These photos are a result of a team effort between myself and Emily Hall. Emily, located in Oregon, photographed the wedding for my clients, and I handled all the editing. It looks like it was a fabulous day at Jenkins Estate in Beaverton, Oregon. It’s a historical estate and park, covered in tall trees, bridges, and neat buildings. Emily did an awesome job telling the story of Cheryle & David’s wedding day.

Thanks Emily, and congrats to Cheryle & David! Hope you are enjoying your new home in Phoenix, Arizona!

In December, when we decided to relocated to the Washington DC area for my hubby’s job,

I introduced the couple to my friend Emily Hall, and we decided we’d all work together. Emily photographed the wedding for me, and I am “working my magic” as Emily’s puts it on the raw files.

Cheryle & David – I hear it was an awesome wedding, and I wish I could have been there. I am really glad to still get to be a part of it and work with you! Here is a tiny little teaser. Love the green converse and green bridal shoes!

Emily – Thank you for being an incredible photographer and friend!

We drove out on a dark rainy afternoon, the day after Christmas. Our cars were packed so tight that we could barely find room for a water bottle. I got Mackenzie all setup with toys and books within her carseat reach, and followed Dan. We already had two stops

to make, Uhaul to buy walkie talkies, and Fred Meyer (btw, we miss you and your on-site daycare while we shop) for a bike lock. Our bikes were tied to the back of hubby’s red Taurus but we packed the key to our bike lock in our Relo-Cubes.

Not the best start.

As we drove south and started heading up in elevation, snow threatened. I pictured I5 south to be this interstate with flat wide lanes all the way (probably due to growing up in New Jersey taking the turnpike and parkway). Our goal was to make it to Ashland but scared of hitting bad weather on a dark mountain highway, and a crying kitty in hubby’s car, we stopped in Medford.

We pulled over in a rest area about 30 miles before the town. This was my first road trip with gps and a cell phone that worked pretty much everywhere. Wow, what a difference! While hubby was using the restroom, I looked up a hotel on my phone, called and made a reservation. After doing this it just hit me how much technology has changed things.

The little one had fallen asleep so I let hubby watch her as I checked into a Motel 6, and then we carried her in. Of course she promptly woke up to run wild in the room, snack and watch her Dora dvd. Luckily we had a first floor room with parking right outside. It turned out I packed so disorganized that we had to bring in about 8 trips worth of stuff!

Hubby and I have taken three cross-country road trips together now, and countless 12-14 hour journeys. These are some of the things we try to stick to.

Rule 1: Pack one bag for everyone that can get you by for 3 days. Then change to the next bag. Broken
Rule 2: Don’t leave after dark! Broken
Rule 3: On short nights, go for inexpensive motels… splurge on the nights when you are driving shorter days and will have time to enjoy.
Rule 4: If you are coffee addicted like us, do not under estimate being able to get that first cup in the morning (and maybe breakfast) before packing. Semi-Broken: Not very good coffee

And don’t leave your Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered espresso beans in the car overnight in freezing temperatures… they will never be the same.

More to come…

Emily Hall photographed this wedding with me. Emily is just starting out with wedding photography, and joined me to as a second photographer. Her style blends seamlessly with mine, and I think anyone would be challenged to pick out which photos in this post are not mine. (I am no longer sure myself without looking at the originals!) Thanks for all your help Emily. Hope to work together again soon!

I decided to go to OHS’s website to start. I was amazed that I could filter by personality traits. Laid back, affectionate, playful, good with children, and good with cats… our little Cougie had lots to fill! My results were just shy of one page, and Cougar stood out. I spent a couple of days thinking about going to meet him. Then the night before we were going, he got transferred to an outreach location, Cedar Mill Veterinary Hospital.

We went early on a Saturday morning, and they brought him into a private room to spend time with us. He was instantly kissing us and seemed to even like Mackenzie. I say even because many cats we met were scared of her since she can be loud and make sudden moves, like most toddlers. I wanted to take him home but hubby being the practical one said we should think about it. So we left and continued our day of meeting cats at Sherwood’s Cat Adoption Team shelter. I’m not sure why we went because all Dan and the little one could say all afternoon was “Cougar”.

When we got home the vet’s office was at was closed for the weekend so we had to wait for Cougar. First thing Monday morning I called and was very happy to hear he was still there. Mackenzie and I went to pick him up that afternoon. He didn’t care for the car ride much but seemed to make himself at home pretty quickly. What used to be referred to as my office is now called Cougar’s room.

He posed wonderfully for my camera on Easter, when he wasn’t trying to rummage through Mackenzie’s basket.

The night before we had made up a basket and hid plastic eggs with candy inside.  We left the real eggs that were colored on Good Friday to hide later, upstairs.  On Saturday night as we were filling eggs, I was putting in 1-2 little mini candies in each egg.  Hubby of course commented, “but look I can fit 4″.  For some reason I listened and starting putting in more.  Back to Sunday morning, no breakfast yet and now Mackenzie is finding lots of eggs, all filled with multiple pieces of candy.  I start running around the room discretely taking eggs that she has not seen yet and stashing them in a kitchen drawer, realizing the sugar madness we are about to experience.

After way too much chocolate, and a rejected breakfast of strawberries, cheese, and whole wheat crackers, one at a time we hid colored real eggs upstairs. I was a bit scared that they could not compare to plastic ones full of candy.  We went up and started our hunt.  Apparently I hid the eggs for my hubby to find.  My little girl is bright but I seemed to forget she is just over two and couldn’t possibly find them in her doll’s diaper case or under a bunch of pillows. She did get a kick out of it though, running around announcing “we found egg!”.

We had tons of fun, and once the sugar wore off, enjoyed a quiet family day together.

Style: Some families prefer more posed portraits while others want someone to capture candids during a little part of their day. Look over the photographer’s work and make sure your ideas mesh. If you have specific ideas of what you want talk to your photographer before booking the session.

Time of Day: If you have a toddler that always naps from noon to two, schedule for early in the morning or late in the afternoon. You may have a job that keeps you up late, and feel your best in the afternoon. If you are doing outdoor portraits, morning and evening light are very different. Mid-day sun can sometimes be harsh. Most photographers will know how to work with different light but you may have a preference.

Weather and Environment: I try to make recommendations for photography locations based on the families ages but every child is different. My daughter can not stand to be hot but a little bit of a cool breeze and she can still be happy. Some little ones can be some place that requires more quiet, where others have to be free.

Dress: Much of what I talk about in my engagement photography post applies here too. Be comfortable, don’t clash but no need to coordinate, and be yourself!

Food and other Needs: When scheduling portrait sessions, especially with babies, I keep in mind that they will need to stop to have a diaper change, to nurse, or have a snack. With toddlers, they may just need a little break to run wild or be quiet. Bring snacks, extra jackets, and changes of clothing. If you have a newborn, you may want to have an extra shirt for yourself too.

Communication: Let the photographer know if your two year old likes to run at the camera (like mine), or you have an expression that you make and don’t like. Chatting and feeling comfortable really helps create great family portraits.

Check out his blog or Facebook page. Even if you are not quite ready to buy or sell your home, he’s always willing to give advice.

We met over ten years ago, and I am still amazed by his determination!

Our house can be a bit hectic in the mornings. I am so used to it, that it never even occurred to me until my mom, who is visiting, commented on her first morning. I tend to wake up while my hubby is in the shower, sometimes our little girl is the culprit waking me up. Other times she sleeps deeper than ever laying across our queen size bed, as the morning light starts to roll in. Once she is up, I go downstairs and get food ready for my hubby so he can squeeze in a few minutes with the little one. Even if it involves a diaper changes, it’s still time together. Downstairs it’s breakfast to go for hubby, lunch in a box, breakfast for the furry ones, toddler in the high chair and finally some food for me.

I do all this in a very sleepy state.

This morning it was all of a sudden 8:15 by the time the routine was done, and I realized I needed to get ready for my portrait session. I put on a bit of extra mascara and change my outfit a couple times, since I was about to get a turn being on the other side of the camera. Almost ready, I told my daughter I had to go out and take pictures. She ran to the closet I keep my gear in and said “camera”. I took a few minutes to show her the photos (of her) still on the memory card, which just made her smile.

A bit later, I met Deanna Russell, a photographer friend, at Jenkins Estate. We did a business portrait swap. Getting in front of the camera for a photographer always feels a bit odd. We explored the park a little bit, and found some great buildings to use as backgrounds for our portraits. Here is one of my favorites portraits of Deanna.