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 by Terri

Maddy turns THREE | {Whimsical}

Just over a year ago I had the pleasure of meeting this beautiful little girl and what fun it has been to see her grow and change this past year. Her mom (and aunt) and I have a working relationship for our businesses and that has been a joy…such great women and so talented…not to mention kind and thoughtful…and I must say that sweet Maddy is definitely following in her mommy’s footsteps! With a birthday the day before Halloween, how could we not have the session at a pumpkin patch and so we all met at Spooner Farms in Orting and we were closely watching the weather that day. It was one of those days “between” the dry days, but it was dry that morning and we all had our fingers crossed that the rain would hold off until after our session.  So, we were successful…for part of the session, but the little bit of rain that did come down didn’t dampen our spirits or run us off, we were able to get in everything we wanted to and had a great time – despite the rain! Let me tell you this is such a fun family…they love to laugh and play and it’s evident just how much Maddy’s parents love her…she is truly the apple of their eyes! Although, I must say, that next spring, Maddy will be competing with a new family member for a bit of her parents attention…which is exciting and I know that they have more than enough love for another child!

Look at this cutie…does that smile just not grab you right in…she is a sweetheart!

And, those eye are beautiful…

You can see that Maddy is quite the character…she knew what she wanted (like stomping in the mud!!!) and loved to laugh, but when she didn’t want to smile or was done with the photos, she let me know…I love a little girl who knows what she wants!

Maddy, cuddling with her mom in the corn stalks!

Cousin’s Abby and Lily (and their parents) joined us that day at the pumpkin patch…couldn’t resist some of the cousins together…how cute are these three girls!!

I love these two photos above, it’s refreshing to see such love and admiration between a parent and child….what blessing they are to one another! And, you can see that Maddy and her daddy obviously have a good time together!!

And the rain came, but it didn’t stop us and Maddy had nearly as much fun with the umbrella as she did with the mud puddles!!

Is this not the SWEETEST face you’ve ever seen….just how do her parents say no to her?!!

Love this…such a beautiful family…besides that is what’s most important in life, family and sharing together!!!

in Children / Families / Uncategorized 6 comments
 by Terri

Sydney | {Stunning Senior}

Wow, I must say this is one of my favorite sessions, but I want to preface it with the fact that this is my niece, so I’ve had more freedom with her session and we have PLAYED a lot with our time together.  We started out in my studio a month ago, then the next day moved to the “graffiti garages” in Tacoma and the last stop (about a week ago) was in The Dalles, Oregon, where she lives and is a senior at The Dalles-Wahtonka High School this year.  So, there is a lot of variety in her photos, but that is a good way to describe Sydney. She is the youngest, her older sister is a junior in college, so Sydney is the last at home and is enjoying her senior year, having lots of fun with friends, working hard in her classes, taking some college courses, playing sports, involved in the ASB, and is a member of the 4H (won the top award for her goat at their county fair)…this girl is the whole package! She has goals for her future, ideas about what she wants out of life, plans for the next steps and yet, still realizes that she can balance all the parts of her life to make it work. Can you tell that I think pretty highly of her? Well, I do…and that is not to say that her older sister (Samantha) is not just as amazing, because she is…their parents have done an incredible job raising two beautiful and well adjusted girls who will both be very successful in whatever they do in life!

So, back to Sydney, she is beautiful, tall and graceful, athletic, very social, has a GREAT laugh and very kind and thoughtful…and so in having the privilege of taking her senior photos, I wanted to try and capture all aspects of who she is…hopefully, I have done just that. We had lots of fun, did lots of laughing and goofing around and in the end, I at least love her photos…and hope she does! So, without further ado…here are MANY photos of Syd…as we call her…enjoy!

Sydney has this idea to recreate a photo or something similar to one she saw of Lady Di…I don’t know about you, but I think she is way prettier!

I love Syd’s laugh…so contagious…what a beautiful smile to go with it!

Last shot of the day at the Tacoma graffiti garages…couldn’t resist this shot…good thing it was covered as it was raining….what’s new!

As you can see, we had fun and Syd is tall, so jumping is easy for her and she can get quite high…it was fun and there was lots of  laughter during our day in The Dalles!

This old house that Syd was sitting in the doorway of was a perfect setting for our photos…it just seemed to fit her…lots of character and so many stories within!

You can see, we had fun, being silly and showing that serious isn’t always the way to go…

Isn’t Sydney beautiful…what a delight to photograph, a natural beauty who is SO sweet and down to earth!

I love this photo and when I found this quote…it just seem to fit Sydney…and I couldn’t resist adding it to the photo…it all seemed to go together perfectly!

in Families / Seniors & Teens / Teens / Travel 2 comments
 by Terri

Isaac – Class of 2011 {The Dalles Senior Photographer}

A week ago today I had the pleasure of meeting Isaac who is a senior this year at The Dalles Wahtonka High School and will graduate next spring. Fall around the Northwest can be beautiful, but it can also be “not so nice” and we were fortunate enough to have something “in between” which worked out just great for my session with Isaac, although you will see in the last photos, there were raindrops, but we both persevered and finished up, none the worse for wear! What a nice young man Isaac is, with some great goals and ideas about his future. He plays three sports for school, football, basketball and tennis and is undecided about whether or not to play a sport in college. I’m pretty certain that whatever he chooses, he’ll do well and find a good balance between athletics and academics. Unfortunately, he broke his collar bone in the first football game of the season this year and was hopeful that the doctor would release him to play in the play-off games in the next weeks…I’ve got my fingers crossed for you, Isaac and will check and see if you got the okay! As for college, this young man has some great choices and has been accepted in nearly, if not all, of those he applied to…now the tough part, figuring out just which one is the right now. He’s interested in engineering and from just the short time I spent with him, I can tell, he will be successful in life…he has a confidence about himself that will carry him far in life…a bit quiet, but hey, who wouldn’t be with some strange woman with a couple of cameras and asking you to do all sorts of things! I must say, that it’s not so easy to be on the other side of the camera, so I give props to Isaac (and all my other clients) for sharing some of “themselves” with me and allowing me to capture some special memories of them…for their family and friends!

 If you look closely at this, you can see the raindrops…boy, did we ever have good timing! Thank you, Isaac and Marie (mom) for allowing me the opportunity to capture some commerative photos of Isaac!

in Seniors & Teens 2 comments
 by Terri

Abigail – Seven Months Old {Family Photographer}

The past month has been a busy month for me and I’ve been out of town more than I’ve been home…but I’m not complaining, it’s all been GREAT! You saw the photos from the trip to Utah that my husband and I made last month. Well, a few days after returning home from that I packed up again and this time flew off to North Carolina. I spent a couple of nights with a good friend, Cindy Hamilton, and her husband, before Cindy and I headed to Knoxville, Tennessee for a photography workshop. That was an incredible experience and I hope to post a blog about that (when I have a bit more time!) and all the wonderful people I met there. After the workshop, I rode to Nashville with some other fellow photographer friends, Karol Grace and Susan Patton, and spent a night with Karol and her husband before heading back home! My flight didn’t leave until later in the afternoon, so sweet little Abigail, who I photographed this past summer during a visit to Tennessee,   (Baby Abigail)  helped fill my time before I headed back home. Her “Nana” arranged to pick me up and we met Abigail and her mom and her  other Nana at Centennial Park for a fun little session. Boy, has this adorable little girl grown, she’s just as cute, wait, cuter….and so very sweet! It was my pleasure to see all of them and capture some more memories of her first year for her family! The weather was nice, a bit bright, but we found shade and stayed cool during the session. At the very end, after I said we were finished (warning…I tend to say that and then there usually ends up being at least one more spot or set of photos!!!)…I spied The Parthenon, which is the centerpiece of this urban park in Nashville! It seemed like the perfect spot…this incredible piece of architecture with this precious little baby, the two just had to meet! Before this, Abigail was getting a bit hungry and ready to be finished, but once we plopped her at the top of the stairs, she was a delight, her smile came back and she seemed to be quite happy to be the center of attention! The end came and it was time to say goodbye to Abigail and her mom…sad to not know when I’ll see them again, but we are scheming to figure out how I can do her one year photos…it would be disappointing to miss that special event!! Enjoy this cutie….her smile just warms your heart and those eyes…well, you can see for yourself, they’re amazing!

“Nana” Brenda tells Abigail a secret…such a wonderful moment between the two!

Abigail with her mom, Allison on the left and with her other “Nana” (Sharon) on the right…how wonderful they are all close enough to share special times together!

Little bitty Abigail…looking to the future which has endless possibilies before her!

Loved so by both of her Nana’s…isn’t she a luckly little girl!

The star of the show…she’s thanking everyone for attending her command performance!!

See what I mean when I say “the eyes” – aren’t they just stunning and it’s as though you can see into the future when you look into them!

I just love babies little fingers and toes…can’t ever resist these sweet parts of precious little ones!

in Babies & Bellies / Families 6 comments
 by Terri

Sneak Peek – Sydney {Puyallup Senior Photographer}

 Well, technically, this isn’t a senior from Puyallup, but she was visiting and so therefore we’ll call it “Puyallup!”  And, to be totally honest, this is my niece, who I must say is gorgeous…look at her…she’s as sweet and nice as she is beautiful! For now, you’ll have to be satisified with just this one photograph as I’m heading out of town EARLY tomorrow morning…my flight leaves at 6 am and I’m headed EAST! I’m spending two days with a great friend and wonderful photographer, Cindy Hamilton, and then we are driving to Knoxville, TN for a 6 day workshop on portraiture…I can’t wait…SO excited to learn new techniques and how to improve my work…because you know you can ALWAYS improve on it! So, it’ll be quiet here for the next week or two…unless I get inspired (and some free time…which probably isn’t going to happen, free time, that is!) and can post some of our work from the workshop! For now, enjoy this beautiful young woman, Sydney, who is a senior in The Dalles, Oregon and will graduate next spring…more to come later this month!

in Seniors & Teens / Teens 2 comments
 by Terri

Back from Vacation…

 Hello there…and if you were wondering where I’d gone…just know that I didn’t fall off the face of the earth…nor did I fall off a cliff, although we were hiking along many during vacation. My husband and I took nearly 2 weeks and flew to Salt Lake City and then traveled through the national parks down there. It was FABULOUS and we loved every minute of it…despite the fact that it wasn’t a “resting” vacation…it was just as wonderful! And, we got more exercise during this time that probably any other time in our lives…we were on the go every day, all day long…and it felt great…even the tired feet and sun-burnt lips (yes, that was me…used chap-stick, just didn’t have spf in it the first couple of days…I quickly learned!!)…all well worth it! If you have never been to any of these parks, we HIGHLY recommend it…they are amazing…actually, visiting any of our national parks is a real treat…we have so much to offer in our own country and really, not that far away…check them out!

Our first stop was Arches National Park…which was wonderful and awe-inspiring! The arches were truly amazing and we loved our time there…well, maybe not all our time there as we were staying in a motel (Days Inn) that was AWFUL…and when I say AWFUL…I  mean it…the good news, no bed bugs, but outside of that, it didn’t have a positive thing about it…and unfortunately, every place in Moab (the town we stayed in) was booked full while we were there…ugh…but we survived and that made each place there after even more enjoyable!!

Above, the Courthouse Towers in the morning sun and below the Landscape Arch late in the afternoon…so much to see there!

Next up was Canyonlands, a smaller and less busy park…it was as beautiful as the first and here we took our longest, toughest hike! We hiked a canyon which sounded pretty easy, but after over 4 hours and 6+ miles…hiking down into and then UP and out and back around…we were exhausted, but sort of surprised that we’d made it and were still standing…and after a few more bottles of water and some food, we were ready to go again! That same day we also visited Dead Horse State Park, which is between Arches and Canyonland…and that is where the Green River merges into the Colorado River…very pretty and we were there for sunset, though not a ton of color…it was still beautiful!

The photo above shows a section of rock (slickrock…that really isn’t slick!) that we actually climbed up…and then down…yikes, what were we thinking?!?

Dead Horse State Park at sunset

From there we headed to Capitol Reef…again, a smaller park and not quite as busy (we liked the “quieter” parks…as the bigger ones had TONS of tourists…and I mean “non” American tourists!! We were truly a minority at the larger parks!). We stayed in a town called Torrey…VERY small and not much there, but the motel was wonderful (another Days Inn) and we had dinner our second night at the most wonderful place, everything was spectacular about it…and as we left, there was a glorious sunset (no camera…or I guess I should say, just the little one!).

Petroglyphs that were carved on the rock cliffs…totally amazing!

Next, we were on to Bryce National Park which has the rock spirals and woodoos…which are incredible…you look down on them and it’s unbelievable that they’ve actually formed these just from nature….truly unbelievable! We also took another good hike here, down into the canyon, so we could get a different perspective on them, looking up…that was a wonderful hike…not as tough as the one from Canyonlands, but still a longer and more strenuous one.

From there we headed West, with some quick stops at Cedar Breaks, Kolob Canyon (north end of Zion NP) and Grafton (a ghost town)…before arriving in Springdale where we spent our last few days and explored Zion National Park. Again…a truly amazing park. It has tall canyon walls and cliffs that are incredible…and we even saw a couple of people climbing one…and evidently, they had been working on it for two days when we saw them…WOW…can’t EVEN imagine that! Zion was the only park where we couldn’t drive to the stops ourselves, they have a wonderful shuttle system that is great and really was a nice way to talk with others visiting the park, either while on the shuttle or waiting for one.

Fabulous fall colors from the Cedar Break area!

From Grafton ghost town, just outside of the entrance to Zion NP

Above, the moon above a cliff in Zion…and below, the Virgin River….looking up the canyon narrows

Back at home…and as with any vacation, there is the usual to catch up on…laundry, mail, house and I have some work that didn’t get done before I left, so have that on my plate as well!  Of course, one of the nicer things about coming home…sleeping in your own bed….ahhhhh, that felt so nice last night…after four different motels in the past two weeks, coming home to ours was a real treat!! Today…my first day back, I had a “Mimi day” which is one of my most favorite of the week…when I watch our granddaughter…she’s truly a blessing in our lives and I’m blessed to be able to have her a couple of days a week. Mind you, I don’t get much work done on those days, but who cares…time with family and those you love is more valuable than any work time…at least in my opinion!

I hope this finds you all doing well…enjoying fall and hopefully, some nice fall weather! I do love the fall, the colors, the crisp cool mornings and the smell of dew in the evenings…and as my husband likes to remind me…it’s time to start cooking some “cold weather” meals…like soups, stews, casseroles, etc…so bring on fall!!

in Just Because / Personal / Travel 0 comments
 by Terri

Two Beauties…and their parents {Puyallup Family Photographer}

 A perfect way to start a day… a session with a lovely family. This family met me at my home and we headed to a nearby park as it was dry and not too cold, so we figured we would shoot outside, which proved to be just perfect! The girls, Sarah and Natalie were GREAT…they loved the park and were especially excited about the ducks on the pond! It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm for the outdoors…and neither one of them was afraid of anything (well, maybe the goose…who isn’t so nice!) and I think if given the chance, would have wandered right into the pond to get closer to the ducks! Girls who aren’t afraid to get dirty, who don’t let anything hold them back…that is these two girls…and their parents were relaxed and just enjoyed watching them BE!! It was refreshing to see such a happy family that seemed to just appreciate being outdoors on this beautiful morning…and I appreciated that they were relaxed and trusted in me to capture some moments in a day of their life!

Sweet little Natalie…said to me “Miss Terri, see the ducks!”  It was so cute…

Sarah, is precious…very kind and yet, definitely FULL of life, which is exactly what every four year old should be…she was a delight!!

Daddy and his girls…such a heartwarming moment…nothing is more touching than seeing the connection between a parent and their children!

Natalie definitely is a happy little one…the only time she got a little fussy was when she got hungry and a handful of raisins completely recharged her…at least through the rest of the session!

Isn’t Sarah a beautiful girl…look at those eyelashes…and that smile just lights up her face…she has such a great spirit!

Ahhh…rocks…this was quite entertaining…and I wonder why we buy toys for kids when they absolutely LOVE playing with pebbles and gravel?!

Dad and Mom or otherwise known as Tom and Karen…what a kind and loving couple…they were so much fun during this session, it was a my pleasure to spend some time getting to know them and their girls…what GREAT parents they are!

And, here’s that smile again….can’t get enough of it!

LOVE this shot…mom and dad are so natural when together and these two sweet little girls of theirs are obviously their greatest joys in their lives! 

Tom, Karen, Sarah and Natalie…thank you for a fun morning session…this should hold you over until I have the gallery ready for you to see all the photos from that day…there are lots more that I think you will like!

in Children / Families 2 comments