Oh Nora, I Adore-a You!

It was a day filled with babies as immediately following my shoot with Joaquim I went directly to prepare for meeting with sweet little Nora. These two beautiful babes were born three days apart and I met them both when they were newborns, so it was really fun to see them both on the same day! The two shoots were very different in nature though, as the afternoon sun was too bright for outdoor shots and Nora's mama really wanted naked baby pictures : ) (Who doesn't love a naked baby?) I love the way a simple black backdrop makes the photos all about the baby's features and creates such a dramatic effect. Nora didn't hold back with sharing her expressive side with us and we spent most of our time together laughing... not a bad way to spend your "work" day! Here are some of my favorites...

And this is how we know when a baby is D O N E...I was so glad I captured that expression... look at that face!

Baby Joaquim Discovers Spring

One of the reasons I prefer shooting outdoors with my clients is because I really love documenting the expressions that occur when a little one discovers something new in the natural world. It's especially fun with babies who are experiencing everything for the first time! Little Joaquim was born in mid-September so both of our previous shoots have been done indoors and I was very anxious to get my little buddy outside. With its beautiful field of wild narcissus in mind, I knew Woodstock Farm was just the place for Joaquim's spring photo shoot. The ground was a little wet with morning dew but we plopped this boy down in the flowers and let him get on with checking things out...
Of course getting the pretty yellow petals into his mouth was Joaquim's primary goal...
We don't usually do a lot of posed family shots like this but I made Mark & Hedy try one this time. How cute are they? What a happy family : )
I really love shooting at Woodstock Farm because it offers such a variety of backdrops for photos. You wouldn't think these photos were all taken at the same place!
I saved my favorite shot for last.... I LOVE Joaquim's smile and I am so glad I got one more shoot with him before his first tooth broke through!
You can see Joaquim's photos from previous shoots here and here!

Seeing Double... Plus One!

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with not one but two families with twins on the same day! It's always so fascinating to me to experience the relationship dynamics between siblings who have literally been together since day one. I have worked with both of these families (who met via a support group for parents of twins) in the past... and was very excited to see everyone again. We were supposed to do our shoot at the tulip fields in Mount Vernon but freezing temperatures and threats of thunderstorms and snow forced me to look for another spring-like location. It turns out I am so thankful for that awful weather because without it I would not have discovered Woodstock Farm, a new addition to the Bellingham Parks Department. The property is accessible by foot only, but on my first visit there I was lucky enough to run into a Parks Department employee with the power to give me ongoing permission to park there for shoots if I would share some of my photos for the park's website. Yey!

Thankfully Mother Nature blessed us with a warm, beautiful spring day and we had a great time exploring Woodstock Farm together. The last time I photographed Dawson & Cole they were two years old but I have a good memory for faces and, to Mom's surprise, I was able to recall which was which right away! I had so much fun with these cool little dudes whose personalities could not be more different! Dawson, who is sweet and calm, stuck close to my side during most of our time together while rambunctious funny man Cole was off and running from the word go!

Checking out the stinky sheep who reside at Woodstock Farm.

After I'd gotten Dawson and Cole thoroughly worn out and muddy, it was time to meet with my next family, who has been with me since the very beginning of my business! This was our fourth and maybe last shoot together as they may be moving out of state soon- which makes me pout every time I think of the possibility : ( I've been watching Anais, Maelle and Camille grow up for the the past two and a half years and I had visions of taking their senior portraits! (You can see a few shots from our shoot last September here.) It's funny to think Anais and Maelle wanted nothing to do with me on that first shoot together and now they are ready and willing with the poses at all times : )

I have a much harder time telling these two apart and have always had to use some sort of cue to help me keep them straight. Last fall Maelle's hair was longer than Anais's so it was no problem but this time I had to drill "Anais-Pink, Anais-Pink" into my head in the first minute!

Little Camille was only four months old when I first met her and it has been fun watching her personality emerge... she is quite the little talker and you can count on a constant commentary with her around. She gave me one of my "classic moments" when I was stooped down to get a shot of her mama & sisters, and she, walking behind me, announced... "Me see your bum!" (Darn low-rise jeans!) After exploring the farm we headed down to the beach where Mom reminded the girls that it was okay to get as dirty as they wanted : ) It wasn't long before Maelle discovered the exceptional "suction-ability" of the mud around here and ended up getting a little dirtier than she wanted! (Papa too!) This is probably my favorite shot of the day... Maelle wasn't feeling much like smiling so Anais gave her a little hand : )