Meet Kayla, my Othello High School Senior Ambassador. The youngest of three, she’s super excited about becoming a senior this year. She’s very active at her school, and her many accomplishments both academically and athletically make her a natural to represent Summerland Photography. Kayla and I headed into the nearby Columbia National Wildlife Refuge to get these awesome photos of her. Who says you can’t hike in flip flops?
Big blue skies, light as golden as the wheat fields, and an awesome couple make for a perfect Love Story Session. Ryan and Marlene wanted to do it at his family’s farm and ranch outside of Wilber, Wash. and they’ve been planning this session for months in order to time it just before wheat harvest. The tiny community is about an hour northeast of Moses Lake, but it feels like it’s on the top of the world. The views go on and on. I had so much fun as we traveled around their fields and pastures to get these gorgeous photos. The old home photographed belonged to Ryan’s family. You know what a sucker I am for old barns and homesteads. I’m definitely going to have to come back at a later time with my medium format camera.
Stormy weather makes landscape photographs dramatic. The same can be said for portraits, even if that wasn’t my original intent. One of the coolest things about my job is that when I wake up in the morning, I have no idea what art I will have created by the time my day is over. Sure, I make detailed plans for each of my photo sessions, but you never know what’s actually going to happen: the way the light can change, how your subject’s personality is expressed, or how a freak thunder storm hits you out of nowhere.
I was really looking forward to doing baby Kaelynn’s newborn session outside. When we got there it was ninety five degrees and really sunny. Not even thirty minutes into our session the wind picks up, clouds move in, and the temperature drops by fifteen degrees. The wind whipping through the grass and trees and the dark, stormy skies made for stunning photography, but not really the best weather for little babies. Little Kaelynn and her parents were good sports though. We stuck it out for a little while longer to get these awesome photographs. However, when it started thundering and raining it was time to pack it up and move it inside where we finished out the session.
I’m not sure who was having more fun in the tall grass, me or lively Benjamin. Either way it made for some spectacular photos. I loved using the grass to frame him as he explored and played. His mother, Margo, was a good sport and well prepared with lots of snacks, juice, and kisses for her little man. I loved her dress and the color was a perfect contrast to the green landscape.
Enjoy!
My latest Maternity session was special because the subject is a friend of mine. Molly is also a photographer, so no pressure huh? Most recently she was at the Tri-City Herald for most of the time I was at the Yakima Herald-Republic. Even though our newspapers were in direct competition, I had long admired her work. Sadly, we didn’t actually meet until almost two years after I left my newspaper to get married and move to Eastern Washington. I was covering the Washington state track meet in Pasco for the Seattle Post Intelligencer when we finally met. There are so few women newspaper photojournalists that I knew right away who she was. We’ve been friends ever since.
It’s no surprise that Molly chose a gorgeous location for her photo shoot. It overlooks the Yakima River near Benton City. She and her husband, Gary, are adorable together. They’re waiting till the birth to find out the sex, too. How romantic!
