Congratulations Sylvia & Dave! 9.17.2011

  

I had the pleasure of documenting the festivities at the wedding of Sylvia and Dave  on Saturday September 17th at the lovely Tailskid Meadows in Custer, WA. My "work" was made ridiculously easy with such a loving couple, a gorgeous location and a whole bunch of happy wedding guests (with super cute kids!) I've included a selection of Sylvia and Dave's wedding photos in the slide show below - for more please visit this album on my Facebook page!

Catching Up With Evan & Co.!

I got to spend some time awhile back with one of my favorite little guys, Evan and his awesome mom and dad, Samantha & Isaac. I'd gotten used to seeing this happy little family every four months during Evan's first year so after almost a year between shoots, I was really missing them! We got together at the tot lot in Cornwall Park (one of the best shoot locations I've found for for the toddler crowd) to mark Evan's second birthday.  Of course I found Evan to be the same sweet natured, energetic, extremely expressive boy he's been since the beginning - and still cute as ever with that head full of gorgeous red hair!

Downtown Girl

I cannot believe how far behind I have fallen on blogging! I'm going to do my best to play catch up this week despite having a bunch of editing to do, some website updates to make and a Halloween costume to sew. I'm finally taking a moment to share some of my favorite images from a senior shoot I did with beautiful Malaena back in August. I first met Malaena a few years ago when she was a junior bridesmaid in her dad Felipe and step-mom Trisha's wedding and I was so happy when Trisha contacted me to schedule an appointment for Malaena's senior portraits! I knew she would be a lot of fun to work with and she was : )

I think of senior portraits as a big kid's first real opportunity to express who they are to family, friends and the world at large. With this in mind, I prefer to leave the decision of shoot location to the senior. Malaena is a girl who, like me at her age, dreams of getting lost in the big city. Naturally she chose downtown Bellingham for her backdrop and we had a great time roaming around downtown's colorful and wonderfully textured streets and alleys, talking about our shared dream of exploring the streets of New York City : ) I hope Malaena doesn't have to wait as long as I have for this dream to come true!

Welcome to the 'Ham, Time In Play Cafe!

For the past few weeks I've had the pleasure of witnessing the birth of my friend Hedy's new labor of love - Time In Play Cafe - located across the street from the Whatcom YMCA at 311 Holly Street in downtown Bellingham. Saturday October 1st marked the grand opening of the cafe and I was on hand to document the super-fun festivities! I am really excited about this new addition to the downtown core and think you will be too once you see what an amazing place Hedy has created for you and Bellingham's kids! Unique in its concept, Time In is at once a quintessential downtown cafe (featuring a menu filled with locally-sourced, mostly organic yummies, made-to-order Hammerhead Coffee as well as beer & wine selections from local brewers and vintners), a retail consignment shop and gallery, an available space for party rentals (where I am partnering with Hedy to offer event photography!) - all while also providing 2200 square feet of warm, dry, INSPIRING  play space for kids of all ages! I'm completely convinced Hedy's new business is going to be a huge success in Bellingham and I seriously suspect we will soon be seeing spaces like Time In popping up all over the soggy Pacific Northwest: )

October Rate Special, King County Travel Date and Autumn Quick Shoot Day!

Greetings! I hope this message finds you and yours happy and healthy : )

I'm writing today to share the details of a special on photo shoot rates as well as my planned date of travel to King County and information about a Fall Quick Shoot Day in Bellingham!

* Rate Special: For the month of October 2011, I am offering my one hour photo shoot for $200- a $50 savings! The shoot must be scheduled & completed during the month of October and other discounts may not be applied to this special rate. Please contact me if you'd like to arrange an appointment for this month! Nonrefundable booking deposit of $50 applies as usual, with remaining balance due at the time of service.

* King County Travel Date: I am tentatively planning to travel to King County on Saturday October 22nd. I'll be available for appointments after noon that day and can probably do three full shoots and possibly a few 30 minute Quick Shoots.  Of course this is all weather permitting, as usual! I'm reserving Sunday October 23rd as a back up travel date. The King County travel rate of $75 applies but will be split between all clients booking that day. Please let me know right away if you are a King County client interested in booking an appointment with me for the 22nd (or 23rd!) Shoot location is TBD.

* Autumn Quick Shoot Date: I am planning a Quick Shoot Day at Cornwall Park on Sunday October 16th with a back-up date of Sunday October 30th in case of rain. The rate for a 30 minute Quick Shoot is $100 and yields 15-20 color images. Nonrefundable booking deposit of $50 applies as usual, with remaining balance due at the time of service. Please let me know ASAP if you are interested in participating in this fall's Quick Shoot day!

Additionally, I will not be scheduling outdoor appointments during the month of December so it is important that we get your shoot scheduled in October or November if you want photos to share for the holiday season! (I will still do in-home and in-studio shoots for maternity, newborn, first year and intimate portraiture.)

Please let me know if you have any questions I may not have answered here and please do forward this message to friends and family who might be interested in taking advantage of the October Rate Special or participating in Quick Shoot Day! Looking forward to seeing you this fall!

All the best!

Sandi

Happy Wedding Day, Sylvia & Dave!

I'm prepping to leave soon for Tailskid Meadows to help Sylvia and Dave celebrate their wedding day! It's a gorgeous, breezy late summer day here in Bellingham and I can't help but think it's a lovely day to get married. Congratulations, you two!

Twins! (No, Really!)

If you're like me, you'd probably never guess the two little girls pictured above are siblings, let alone twins! But twins they are and boy, did we have fun playing in Cornwall Park last month-  a far cry from our first attempt at a shoot on a frigid morning last December when I failed to crack a single smile from either of the girls! After taking a look at the photos created that miserably cold day, I let the girls' parents RaeLyn and Justin know I was scrapping all of them and to contact me during warmer times for a do-over. Photos hold within them emotions and memories and I definitely did not want this family to be forever reminded of a miserable experience when they looked at the photos I created for them. No way! Better to take the time necessary to get it right, I always say : )

My Kid Rocks

Reenacting Mom's favorite FarSide cartoon : )

Asher started his sophomore year of high school today so I figured now is a good time to share some photos from a little downtown photo shoot that he requested back in July. No, he's not emulating The Blues Brothers here (we had to show him on YouTube who they even were!)... he was actually preparing for a solo vacation to visit family in Michigan and reeeeeally wanted to wear a suit on his flight and managed to sucker his dad into buying him one. Why a suit when he was flying into the middle of a massive heat wave? Asher is a rabid aviation fan who spends a lot of time practicing his piloting skills on flight simulator - I suspect he intended to look the part just in case circumstances required him to land the plane. Instead, it seems every one on the flight mistook him for a flight attendant : )

Asher has enjoyed wearing costumes since he was old enough to put them together - even to school on random days that have nothing to do with Pajama Day or Homecoming Week. I've always admired the confidence he has to walk into school dressed as an astronaut or member of The Dharma Initiative - I would never have been interested in drawing this much attention to myself in school! I guess he really gets the whole "be.who.you.are." thing ; )

Baby Makes Three!

I met Vanessa and Jesse a few weeks ago for my first attempt at a full shoot in my new studio and I'm happy to say that it went well despite somewhat cramped quarters. I had a great time working with these two and love the photos we created together - and for these reasons I'm really, really sad that we met just before they were moving home to Montana and won't get to meet their new baby! Thankfully Vanessa assured me she will send photos when he or she arrives... not quite the same but I suppose it will have to do : )

Welcome to The World, Noah Lane!

Noah Lane .  July 6, 2011  .  8 pounds 3 ounces

The last time I saw Erin and Chris, I didn't expect to see them again until our newborn shoot after the arrival of their baby boy, but as she was approaching his due date, I managed to talk Erin into allowing me the honor of documenting his birth- with the caveat that I was going to be leaving town on a camping trip for four days and that I probably would not actually be available when the time came! With very limited phone service on the coast, Erin and I kept in touch as best we could. When I didn't hear from her or Chris for the last day and a half of my vacation, I headed home figuring the little guy had already arrived. So imagine my delight  the morning after my return when I woke to a text message saying Erin's water had broken and they would let me know when they were heading to the Birth Center! 

I was called to join Erin and Chris just before 3:00pm. When I arrived I found Erin  dilated to six centimeters and laboring hard in a warm pool of water with contractions coming one after the other and barely a moment to rest in between. I was immediately reminded of my own extremely painful, "fast & furious" birth experience with Asher and could not help but wonder if Erin actually wanted me to be there- and was fully prepared for her to tell me and my camera to get the heck out! Thankfully she didn't seem to mind my presence and I was there to capture little Noah's entrance into the world at 3:56pm... a healthy, mellow baby boy whose only cry in the three and a half hours I was there came when midwife Kim Bauer forced one from him! I happily stayed for a few hours after his birth so I could document Noah's introduction to big sister Kajsa - who was anxious to count some toes and share the birthday cake she'd made with grandma and auntie earlier in the day : ) Please enjoy some of the images I captured on the day of of Noah's big arrival...

Dear Erin, Chris, Kajsa and Noah, thank you kindly for allowing me to be part of such an intense and simultaneously fabulous day in your family history! I hope these pictures soften the painful memories and bring smiles to each of your faces forever. Much love!

What a Wonderful Day!

 

Last month I had the pleasure of joining my dear friends Lindsey, Jeremy, Parker & Everly for an entire day of fun in their most favorite place in the world- and what a wonderful day it was! Many years ago Lindsey's grandparents built a lovely little cabin on the hill above Skagit Bay near LaConner, WA and I'd been hearing about their fun times at the cabin for years, always with a mention that I'd have to visit them there sometime! We attempted to plan a day for me to join them while the tulips were blooming in the Skagit Valley but weather and schedules didn't allow for it this year so when I heard their next planned cabin get-away coincided with an open day for me, I gently insisted on making it work : ) We packed the day full with explorations of nearby Hope Island, a tasty lunch at LaConner Brewing Co., a bit of roaming around town and a visit to Christianson's Nursery- my new favorite place to get my green thumb fix! Editing photos is not my favorite part of the photography process but this time I thoroughly enjoyed reliving this wonderful day with my friends! I can't share as many of the photos here as I'd like so I created an album on my Facebook page featuring more... you can find it here!

Another Happy Little Family!

Last month I got to spend a little time introducing my friends Jill, Matt & Merit to the wonders that are Woodstock Farm! We had so much fun exploring the grounds, throwing rocks in the mud and checking to see just who among us loves butter (all of us- go figure!)What a fantastic time with another of my happy little families!

Happy Father's Day!

 

My guy Chris with his boys Dylan, Austin and Connor!

Wishing a fantastic day to all of the wonderful Dads I have the true pleasure of working with every year- and especially to the one seen above, who I get to "work" with every day!

Shenanigans

 

One might think taking pictures of people modeling clothes would be pretty boring when you are used to racing around parks with kids all the time, but that definitely was not the case with the cast of characters gathered by my friend Erin Boyd of Red Boots Design for our latest photo shoot. I was planning to share some of the regular old boring model shots featuring Erin's newest designs but while editing these babies instead decided it would be way more fun to share the "behind the scenes" shenanigans of our models Brian, Shannon & Matt - I'll leave the posting of the product shots to Erin : ) You will find these designs and more in Erin's Etsy shop!

A Happy Little Family

Several years ago during my last quarter at WWU I needed one credit left to graduate and decided I should kill two birds with one stone - finish up that credit AND get over my fear of being in deep, dark water by taking a sailing class! I spent that summer quarter frolicking on the water at one of my now favorite places- Western's lakeside property, Lakewood. Imagine how excited I was when the property's on-site caretakers Erin and Chris invited me to document their soon-to-be expanding family at their home on the lake! After a bit of belly-focused time  inside while we waited for the docks to clear of college students, we headed out for some shore-side fun! I had such a fabulous time documenting the two of them playing on the docks with their adorable, water-loving daughter Kajsa Mae and happy lab Solli that I really can't wait 'til I get to return in July to meet the baby boy currently residing inside Erin's belly! What a happy little family...

An All Around Great Day

 

Andi & Jake

May 1, 2011

I believe that in this world there exists an ever-present balance between all things- that at any given time on any given day, the bad and the ugly aspects of our world are meeting their match against the good and the beautiful. The wedding day of Andi & Jake offers an exemplary case: at precisely the time this  lovely young bride and her heart full of love made the walk down the aisle to greet her waiting groom, in another world half-way around the globe, the quintessential face of hate was being eliminated from the opportunity to ever practice ugliness again. I honestly cannot think of anywhere I would have rather been at that moment than surrounded by this fun group of people celebrating LOVE!

And what a wonderful wedding it was- from boys twirling in skirts (errr... kilts!) to  the heartfelt ceremony to the cake cut with a sword to Andi's a cappella serenade from her new husband and a few of his friends - this was an all around great day to be part of!

Please Join the Celebration!

Join us for this year's very special Soulstice Celebration when we finally unveil the completed Soulstice Studio while celebrating the return of the sun to the Pacific Northwest! Come see for yourselves the magic Chris and I have worked on a dilapidated old garage : ) We'll provided the cold beverages, warm campfire and s'mores fixins... you bring your happy selves and a healthy, summery snack or dish to share with the crowd. Festivities include a drawing for a free photo shoot so you don't want to miss this one!

Rain or shine!

Happy Mother's Day, Ladies!

Sending a heartfelt wish for a wonderful day to all the beautiful, dedicated, conscientious mamas I get to work with every year! Have a fabulous day, ladies!

Picture Day Has Never Been So Fun!

One of the benefits of periods of slow business is that I actually have time to work on projects that have been rolling around inside my head for years! The project receiving my recent attention is the addition of school portrait services for private & preschools - which I'm finally prepared to announce to the community! Never a fan of the traditional school portrait featuring an ugly backdrop and smiles made of “cheese!”, I am excited to provide Whatcom County’s private & preschools with a fun alternative- not only creating school portraits that parents will actually cherish, but also taking time to document the children in their learning environment, creating beautiful candid images which will be available for purchase  by parents and by schools for website use and other marketing purposes. Picture day have never been so fun! 

I have created a variety of affordable  portrait packages as well as á la carte rates for individual prints, and options for schools to purchase digital files and professional slideshows. Below is a sample of a customized My Class & Me memory mate as well as a slide show featuring variety of my favorite candid images captured during my visits to Gardenview Montessori in Bellingham. I've also created a full gallery of images which may be found  in the School Days gallery on my website! Please contact me for additional details- I'd love to work with your school!

Blast From The Past!

Last fall I was surprised to receive a message from a childhood friend who had seen my photography work via Facebook. As kids, Nicole and I lived a few miles from each other and for years had ridden the school bus together, becoming friends in high school when we played on the school volleyball team and later became co-workers at the burger joint near our homes. I hadn't seen Nicole for more than twenty years so I was really excited when she called on me for family photography! 

Whenever I do a shoot with new clients I always ask for a general description of the cast of characters I'll be working with so I can be at least a little prepared for what to expect. Nicole described them as a very close, easy-going family with daughter Hailey being her "social bug," son Hunter the more reserved of the two and her husband Brian as the family's funny man. She could not have been more dead-on with her descriptions and I think their photos demonstrate it perfectly! I had such a great time with all of them and it was such a joy to catch up with Nicole while I "worked." What a special shoot this was for me to do!

Andi & Jake

When I met with Andi & Jake last fall to finalize the booking of their wedding photography, the last thing we did was set a date for their engagement shoot. As anyone who has worked with me knows, every appointment for an outdoor shoot that I schedule comes with a "weather permitting" clause.  As  it turns out, four months passed before we had a weekend that was dry enough or warm enough for either Andi or I to even consider venturing outdoors for a shoot! With their May 1 wedding quickly approaching, I was starting to get concerned! Finally, Mother Nature relented with a little Sunday afternoon glimpse of spring and we jumped at the opportunity to get the shoot done. I suggested Woodstock Farm as our location since I was anxious to see the finished results of the work the parks department has been doing there all winter! It was nice to get outdoors again and have a little fun working with a couple that is obviously very much in love : ) It won't be long now til I rejoin these two on their big day!

Sisters!

It's the dead of winter here in Bellingham which means I'm not doing much shooting lately, but I did have some fun a couple of weeks ago with Danielle and Suzana, a set of sassy sisters who were willing to brave the cool temperatures for a photo shoot together while Suzana was home from Arizona for a family visit. We met at Boulevard Park on a bright but chilly morning, and while we didn't last long, we got some pretty darn cute shots of the girls and I'm  very much looking forward to seeing them again with their whole family this summer!

Can You Say 'Lollipop'?

Never one to abide by the rules, I've long encouraged the kids I work with to drop the 'cheese' while doing group photos and say 'lollipop!' instead... let's face it, when you say 'cheese' you get CHEESE, and besides, lollipops are a lot more fun (until you're an adult anyway - imagine the confused looks I might get if I encouraged everyone to say 'Jalapeño Gouda!")

Most parents have some form of bribery tucked up their sleeve when they arrive at a shoot so I thought, why not take the pressure off the parents and bring along my own bag of tricks? And what better than for my tricks to be in the form of  LOLLIPOPS! After about six weeks on back order, my shipment of these colorful little treats arrived last week. Yesterday I borrowed my neighbor Hannah  so I could share the news with you. Now I'm looking forward to business picking up again so I can see how my ploy works! 

ps: I promise I will always ask permission from parents before mentioning the presence of lollipops : )

Welcome to the World, Jasper!

Just one week after I'd visited the home of Catriona, Chris and Ruby came their sweet baby boy, Jasper Ian. I returned a few weeks later to find one nap-refusing two-year old, one banished-from-the-house cat, two visibly exhausted parents and one very mellow newborn. Sounds about right, no? I had such fun documenting this family loving on their new addition and just as much fun editing the resulting images. It's not often that I am compelled to create the majority of photos from one shoot in both color and black & white but this shoot worked beautifully in both. Perhaps I will share them side by side on in a Facebook album and let you decide which you prefer! Until then... enjoy!

Last Days As a Family of Three

I had two reasons to be happy when Catriona from Gentle Hands Midwifery called to schedule an appointment for a family shoot prior to delivering her second baby. First, I'd first met her daughter Ruby when she was about 10 months old after a birth Catriona and I had both attended and I knew right then that I wanted to take pictures of that little beautiful girl! Second, I realize the days as a "between pregnancies" family are fleeting and I think it's so important for expanding families to capture that little slice of their life together before the "expansion" arrives! 

A few weeks ago I got together with Catriona, her husband Chris and now two-year-old Ruby to celebrate their last days together as a family of three and had a grand time documenting them in their home. Ruby and I became fast friends and I learned quickly she is every bit as expressive as I imagined she would be. Here are some photos that I love from our first shoot together... I'll be back very soon to meet the baby brother hidden inside that belly!

Look What I Got For My Birthday!

 

You may have heard me talk about the studio my boyfriend Chris has been renovating for me since August ... for the past five months I've been waiting as patiently as I am capable of for it to be complete. It turns out we just needed a little nudge in the form of a birthday to get things done enough to move in- which we did on Sunday afternoon! So here I am on my 42nd birthday, sitting in my gorgeous new studio!! We aren't quite done yet - the track lighting project has just started, a new work station is in the works and we still need to order a couple of cabinets from Ikea. The chair on the right will get a new lease on life with the textured black fabric below and Chris and I are going to collaborate on a cool coffee table design I have in mind! The exterior is going to be resided and everything should be ready for public unveiling by our Soulstice Celebration in June! How blessed am I to have such a beautiful, inspiring place to work? And how fortunate am I to have a man  in my life with such fabulous skills??? (Thanks, darlin'... best birthday gift EVER!)

 

We scored that window at The ReStore for a mere 50 bucks! Oh how I love turning a bargain into something beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, I have plans for the glass on that door but I'm not telling yet : )

 

I could not resist this fabric when I stumbled upon it. It's so perfect for this space!

 

This isn't a birthday gift but rather the Christmas gift from my sister. I've been meaning to share for the past few weeks and figured now is as good a time as any! How cute is that? It's Kate's design, made by the lovely artisans at The Vintage Pearl. It was my favorite Christmas gift this year and brought ears to my eyes when I opened it : )

Are you ready for this? Here are some  before shots of the room you see above. No really! It's hard to believe a crooked old shack had this beautiful room in its future! I still can't believe it's the same place! 

Congratulations Janet & Brannon! 11.26.2010

I had the honor of documenting the at-home wedding of Janet and Brannon on the day after Thanksgiving, 2010. Together the couple and their families transformed a workshop into a little chapel of love and created a lovely place to celebrate the beginning of a marriage! Despite freezing temperatures and snow on the ground we managed to sneak outside to capture some outdoor shots featuring the last remains of fall color. It's obvious to me the love between these two is capable of melting hearts and snow alike!

A Special Day for Cecilia

Last month I was honored with an invitation to attend the baptism of my dear friend Naomi's new daughter Cecilia. Of course I immediately asked if I could document the ceremony and my friend happily obliged : ) Here are a few moments from Cecilia's special day with her parents Naomi and Aaron, and her godparents Auntie Jocelyn and Uncle Kevin!