natural

the rice family

outdoors, we are family

I was incredibly honored when Nikki asked me to do her family portraits, a gift for her mother’s 60th birthday.  I met Nikki when she was my student teacher, & for a year, we shared three beginning & two advanced high school photography classes.  Nikki’s presence brought sanity & humor to my day–always beginning with the Mountain Dew she would be drinking before 9 AM.  She & her husband Dave officially spell their last name with an “!”.  They are two of the wittiest, most exuberant, most prolifically creative people I will ever know–and they are a perfect match.  When I asked her about her family, so I could plan the shoot, she described them as “Pacific Northwest people” who were lovers of board games & the Mariners.  She also wrote, “We tend to be a bit goofy. Shocking, I know.” I couldn’t wait to meet them & do their portraits!

So, I scoured nearby places for a Washington State kind of feel, & we ended up with an easy-going, down-to-earth, just a little bit goofy, super fun, outdoors session.  Her parents were so warm & friendly, & so clearly, affectionately, romantically still in love after decades of marriage–such a inspiration.  And Nikki’s brother Jesse and his fiancée Pari are in the midst of wedding planning–so exciting!  I had a great time–and I think they all did too…

winter beach • the lynch-flynn family • beach portraits

beach, little ones, outdoors, we are family

I’ve got a thing for redheads.  And our friends Colleen & Jim have one of the cutest redheads around–their daughter Harper!  I remember the first time I got to do portraits of her & her mommy; Harper was about a year-and-a-half with a short crop of already bright hair & these huge pools for eyes.  My favorite shot of her from that shoot was one in which she’d come up so close to the camera to peer at me that only part of her face was in the photo–but one big eye was featured.  And now, she’s almost four with the same red hair, much longer, and those green eyes.  This time, I got to do the whole family–including baby brother Grady, who has the best bald head ever–at the beach.  The sunset set their hair afire, & they just did their thing.  I’m in love with so many of these shots!