These guys are on the blog a lot. Mom loves capturing pictures of her cute little family often and I love seeing their family grow. In the summer we photographed their maternity and a couple sessions after that. I’m going to show my favorites from this family of the last 10 months or so.

This family was so full of smiles that I couldn’t help but giggle the whole time. How cute are these little boys?! The pictures will speak for themselves, but I have to point out that we poked a little fun at the difference in height  between mom and dad. Dad used to be a football player

I really enjoyed getting to know these two. Kacey and I actually grew up a little bit together. Her grandmother used to babysit me and she was usually there at the same time. We had a few little country adventures. 20ish years later and here we were. It was a perfect fit from the start. We all had so much in common and so the photography part didn’t feel like work at all! I’ll keep it short and sweet, but here are a few of my favorite photos from their wedding in August 2012.

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I’ll tell you my wedding album story. My husband and I were married in 2009. Since I am a photographer, I was looking for a great photographer who was willing to give a CD because I had the same resources as my photographer would have and would want to do it a certain way. I could print a million prints and it would save me money. Probably a common thought that goes through most couple’s minds.

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The wedding happened, we got our CD and we were good to go. I blinked a few times and realized 3 years later that I hadn’t done ANYTHING with my photos except put them on Facebook and print one 5×7 image that went in a frame in our livingroom. I would like to use the excuse that because I’m in the business I worry more about everyone else’s stuff than my own. Could be the case, could be that lots of people have done the same thing. In September of 2012, I decided I had a few days of extra time and I would make up my own album (the album pictured is not mine).

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It showed up and I was thrilled! Every time a family member comes over that is the first thing they grab and look through. If I would have realized how often that thing would be pulled out, I probably would have done it right away.

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Of course I am not anti-digital or CD, but I’m more anti-leaving your images on a CD forever. I worry that technology is always changing and evolving and if you just leave your images sitting on a CD, you may not be able to access them again. As a photographer, I don’t want to be responsible for your images that are lost forever.  Now, several laptop brands are not even coming with CD drives anymore (which is also why I offer digital downloads more and CDs less these days). Of course you should always back your stuff up somewhere else but that doesn’t always happen. Laptops die, accounts expire, and photos are lost.

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I could be old fashioned too, but I really enjoy sitting down and looking through a book of photos sometimes. I think milestones like weddings, births, and every couple years should be in a form that can be enjoyed somewhere other than a screen.

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This experience was one that made me really push to for everyone to have an album after their wedding. I understand that weddings are expensive and you have to plan as you go. This sort of thing can always be purchased after, however, it is important to either budget it up front or just do it after the wedding as soon as you can. If you wait too long, your photographer may not have your images assessable anymore.

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How long has it been since you’ve been married? Do you have an album? Something tangible from your wedding day photos? Or do you have a CD sitting in a desk?

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If you’re a previous client of mine and want to order an album, CONTACT ME and we can work something up.

These are two of my favorite people. I couldn’t have been more thrilled when Mattea finally made her appearance. Heather and Vince have the perfect house for an lifestyle session. Tons of natural light and lots of white! I really enjoyed capturing this important part of their lives. Shhh…. Mattea is already crawling. I should hopefully have her 6-month session blogged soon

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I met this family through another family that I photographed often. They were so laid back and were down for anything!

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We started our morning with a fun little bike ride. These guys are so active that I wanted to capture part of their current lifestyle. We wandered around the park to get a few shots. From there, we decided to take a little walk on the greenbelt and into the park.

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Back in July I launched a mini-session sale and had a bunch of fun people participate. Here is a glimpse of all the adorable families I photographed. I love photographing families in the summer!

This is another wedding from last summer that I didn’t get a chance to blog. I have some posts up on Facebook and I think a few random images on the blog but I never showed much of a timeline.

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These two live in Australia. Sean grew up here so it was important for him to get married in Idaho. We emailed internationally and occasionally met up when they were in town for wedding planning. I loved getting to know these guys. They are so adventurous and love a lot of the same things my husband and I do. The week of their wedding we had heard that there was potential for rain, so I was a little nervous about that but it came perfect timing! Plus, these two aren’t afraid of any rain!

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Here is a glimpse of their day in July 2012.

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Venue: Eagle Hills Golf Course

Flowers: Hope Blooms

DJ: VCI Audio

Dress: Purchased in Australia

Decor: Etsy

One thing we expected upon arriving to Ireland was greenery. In the city you don’t get to experience that as much. I think that television had built it up to this magical place where the scenery was so amazing your eyes couldn’t handle it – or maybe that’s just how I interpreted it. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful once we got out of the city and explored and actually reminded me of Washington State.  The whole trip around the coast was fun to experience. Outside of Dublin is pretty much very rural. Being from small town Idaho, that was a fun thing to go back to. And to be honest, the Irish countryside was on of the highlights of the trip for me because it was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city.

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Such a great view to look at on a road trip – totally beats the desert views we have when driving from Idaho to Eastern Oregon or Utah  If you’re from a metropolitan place that doesn’t have much for outdoors it would be a whole different story.

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On this trip I we went to a small town called Dingle, which was recommended to me by a client. I’m so happy they recommended it because it was one of my favorite places on the trip. The food was amazing (because let’s be honest, English/Scottish/Irish food is little to be desired) and we were able to eat fresh seafood from a fully functional port.

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At one point on our trip we experienced wind gusts up to 60mph and rain. Apparently this is the norm in Ireland no matter the time of year. I will NEVER complain about Idaho weather again! One minute it was blowing and pouring, the next minute the sun would peek out, and in another minute it was blowing and pouring again.

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Here are some of my favorite shots from Western Ireland:

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Getting the GPS ready!

Slea Head Drive, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

Slea Head Drive, Dingle Peninsula

Western Ireland

Dingle, Ireland

Blarney, Ireland

Western Ireland

Western Ireland

Dingle Peninsula in Western Ireland. Slea Head Drive

Dingle Peninsula in Western Ireland

Dingle, Ireland

Western Ireland Countryside

Blarney Castle

View from top of Blarney Castle, Ireland

Blarney Castle, Ireland

Dublin has always been a place on our list so it was fun to finally arrive. However, it was just like any other large European city, but with worse weather . It was fun to explore and think about some of the hardships that Ireland has experienced. The Great Potato Famine was a huge piece of history for them so it was crazy to think about what the people of Ireland experienced during that time. We were also able to visit Dublin’s main prisons (pronounced gaol there) which gave us a little more perspective.

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Here are my favs:

Dublin

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland