Happy New Year!

I had to share this little gem my dad took while he and Judy were here for Christmas. We took a stroll to Benham Falls - and he captured this beautiful view just above the falls...

(literally... not upstream, ABOVE!)

Gorgeous lady!

Miss Becky Yoder of Four Daughters Photography was lucky enough to win a headshot session at the Bend Moms for Mom's Holiday Hiatus- and here are a couple of my favorites!

LOVE your new 'do, my dear ... and am so inspired to add some color to mine!

I saved the best for last...

Today was a full day. 

Three sessions in the studio - picked the kiddos up from {last day} of school - and off to our first experience with dance recital rehearsals. Max did great.

Here are a couple of sneak peeks from each of my sessions - and yes. I saved the very best, for the last.

{awesome job, son!}

She'll make you smile. Promise.

I have often said that I love telling stories - but this story is not mine to tell. I've simply spent a few {fantastic & inspiring} moments with this beautiful lady - and am honored to share her photographs.

Suffice it to say that:
I live in an amazing country of freedom and opportunity.
I am lucky enough to hug my children every night.
I am humbled & feeling incredibly grateful for every single stitch of my comfortable life.

Thank you, Naomi, for bringing these things into sharp focus.

And thank you, for your infectious smile.

HOT off the press... so to speak.

These have barely cooled down after our morning session at the studio.

OH. I'm in love.

How could I not be?

His first smile (at least in pictures...). Must be a sweet {milky} dream!

Snacktime. Between shots... I do love this behind the scenes peek!

PS. Worlds best dog. Truly. 

Family History - a Pearl Harbor first-hand account

This is a link to a 15 page PDF of the account my grandfather wrote back in 1991.
It is a compelling account of his first-hand experience of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, and includes a few newspaper clippings he scanned as well.

I'm so proud to share this, and keep this family history alive.

Click here to read the story - new link - there was a missing page...

On a {collage} roll!

With my surgery last year - I was completely behind on our annual family photo projects for 2010. In fact, I still haven't done them. BUT, I am determined to not fall behind this year. 

Hopefully I won't regret being ahead of the game - I'm sure NOTHING earth shattering will happen this month and I'll regret doing our year end collage early. 

{yeah right}

Coming up for air to give thanks!

It's been a busy fall - and I'm blessed with work. So much in fact, I've fallen behind on keeping this blog filled with projects and photos. This is the perfect weekend to take a breath, and reflect on my many reasons to be thankful for all that I have... 

for my beautiful family,

my amazing clients,

my health and keeping good humor (most of the time at least...)

for opportunities

for my history - and my family's future

for technology that allows me to work & share stories (including our own)

for pomegranates and goat cheese (together) with good wine

for a life partner who puts up with me.

Beautiful Baby...

Remember this beautiful canvas?  Well... the little one inside, has been welcomed into this world, and I had the fortune to create these images for mom & dad.

Dad (Chad Fox of Cindercone Clay Center) created this amazing platter for his little one to rest upon.

Unusually wide awake - here she is making faces at me. 

Don't let her fool you. She's not sleepy.

LOVE this. Holding hands with mama....

Toes. {love}

Have patience... and you are rewarded. The best kind of reward.

This photographer is grateful...

It does not go unnoticed that I am a very lucky lady. 

I live in an amazing place, have a beautiful family and enjoy freedom to live and choose my lifestyle.

I'm taking a humble moment to thank the men and women who have served our country. 

Thank you.

This image was photographed at Broken Top Club last year, as the Marine ROTC color guard passed during a wonderfully patriotic day. If you'd like to enjoy a moment or two of patriots honoring marines... click here for a slideshow of the day.

Get the news!

Sign up for my newsletter and enter to win a free mini-session!

Use this QR code, or Click Here, to sign up for my Photography Newsletter. Published when I have news to share - or specials to offer (including photography workshops), I promise to keep your email addresses to my own sweet self - and not share with SPAMMY folks!

Free mini session includes one short & sweet 15-20 minute session in-studio, and one 5x7 print - and will be drawn at random from folks who sign up for my newsletter through the link above (and no other links "out there.")

Enter by November 30th, winner will be announced December 1st, and session must be scheduled by December 15th... and you'll be able to get prints in time for  Christmas!

*** OFFER CLOSED -  Congratulations Kim Martin! I'll be in touch soon for scheduling details!

A Friday Diversion...

I had a post all ready to share - and then I got an email from my dad.

I couldn't help but sharing this image – it's too yummy not to see. So, enjoy this bit of the Oregon Coast, by way of my photographer dad, Gary Irwin!

Check out more of his work HERE. Leave a comment on his site if you like what you see. It would truly make his day... And if you are interested in a print - let me know. I think I want this on MY wall...

{love ya, dad - I KNOW you'll see this!}

Halloween Parade!

Here's a slideshow of a few of my Halloween visitors at Studio 3 on Saturday! What a sweet parade!

Happy Halloween from the "boys!"

Rex & Cinnamon wanted to wish all of you a happy {and safe!} Halloween!

Fathers and Daughters... and pugs.

I have boys. Of course I'm protective of them as they grow and experience life. But, I'm not so certain that compares to the feelings a father feels for his daughter. I know I'm making generalizations, but I do think it must be a little different...

For that very reason I'm in love with this image of a father holding his baby girl. I can imagine him protecting her throughout her entire life - with those caring, gentle & strong hands.

{love}

Now that I've made myself tear up... for some comic relief. Meet Miss M's "other" protectors...

For the love of it...

You know how dogs love to stick their heads out of a car window and just let the wind throw their ears back? For me, that seems to evoke the simple joy of living... last night - I got to stick MY head out of my car window (don't worry, I'm being figurative).

Along with most photographers in town, I'm in the middle of the Fall Portrait season - and its been busy. Combined with a busy household & sports schedules - I'll admit I feel BUSY. While it doesn't take away from the fun I have when working with clients - I found myself yesterday shooting simply for the love of it. And it was fun.

The stars aligned (schedule, weather & model) and I was able to play with lil' Miss M. Thanks, mama Jenna for bringing her out to play!

Monster James returns! More Monster Making Classes!

Join "Monster James" for a FUN and creative Monster Making Class - for ages 6-106! See flyer for details!

I know the last one was a ton of fun - as my 7 year old can attest!

Halloween Portraits - coming THIS Saturday to Studio 3!

Don't miss out on this opportunity to get great photos in your costumes this year!

Then and Now...

From today's portrait session in the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, I was inspired to post these two photographs of Mr. Tom. They are taken one year apart - as he is beautifully held in his strong daddy's colorful arms.

Mr. O's 6-month "Check-up"

I love it when I get to see clients more than once a year! Fun for me, and even better for the parents, as they come away with amazing photographs of their little ones that they will treasure forever. 

Today, Mr. O and big sis, Miss M came on by... and treated me to lots of smiles & fun.

Thanks for the visit!

If you are interested in a "Year in the Life" package (which is great for all ages of kiddos) - drop me a line! I'd love to chat about the options!

Rockin' Max

Playing in the studio last weekend... and I had my trusty light tester with me. How has this boy become so grown-up?

*sigh *

Fall is here - time for pictures!

It's that time of year again! You truly can't go wrong with giving the gift of photography for the holidays - and it really is time to update that family photo! Don't miss out on this great time of year to tell your family's story - before it changes forever!

Announcing my Fall Mini Sessions - with 2 packages sure to please! 

Call, text, email - FB... whatever! 

Just be in touch to schedule these short, sweet & most of all, painless photo sessions!

Click on the image to enlarge, if necessary.

A themed photo shoot - Celebrate!

My partners & I at Studio 3 just celebrated our first year in business together. To celebrate, we threw ourselves a birthday bash during the Last Saturday Art Walk in the Old Ironworks District, and decided to show each of our interpretations of the word "Celebrate" in photos.

While I'm accustomed to shooting for assignments for True North Parenting, I'm not necessarily used to shooting along a creative theme - and it took a bit for me to wrap my head around how I wanted to approach this task.

If you're interested, here was my thought process - and if you're not, no worries... skip straight to the photographs below.

For me photography has always been about my family. My passion is truly being able to capture images of our lives together, and be able to share, reflect & preserve them for future generations. It was a logical conclusion for me, then, to tie the word "Celebrate" into some sort of family activity. 

We'd played around with light painting, off camera flash, and long exposures last summer, and I wanted to see what we could do with it in studio. The boys thought it was fun to act and freeze in silly poses while I ran around and drew in the air with a flashlight - and my dad (a wonderful photographer of "things that don't move " ~ his words) was in town as well... a perfect combination, right?

Well, the best laid plans...

Together, we got the studio set up, tested out a 10 second exposure and were ready to play. My dad manned the shutter release, my husband served as the timer & protector of lights... and I tried, in vane, to literally paint with light while our squirmy boys did their best to not knock over anything. It turned into a bit of a circus - as we had limited time to get it right, the batteries wavered in the flashlight - and the fuse of the mama got shorter and shorter, until it was simply time to go home on this school night and call it a day.

I was fairly convinced we didn't get anything I would have been proud to display - until I called upon my trusty tablet... and my love of drawing. 

While you can see the light painting in the blue present image below (the glowy white light behind the blue) - I've pretty much covered up the rest of the evidence of the light painting with playful drawings of images the boys came up with when they thought of what it means to Celebrate.

In the end - these images are perfect in their imperfections. It wasn't what I had envisioned in the beginning, but it was a beautiful lesson for myself that it's not about the destination - but about the journey. 

And for me, this particular journey with my family is truly a reason to Celebrate.