Mother & Daughter Shoot ~Beth and Miss "A"~

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of photographing another wonderful friend of mine, Beth, and her baby girl, Annie! Miss Annie was a "surprise" gift to her family, with 3 older brothers and no plans (at all) of having any more kids. I remember the day Beth called me, and we were chatting. I had just found out I was pregnant with Jordan. She asked me when my due date was again and then she said, "Well, that neat. So, I'm due about 3 weeks after you." WHAT!!!!!! Total shock. But so fun. God has a sense of humor. We laughed together, groaned together, and commiserated over our growing bellies and bickering children. Beth didn't find out what she was having before the baby was born, so everyone was on pins and needles, anxious to hear what the new baby was going to be. When the word came that she had a baby girl, I sure there wasn't a dry eye within her circle of friends and family!!!

Jordan and Annie have had several playdates and our older children are close in age as well, so it's always a great excuse for the mommy friends to chat, too. Beth asked me to take some photos of little Annie since she needed to add to wall of photos at home. From there, we laughed, giggled and got her little angel to give us a taste of her personality! Here's some shots from our time together...

The weather has been crummy lately so I cleared my bedroom, opened the windows and turned on all the lights, hoping to make it as bright as possibly with the fading light.

Little "A" has the roundest blue eyes. They seem clear, like pools of water.

I LOVE this one. We had her stuffed into that basket, but I was able to grab this.

She resembles her brothers Sam and Jack in the picture so much, the chubby cheeks and wide eyes.

Mother and daughter together. Beth has an amazing, calming spirit about her. She's lovely, inside and out and I know her daughter will follow in her footsteps.

Today, I also spoke at my church's East campus MOMS group on taking creative pictures of your kids. I've spent so many years just being mom (not that that is something to sneer at) that it almost baffled me that I had expertise to give on ANY subject. I LOVED it. The women had great questions, it's something I'm passionate about and thoroughly enjoyed sharing with others. Thank you, ladies, for your warm welcome!!!!

maternity shoot~baby girl "O"

Today I had my first maternity shoot. Erin and I have been friends since 1999. We spent the summer as coworkers and roommates at Cannon Beach and it is still one of the most memorable times of my life. We instantly bonded. I can't believe how malnourished and underpaid we were but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

She is due with her second child, a girl, in about 4 weeks, and she wanted to document this part of her pregnancy. I feel so honored and blessed that she asked me to take some wonderful pictures of her. And the girl is so photogenic that my job was CAKE!!!! So I trekked my stuff to her place with ideas in mind and we spent the next hour or so crawling all over the bed, trying to make different angles work, doing different poses, using each other's ideas. I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon!

On of my favorite shots. Her walls are so nice and bare that it made the backdrop perfect for artistic photos.

Erin has THE. BEST. EYES!!! EVER!!! They are huge and blue, with lashes that go on forever!

What a beautiful pregnant profile.

Don't we all wish we could be as radiant at 9 months pregnant? She couldn't take a bad picture if she tried. :)

I love this because I know how sarcastic her laughs were: "Ha, ha, I just LOVE being so big and pregnant!" And of course her dog, Ruben, wanted to be included.

We really wanted her little boy to be involved, too, however as with most 2 1/2 year olds, that's not as much fun as the Backyardigans. But he was so good and well behaved while we did the other shots and put up with us to nab a few shots of him hanging out with mama! What a doll.

LOVE THIS: "Oh, well, we tried!" :)

What a handsome little guy. He helped me out in the beginning while I was setting my camera with the right light. What a doll, and to listen to him talk is so fun!

No firm decision on a name yet...

And here's a few shots from the baby's room!

location, location, location

Today I set out to find locations that I can have on my radar to suggest to clients when booking photo shoots. Some people may come to the table with their own ideas but it's also good for me to have my own list of go to places. I had a few places in mind that might work, but I needed to scope it out better. This proved to be a bit difficult while toting around a 10 month old baby, but she was a trooper. I drove around, snapping footage of locations and then when back later that afternoon with my daughter to "test" to landscape with a model. It was a busy, yet profitable afternoon. Reagan was so great, always ready to pose, smirk or smile for me. And boy was it cold. But it was clear and bright.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but more of what I had time and energy for today. Maybe one of these will spark your creative side and you can see or your family here getting your portraits done!

This is in the parking lot of Crossroads Church, in Vancouver, near Costco. These rock "benches" would lend themselves so nicely to larger groups of people, easy to sit or lay on. There's a little pond and the bridge is great, too. There's more than meets the eye than just a parking lot!

We also utilized the buses. Vintage cars, a junk yard, things of that nature, can lend themselves to being great props at a shoot.

This location is right up the street from my house, a pretty blah, open field at first glance. But it too could be great for bigger groups of people with it's wide open landscape.

This is a rock wall on 137th Ave. in Vancouver, near Alberton's. This is near where I took my first shots of the kids. I love the texture of the vines and in the spring and fall the colors are GORGEOUS. Great for senior portraits and close ups!

Now we moved a little further northeast to the Hockinson area. This is an abandoned house that has a for sale sign near it by the road. I probably wouldn't use this location partly because it's private property (oops) and partly because it's spooky. But I wanted to snap a few shots anyway.

This is down the road, still in Hockinson. This is great architecture that I love the colors and symmetry of the building. The church bell isn't part of this building but was pretty cool so I took a few shots of it anyway.

I hope something's caught your eye. I have a few other locations that I've lurked around that I know are great for photo sessions as well, I just haven't gotten to them yet. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, I'd love to answer and chat with you. ~Koren