Family photography for 16? | Everett’s Best Family Photographer

No problem.

Meet the Kalahar family! We met up last Sunday morning in Stanwood at Kayak Point State Park. You know, Sunday? The day that it rained and poured and blew and was 54 degrees? Yep, that day. Waking up that morning, I took one peek out our bedroom window and my heart sunk.

It was absolutely miserable out.  Still, I made my way up to Stanwood and called Donna on my way up there. I delivered the bad news and estimated an 85% chance that the photo shoot that we had been planning for 3+ months and had people driving over from Eastern Washington for was not going to happen.

However, He had other plans for us. About 1.5 miles from the park I could see BLUE skies in the direction I was heading. The cove area where we did the shoot was the only place where it was not gray and misty. Cold? Yes. Windy? Yes. But dry. Everyone, all 16 people, fared very well and we ROCKED their shoot.

The proof is in the puddin’. Check them out!

A hammock & a vintage camera | Everett’s best child photographer

The best thing about having nieces? You can dress them up, build them a wispy hammock ‘fort’ and go to town and they LOVE it. And I didn’t even ask my sister’s permission first -SURPRISE!

I do have a confession…

As I was disposing of a dead mouse that our dog caught (I know, gross,) Lauren, the baby, was still hanging out in the hammock. I figured that with the abundance of pillows and blankets there was NO WAY she would tumble out. Can you see where this is going? Well, upon my return from mouse disposal, Lauren leaned forward (because she wanted to be picked up is my guess) and…. fell. out. Onto her teensy little noggin.

Thus there are far more pictures of Madison than Lauren. Lo wasn’t in too much of a photo-takin’ mood. Poor girl.

Moral of the story? Take the baby out of the hammock. And a note to my clients… I am always WAY more careful with your kids than with my own. Enjoy.

Olivia deLisle, newborn model.

This baby girl may not have slept but 10 minutes of our 2.5 hour session but she did not cry or squeal once. She was an absolute cherub! Very awake and alert at 15 days but a complete joy. Parents, Dr. Jason and Dr. Marisa were on hand for our get together and were the best cheering squad a 2 weeker could ever ask for.

The best thing about this honey girl? Her skin! I did not have to retouch her lovely roses and cream skin AT ALL. No joke, no hyperbole, no exagerration. I took care of a little milk mouth but that was it. Her downy blond hair was a close second favorite and big blue eyes a not-far-behind third. The session summed up in one word? A pleasure. Undoubtedly. Enjoy her sneak peek!

A special request… Dad is Canadian and a former rugby player.

A field, a family, and some photos in June. And rain.

Always with the rain! I have to keep reminding myself that it is indeed NOT April while I pull on my socks and long pants. I thought we were going to get lucky last night and have a wonderful, rain free photo shoot.

Nope.

But the Orsillos, Rick, Gail, Brendan and Aidan, and I, made the best of it and had a somewhat soggy picnic complete with picnic basket and glass bottled soda. I wouldn’t have changed it for the world, we had so much fun! Jumping, light saber fights, some Star Wars masks, comic books and angry skipping rounded out our evening.

I mean, just LOOK at the fun we had:

Ahhh… the sounds of photographers and their children.

Where the children tire of treats long before you stop offering and the mothers’ pants have more grass stains and mud than any toddler boy. Dana, from the fabulous Urban Utopia Photography, and Kara, from the equally fabulous Kara Rue Photography, and I, met up just yesterday at Discovery Park in Seattle for a shoot around. We also brought 6 of our 7 kids, 5 of which are 4 and under.

Needless to say, after over two hours of running around, bribery and jumping, the kids were exhausted and our memory cards were full. It was great fun and I look forward to getting together with these ladies, and possibly a few more, next month. And now, for your viewing pleasure, some of the fruits of our labor! Enjoy!!

What a photo shoot with toddlers looks like behind the scenes…

When I said ‘jumping’, I really meant it.

Meet Stella Lorraine. She is the sweetest, teeniest little dreamboat of a baby girl.

It is no big secret that the last few of my (completely amazing, wouldn’t trade them for the world!) newborn sessions have been with wide-eyed curious little things which can make my job (if you can call this amazing ride a job,) more challenging. I was beginning to think I was losing my touch! All the worry was for naught as Sweet little Stella reconfirmed my baby whispering skills. She was asleep the. whole. time. and did AMAZING. Great job, baby girl. You are a star.

I could not decide which I loved more… color or black & white…

This last image is by special request from mama and daddy. They met at the track. Sweet, huh?

Thanks for being such an angel, Stella. See you soon!!

Up on a mountain(ish) top…

 Earlier this morning I met up with the Ushikubos (whom we have seen before here) and the Kubotas. Takeshi, an Ushikubo, and Nao, a Kubota but former Ushikubo, are siblings. Takeshi and his family live here and Nao and her family are from Japan. But, no matter how you dice it they are all family.

Anyway, we got together and traipsed up what is at least quite a steep hill, I carried a couch (YES… a couch. Takeshi WAS nice enough to help me bring it back down) and we had a blast! The babies were almost on meltdown after about a half hour, but thankfully I was a photo NINJA and had already completed the session by then. Without further adieu, enjoy the sneak peek!

And now for my personal favorite:

That is the only way to describe this family. Meet Candace and her two babies, Maya & Sean. I have photographed Maya and Candace twice but this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of getting Sean in on the action. The kiddos did a GREAT job considering the temperature in our studio space was up around 85-90 degrees in order to get things ready for a newborn session that was occuring back-to-back with their session. It was tough for me to pick a few for their sneak peek. I hope you enjoy them!

I met her on her one week birthday, just yesterday. She is daughter to Jaime and Josh and sissy to Aidan and Caleb. She is also an auburn haired little Irish spitfire, all 6 pounds 12 ounces of her! She stayed awake for me for 3 hours; there was no way she was missing out on her first, of many, photo shoots. Of the 3 hours she was the star, there was suprisingly little crying. She did a great job and I’m sure took quite the nap after I left. Enjoy her shots!!

There is nothing like a sister for a best friend.

Or a wrestling partner, a secret sharer and later on, shopping partner. I had the pleasure of meeting up with some sweet little sissies… Meet Eleanor and Georgia.

The girls’ parents won the bid at a charity auction this winter benefiting  Seattle University’s Professionals Without Boundaries (PWOB) which CYE Photography had the honor of donating to. PWOB is a group of Seattle University professionals driven to empower students to serve and lead sustainable service projects that help people in need. A worthy endeavor to be sure.

For the girls’ photo shoot I brought along some vintage luggage, tu-tus and a cutesy umbrella. Let me tell you, lugging that stuff around Juanita Bay Park at 9:30 AM and enduring more than one concerned look from the morning’s joggers was worth it. These little ladies fell in love with all of my props (or ’clutter’ as my husband calls it) and their photos are SO STINKIN’ CUTE. Check out the proof below: