Family Portrait Fundraiser - to aid disaster relief in the Philippines

My family and I are saddened by the suffering of so many people in the Philippines this month. We decided that we would like to help, and as a mom I want my kids to have the opportunity to learn that service takes work, rather than just writing a check. So we are going to all work together in a family fundraising effort.  

Holiday Family Portrait Mini-sessions

December 7, 2013

20 minute minisessions all day long

100% of the profits will be donated to the LDS Humanitarian Aid Fund for disaster relief. LDS Charities in turn uses 100% of every dollar donated to help those in need without regard to race, religion, or ethnic origin. (They don't use any of the donations for overhead expenses.)

• Portrait sessions are for individuals, babies, children, seniors, or families. 
• We will have a choice of holiday backgrounds or a neutral background. These will be studio portraits.
• Plan on 15-20 great proofs to choose from. 
• Prices will be discounted from my usual rates - similar to my birthday portrait minisessions but including holiday cards if desired.
• You will order immediately after your photos are taken, so plan on 40 minutes total for the whole process. 
• Child care will be provided while you order if that helps you. 
• My kids who love to bake will also have cookies available for purchase.
• All portraits and holiday cards will be ready for pickup on Thursday December 17th. 

If you are interested in some great photography that benefits a really good cause, please call Pam at 681-4353 or email photo@etherdox.com. If you have questions I'd be happy to answer them. There is a $25 session fee to hold your timeslot - I will take your credit card number over the phone or you can mail or drop by a check. We will do session times at your convenience until all timeslots are full.

Again, 100% of session fees, photography profits, and cookie sale profits will be donated to help victims of the typhoon in the Philippines. We appreciate your support and wish you happy holidays this year!

Fall color

As a photographer, I spend time looking for locations. Sometimes a lot of time. And, let's be realistic, Albuquerque is a little tough when it comes to portrait locations - there are a few great ones and I see them all the time in photos taken by myself and other local photographers. Which is fine. (I love the Botanic Gardens, right? Who doesn't?) But it's nice to have some locations that are a little more unique. Sometimes I embrace the desert and do pictures on the mesa, but how nice is it to find a place with greenery?

I have totally enjoyed working with this family throughout this last year. Their daughter has gone through my "Baby's First Year" plan and she has been so fun to see grow. She is a real runner right now, and so much fun. It's always a little shocking to me how fast that year goes, and crazy to think about how much a baby changes. Anyway - they were game for trying out a new location, and I loved it! I'll be back.

















If you're interested in more information about a family photography session, my website has lots of info about how I do sessions. Or you can call or email me if you have questions or would just like to chat about photo sessions.

I love doing sessions in gorgeous places like this, but for lots of other session locations, see this blog page here.

How do you make your family portraits unique?

I love family photography. I love spending a happy hour or two with fun families, excited kids, jumps and hugs (and sometimes bribes). But I know that sometimes the thought of undertaking a family session can really stress you out. I'm talking to you moms out there. (If there is a dad that is putting a family session together, more power to you and I'd love to meet you! Please call! But usually, let's be realistic, it is the mom.)

I'll talk about what to wear another time (let me just say, Pinterest is your friend here). But another source of stress I see for moms is worrying about their kids' behavior. Will they smile, will they fight? (Let's be honest here - my kids fight when we do pictures. They smile too.) When parents stress about their kids smiling nicely, it stresses the kids out too. And, this may not be a news flash to you all, but I've found that shouting "YOU BETTER SMILE AND LOOK HAPPY OR ELSE" at kids doesn't always work out the best.

I'm not saying this ever happened.

Especially not a few weeks ago (my son, normally so sweet, does NOT enjoy having his photo taken).

Okay, so if you like the family portraits below (I do!) then I have some suggestions for you! Mrs. Supermom here put this session together like a pro, including four kids 6 and under. Usually kids are happy to pose together for a few minutes in any case, like theirs were.









But after that, what happens next? That is where sometimes the stress begins. I always try to have something fun for the kids to do. In this case I about died laughing at how funny they were with my little shopping bag + sunglasses setup. I had forgotten how hard it is to get 4 kids to all do one thing at one time. It turned out fabulous but let's just say it took longer than I expected. :)


When you book a family session with me, I always suggest that you bring something fun to do together. I can't take credit for this at all because I didn't suggest it, but their mom had the great idea of bringing sidewalk chalk to play with. I love chalk because it's simple and easy, but it could be any number of things. What do you love to do together? Read, play soccer, fish, play board games, eat ice cream? Use your imagination - anything that brings you together is a great way to not only make your kids happy but make sure your family portraits are unique.










It's so much easier to help kids be happy and stay happy when you have a really fun activity to do together. Also, to me, that's the stuff I want to remember anyway. I want to remember my kids' loves and hobbies, and this is the perfect way to do it.


See? Happy all the way back to the car. :)


One more question - are you wondering if I got my son to smile? Why yes I did, but I don't suggest the "threat method" in general.  Here's what we got. :)


If you're interested in talking about a family portrait session, I'd love to hear from you! You can give me a call or email and we can chat.

Or, see this page for other ideas about how to make your portrait session the best that it can be. For lots of other session location ideas, see this blog page here.

Big smiles and pink frosting

One year old is such an exciting time of life! You can run, you can climb, and sometimes you get to eat cake. And balloons make everything fun! If I knew I could have a baby as happy as this little girl, I would give it serious thought.













When anyone calls me about one year old portraits, I always ask if they are interested in bringing some cake. Some babies like it better than others, but it's always a fun way to wrap it up.









I have a bunch more baby photography, along with some info on my baby plan options, on this blog page - check it out!

I offer four different options for baby photography collections. If you are interested for yourself, or if you have a friend or family member you might like to gift a collection to, I have an online magazine with more information that you might like to see. You can send me your email address below and I will email you a link right away.

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Summer trip to the Pacific Northwest

I had such a fun summer - how can it be over already? We had a couple of great family vacations. Usually I don't haul my "big camera" with me on vacation, but this time since I was also doing wedding photography, I had the pleasure of lugging 20 lbs of camera and lenses around. And since I had it, I also had some fun doing photography projects along the way. Unfortunately I am very inconsistent in my personal photography... there were boys along on our trip, but they hardly showed up in any pictures. :) (They were not very interested and I didn't want to press unwilling models into service!)

We spent a couple of perfect days on Orcas  Island with family. We loved it! We kinda want to move there - they get a lot less rain than the rest of the area. It's not practical though, especially with the whole no job there thing. :) But it was beautiful!

This one is always happy to pose for pictures. Run through the grass? Okay!


It's a small island, but we had no problem finding fresh fish sold out of someone's shed/barn. Some of the cousins were brave enough to try oysters.






Cousins that wish they could spend more time together! I can't believe how big they are getting.


The view from Mount Constitution was INCREDIBLE. It was pretty clear - not quite clear enough to see all the way to Mt. Rainier, but close.


We ran up & down these stairs a lot of times. So cool!


And here's Mount Baker. We used to have a view (of the other side) from our front window growing up.


My in-laws live in sort of paradise (if you are okay without too much sun). They have an amazing yard, lots of room, and my mother in law is such a great gardener. As a photographer I wish I could use their yard every day! So beautiful. The kids loved the grassy hill. :)




What a sunrise! It made an early morning drive a little easier!


Grandma helped the girls dress up and we used a corner of her yard for some pretty pictures.


The girls especially loved Grandma's hats!






She wanted the serious face because it's more old-fashioned that way. I guess she is right, right?






Definitely my most enthusiastic model! She was so happy.




It was also the 4th of July and I really love fireworks pictures! Sparklers were especially fun.


A little Harry Potter action.


Writing her name in sparks. Nice that she is not afraid of them this year!