to me with her idea I was so excited!
She made their dresses and bouquets, I brought the halos and crowns and together we made her vision come to life! When discussing the outcome she was dreaming of, she mentioned wanting the girls to be in a wooded or rich green and lush area. I knew that the backyard at my mother’s Washougal home would be the perfect place for our creation! We both loved the idea of the ivy, and how it made the girls the main focus of the session instead of the backdrop.
This session was so magical to shoot and edit! I really enjoy being able to do creative things in Photoshop to make parents images come to life.
I am excited to see these images printed out and hung up in the girls bedrooms!
This family is so special to me. I met Brad and Ashley when they were just days away from expecting their first son, Witton! I photographed them for the first time for Witton’s 6 month milestone session. I instantly fell in love with this amazing little family.
When it came time for their second son, Cruz, to arrive, they asked me to come document their home birth experience. These two people exude so much patience and love with each other and their children.
I met Ashley for coffee to chat with her about being a woman small business owner. It is so good to connect and refresh with another woman who owns her own business! Even when it’s not the same field, ideas can be bounced off of each other and plans for progress can be made! Ashley and Brad are health coaches! You can find their website HERE, and their Facebook HERE.
During coffee, Ashley let me know that she hadn’t scheduled her professional family portraits for the year yet… and also that she hadn’t printed out ANY of the images that she had paid to have done in the last few years.
We immediately got her on my calendar to schedule her 2019 family pictures!
AND I got to show her the amazing products my studio now offers, so she can have actual PRINTS in her hands!
Ashley used a service that I provide to my clients called “Style and Select”. She was able to style her family session clothing from this simple and easy to use service. We all know that choosing the family outfits for family portrait photos is one of the hardest parts of family picture time, right? I love that Ashley was able to style her family session with ease, and made it exactly “Them”.
When discussing the theme and style of her family session, we needed to find a location. She let me know that her in-laws home in Ridgefield would be a perfect backdrop for pictures, and it was! The property was amazing, and the boys had the freedom to run and be themselves! What a great way to document this part of their journey through life, and at a place they love!
Here are some of my favorites from the Miller Family’s sunset session!
This beautiful little lady was such a gem for her newborn session! She hardly made a peep!
Whites and creams for newborns.
Babies in white look so angelic to me. Newborns are so innocent and pure, and placing them in a white wrap on a white background just looks so divine. I have multiple backdrops, wraps, and bonnets for both boys and girls for the whites and cream setups. For Mia, I loved the lace backdrop that my mother gave to me.
Heirlooms
I love when parents have their own personal and unique items that we can use for sessions. Mia’s mama was wearing this gorgeous necklace, and we decided that it would be a gorgeous addition to the images. Adding in heirloom pieces to newborn sessions really personalizes them even more.
Monochromatic
I do love the monochromatic look for babies’ sessions. I feel that it places more focus on the newborn than the setup. And in this case, Mia looks stunning in this gorgeous blush color.
The Morris Family – Washougal, WA Family Photographer
Welcome to the Morris Family’s sunset photo session!
Many of you may not know, but this is my husband’s younger brother, Joshua, and his beautiful family! His wife, Elizabeth, is my middle sons piano instructor! You can find her studio information HERE.
I look forward to this session each year! It is fun for me to meet with Elizabeth over coffee, and plan their session out! We discuss the location and time of day, and also what colors and themes she would like for her professional family portraits.
Elizabeth prints out her images in large canvases each year, so she can see the progression of growth in her children. I love how she matches the clothing choices in her images to the decor in her home!
In these particular images, we decided to do a water theme and a sunset photo session. She often has a water theme for her family portrait photos, but this time we wanted to be IN the water! We chose Clark Lewis Beach in Washougal, and the results were gorgeous! The children loved playing in the water, and I like how we were able to capture them in their element playing together. Joshua brought along ice cream and cones for the family, so we were able to get some picnic-style images on the beach as well.
For her wardrobe choice this year, we planned it around her gown. She chose a gown from my studio wardrobe, and it came from The House of Flynn. I love the movement of the gown, how flowy and romantic it is with the wrap-around skirt and sweetheart neckline. It suited Elizabeth perfectly for her sunset beach session. The colors were stunning for this time of year as well, they were rich and vibrant, just like a sunset at the end of summer. I love how Elizabeth works with me to coordinate her colors. Everyone isn’t wearing the same item, but their colors each pull from her gown to complete a unified look for her images.
We always try and get some images of just Joshua and Elizabeth, too. She hangs those portraits up in her bedroom each year. I love the connection these two have with each other. It’s so fun to capture!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Joshua and Elizabeth’s family session from 2018!
Be looking for their 2019 waterfall family session coming up soon!
As you all know, the beautiful Elizabeth is my sons piano instructor. She has been teaching him since he was just a little guy. You can find her business HERE, and I highly recommend her if you or your child is interested in piano, guitar, or vocal lessons.
Elizabeth and Joshua are always up for something new and unique when it comes to their family images. And this year was no exception. They were looking for more of a lifestyle feel, as opposed to the posed which we generally do. I was pretty excited for that!
She knew she wanted the water, but also to be IN the water this year. We chatted and decided that Cottonwood Beach in Washougal would be the perfect location for her sunset family session!
Since this was the end of the summer, Elizabeth was wanting to create the warm feel that usually comes with this time of year. She chose sunset, which I absolutely love. For her clothing choices, Elizabeth wanted rich and bold colors that would compliment the end of summer sunset feel. She chose to wear a dress from my studio closet, which I ordered from The House of Flynn.
To go along with their lifestyle session feel, Joshua packed a cooler filled with ice creams and cones for a fun ice cream family time. I loved how the children just dug in to their ice creams, and how Joshua and Elizabeth started feeing each other from their own cones.
I hope you enjoy The Morris Family’s sunset family session!
Meet Jacob! I have had the pleasure of photographing Jacob’s cake smash in my home studio in Vancouver, WA since his mama brought him in for his 3-month milestone session! You can find that post HERE!
His mama is the FUNNIEST and sweetest woman I have ever met! And Jacob is JUST like her! He always has a smile for me, and is always for excited to come to my studio!
Jacob’s mama and I spent months planning out his first birthday smash session! She had so many ideas on what she wanted to do! However, it ultimately came down to the snowflake theme. Jacob was born during the seasons’ first snowfall, so his mama wanted to incorporate that into his first birthday theme!
We had so much fun during Jacob’s session!
Creating individual cake smash backdrops for birthday sessions is something I enjoy doing. I love tailoring each session to each child. I feel it makes it more personable and special for their session.
I encourage all my parents to utilize Pinterest for getting ideas on what they would like their child’s cake smash session to be like. A lot of times, the prospect of planning out a cake smash session can be daunting for parents! I often have them send me a couple of images of themes they would like, and then I go from there. Jacob’s mama liked that he was born in the winter during the first snowfall, so planning his session was a breeze this time of year. We wanted to use the blue backdrop to make his blue eyes pop, and the silver and white balloons to make the theme more winter-like.
I have a personal cake maker for each of my smash sessions as well. This AMAZING cake came from ducouer333! You can find her Instagram HERE. She takes such great attention to detail for each of my cake smash sessions, and no two cakes are alike!
Jacob was apprehensive about the cake at first, as often little ones are for their smash sessions. But after he got the hang of squishing his hands in the soft buttercream frosting, with a little help from mom, he was all over that cake! I enjoyed how he used the cake as a stool in the end!
I hope you all enjoy Jacob’s snowflake theme first birthday cake smash!
