family photojournalism :: the srebinski family (part 2)

last week i left you with half of a session with this darling family. and this morning i'm bringing you the second part. in which we walk -- in fits and starts -- to the neighborhood elementary school to run and play. and back again. 

we also stopped a couple times to take a few smile-at-the-camera family portraits. and here i must insert a brief aside: if you've been on the fence about family photojournalism because at the end of the day you're a sucker for a good, smiley portrait of everyone's faces, you needn't fear. i get that. and that's why i always include it in a family photojournalism session. in a typical family photojournalism session, you'll mostly just do your usual activities while i document it all, but once or twice i'll pause you and ask you to cuddle up, look at me, and smile. in this really laid-back, fleeting, and candid manner we'll make a few solid portraits of the entire family. then we'll move back to the slice of life stuff. 

just a simple walk on an autumn day can be filled with so much beauty. 

Also, it is NOT too early to get in touch about booking a session for this winter or early spring, as I'll be taking on a pretty limited number of sessions each month. Reach out if you're at all tempted. 

personal :: tiny dancer

pink silk and beautiful craftsmanship. this dress has stood the test of time; it was my mama's when she was a small girl. right now -- but not for much longer -- it fits my small girl perfectly. she's long-legged and elegant in it. all her glamor and sass came together as she wore this dress around the house today. she can't help but twirl, and also growl a bit. she loudly and insistently invited me and the rest of the family to a "royal bash," which turned out to mean that she was going to dance on the guest bed, sometimes with her brother, while we watched. my heart swelled. this felt like a special moment. 

family photojournalism :: the srebinski family (part 1)

this session is going to have 2 blog posts because I just can't narrow it down. i break all the photo blogging rules in the world with pretty much every blog post. were you aware of that? "they" say that you should only show like 20-30 photos per session MAX. but I say, "to heck with it! there's so much beauty to share!" and then i proceed to share like 60+ photos per session. and that's not even the full gallery that my client has, guys. i'm totally out of control. but in a good way. i think. 

anyway, this family is just great. recently transplanted to Grand Rapids from Chicago, they have been living in this sweet apartment built in an old church building, having rented it sight unseen. and though it's unique and new and has sweet stained glass windows, and is located in a really fun historic district downtown, they are looking forward to an upcoming move into a house next month. at first, Erin wasn't sure she wanted their family photos done in this temporary home of theirs, but she quickly realized that actually YES, she does. because someday they'll be sentimental about this place, and because this is where their life has been unfolding in this season, and it is where their curly-haired, lively boy has been coming into his own as an almost 2 year-old. 

i joined them on a sunday morning as they made pancakes from scratch, played with cars and trucks, sat down for a meal, and then got ready for a walk. (i went for the walk with them, too, which is what part 2 will be about). 

so here they are: erin, keith, theo, and mosley (the dog)...

Join us next week for a walk to the playground. 

And get in touch to set up a session like this for your own family. I have limited sessions available each month, so don't delay. 

life with a newborn :: avaline scarlett

chris and sara have a couch series. every year for the last 4 years they've taken a photo together on the couch. each year they've added a family member. first it was the two of them, then they added a dog, next a cat, and then another dog. and this year -- oh crowning joy of family life! -- they added a daughter, their baby avaline. 

how happy i was to help them continue this tradition by creating this year's couch photo. and so much more sweetness between them and their month-old girl. 

come see a snippet of a sunny sunday morning with this family in their bright and artsy home.

family photojournalism :: the kent family

selina moved out to Portland from Wisconsin after high school to pursue her music studies and spread her wings a bit. it was there that she met fellow wisconsinite graeme, who had relocated to the area about a decade before her. funny that they had to move across the country to find one another, but isn't that how it seems to go?

now this pair is building a life together filled with music and reading, cooking, church life, sharing a pipe on the porch, being amused by their cat, home improvement projects on their apartment, keeping up with studies and start-ups, and having long walks in which they stop to appreciate all the plants in their neighborhood. it's just the two of them for now, but they know that things like buying a home and having kids are in their future. so often people wait until they have kids to be photographed as a family, but selina shared with me that she wanted to freeze THIS season in time. she always enjoys hearing stories from her parents about their life before having children and has often wished that she could somehow SEE it. by doing a family photojournalism session, she and graeme will be able to satisfy the curiosity of their future children and show them who and how they were before they became parents. what a fantastic idea, yes?

spending an evening with these two was cozy and affectionate, full of sensory deliciousness and brimming with the energy of the dreams that they carry in their hearts. 

right now, wherever you are, whether you feel like you've "arrived" at some requisite spot on your life's timeline, it's worth documenting and keeping, tucking away for some future day when you'll say about THIS time, "ah, those were the good old days."

new :: mila marguerite

upon announcing i'd be coming to Portland, OR at the end of October, a sweet old friend from high school reached out to express the perfection of the timing. she explained that she was due to have her first baby in september and was about to write and ask me if I knew any like-minded and like-styled photographers in her area whom she could hire to photograph their family after the birth. now, instead of seeking a referral, we were able to actually schedule a session! :)

at the time i arrived, detta and mike were just beginning to come up for air, having spent the first several weeks of mila's life as most of us new parents do, that is to say totally in survival mode and a bit shell shocked. working through breastfeeding challenges, adjusting to the around-the-clock care of a tiny person, accommodating visiting family who came to help with the transition, and just...well, it's just so much a haze and blur, isn't it? i cried SO MUCH during those first weeks with my own firstborn. 

and what's hard about that adjustment period is that it can at times be so overwhelming that it gets hard to see the beauty, or to even slow down long enough to grab hold of and savor the sweetness. my job, as i see it, is to carry my camera into the thick of that hot mess and offer a new perspective: "this is beautiful and you are doing such a good job. someday -- believe it or not -- you will be sentimental about this." 

my own baby (age 7 months) came along with me to this session (that's not typical, but i didn't bring a nanny on my trip. haha). at one point i had to pause shooting to tend to his cries for food, and i left detta, mike, mila and their doggies on the bed where we'd been shooting. when i returned, they had settled more deeply into an affectionate cuddle, had exhaled, and exclaimed how unusual but wonderful it was to just BE together. if a photo session can gift a family with a little time to look one another in the eyes and sink into the comfort of one another's presence, then i'm a happy photographer. 

besides all this meta-analysis of the newborn phase/haze, i just have to also point out that this baby girl is GORGEOUS. and the moody light of a rainy morning in the Pacific Northwest is to die for. 

enjoy...