10 minutes with Madilynn

I was at my daughter's T ball game and noticed that Madilynn was sitting by her mom's feet in a way that framed her.  So I started talking to her and clicking away.  As you can see, she started out pretending to be shy and ended up laying on the ground in front of her mom and posing.  ALL of this was ALL her!  I was laughing so hard that I'm surprised anything was in focus.  Here are my favs from that 10 mins.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Family time!

This is the McArthur family.  Great kids with a great attitude and very patient...even with little brothers who aren't sure they want to be in any portraits.  Thanks, you guys!  I enjoyed hanging out with you!  Enjoy your preview!  YouTube

The Schmidlin Family

This family has a great sense of humor!  I really enjoyed this session.  You can click on the image or the link to view the preview video!  :-)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YK7OTHCQis&fmt=37

The Hall family - the beauty of adoption

There is something incredibly special about a family who opens their home to a new family member through adoption.  The Hall family is a wonderful group who loves each other and their new baby brother very much.  We laughed a lot and had a great time getting their story on camera.  Hope you enjoy the preview video.  :-)  Please choose to watch in HD 1080p by clicking on the number on the bottom right of the video viewing box on youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1MQ3IHgMVQ

Little tough guy

We went to a wonderful Pumpkin Fest last weekend! All my kids and my bff's kids (ranging from 1 to 16) had a great time!  As you can see, I did need some protection from the natives. lol  The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm has an AWESOME set up for all ages and it's only $6 for adults and $5 for kids 5 and up!  From "trains" to a huge corn maze, they have it all...here's their list:

• Ducky races (water troughs and rubber ducks)
• Horse swings
• Paintball gallery
• Potato cannon
• Farmer's Market
• Truck track in the tractor maze
• Giant castle hay maze
• Hay windmill
• Tube slide
• Hay pile and slides
• Activity tables
• Dirt babies
• Plant tulip bulbs
• Pick and eat fresh corn (based on availability)
• Pumpkin cannon
• Hay rides
• Cow train rides through the corn
• Pumpkin patch
• Cutouts
• Calf roping
• Wheat Grinding
• Old fashion games
• More

It is truly amazing and fun for everyone! Make it a family day and go check it out!

I love families!

I met this great family a few years ago when Grandma hired me to take a picture of her grand kids.  So many times, when I tell someone that I'm a photographer, they say "We haven't had family photos done since my kids were little and that was years ago. We really should do that."  It is so easy to let the years fly by when your kids start getting schedules of their own and it becomes a challenge to just eat dinner together...much less find some time to get a family portrait taken.  That's why I love doing family portraits.  It's great when a family comes together and gets something like this done.  It makes a memory that can't be taken away by the changes that come so quickly as the kids get older.  Maybe you, too, can find an afternoon to take a walk through the park with me and make a memory with your family.

A recent maternity & newborn session

I had the privilege of going out to Lisa's house for her maternity session and then again right after her baby boy was born.  Here is a sneak peek video.  Please select 1080p HD when viewing. (You can choose that at the bottom of the video screen.) Enjoy!  You can also view the images separately on my Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/AlleywayPhoto even if you're not a Facebook user.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vmo62jzwQA

Cute cowboys...a great way to spend the day!

How can anyone resist such cute little cowboys?  I've known mom and dad for a few years, but since they now live in Alaska, I didn't meet these adorable boys until last weekend.  I'm so happy that they were able to take an afternoon during their vacation to meet up with me for a great family session!  It was so much fun and even when it got close to nap time and the boys started getting a little grumpy, Daddy stepped up his game with a song that brought big smiles to their faces every time he sang it.  It was really funny to watch them just light up when he started to sing.  Here are just a few of my favorites...

Sweet baby boy

This little guy is soooooo adorable!  I loved having the opportunity to do his newborn session!  Daddy and Mommy were so patient.  Extra points to Daddy for going on even after baby left a present on his chest during a diaper off moment.  lol  Doesn't Baby C have a sweet face?  And just look at the scrunchy nose one...hilarious!

An inspirational evening - thanks to a super mom!

Sometimes in this business that I love, I run across people who inspire me or encourage me without knowing it.  Adrienne was one of those people.  She has been given more than her fair share of challenges in life and yet, as you can see, she still has the ability to keep smiling.  I watched her patience, her laughter and her joy in her children and was amazed at her resilience.  Even after we all got stuck in a downpour of rain, she went running and jumping through mud puddles with the boys.  She is a true SUPER mom!  God bless you, Adrienne, as you raise your boys. I know that they are blessed to have you.  Hope you continue to find your puddles to jump in after the rain storms. :-)

Stories - 9 Brotherly love

This one makes me laugh every time I see it.  Everyone who sees it says "Oh, look how well behaved they are!"  Weeeeellll, brothers Duke and Bear were not quite as angelic as they appear. :-) I think it was about 20 minutes of chasing, playing, re-posing and laughing for us to get this shot.  Literally, it was pose...run...clap...click, click, click!  They were a lot of fun, but really didn't want to sit still when there were so many people to play with. lol  Look at those sweet faces.  They really are good boys.  :-)

My "how old" contest - Winners!

Well, nobody guessed it exactly right to win the 50% off, but Holly guessed closer than anyone else, so I'm going to award her one complimentary 8x10. Everyone else who entered the contest before today will receive one complimentary 5x7! Thanks for entering everyone! Keep an eye out for more contests!

The correct age was 6! I acheived the impression of an older person by shooting up at him. :-)

Stories - 7

This is one of my favs (can you tell I have a lot?). It was taken a few years ago and I just love it. Can you guess how old the subject is? I will draw a winner from all the people who guess correctly and give that person 50% off their next session fee. Contest ends on Sunday, March 7th. You can guess by posting a comment either on my blog or on my Facebook fan page. Good luck!

Stories - 6

Well, you KNEW I would have to include my very own princess, right? I made this collage of my daughter Kerissa last spring. Grandma Mary gave her this beautiful princess dress and she dances every time she's in it. It was one of those things I wanted to remember forever, so we went out in the front yard and I just started shooting while she danced. I love this collage because it is exactly who she was at that point in her life...and, for the record, it hasn't changed much yet. The dancing has just gotten more intricate. lol

Stories - 5

This one was one of those moments that was completely by accident. I was shooting this beautiful family at their home. Out behind their house they have a great garden with sunflowers, tall flowers, pumpkins, and many other things I couldn't begin to name or remember. lol The kids love to help in the garden. We were in transition from the front of the house to the back and were getting ready for a more posed family portrait. Their daughter went down into the garden and started using the hoe to do a little gardening. I was standing up near the back of the house and happened to turn and look down there to see where I wanted to set up the shot I was working on. Just as I did that, her little brother came into the frame pushing his little mower. It was such a precious moment, that I snapped the shot with no set up. I didn't even have time to check my settings. Unfortunately, that resulted in the shot being a little softer than I wanted, but I love it so much that I am including it. It's one of those shots that I would love to see as a painting or a canvas. I may have to play with it some day. :-)

REMINDER! Session fee discount ends February 28th!

20% DISCOUNT off session fee applies to any type of Blue Ribbon Session on any future date. (Maternity, Newborn, Children, Seniors, Family).

The session fee has to be paid by February 28, 2010 in order for you to get the discount.

The Blue Ribbon Session fee is my "no session fee" session. You make a deposit toward your future order, and I waive the normal $100 session fee. So, any day it's already a $100 savings.

Until the end of February, you will save an additional $55 by paying $220 instead of $275, but you will still receive a credit of $275 toward your future order.

Don't have to pick your session date yet unless you want to.

It's like buying your self a gift certificate to use at any time in the future!

I'm looking forward to making memories with your family!

Stories - 3

This one makes me laugh remembering it. This is Rose a few years ago. We were in an orchard and we thought it would be cool to get a photo IN a tree. This shot was taken while we were both laughing really hard because she was barely hanging on. She ended up rolling out of the tree right after this. Don't worry, it was only a few feet off the ground. :-)

Stories - 2

This one is from a few years ago. If I remember correctly, this was Hannah's one year shoot. This shot was after almost two hours of trying lots of different things to get a happy look on her face. She was having a hard day and had been crying or fussy for most of it. We did get some other great pics in before this, but this is one of my favorites from that day. I got it by playing peek-a-boo through a white wooden rocking chair. :-) Playing with little ones is one of the ways you can get them to perk up or smile.

The first in a new series...Stories From the Field

I was preparing for my booth at the NW Family & Kids Festival this weekend and in the process, I set up a portfolio slideshow of my work dating all the way back to the very beginning. As I watched the slideshow, I found myself smiling, laughing and a few times even getting a little choked up as I remembered the stories and experiences surrounding each image. So, I have decided to share. Each day or so, I will pick one and tell you the story. I hope you enjoy reading them. :-)

Here is the first one:

This is Olivia. At the time, she was about 4, I believe. I was at her house to take pictures of her two older sisters and her, but when I got there, she said she didn't want to have her picture taken even though mom had already put her in the dress you see here. Rather than pressure her, I opened up my box of props with necklaces, gloves, fans, fairy wings, ballet skirts, and hats in it. I told her she could try some stuff on if she wanted to and then I went outside to take some pictures of her sister. A few minutes later, she walked outside dressed like this. She didn't want to LOOK like she wanted her picture taken, so she went clear across the yard as far away as possible. She wasn't looking at me, but when I turned around and saw her, I got ready and then called her name. She looked up and there it was. One of my all time favorite shots! I love the little white tennis shoes, the props she picked, the expression, everything. So, now you know. Sometimes, its just that quick and if you're not looking, you miss it. I'm really glad I didn't miss this one! What do you think?

A cold, rainy day made better with laughs (and coats).

Chris and her family braved the wind and rain to hang out with me and get some great family pictures before one of her sons was deployed. We were all cold and wet, but as you can see, they kept smiling until the end. Thanks for your patience guys. :-) I had fun with you!