Not sure how it is already the end of October! The weather this time of year always makes things very interesting...lots of finger crossing hoping the scheduled sitting hours are in the small rain-free windows we get between the downpours. So far the rain gods have been with me this year and most of the sittings have been dry. This next little guy was a unsure about how the morning would go when a strange lady arrived w/ big black cameras. He made his mom a little worried that he drag his feet the entire time. But I never worried. All boys like to play, it just has to be a little more on their terms. When we started off in the sandbox smiles started emerging and we were off. I LOVE boys with their trucks and tools! And hugs for mom...I really love the image of the big embrace. This little guy LOVES his mom! Such a great morning much fun was even though we had grey skies above.

I have been looking forward to photographing this next family for over a year. I photographed them in the fall of 2008 and one of the images from that sitting still remains a favorite of mine...
The following year, this little girl was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma. It is incredibly difficult to fathom how her and her family's life was turned upside down. I reached out to her mom and offered to photograph their family but her mom really wanted to wait until Katie was free of her feeding tubes and treatment. They have spent the past 3 years battling the cancer and this year Katie was diagnosed cancer free. I was so excited when her mom emailed me to schedule a sitting. I could not wait to see this little fighter again in person. And she definitely did not disappoint me. She is absolutely incredible and I really struggled narrowing down all the images of her to my most favorites. I am really lucky to do what I do and connect with little inspirations like Katie...and her mom, who so gracefully soldiered through her little girl's treatment sharing the highs and devastating lows on Caring Bridge. I hope these images bring them all many smiles for years and years to come!!

The sun was out and it was a perfect day to climb a tree.  I always love it when girls start scaling trees without pause for fear of heights or dirt.  A great day spent with a great family in one of the greatest green spaces in the city, the Arboretum.

These three little ones were so easy and fun to work with.  Not one fussy moment or a tear throughout the entire shoot.  I think it may have something to do with their wonderfully relaxed, yoga teaching mom. We wandered the neighborhood and had such a great morning together in the sunshine.  Seeing the three kids interact and also show their independence was great.  I had to put together a little collage of them with their mom.  It is was so apparent how much her kids love her and her go with the flow approach to the sitting made everyone shine.

This may have been the longest I have gone w/o posting.  I wish I could say I have been on a 3 month sabbatical traveling the world but I really just stepped away from keeping this blog super active.  I have continued to photograph great families and am looking forward to the fall colors coming to the Seattle landscape and capturing smiles amongst the leaves.  I feel fortunate to feel like I am on the journey of a lifetime (better than an around the world trip...seriously) meeting, interviewing and spending time with subjects for The World In My Backyard.  You can follow along on my blog to see some of the incredible people I am meeting.
For now, I will share a few pictures from the most recent sitting I have done.  I have photographed this family since the oldest was a baby. It was so fun watching these kids laugh and love together!  Really amazing how much time has past since I first met this family.  It is a honor to continue to capture memories for them!

The launch of The World in My Backyard

I have been waiting (and working) for months for this day.  I am beyond excited to announce the launch of The World in My Backyard.  Head to www.worldinmybackyard.org to learn all about it and follow this journey as it unfolds.  Share it with your friends, family and kids.  It is changing my life and I hope it can touch many others.

As soon as I snapped the first picture of this beautiful girl for her senior pictures I knew it was going to be an easy hour of work.  I know this cliche is over used but this young woman is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  She will be leaving in Seattle in a few months and starting her next phase of life in our nations capital.  I know this girl is going to impact lives in big and small ways.  You just can't help but smile when you look at her pictures!  I have been super busy working to launch my new project that I hesitated to share my recent portrait work because the images are straight out of the camera but I think these are worth sharing.  And I am adding a few that we took w/ her mom.  One of the main reasons this girl is as special as she is!