And the Award goes to...

I am continuing to work on the large family session that I mentioned before. As I said Goldie and Gary have 10 children. Camille is their oldest. As I arrived at the location that we were going to take the pictures Camille greeted me first. I knew right away she was the oldest. She was so organized and helped me get everyone where they needed to be when they needed to be there...I kept teasing her the she was the C.E.O. of the group!

I also decided as I was preparing these images that Camille and her husband, Ian, have the most fantastic smiles...therefore they are the Smile Winners of this session!

Camille and Ian your kids were so fun to work with. Camille, I thought it was so cute that your oldest wanted you near by to make him laugh and to make him smile! I also love that no one was afraid to breakout the "potty humor" either...what can I say that is the best way to get a genuine smile sometimes.

This young lady doesn't need much help to flash a beautiful smile....very quick to smile and happy!

And last but not least the youngest! I did a post about this young man and somehow it got deleted but it was super nice to meet him!

Prepare yourself...

Be warned that I will be using words like adorable, well behaved and fun, in abundance over the next few posts. This is one of the families from the group session that I mentioned in the last post. I want to point out that it was approximately 22 degrees outside during out time together and the kids did fantastic! All of them were extremely well behaved and how could we not have fun exploring in the snow for good spots to take pictures.

1+1=39

Over Christmas break I received a phone call from a women who I have admired for many years. She told me that her husband was having a birthday party and her entire family would be there. In my book any family gathering is important and special but this was going to be extra special. I understood how much it was going to mean to her to have this memory captured. You will understand too, after we do a little bit of math.

Did you know that 1 + 1=39. Well it just computes that way when you are a member of the Burton family in 2010. This is Goldie and Gary.

This is Goldie and Gary with their 10 children.

And this is Goldie and Gary with their 10 children, children's spouses and grandchildren....39, count them if you like!

I will be sharing more images from this session soon because I got to spend a little bit of time taking pictures of some the individual families too.

Dramatic...

How different things look in black and white. I was doing some final editing on this wedding and I just really liked how these turned out in black and white. It just give a different feel to the images. It is my practice to give a disc of all the colored images and a disc of all the same images in black and white.

So there is this kind of dramatic...

Oh la la, even more dramatic...

And then there is this kind of drama!!!

Love you guys and I just have to say it was a pleasure to work with you and your family.

Before and After...

One of the things I do to learn more about photography is to read other photographers blogs. I have noticed that several of them post before and after pictures of their images. I think it is a good idea. Because it gives my clients an opportunity to see an image before I work some magic in photoshop to make it look it's best.

I have considered doing a few before and after posts for awhile now. The purpose behind these posts will be to help my customers understand that taking the pictures is only half of the process of hiring a custom photographer. When I get together with a family to take their pictures my job is only half way done.

The other day I was looking at some images with a client and she asked me "what would you do to that image, it looks fine to me." What a great question!

So I am going to give you a little look into what I do to standard portrait image to make it shine. The first thing I do is to crop the image to make sure it is composed the way I want it. This one was pretty straight forward. For this image I wanted to make sure my son was the hightlight. So I lightened him up and darkened the edges. Therefore, the viewers eye is drawn to Bodie, representin' for the Raida's!!! Although, his skin is pretty buttery to begin with I did smooth out his skin slightly. I sharpened the overall image to ensure he was in focus.

All of this my not make sense to most of you, however, the images don't come out of my camera done. It is like cookie dough it is good as dough but when you put it in the oven and bake it turns into something better!

Just some of my favorites...

Just some favorites from the wedding that I did in the fall. What a fun couple to work with...I love the "wonder twins" pose with their rings!

You call this work...

As I drove away from this session, I was grinning because my time spent with this group of kids was a snap. Everyone was so helpful and didn't need much direction from me. Ethan even called himself a poser...I wish I could post all of the things he came up with!


We had to work quickly because we met around 3:30 and it is starting to get dark at 4:30 in Oregon. Brock didn't want to take his turn at first but he quickly changed his mind when I told him that his stuffed animal that he brought along with him was going to help me with the camera.



Amelia and I talked about the new movie Tangled. She said her Grandma took her to see it. I think she is a special little girl to get to go see that with her Grandma. As I opened these images I can't help but think Amelia looks a bit like the girl in Tangled. Don't you? Amelia was so helpful too. She wanted to hold my reflector for me and I asked her Mom if she could come with me on all my shoots.

Hayden, my forever blue eyed friend!!! We talked about her best friend in the world, Claire Bear. I know Claire too and knew the subject would bring a true smile!

Ruth was busy watching her brothers and Amelia came to the rescue and played peek-a-boo behind me to get Ruth to look. She sure is sweet. She even showed me how she can play pat-a-cake and wave!

Thanks again Amanda...I still think it was funny that as we walked back to the car we had 10 kids behind us! We Rock!

Welcome little one....

This is Sam. And if it was possible to bottle the LOVE this little boy had waiting for him as he came into the world you wouldn't be able to find a bottle big enough. You see he is the first Grandbaby for a very good friend of mine, Julie. So natually Julie is experiencing baby bliss. Sam has many Aunties and Uncles that have been waiting to spoil him and cover him with smooches.

Maria and Tom, Sam's Mom and Dad were at this session too. I got to see them in action as parents while I took Sam's pictures. Let me just say, they are pros!!! And have only been at this a week and a half.

Welcome Sam and Congratulations to the Thackeray and Burton Family!

More Family...

These folks, who happen to be another one of my brother and sister in-laws, contacted me about getting their family pictures taken and it was my pleasure. We met at the end of summer on their beautiful property. These two are just down right good people. Do you know what I mean? They want to do right by you and they want you to do right by them. And I love that!

And I happen to think that my sister in-law is one of the classiest women I know. She is just a blast to talk to and I have enjoyed every conversation. She is good people too! And did I mention GORGEOUS!


There is not a shortage of places to take a photo on their property. It is a photographers dream!





This is Jessie and she is such a sweetie. My kids adore her and love when she is around or we visit her. She is a cowgirl at heart but also knows her way around a soccer field quite well...GO JESSIE!

This young man is a senior this year. He is an athlete just like his sister. He loves playing with all the younger cousins at family gatherings...Adam you don't know how much Aunties appreciate that?

Drew is in college and was super nice to come and be part of the family photos. He had no problem coming up with some GQ poses for me. Thanks Drew!

One of my absolute favorite locations of the entire shoot happened quite organically. I was shooting Jessie and I turned around to see my neice Katia sitting in the grass and I told her to stay there. So perfect!

If you look closely at the next few images...they are all carrying guns...how cool is that! A first for me that is for sure. When Sandra and I set up the session she mentioned that she wanted some of the images to be processed this way. I hope you like them Sandra. Personally, I love them.

Date with Danny...

So, I got to spend part of my Friday evening with this little fella. Although, at first he wasn't giving up the smiles, on the cute-o-meter he is still off the charts!
Then he decided a little grin might be ok.

Then he showed me all the teeth he has been growing. In my family, that is a what we call a "tic-tac" smile!

Isn't he the best!

Oh, by the way. Danny brought his Mom and Dad too. They love him to bits...I can tell!!

Thank goodness for nice weather...

I was so thrilled to know that the weather was going to cooperate with me today. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to meet up with this Party of Six...

This family is, well, my family. Steph and Byron are my Sister and Brother In-laws. In-laws aside, they are one funny couple. They are parents to...

Sir Tamar, who was not giving up the toothy grin for me right away. However, he did let this one slip in and I caught it. Although, he is 10, he was looking much more like a college student to me. Listen to your Auntie when I say, "Stop growing up, would ya'".



Lord Joshua, made me work extra hard to get a grin on record. He quickly flashed this grin at me and I think it is a handsome shot! Well done Josh!


Miss Ellie, wasn't shy at all with the sweet smiles and she even gave a giggle or two. I am really like this one of her. Blue is such a good color on her!


Lastly, Mr. Nolan, who has never, ever, turned away from Auntie's camera, was giving it up for me. Way to go young one.

So Happy Together...

are the best words to describe these two.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Slade Thackeray!

I have known Brianne since she was a teenager. I have known Slade's family for about the same amount of time. When I realized that these two young people had met and where dating, I knew that sparks were going to fly. I knew this because they both have the best personalities, super talented and I mean look at them, they are beautiful people.

Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of this special day with you. I wish you all the blessings in the world!