Archive for March, 2010

Often, I get asked questions about what to wear when clients are preparing for a session. I will be starting a series of “What to Wear Wednesday” posts to give ideas for family photos, children, etc. My first installment is an example of what to put a family in… I imagine this families photos in a field, with the sun giving a bit of a hazy look. Notice how everything goes together, but is not perfectly matched. This is one of the best ways to put together your family’s clothes for a session… think about colors you would put together in an outfit, or in your house, and then design your family’s outfits in a similar manner.

All clothes can be found at The Gap

I have been meaning to start adding some content giving tips both for photographers and non photographers. Today, I was getting ready to start my Tip Tuesday posts, and I came across a wonderful post on Over-editing Mistakes in Photoshop. A lot of photographers make these mistakes when they are first starting out, or when they are still in the process of learning their editing software. It also is common when a non photographer discovers the different editing platforms out there and thinks different effects look so “cool.”   It is not necessarily that some of these editing ideas are bad, just that using them without thinking, or without knowing what you are doing can be create some crazy looking images.  Has anyone ever seen a photo where the child’s skin looks orange?  That is usually from someone using an action, or processing an image without learning how to properly edit separate pieces of an image. 

So my first tip of the week is to Think Before Editing. Think about the effect you are trying to achieve, whether the effect will work with the specific image you are applying it to, and whether you need to worry about erasing the effect back off of the skin of your subject.

Thanks to Jodi from MCP Actions for allowing me to share this link.

Melissa and Kevin Engaged

March 23, 2010

What a joy it was to be able to take engagement photos for my sister and her fiance. They show such happiness together and I am so excited to see them in their new life together. Looking forward to the wedding in Summer 2011! Congratulations Melissa and Kevin!

Engagement RingSeattle Engagement MossSeattle Engagement the look
Seattle Engagement CollageEngagement in Tree

So, it is time for everyone to start learning a little bit more about me.  As my clients, I will be trying to get to know you so we can get the best images, so it is only fair for you to get to know me, right?  Each Friday, I plan on listing five things about me… it could be what is going on in my life that week, basic info about me… anything that I think would be fun to share.

  1. The first fact is just a basic intro to my family… I have been married to my wonderful husband for three and a half years.  We have an adorable 17 month old named Mattea Grace who keeps us on our toes.
  2. Baby giggles and little toddler hugs are the best things in the world… they really brighten your day.
  3. Hockey makes me smile… tonight my parents and Brandon and I are taking Mattea to her first game.  It is a playoff game too, so it should be tons of fun!  Hopefully Mattea can handle being at a sporting event that long… 17 month olds do not want to sit still for long.
  4. I am so excited for the UW basketball team.  They are Pac-10 champs and made it through the first round of playoffs!  Go Huskies! (Can you tell I love sports?)
  5. I love the spring and am so happy that it is making an early appearance in Seattle… beautiful flowers started blooming in February, the sun has been shining, and we are supposed to have highs at almost 70 degrees on Saturday!

Since I feel the need to add a photo to my posts, here are a few from one of my favorite places… Washington Park.

I had the opportunity to take maternity photos for Leanne the other day.  She has such the perfect little belly… I had a hard time deciding which photos to post because they were all gorgeous.  Leanne is getting ready for her little girl, Eva (don’t you love the name?) to arrive and she couldn’t be coming into a more adorable family.  Oh, and Leanne is also an amazing knitter… check out her etsy store.  Some of my newborn photos have used her beautiful hats!

Seattle Maternity Photography- Leanne3Seattle Maternity Photography- Leanne2Seattle Maternity Photography- Leanne