How about some fun and goofy family photography for this evening’s post.  This totally lovely family actually came into our photography studio in Seattle late last year but they have had an incredibility busy 2008 and only recently had the time to decide what photographs they liked.  I’m just wrapped up printing their photographs and thought that I would share a few of my favorites from the order.  I hope everyone has had a fun and enjoyable weekend.  Here in Seattle we actually had one sunny day before the rain returned again today.  I guess spring isn’t yet here in reality.      

Look at this fine young man, little baby Noah!  This beautiful newborn baby was just about 3 weeks old when he came into our photography studio in Seattle last week.  He decided to drag along his Mum Tiera and Dad Thom as he thought that they might add to the photographs to show how small he was at his young age.  After a little nap and a feed he was all ragging to go and we had a fun and relaxing couple of hours working together.   

Dad’s good friends Seth, Erica and Brian had purchased one of our Newborn Baby Photography Packages as a gift for Thom which was an incredibly thoughtful gift for a new dad.  I hope they all like the results as much as I do.  I just love his hair that is starting to grow all ready!  Here are a few previews of the many proof’s that we got from our session together. 

Got to rush and get ready for another photography session.  Happy Thursday everyone!

Seattle is still struggling to exit the ever lasting winter that has engulfed the area providing snow showers even in mid April which is so strange it’s silly. Yesterday saw more snow showers and then a couple of hours later a sun break, although still cold.  Then today is Monday, everyone’s favorite day of the week especially if they had a great weekend which I hope they did!

So to try and break all the doom and gloom I thought I would add some fun and colorful photographs to brighten the morning up.  This beautiful young man is Mr Ryan, he came into the studio a while ago with Mum. He was a little shy at first, but as you can see that didn’t last for long and then he was running around like crazy with me having to keep up with him.   It’s times like this when I get to work with such energy and happiness that I’m reminded how much I love this job and I feel very lucky to get to meet such a happy guy and his lovely parents.  These photographs were taken in the studio using a combination of natural afternoon light with a little bit of studio lights, I just love the colors coming out of the hardwood floors and brick walls. 

Ryan actually came into the studio with one of our special sessions that we call New Thursdays!  Its a totally free way for new clients to try us and see if they like working with us and we are getting some great reactions from clients. Details are here if you are interested.   

Just a quick post as I get ready for a busy day.  Here is another one that I’m going to use for the mural that I’m building for the photography studio entry way.  OK, time to grab a quick breakfast in Seattle and then on with the day. 

One of last week’s studio projects had a musical flair to it which was fun.  The special guests were Richard Amster and Tarik Abouzied who are in a new Seattle based jazz group called Viaduct Jazz.  They were looking for some publicity photographs of the pair of them to use as they pitch different gig’s and such.  Viaduct Jazz was formed last year by Richard who retired from his old engineering job to focus all of his attention on getting more people to enjoy jazz.

The Viaduct Jazz group comes in two varieties, the larger Octet that Richard will often call Seattle’s little Big Band and then the Duo of just Richard and Tarik.  They play everything from jazz standards from masters like Horace Silver, to their own original compositions, and then special Jazz appreciation concerts starting in the summer.  I think these jazz appreciation events are going to be very interesting where they plan to profile the various artists talking about how they started, stories from their life and in-between all the talking playing the music from the artist.   The first concert will feature the jazz legend Miles Davis. 

I just started to review the photographs and thought I would post these few previews for Richard and Tarik.  I had to include the one of the guys having a laugh as it summed up the session nicely!  

More details on the Viaduct Jazz can be found at their site here.

I’m constantly amazed at how life brings you unexpected surprises that amaze and please many years later.  Some 16 years ago I was interviewing for a job in Sydney Australia. The whole thing wasn’t exactly planned, the company I was working for at the time in Europe had been acquired and I had some friends in Sydney so I decided to head down there on a whim.  Just about one week later I found myself dressed in a suit doing the whole interview thing. I had already had met with a number of interviewers when this larger than life guy walks in and I get up to shake his hand as he introduces himself as Iain McDonald.  I don’t remember much about the interview apart from the fact that we got on really well and I guess that he told someone to hire me!  At the time I had no idea but that was the start of a friendship that has grown and grown over the many years that we have known each other.  

Iain moved to Seattle about a year or so before I did and it was as two expats that our friendship really grew.  There are many stories that could be told of our adventures in Seattle and the many other places that we have traveled together and a few that shouldn’t as well!  As my photographic hopes and dreams developed Iain was there for me as the trusted friend.  As a fellow artist he has always encouraged me even when I wasn’t really sure what direction I was going, basically nourishing my spirit and soul. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of photographing him multiple times, some of my favorites have to be the ‘headless’  photograph and Iain playing at the EMP here in Seattle.  For anyone that has the pleasure of knowing this ‘larger than life’ gentleman you can easily understand what a great photographic subject he can be. 

But it’s this new phase in Iain’s life that has to be the best time to photograph my longtime friend.  For as long as I have known Iain its been very obvious that he has always wanted to be a father and I can’t tell you how excited I was when they told me they were expecting.  Back in late December Iain and his beautiful wife Melanie had their first babies, twin girls.  Since then its been full on parenthood and as any new parent will tell you pretty much everything changes and with twins you obviously have to double that, maybe even more!  I have always been a believer that change is mostly a good thing and in this case it’s an excellent thing.  It’s so exciting to watch Iain and Melanie grow as new parents and I once again find myself very lucky to be one of their friends at this special time in their life.  

In today’s world when most people come into our lives and leave way too quickly, it is the special few that come in and leave a footprint in our hearts.  It’s those special few that change us forever. Iain and now Melanie are too such people and I’m so fortunate to have them in my life and even more so now with their new family.  I’m very thankful as a photographer I can give a little back to them by capturing some memories of this special time.  This post has to be in honor of my good friend Iain, the proud father. 

If by the chance, many years later that their daughters ever read this and ask me who is that with Dad I will have to come clean and own up to the fact that I just don’t know!  I’m still not able to recognize which one is Sophie and which is Mason and even when I guess I’m wrong, which is pretty silly considering I have a 50% chance.   Bad friend!  

Back to work now, I have to do some framing. 

Initially I wasn’t too sure about adding a black and white photograph to the mural because almost all of the other photographs are currently in color.  But after playing around with some layout options I think its going to look great. 

For anyone that has been to our photography studio in Seattle and walked into the presentation room you might recognize this one.  The original piece of art is on the wall presented on a beautiful 20×30 wrapped canvas photograph that looks simply stunning. There is something amazingly powerful about her eyes that draws viewers to it.  It receives so many compliments and never fails to get a reaction and hence I had to add it to the mural.

So I thought it was about time I added a boy to the other photographs of the mural that I’m building for the photography studio entry way.   Seeing that Seattle is sorta seeing signs that maybe Spring might be here at last with Saturdays beautiful sunny day I thought it would make sense to add one of this young guy outside.   

I’ll try and get the other photographs posted soon so that I can show you what I’m working on. 

Here we have a lovely lady that came into the studio recently who was just a couple of weeks away from the birth of their first baby. We sat down in the presentation room on Thursday last week to review the proofs with them and this was one of my favorites from the collection. To me this captures the anticipation of pregnancy with the expectant mother looking down and at that moment feeling the baby move in her belly.  This is their first child and they don’t know the sex which is a little unusual these days.  So exciting for them.

Tonight my good friend Trevin has his opening reception at Trabant Coffee & Chai Lounge.   It’s a collection of his work from around the world.  I might be wrong but I think this is Trevin’s first show and I’m really excited for him and I’ll be there later tonight to support him and check out his latest art. 

Folks in Seattle who are free should for sure pop by, either tonight or later this month.  Address is 1309 NE 45th Street, Seattle, 98105.

So it begins

Here are few previews of little baby Noah who was only 17 days old when I first got to photograph him.   We spent time at their home in Issaquah and it was a very relaxed time.  I’m still blown away at how baby Noah behaved, he was a complete darling and not a peep out of him until I left.  Such an adorable young man.  

We got lots of photographs Steve and Jenny, but here are a few that I thought you would like to see. 

I was catching up on some of my reading and came across this article on the RealSimple blog that talks about the benefits of choosing a professional photographer to capture your kids.  Parents are often telling me how much their kids are changing and that the professional photographs that we have made for them are so much better than their own snaps.  It’s not to say that parents shouldn’t keep snapping away, gosh no, just add some professional ones to the mix. 

Choosing a professional photographer is often hard because there are so many out there and parents often don’t know how to make a decision.  Last year I wrote up a simple guide for making that choice easier, feel free to check it out here.  If you happen to live in Seattle or the Pacific North West you should definitely check out some of our services to see what we have to offer. 

The full article and links can be found here. 

Mar 3, 2008 5:08:00 PM
Note To Self
Get Professional Photos of Your Children

I’ve never forgotten an invaluable piece of advice that I heard from an older friend right after my first child was born. She told me, “One of my greatest regrets about my children’s childhoods was that I didn’t have more professional pictures taken.”

“You didn’t take many pictures?” I asked.

“I took tons of pictures,” she said, “but the fact is, professional photographs are so much better than even the best snapshots.”

I absolutely agree—professional photos are better. And keeping her advice in mind, ever since my daughters were born, I’ve been zealous about getting their photos taken professionally at least once a year.

While it’s a lot of fun (and also a pain) to take pictures myself, it’s terrific to have some pictures that are truly excellent. These photos don’t take the place of the on-the-spot pictures that I take myself—I still take scads of photos at birthday parties, first days of school, on the slide, with a popsicle—but these pictures memorialize my children’s childhoods in a different way.

Plus they make great family gifts. I can never figure out a good present for the grandparents and great-grandparents, but they always love to get a really great photograph—especially the relatives who don’t often get a chance to see the girls in person.

Also, research shows that one way to boost your happiness is to reflect on happy times, and looking at photographs helps keep memories more vivid.

It’s a splurge, of course. Professional photos aren’t cheap.

However, I figure that the money I spend on these photographs will strengthen family bonds, enhance happy memories, and capture the fleeting moments of childhood. They give me more pleasure than practically any other purchases that I make. That strikes me as pretty good happiness bang for the buck.

A friend’s family had another great photography tradition. For her whole life, at every milestone, her parents took a picture of her and her brother sitting exactly the same way on their front stoop. It’s fascinating to see them change through the years. Along the same lines, the artist Nicholas Nixon took a photograph of his wife and her three sisters once a year for 33 years. The collection of these photographs, The Brown Sisters, is riveting.

Getting professional photos take is a great example of the tiresome fact that happiness takes thought and effort. These photographs are easy to arrange; in the scheme of things, not terribly expensive; contribute greatly to our family happiness—and yet it probably never would have occurred to me to do it if my friend hadn’t suggested it.

Have you ever had your child’s professional photograph taken? Did you think it was worth the expense and trouble?

Digg This! | Stumble It! | Add to Sk*rt | Save to del.icio.us | Email this post | Subscribe to this feed
Posted on Mar 3, 2008 5:08:00 PM by gretchenrubin | Link | Comments (24)

simply stated: life & soul | Blogs |By RealSimple.com

As a relatively new photography business many of the people that visit our web site and this photography blog are often new visitors.  Some find us through the various marketing that we are doing, others via search engines and as the business grows we get more and more visitors that come via customer referrals which we just love. 

We have created a bunch of content for our new visitors to read that outlines our approach and the different services we offer - and of course there are examples of our photography!  Hopefully this is all good (note, we are often refining to make it clearer), but this is in our voice - its what we have written.  One thing that I have always been a fan of is listening to our clients to get their perspective of the experience, the results and of course to listen to feedback on how to improve.  To help with this one of the new projects that we have started is to interview some of our clients so that they can share their experience.   This is the first video of Glenn who first came to our studio about a year ago on a quest for a unique gift for mothers day.  Thanks to Melvin Powel who has become a great friend and is an excellent film and video maker for the putting this together. 

Click on the arrow below to listen to what Glenn has to say in his own words.  

Technorati Tags: Photography, Phil Holden, Seattle Photography Studios, Seattle, Photography Videos, Unique Fathers Day gifts, Fathers Day Presents, Father’s Day Gift ideas, Unique Mothers Day gifts, Mothers Day Presents, Mother’s Day Gift ideas, Videoad

I have been meaning to post some new photographs of these newborn twins for a while now.  These were taken a couple of weeks ago at their parents house in Seattle.  This was my second time photographing them and this time I wanted to get some photographs of them that showed their small size.  This setup was the second that I tried and I think these were some of my favorite photographs of them both together that day.  After one of their many feeds and a quick outfit change from Mum we laid these two beautiful girls on the large bed and watched them interact together.  I loved how small they looked with the huge bed all around them. 

All in all very cute. 

Of course knowing how much the two dogs love to be photographed they had to show up at the end much to the amusement of Mum and Dad!