kids and families (and a special portrait offer)

If you peruse the pages of my blog and search under "portraits" or "kids" or "families", a lot of old work will come up. For years, portrait work was a big chunk of my business, and I was fortunate enough to watch some of my return clients grow and change and add to their families over the course of time.

For the most part, I stopped doing kids and family work a few years back, as my food photography business grew. I still get requests for it, though, so I decided to offer portraits again for a limited time: 

During the month of February, portrait sessions will be available on location (your home, a park, etc) or in my studio in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle. Sessions are $375 plus tax.

Sessions can be relaxed and candid or more posed and formal. It's your choice. If you want help deciding, I'm happy to offer my suggestions! Personally, I am a sucker for candid, unplanned moments, where kids are just being themselves, doing what they do. This may be apparent from the image below: my son, after dumping pom poms all over the floor and playing with my paint brushes. It's one of my all-time favorite images of him.

If you are interested in a session, email me and let's talk.

a week after i met my son

Those of you who read this blog may remember my post about getting pregnant. Well, on February 23rd at 10:46 in the morning, Hugo Oliver Barboza made his way into this world.

I took these photos a week and half ago and have tried, repeatedly, in the limited free time I have to write a post that accurately sums up how I feel about my son and about this crazy, emotional, sleep-deprived time. But, unfortunately, words totally escape me right now. I am about as un-articulate as it comes, my friends.
So, instead, I've decided to give you some bullet points:

•This whole parenthood thing? This thing where you love your child in the most indescribable way? Yeah. I get that now. The love is huge and all-encompassing.

•All those things that Joe and I did for YEARS and didn't think twice about-- going on dates, leaving town spontaneously, staying in bed for as long as we wanted, getting at least 8 hours of sleep, having ample amounts of down time-- well, I can honestly say that we totally took those things for granted. And I NEVER. WILL. AGAIN.

•Breast feeding is one of the hardest, most frustrating things I have ever done. I keep getting told it gets easier, so I'm holding on to that and praying it's true.

•Pre-baby, I never understood how parents of newborns seemed to be so short on time. Now I get it.

•When your hormones crash a few days after giving birth, you can expect you will cry about EVERYTHING. I cried because I wasn't pregnant anymore (WTF?!) I cried because I loved my son so much. I cried because my doctor had been so nice to me during the birth. I cried because Hugo was only a few days old and yet time was already passing too quickly. I cried because I felt so completely and enormously vulnerable. I cried because the sky was blue, (not really, but you get the point.)

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later.
Enjoy the photos in the meantime...

xo

 

a tea party and some dancing

I get asked a lot if I still do portrait work. While it's true that most of my business is now food-focused, the answer is yes.
My favorite kinds of portrait sessions, however, are the ones where there are no traditional poses or stressed out parents begging their kids to smile. The best photos, in my opinion, are the ones where kids are allowed to be who they are and do what they do.

Recently, one of my regular clients told me her daughters were in a very girly stage and their favorite thing to do is to have tea parties. She asked if I would be open to the idea of her putting together a tea party for the girls and having me document the whole thing.
In my mind, this was the PERFECT photo session-- candid, playful, unposed, colorful, and FUN.

The icing on the cake (so to speak) was when Chloe broke out in spontaneous dancing at the end.
Too cute for words.
















Speaking of portraits, the holidays are right around the corner and Fall is the perfect time to get your family photos done!

best buds

The niece is in town and she has found a new BFF in Nina.

hana at four

Remember Hana? You can read about her here, here and here.

She is one of my favorite little people to photograph and one of the best parts about visiting my cousin and his wife in Vermont. I mean, who can resist a 4-year old who says, "I wish I were a papa. Then I could drink wine and beer all day and sleep naked."

:)

pretty belly