The Senior Citizen Project

About six months go I read an article in a photography magazine about a photographer (and I wish I could remember his name/location… I think I’ll have to go back to see if I can find the original article) who started shooting senior citizens in their retirement homes as therapy in dealing with his own parent’s passing. The article really hit a cord with me and I found the entire project to be both inspiring and a beautiful tribute.

Enter my own Gammy. Gammy is my 97-year old paternal grandmother with whom I have shared a very special and close relationship. When reading the article mentioned above, I was inspired to give back and start my own senior citizen project for no other reason than to give back. So my Gammy decided to be my first model… isn’t she just beautiful?

This one is my absolute favorite:

As a side note… The Mabster was running around in the background wrecking havoc around Gammy’s apartment while we were doing this shoot. She went into the kitchen (which I shoo-d her out within 2 seconds), but managed to turn on Gammy’s oven and setting a minor fire. Luckily, the fire alarm went off (after Maggie and I left) and the problem was quickly extinguished. However, Gammy will be the lucky recipient of a new oven now…

My mother finds the entire story somewhat amusing and now calls Maggie – The Little Arsonist. Especially ironic when you consider that Jason is a firefighter…

Dave Matthews Band at The Gorge

This past weekend it was time for Jason and my annual trip to The Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA to see the Dave Matthews Band. You don’t need to know either one of us very long to know we are huge fans of the band. We’ve made it a point to travel all over the nation seeing concerts, planned our honeymoon around a performance of Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at Radio City Music Hall (New York City) and have spent more money and time seeing this band than just about anything else! I personally have seen over 80 concerts while Jason has seen over 70. Needless to say… we love this band!

Our concert-going-days have slowed since the introduction of The Mabster in our lives, so less time/money means less travel/concerts, but when we do get out, we have an incredible time. This year, we were only able to make it to one night of the three night stand, but what a night we had! On Sunday (which for those of you who don’t know is ALWAYS the best night at the Gorge), we packed up the car with beer and BBQ supplies and headed out to meet up with two of my best friends from college, Cody and Christy. We all decided to drive over together; I made beef kabobs, homemade salsa and lots of chocolate chip cookies, loaded the cooler with (a lot) of beer, and off we went. Cody packed his tailgate BBQ and we set up for an awesome evening.

Before starting out, Jason kept Mabster happy by teaching her a few of his old ‘frat-boy’ tricks. She thought Daddy was hilarious!

After dropping Mabster off with Grandma and Grandpa, we met up with Cody and Christy and drove the 2.5 hours to the Gorge. Once we all arrived at The Gorge, we just sat back, relaxed and had a few drinks.

Christy is also really interested in photography, so after a while, we grabbed our cameras and headed out around the parking lot to find all the interesting little things you can only find at a DMB concert. I was facinated by all the painted cars.

I found this sign pretty funny. The Gorge makes a big deal about people not bring outside alcohol into the parking lot or the venue. Of course, 95% of the people ignore this rule, and the best way around it is to pour your favorite beverage into a non-descriptive cup. The beverage enforcers came around to our tailgate, didn’t find any bottles, and then left us alone. Not more than 3 minutes later, a couple of people (with this sign) came around to collect and recycle our beer bottles. Pretty funny if you ask me!

It was in the news about 2 weeks ago, but the saxaphone player, LeRoi Moore, died from injuries he sustained in a ATV accident back June. I wasn’t really sure about going to a concert after one of my favorite band members died, but a lot of people had some really nice tributes to the man.

Lastly, just a one more of our friends – they are just the most awesome couple!

Oh… and I’m of the school of thought that every husband should have a kick-@$$ picture of his wife on his desk/locker/space at work. So I made sure to get one of Christy to send to Cody later!

I’d post some pictures from inside the concert… however, I couldn’t take my camera into the venue. So sad… as my 4th row seats really afforded us some great photo opportunities!

It’s Time for Football!

If you know me well then you know me to be a HUGE UW Husky Football fan! After graduating from the UW and then working at the athletic department for 4 years after graduation, I have a special fondness for this time of the year. Last week I was up on campus and I was driving into the stadium when I heard my favorite signal of football season… the marching band drummers practicing! Just hearing the cadences playing and echoing throughout the empty stadium gave me goosebumps and reminded me how much I love football, the Huskies, and my school!

So… UW Football opens this Saturday against Oregon (boo Ducks!!!!). I can’t wait to start watching it on TV again! Go Dawgs!

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Today we celebrated Maggie’s 2nd Birthday! It’s hard to believe that she is already 2, time really does move that fast; as any parent will attest. Birthday’s of your child take on an entirely different meaning when you sit back and reflect upon all that has changed in your life and how happy you are to make the necessary changes to accomodate such a little life. Jason and I often times find ourselves dancing around the house, or just doing something silly (such as singing the lyrics to Curious George) and realizing that never did we picture those moments 10 years ago!

Truly, this little kid is a blessing. Jason and I just love her with all our hearts and souls!

We had a small little party for her today. Jason has been gone the last week to a fire in Davenport, WA and was unfortunately unable to be at the party, but that didn’t stop the festivities. Grandma, Grandpa, Gammy, Steve, Grandpa Goat, Bill and Amber all joined us for BBQ and then some birthday cake.

Here are a few raw snapshots of the festivities!

My mom made a quilt for Maggie right after she was born. This is her 2-year-old quilt and it includes a needlepoint section that has all the pet names we call Maggie. Jason and I call her Mabster and Piggie; My parents call her Cutie, Angel Girl and Little Squirt; My father-in-law calls her Margaret. Isn’t my mom just incredibly awesome for memorializing those little things forever?!

And I’m not sure exactly how this happened… but I asked my dad to take a picture of me and Maggie together (since we never seem to get too many) and the time stamp on this was 4:39pm. Which is ironic because she was born at 4:39pm!!

Last, bit not least, meet Moose! Moose is 10 weeks old chocolate lab who just joined Bill & Amber on Friday. He is about as adorable as they come… I think I’m in love!

2009 Senior Pictures – Olympia

I had the coolest session on Tuesday out on Harstene Island here in Olympia. I met with Ron who loves his dirt bike and his 4×4 truck; which made for some pretty awesome pictures! Unfortunately (or fortunately… I don’t know since these turned out so freaking cool!), it rained the entire evening. I was one wet photographer at the end of the session, but it so didn’t matter since I had so much fun.

Ron was no exception to the “Do I really have to have Senior Pictures Mom?” rule. For most 18-year old guys, this is the LAST priority on their list! However, he was very sweet and played along. Plus, at the end, I think he didn’t mind it so much either!

Here area few to share….

A Lacey, WA Family Portrait Session

I mentioned about a week ago that my equipment decided to take a swim in Long Lake here in Lacey. Luckily everything turned out just fine and the equipment still works perfectly (thanks to my wonderful husband and his attention to detail in fixing it!!). But what I failed to mention was the wonderful family I got to take pictures of that particular day. The Holbrocks are a beautiful family with the sweetest two little girls and a beautiful mom and dad. Aren’t they killer!?

They provided me with some wonderful and oh, so sweet, moments to share here on my blog.

Thank you Dustin and Georgene for inviting me into your home. It was a lovely day and your pictures just scream with the warmth, depth and beauty of your love for one another and your precious girls!

And last by not least… here is the shot where my light stand went into the water. But for the shot…. I kinda think it was worth it! Look how sweet of a moment this was?!?

Rain Drops on Roses

Last Friday and Saturday I shot the wedding of Heather and Bill. They got married on the luckiest day of the year, 8.8.08, with a small family ceremony. The following day, they had a large ceremony with all their friends and family followed by a beautiful backyard reception. But Heather and Bill got another dose of good luck on Saturday as right before the ceremony the clouds opened up and it started to pour. We all dashed (and pulled all our photography equipment quickly) out of the rain and under cover just hoping that the rain would be done by the time of the ceremony… and it was! But it left everything with this beautiful coating of rain drops sparkling in the sun. Just magical… just like Heather and Bill!!

As the song says… Rain drops on roses… just a few of my favorite things…

We’ve been hard at work all week on their album… but here are a few of the details of the day (portraits to follow in another post).

The stunning and beautiful bride, Heather:

Getting ready…

The gorgeous details…

The Ceremony…

The First Dance…

Heather & Bill: Thank you for the time I spent with the two of you and your families! It was such a special time for me! Enjoy your Costa Rican honeymoon!

Fruit of Labor

As I mentioned a long time ago, we planted our first vegetable this past spring. Jason has never been so happy; putting around the garden and making sure everything is growing properly. And boy is it ever taken off. We are drowning in 15 pound zucchini’s, snap peas, lettuce and tomatoes. The upcoming weeks ought to have a bounty of corn, sunflower seeds, pumpkins, bell peppers, potatoes!

The other night the light was hitting the sunflowers ‘just’ right and I had to snap a few shots. These are all straight out of camera with no retouching what so ever!

My flash set up took a swim today!

Equipment failure sucks. And it REALL sucks watching your entire lighting set up get caught in a gust of wind and slowly fall into a lake!!

But I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing all my money practically drown to the bottom of Long Lake today while out doing a family session. As I was shooting from the dock a gust of wind caught my umbrella and, in slow motion, I watched my light stand take a swim, my flash unit and pocket wizard attached.

I was a lucky woman today though… I brought my soaking wet electronics home and Jason went to work. He carefully took everything apart, blew the water out with compressed air, and then allowed everything to dry. About 4 hours later, he decided to see if everything worked, and low and behold, the flash and pocket wizard started flashing! It looks like I (barely) survived this particular equipment mishap. Let’s not have it happen again!

Tina & Brian – Wedding on Cooper Point

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of shooting the wedding of Tina and Brian at a private home out on Cooper Point in Olympia. The day was fabulous with beautiful detailing, wonderfully happy families, and a lovely couple! The home and grounds overlooked the beautiful water and we had an amazing sunset to play with that evening. Tina and Brian are just so in love and they had just a wonderful day! Enjoy these little sneak previews!

The Details

The Ceremony

The Bride & Groom

The Reception