Project 52-Favorite Things|Redmond, WA Photographer
Posted on January 14, 2011
Yes, flowers are one of my favorite things. I love them all. I do not discriminate. I even like dead flowers. Sometimes even fake flowers. Heh.
I love to get them as a surprise, buy them for myself or just look at them on a walk. On a side note, I’ve always loved the smell of a flower shop too, though it’s not really “flowery” just decidedly unique. Maybe I like it because I can identify with that. 
I’ve decided this year I’m going to make a point to have fresh flowers in my house as often as possible. Even if it’s only dandelions from my backyard. 
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
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Being Creative|Redmond, WA Portrait & Fine Art Photographer
Posted on January 11, 2011
What does being creative mean to you? Probably not the same thing it means to me, or anyone else for that matter. And, that’s exactly the point of being creative. I used to think I wasn’t creative at all. Really, it wasn’t until I started taking pictures, a lot of picutres, that it struck me: I AM creative. I just had to figure out what I was good at and had the desire to learn.
There have been times I’ve struggled with the desire to be creative vs. my creative abilities. But, recently I’ve begun to realize that we all “create” differently. And, that’s the way it should be. We all have different things floating around in our mysterious brains. Ideas, projects, thoughts, worries, hopes and fears, which all contribute to the way we see the world and create within it.
I used to wish I could paint. Truthfully, I still kind of do. I admire the patience and skill it takes to create a beautiful and thought provoking painting and it’s probably one of the biggest reasons Matt and I have spent countless hours in museums across the world. I have several blank canvases in my office (contributing to the mess in there), along with a few different kinds of paints, brushes and even an easel. But, I just can’t focus enough to find my creativeness in that realm, at least not yet.
Anyhoo, the point of this post is just to say that we aren’t all Martha Stewart and we all have different skills, abilities and creative tendencies, but to not let them hold us back from a passion or a desire to be good at something. I whole-heartedly believe that there are those who are inherently good at some things, but I also believe that if you desire to be good at something and put the work in to improve yourself, that anyone can become proficient with pen and ink, brush and paint, camera and film, paper and glue or digital image and Photoshop.
Perhaps one day I’ll show my photographs alongside my paintings…or not. It all depends on my desire to pursue that goal, I guess. For now I am satisfied with my creative photographic side and plan to keep working on improving, rather than moving on to a new creative pursuit.
What will you create today…this week, month or year? I’d love to see what your creative and/or hard-working, practiced side produces!
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A Little Sunshine|Redmond Fine Art Photographer
Posted on November 25, 2010
Just a bit of sunshine to warm you up on this chilly Thanksgiving Eve…
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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Happy 3rd Birthday Baby…
Posted on November 11, 2010
I love you more now than the day you were born…I can only imagine how much my love will grow as you continue grow. You have captured my heart forever sweet boy.
Happy happy birthday little one.
Love, Mama.
I’m No Good at Journals
Posted on November 7, 2010
About 6 weeks ago Sam and I hung out at Seahurst Park, over in Burien. It was a surprisingly warm and sunny day, a perfect day for the beach. We threw rocks in the water, dug in the sand with sticks, chased birds, crawled over logs and just generally had a good time.
I love hanging out with the boy when we are both enjoying ourselves, especially when we get to be outside and want to remember these days always. Soon enough he will be spending his days at school, and I’ll have my time “to myself” again. And, oddly I’m a bit sad about that. I guess maybe it’s because it wasn’t until recently I realized how much I really do like hanging out with this awesome little kid I’ve got. I guess I can finally say, “so far, this is the age I like best.” It’s not that I don’t think babies are cute and cuddly and wonderful, but I just didn’t have a lot of fun during that stage-with a baby who NEVER slept, would NEVER let me put him down and kind of seemed generally angry that he was a baby and couldn’t just get on with moving through the world at his own pace.
So, to document these fun days and remind myself of the of the good memories and feelings, I take photos. Lots of them. It’s a good thing though, because they will most likely be the only way the stories of our days are remembered, since I’m no good at journals. I’ve always wanted to be, but I just can’t seem to follow through with it. I don’t think I can even count up how many started journals I have laying around with a few pages scrawled out and the rest, just a blank book. I’ve always felt bad about that, until I started taking pictures…
I think I’ve finally found my own way to journal my days and document the important things I want to remember, without writing down a word. The story is in the photographs I take every.single.day. Even the mundane, silly and gross moments are now documented by me and my trigger happy finger.
But, I have a feeling, just like this unusually warm and sunny day the boy and I spent together, that might be easily forgotten 20 years from now, that those mundane, daily life photos are just the ones that will bring back the best and most vivid memories. Even if my journals are empty.
This little face is what I want to remember most though-and lucky for me, a journal would never do it justice.
A Few Thoughts On Beauty And Giving Yourself Some Slack
Posted on September 6, 2010
I feel the need to say something about this, since as of late, I have heard more than one of my dear friends and family members belittle themselves. And, I am NOT, you hear me, NOT going to put up with this any more! I was speaking to some lovely ladies at my art show last week and felt that I could not articulate my thoughts very well then-perhaps it was the wine…? Heh.
Of course, I am the first one to admit that loving yourself, every inch, bump of cellulite and blemish is hard. So very hard. BUT, I am on a mission to do just that. After reading this beautiful blog post: is there a perfect time?, I was struck by the devastating truth that I was guilty of being “that person.” You know, the one that says mean things like, “Ug! Look at how fat she is!” And, “Gross! Look at her yucky face!” Ya, me, I am admitting it, I have said these things and after reading that post I began to realize an inconvenient truth: I am a REALLY mean person.
Now, those of you that know me (hopefully!), know that I would NEVER even imagine saying these things about another person. I most likely would never even think such rude thoughts about anyone. But, about myself? Heck yes! I began to see my own hypocrisy and how wrong I’ve been, being such a horrible person. To myself. Why in the world would I ever think that saying these things about myself was ok when I wouldn’t DREAM of thinking or saying something like that to another human being?!! RUDE!!
I also began to think about how saying these things inside my head, or outside, would affect my parents. I mean, I’m sure that all of you who are parents agree that your child(ren) are the most precious and stunningly beautiful creatures you’ve ever laid your eyes on and it would hurt you to hear them say they thought they were ugly or horrible to look at. I know it would break my heart to ever hear Sam, my sweet baby, the one I would (and sometimes still do) stay up at night staring at the loveliness of, say hurtful things about himself. I decided I need to show my parents a little love and respect as well, since I do not want to be hurtful to them either.
And, so, I have begun to challenge myself to be kind, not only to strangers, clients, my friends and my family, but also to myself. When I find myself talking down and rudely to the face and body I see in the mirror, I challenge myself to find at least one thing I can appreciate, if not love for that day. Because, guess what? I have come to realize that if I cannot even be kind to myself, I probably cannot truly and authentically be kind to anyone else. And I certainly cannot tell anyone else to stop it, if I am swirling around in my own contradiction. And I would never, ever want to make anyone else feel the way that I’ve made my very own self feel.
I leave all of you beautiful, special and self love-worthy people with the same challenge. The next time you hear that rude voice starting in, give it the SMACKDOWN! No one deserves to be spoken to that way…
Mother’s Day Goodness
Posted on May 11, 2010
We spent Saturday afternoon and evening with my family, having a BBQ, playing with Sam and running around the yard. It was a beautiful day.
Then, Sunday was almost more gorgeous! You never know what’s going to happen on Mother’s Day around these parts, at least weather-wise, so the sun was very welcome!
We took advantage of it by meeting up with a friend at Gasworks Park on Lake Washington. We ended up pretty late, since everyone (and their mother, heh) was out and the traffic was pretty bad. So, we chatted for a few minutes and went our separate ways.
Photo opportunities were everywhere! Gasworks has so many interesting structures and on such a nice day, interesting people too. Then we decided to walk down the Burke-Gilman trail to the Ivar’s and have some fish & chips and chowder for Mother’s Day dinner. We sat outside in the sun-it was just perfect.
A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who mother babies, kids, husbands, friends or animals!
The Sunny Boy Who Made Me a Mama
Flowers on our walk
Mmm...salmon and chips with chowder
Gasworks In Silouhette
St. Edward State Park
Posted on May 8, 2010
The boy and I got a bit of sun late yesterday afternoon (thanks for the help with the directions dad!) at St. Edward State Park. What a beautiful place, with a few cool, old-ish buildings and a fantastic play area for kids! There’s even a pool! There are lots of trails, some that go all the way down to Lake Washington too. I can’t wait to go back with either the jogging stroller, or the pack and check those out!
The biggest building used to be a Catholic seminary and apparently you can rent the ballroom there for weddings or events-I think it would be a lovely place to get married or have a rockin’ party. If you’re near the Kenmore area, you should definitely go check it out for yourself!
Here are a few examples of the coolness:
See…pretty, eh?
No Rain
Posted on May 6, 2010
It’s finally not spewing today! I think I even see a little bit of that big yellow thing in the sky…Yay!
This means two things for us today-we are getting OUT!! We’re (moi and the boy) going to go explore some new places for photo shoots that I’ve been wanting to check out for some time. And, secondly, I have to go save my poor little seedlings from all of the weedlings!! It’s amazing how fast those things go nuts, even when it’s a virtual flood in the garden.
Here’s a little peek at the coolness taking place in that patch of dirt outside my window.
Radishes!
I Have a Sore Back
Posted on May 5, 2010
Wow! I’ve been working on my new website for almost 3 days straight now and I don’t know if I’ve ever sat so much all at once in my life! My back is sore. Which I guess means I should get my booty up and get us out of the house. I’m afraid if I don’t, Sam and I will soon drive each other nuts.
However, the weather has been so yucky, rainy, thundery (is that a word?) and generally gross that it hasn’t been very motivating to get up and get going for the past few days. We really should though, especially since my 365 Project isn’t going to be very exciting if I don’t go find some new inspiration soon!
I am looking forward to the weekend for nicer weather and my second family shoot with the fabulous and good-looking Terps! Wahoo! It should be a good one and I can’t wait to post a preview after we finish up Saturday afternoon.
