An Afternoon in Verrado

I spent my last session in Phoenix with this super cute family in the just-as-cute neighborhood of Verrado. As soon as Robbie got out of the car he saw a butterfly, and we spent the rest of our time together searching high and low for polka dot, striped, and spider-eating butterflies in between shots. We never did find any, but I'm sure it's not impossible. Maybe next time we'll find one.

Robbie was such a great model, and was so excited to see Madagascar 2 once we were finished. I'm sure it was even better than he imagined. Once I got every smile out of him that I could, we turned him loose on the playground and got some shots of Mom & Dad together. They couldn't look any better together, and I love the color palette Heather chose for everyone!

Here's a tip: Having trouble deciding what to wear for your session? Do what Heather did. Choose a super cute, brightly patterned piece for one of your kids, and the pull colors from that pattern for everyone else. The end result? A perfectly harmonious range of bright color where each individual is unique, and not matching every other member of the family.

And I'll leave you with some good news. Although this is the last of the November Phoenix sessions, I will be back in the area next weekend (Dec. 12-15) and am booking sessions! If you would like to make an appointment, email me soon because sessions are limited!

Class of 2009: Rachel

I had the pleasure of doing Miss Rachel's senior portraits when I was in Phoenix a couple weeks ago. I thought I couldn't ask for better weather: sunny and nearly 80 degrees. I certainly couldn't complain... that is until my sister and I got in the car to drive to the location of the shoot. Large black clouds loomed in the distance to the east, and as we began to drive, huge, fat raindrops began to fall on the windshield.

I started to get a little nervous as the clouds got darker, and I thought "What the heck?? This is Arizona! It's not supposed to rain here!"

Luckily the rain and thunder part of the storm stayed to the east, and away from where we were shooting. However, a good amount of wind kicked up for the remainder of the afternoon. Which makes it difficult to shoot outdoors. But we pushed through, waiting for the split second of calm between wind gusts (which were few and far between). We ducked between buildings and found a moderate amount of shelter. And though the remnants of the wind still showed in the photographs, it wasn't anything I couldn't photoshop out.

Have I said yet how much I love photoshop?

Congratulations, Rachel, on graduating this year! Thanks for putting up with the wind with me!

A Family Session With Family

While I was in Phoenix a couple weeks ago, I was able to do a session with some family. My cousin was in town from Tennessee the same weekend, with her husband, for her 10 year high school reunion. So we took advantage of it, and got her family all together for a session.

The hard part about growing up is the separation that often comes in physical miles. My cousin, Rebecca, was born just three weeks before Robyn and I were. My family lived in Phoenix until I was 12, and for those 12 years, every holiday was packed with lots and lots of family. There's something about going back there (especially around the holidays) that causes me to revert to childhood. And as we sat around at brunch and talked about our careers, and marriage, and when we were going to have children, I couldn't help but remember the time Michael was raking leaves in the front yard of my grandparent's house. Robyn, Rebecca and I hid on the side of the house until the pile was nice and big, and he was very nearly finished. At the right moment, when his back was turned, we made a line drive straight for the middle of it. After two or three times of this, Michael threw his rake down, and stormed inside. And we immediately ran to the backyard and hid behind the shed from the expected wrath of our parents.

Today, both grandparents are gone, and that house is now home to another family. But the memories will always be there.

That's what I love about family.

This first series was actually at the very end of the session, and it is very much my aunt and uncle. I told them to stand over there and give a little smooch, and the laughter started because my uncle had apparently just eaten a very strong onion burger before the session. And the remnants were still very strong on his breath. It's my favorite series from the whole day.

More of Lisa

No long story from me today. I was able to get through all of Lisa's photos, and couldn't resist posting a few more of my favorites. Beautiful weather, in a beautiful location, with a beautiful model makes for some very fun and easy editing! Speaking of... time to tackle even more of it!

Awards and Flying South for the Winter

Some of you may know that one of the many hats I wear includes a part time job doing advertising design at The Bulletin, Bend's local newspaper.

I'm proud to announce that I recently received an award from the Oregon Newspaper Publisher's Association for their 2008 Best Ad Ideas contest.

For the Best Ad Ideas Contest, entries in 16 categories were judged by members of the Colorado Press Association in four circulation divisions. The ad I designed for the East Cascades Women's Group (above, which featured an Ethni photograph) took second place in the Best Institutional / Image Ad category for our circulation division.

I think I was in the third grade when I won my last award. The local fire department thought I drew the best picture illustrating why you shouldn't play with matches. Funny that I ended up marrying a man who bought me a creme brulee torch for Christmas a few years ago, and then played with it so much that it was out of butane by the time I actually went to use it for its originally intended purpose.

By the way, did you know that salt does not melt, clump, crush, or take on any other form when exposed to a constant heat source? I guess there's a reason we're called the salt of the earth in Matthew 5:13!

And speaking of heat source... I'm flying south for the winter. Or at least for the weekend.


Thanks to the wonder that is Allegiant Air, I can fly nonstop to Phoenix for dirt cheap, so I booked a last-minute trip to go there a week ago. Conveniently, my twin sister awaits me, the pool in her backyard readied, and margarita mix already chilling in the refrigerator. What was to be three days of doing nothing but those few things has quickly morphed into doing that, PLUS shooting portrait sessions all weekend. What more could I ask? Enjoying 80 degrees and sunshine, surrounded by family I never get to see, and doing my favorite thing in the world. with a whole new backdrop! Ok it's only less-than perfect because Josh can't come with me. But I will try my best to enjoy it without him.

Enjoy your weekend! I'll wave at you from the pool. Or maybe that will be me flagging down another margarita...