It was truly a magical morning.  The incessant northwest rain stopped, the clouds parted, and someone flipped the switch on the sun as if we were on the set of a movie in a make believe Portland.  Seriously.  It could not have been any more perfect and Amy + Eric could not have been any sweeter.  It is not easy to suddenly “turn it on” for the camera, in front of complete strangers jogging along the Eastbank Esplanade, and especially if you don’t get paid a bajillion bucks an hour.  But these two were absolute troopers and you wouldn’t know they don’t do this sort of thing for a living.

Thank you both so very much.  I can’t wait for your Edgefield wedding in September!!

I can’t think of better people with whom I could share my first photoshoot of the new year.   This is the third year in a row I have had the fortune of photographing this fabulous family, in addition to documenting twice for them that right of passage otherwise known as senior portraits.  My time with them has been a great measuring stick of my own growth as a photographer, even over such a relatively short period of time, but I’ve also enjoyed capturing this time in their lives and inevitable change that comes from having a house full of teenagers.

Both Martha + Ed have set truly life saving examples for me, particularly in my roles as a photographer and a mother.  The two biggest examples being 1. always have your sense of humor close at hand, and 2. the quintessential importance of taking time to myself.  The first is a “needs improvement” kind of area when I haven’t had enough of the second.  But having just returned from a weekend in the sun, *see previous post, I’m in a great place.  Right.  This.  Very.  Minute. (…but you might want to check with me tomorrow on that status.)

So a heartfelt thank you to the Thomas-Moore family for sharing their time, their beautiful faces and their wisdom.  With their three teenagers on the cusp of launching, I hope the trajectory of all our lives continue to cross.

…has been in short supply for what seems like an eternity.  So I went in search of some down in Long Beach, California and found all I could ask for and more.

Cold nights in hot tubs and winning at Scrabble…sleds on the driveway and pink puffy jackets….high desert vistas and caves without bats….deer in the backyard and mountains a plenty.

These are a few of my favorite things.