I’m not sure if it was that song ‘Women of Today’ that I listened to yesterday which got lodged into my brain and wouldn’t leave, or maybe its because I have been meeting a bunch of mother’s recently who have been visiting our photography studio here in Seattle for their Mother’s Day session - most likely a combination of both I would guess. 

Both reminded me that I needed to do something about it, so to celebrate Mother’s Day and women in general I decided to put together a photo slide-show today of some of my favorite photographs of women taken over the last year or so.  In here you will find newborn baby girls, young ladies, mothers, sisters, models, executives, dancers, friends, grandma’s and just about everything in-between I think! 

The music, a lovely upbeat song by the talented musician Faith Rivera is titled Women of Today and creates a nice 3 minute distraction if you have a few minutes to sit back and enjoy.  Click on the center of the thumbnail below.  Here’s to you ladies!

BTW, it’s still not too late to book your Mother’s Day photography session if you are looking for a unusual gift this year.  Details here. 

Technorati Tags: Photography, Phil Holden, Seattle Photography Studios, Seattle, Faith Rivera, Women of Today

I was reminded this morning how much I love watching the facial expressions of newborn babies.    There is something really special about watching these little guys and capturing their funny smiles and grins as they develop.  You have to wonder what she was thinking as she grabbed onto her Mum who was deep in conversation.  Then we have those babies eyes, so bright, wide and clear in their young age.  This little lady is Hanna and she was visiting Seattle recently and her Aunt brought a photography session for her sister as a gift.  One of the things I need to do today is upload the proof’s for mum to see.  

I need to make some tea and get on with the day. 

Young children and especially newborn babies always take my breath away.  There is something priceless about this time that is so special that it always leaves me in awe at life and the miracles that it can bring. 

So imagine how happy I am to get the opportunity to photograph two newborn twins!   These two beautiful girls, Sophie & Mason came into this world a little while ago and are doing really well after their initial care and attention from the amazing folks at Swedish.  They have been home for a little while and I got the chance to capture some of that magic last week. 

Here are some of the proof’s from the many photographs taken.   

On this Valentines Day I thought I would post this very cute photograph of a young couple very much in love.  Here we have Nicole and Stephen from last week’s session and I love the intimacy of this photograph as it captures a special moment between the two of them. 

Just a quick post to wish everyone a happy valentines day. 

Nicole and her boyfriend Stephen came into the studio last week to have some photographs taken.  I’ll post the shots of them both soon, but before then here’s a few of her.   Nicole is this super high energy and bubbly person that never seems to have a quite moment and as such has this large array of facial expressions that very much match her mood.

The crazy facial expressions is what most people see, but I wanted to grab something different - a little more thoughtful, a little more reflective and maybe even serious.  It was hard work at first as Nicole didn’t necessary feel comfortable in front of the camera but after a while she relaxed and we got something that I really liked.  One of those is posted above, toned in black & white which I thought was appropriate for the shot.  A few of the many other proofs below.      

Jenny came into the studio on Friday for her second maternity session.   She first visited the photography studio back in November and we had decided to do a second session to capture the growth of the belly as her pregnancy involved.  Right now she is about five-six weeks away from her due date and everything is going very well. The session was very relaxed, Jenny brought some breakfast snacks as we did start out early that day!

Although this is such an obviously thing to say, it’s incredible to see the amount of change that has happened with the belly in the last three months.   It’s hard not to get excited as you see how happy they are with the pending arrival of their first child and I feel very honored that I get to capture some of that onto film.   Here are a few of my favorites from Friday, in part chosen to show the large amount of change from last time that’s shown here.  I do love the ‘baby’ photograph above! 

This past weekend I was sorting through some photographs thinking about what new prints that I wanted to get framed up for the studio.  With the new year we have been doing a bunch of thinking about rearranging the studio a little and I still have a bunch of printing that I need to get to.  

This photograph is on the short list and it makes me smile when I look at it.  I think that every parent of a four or five year old spends much of their time entertaining their child at this stage in life where so much seems new, interesting and worth investigating.  They have a tendency to wear you out with that constant energy that seems to keep them going don’t they!    And then, almost by magic they have those little quite moments in-between all that energy where they get all thoughtful.  To me capturing those moments on film is an art form in its own right as you really get the chance to sneak a glimpse of the child that isn’t often visible to everyone.  Here we have Miss Olivia in one of those private moments engaged in her own thoughts as I worked away with a long lens so as not to distract her.    

This weekend I was printing up some re-prints of this photograph, one of my favorites from a couple of sessions we did with these three sisters recently.  Although a little more ‘formal’ than much of my work I love this composition as it frames the lovely ladies so well within the frame and provides a connection between the three of them with their hands on their shoulders.  The other factor for me in why I liked this is that we decided to print and tone this as a black and white print.  Personally as much as I love color and I will often say that’s how I see the world, yet in many ways black and white prints often has more of a impact. To me it it requires the viewer to think about the print much more a color print where people often get a little distracted by the colors. 

The original photograph was printed and framed as a beautiful 20×26 wall portrait.  This was given as a gift to their father and he completely loved it.  Nothing better than hearing that people love your work! 

One of the photography sessions that we had here in the studio during the holidays was with someone that I used to know when I lived in Sydney, Australia.  It turns out that Terry now lives in Seattle, having moved with his family some two years ago and I had no idea.  He actually works with a very good client of ours and was asking her if she knew of any good photographers in the city.  Apparently when she mentioned my name as a recommendation he looked at her with this puzzled look and then said ‘you mean the Phil Holden that used to live in Sydney?’ or words to that effect.  I was a little surprised to say the least as was I when I got the email!  

After a little bit of a catch-up we managed to arrange a time that worked and they all came into the studio.  We had quite the crowd with Terry and Ingrid, their daughter and boyfriend who were visiting from Sydney and their two youngest boys.    This shot of the two boys goofing around was one of my favorites from that day. 

Well I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised but the last couple of weeks have been very busy for us with lots of holiday sessions, review meetings with clients and then of course lots of printing and framing.  The majority of folks have been wanting holiday gifts for various friends and family so there is obviously a need to wrap everything up over the next week!

This shot was taken of the lovely Andrea who came in a couple of weeks ago with her dogs.   I really like this as it captures a very thoughtful moment as she relaxes on the sofa.  I just printed up a large photograph for her of this and then we will frame it in the next couple of days ready for the holiday.  

Ok, back to work for me!

A couple of months ago I was working covering a Microsoft event, tasked with photographing the various speakers and attendees.   The conference was Microsoft’s Women’s Conference which is typically held about every 18 months or so and brings together women from around the world that work for the large Seattle based company.  This year there was approximately 4000 attendee’s at the Seattle event with another event happen in San Jose at about the same time.  Its a large investment that runs over multiple days with heaps of speakers and impressively put together by the amazing folks that run it. 

This year one of the speakers was Dr Carol Scott.  Trained as an emergency physician Carol is also a very talented speaker on the subject of stress management in today’s corporate business world.  She works with multiple large companies and their staff advising them on ways to deal with the stress and pressure in today’s busy world, especially focused on women in the workplace.  I got to photograph Carol multiple times during the conference and although I didn’t get to hear her speak in full from the reactions from the audience during her talks and afterwards I would say that she clearly knows her stuff.  These three photographs were taken during her various sessions and then when we went outside to grab some shots. 

Yesterday one of our studio sessions had the lovely Andrea coming in.  This was the first time that she had any professional photographs made of herself and was looking to see what the experience was like.  Although a little nervous at first she soon relaxed and we had some fun working together and I think she discovered it wasn’t that scary.  One of the shots that she really wanted was one in her favorite coat that apparently she and her mother both just love. I think that it looks great on her and really suits her skin coloring.   

Earlier this year Travis was visiting Seattle from Las Vegas and he got to hang out with us a few times during his time here.  I was just finishing off a large print of him and Patrick his father that will be printing over the next couple of days on canvas stock and then wrapping around a wooden frame.  I like this photograph a lot, to me it shows the father-son relationship nicely and I like how Travis is looking into the camera while his father isn’t.  I’m still debating about the final tone, here it is with a classic sepia finish. 

This photo session was actually a gift for Patrick for his birthday and it reminded me how photography can be such a great gift for the significant people in your life.  Lets face it, we all have those friends & family members who are impossible to purchase for at this time of year, those folks that seem to have everything or have very specific taste that you can’t quite master.  The beauty of gifting photography is that it is truly unique, because the subjects are unique.   Maybe this might be the answer to the tough gift for that loved one - the perfect gift.  And because the photographs will be around for generations to follow its always something to remember this year.  Of course the gift can also scale depending on how much you want to spend and what you want to include. 

If you are interested in possibly purchasing a gift certificate for someone you love just drop us a note and what you would like to include and we can make one up for you. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday, hopefully lots of great food with your friends and friends. 

Now that the holiday is over I’m turning my attention back to the studio.  On Wednesday of this week we had the opportunity to work with two totally cool sisters that had decided that they wanted to surprise their family with some special photographs for their holiday gift.  Like many families these days they live in multiple cities and only get the chance to come together as a family occasionally and this Thanksgiving was one chance they had to make some beautiful photographs together.  We spent a bunch of time working together and the ladies brought a bunch of different outfits to try - here is one that I love that shows the interaction of the two sisters and their relationship.   I’m looking forward to reviewing the photographs with them later today.   

As many folks get into that holiday mode and start to plan holiday parties, family gatherings and of course holiday gifts its a time when we get really busy.  But heck, its a fun time for everyone and we aren’t complaining at all.    

Cheers 

Yesterday Amy was working in the presentation room enjoying a sun break that was streaming through the window.  Miss Jones decided that it was a good place to rest and take a turn next to Amy getting some TLC while she she was working.  One happy cat, I had to grab a quick snap.