A few days before the holidays we got the chance to hang out with the simply beautiful Tatum, who was just a few weeks old.  She asked her Mum & Dad to come along too which was a lot of fun too.  I actually knew both Sarah and Casey in a previous life and it was wonderful to connect with them again for this special time in their life’s.   We just got finished reviewing their photographs from the session and I thought I would post a few previews here for them to enjoy while they are away on their holiday break.   If you have a few minutes turn the sound up on your computer and enjoy the wonders of life.   

Guys, looking forward to getting you back in the studio to see the rest of these, I hope your holiday is going really well.

A couple of weeks ago Nicole and I got to spend a wonderful couple of hours with a beautiful baby who was only just over a week old.  No matter how often we get to spend time with newborn babies and their parents it never fails to amaze me at the wonders of life and all its miracles!  I need to get these beautiful photographs printed next, but in the meantime if you have a moment please check out this beautiful family. 

Brittany came to us in need of some headshots for a very interesting reason.  Later this year she will be traveling to Morocco with Women and Democracy with the goal of discussing the role of democracy in Islamic countries and how it affects women.  Very cool. 

So, she came in and got to hang out with us for a half hour or so, silly conversation and all, and Phil got to work with his favorite new muse.  No, not the obvious choice, the beautiful Brittany, but rather the red wall in the studio.  Ha!  Doesn’t she look lovely, bye for now - Merilee.

Sara Sutherland Dean was looking for some creative photographs to spruce up her web site and other marketing activities so, being a smart cookie, she looked to Phil Holden and his team. 

She wanted some unique, outdoorsy, fun shots to reflect her profession (personal trainer), so we did our shoot at Greenlake on a beautiful, sunny morning.  We had a great time getting various action shots (push-ups, pull-ups, pilates, oh my!), and did our best not to fall in the water.  Dani, her canine companion, even got to make a few cameo appearances and got an aerobic workout to boot.  All in all it was a really fun morning, and we loved that Sarah was thrilled with the results.  Check out a few of her favorites below… 

That’s it for now, Merilee

As Seattle folk are all talking about the wonderfully warm and sunny weekend that we have just had I’m just getting done printing some simply beautiful prints of this expectant couple.  These were taken in our photography studio in Seattle a little while ago and I thought I would post these quickly before calling it a day and taking a break.   The first one below is being framed up in a lovely 20×26 frame and I can’t wait till they see it all printed up.

I have been a complete slacker at reviewing the photographs from my second visit to see Sarah at Children’s Hospital but I finally managed to this weekend.   Sarah has been diagnosed with Acute Meyloid Leukemia and is on her second month stay at the wonderful Children’s Hospital here in Seattle and I got to spend a bunch of time with her during my last visit a couple of weeks ago.  Her energy was super high when I got there and she wasn’t attached to her feeding station so she could be much more mobile.  This time she taught me how to color in her fancy new coloring book and of course we had to go for a bike ride around the ward.  Just like my last visit I had a lot of fun and she is a complete inspiration for us older folks when life seems to be getting us down. 

I’m hoping I get to go back soon and see her.  A few of the many photographs taken that day are posted below and you can read more of her story by clicking here.  

Nathan sneaked the kids away from Mum and visited our photography studio in Seattle a few weeks ago.  We had a complete blast working with his two beautiful kids and managed to get lots of great photographs that totally captured their different personalities.  After much debate this was the one that Nathan chose as their Mothers Day gift.   I just love how this photograph shows the relationship that Dad has with the kids while at the same time it shows the energy that the kids have as well. 

Just a beautiful family and so much fun.  Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Dad sneaked the twins away into our photography studio in Seattle while Mum was away on a quick trip a few weeks ago.  His goal was to create a unique Mothers Day gift and there are few things that are better for a Mum than photographs of her babies.   They are both leaving for a few days away tomorrow so Dad gave Mum her gift early so I’m allowed to post these now that the surprise is out!  So dam cute.  

We designed a layout with the first three photographs into a long frame and after I printed it Nicole framed it, doesn’t it look wonderful!   I would imagine this is now taking up a nice spot of wall in their home, yeah!

I’ve been getting back into things and today I have been finishing off printing some wonderfully cute photographs of this little girl that was taken in our photography studio in Seattle a while ago.  This was part of a larger family session but I had to publish these photographs of this little darling today in her boots and jeans.   So adorable. 

Mum and Dad ended up choosing one of our beautiful canvas stretched canvas photographs with all three prints in one canvas sheet.  I pulled the pink from her jeans as the border color that looks so lovely for the final print. 

This week the absolute highlight for me was spending time with a very brave and fun young lady called Sarah.  I know Sarah’s Dad, Timothy from many years ago and I recently connected with him via Facebook.  My heart went out to him and his family when I learnt that their beautiful three year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with Acute Meyloid Leukemia (AML).  At these times its often hard to know how to help someone, but one thing I could do was volunteer to photograph Sarah’s journey and I was excited that Sarah said she was ok with that. 

These photographs in this post are from my first trip to Children’s Hospital in Seattle this week where she is a guest.  Sarah is starting a five month journey where she will receive Chemo once a month for the next five months.  She just had her first session recently and I got to hang out with her and her Dad and we had a lot of fun.  This week Sarah also had her feeding tube fitted and as with just about everything else she was a trooper and now has gotten used to it. 

Each week Mum - Katherine, Timothy and Sarah selected a theme and this week its all about the hats and she was mostly wearing a very fetching straw number, along with her helmet when she was peddling around the ward much to the amusement of Dad.  I also got to meet some of the amazing staff at Children’s as they took time to play and look after her, the compassion and skill from these professionals is very comforting.   Here are a few of the many photographs from that day.

I’m excited to go back and capture some more of this very special young lady.  You can read more about Sarah and her story here.

I’m sure I say this every year, but Seattle’s winter seems to have gone on forever and without doubt the majority of Seattle is totally over it!   So I was a little bit worried about the weather as we headed into last weekend because we had the wedding of the lovely Kate and Jeff.   So you can imagine everyone’s joy when we woke up on Sunday morning to blue sky’s and warm air blowing through the windows ~ yeah!

The wedding was held at Lake Union Rowing Club in Seattle which has this wonderful outdoor deck on the water that is simply huge.  We had already chatted with Kate about getting the guests out onto the deck for some of the more formal shots if the weather was good so we were excited to get the opportunity.  I’m still going through the photographs but I thought I would post this photograph quickly for them as they return to Seattle early this week from their honeymoon. 

Kate and Jeff, it was an honor to be part of you day, see you soon.  

Seattle brides and wedding planners, if you are looking for a wonderful location with a ’smallish’ indoor seating space I would recommend the Lake Union Rowing Club for sure, check it out. 

BTW, spring left us again this Easter weekend and it feels like winter again………

Today has been a great day making prints in our photography studio in Seattle.  The last few weeks have been very busy both in the studio and out so we scheduled today and tomorrow for printing to get caught up with our client orders.  Tonight I cranked up the music, much to the amusement of the cats as I was singing along and have been working on finishing off Bonnie and Ryan’s prints and folio’s after their recent maternity session.  We had such a great time working with them and got some great stuff its been hard to pick a favorite photograph from our session, although after finishing this shot below I think its got to up there in my top.   I just love how elegant and thoughtful Bonnie looks in this one. 

A couple of weeks ago we got the chance to hang out with Kate and Jeff as we walked around the Pike Place Markets and the Waterfront in Seattle taking their engagement photographs.  Although Seattle was very much still in Winter and it was cold we got lucky with a good sun break for a few hours.  It certainly felt really nice to be outside in the sun for a while ad not inside.   Kate and Jeff are a very relaxed couple and it was lovely to just walk around chatting and getting to know them better.  They get married this weekend and I thought I would post a few previews of their engagement session for them in advance of their very special day.   Isn’t love grand!

Towards the end of last week Nicole got to sit down with Jamie and Adam, two of our recent maternity clients to review their lovely photographs from the photography session we had in our studio in Seattle.  The photography session was a whole lot of fun, this is their first baby and Jamie is looking simply beautiful and having a good pregnancy.   Here are a few edited previews for them to start the Monday morning off to a great start. 

I’m just wrapping up deliver of some electronic photographs to some clients and couldn’t resist posting these two quickly.  These were taken a few weeks after their son was born in their home in Seattle.  As any parent knows the first few weeks of birth are a little crazy but the smiles and love on their faces show how much its all worth it.  Such a special time and I always feel so fortunate to get the chance to be involved in a small way.