The incredibly talented Stefanie Hunsaker came out to our home last week to take some photos of our family. I am so thrilled with her vision of us and I can’t wait to hang these on my walls! Stefanie is great to work with–I can’t recommend her highly enough.

Here’s a link to the pics.

See that little pink dress my daughter is wearing? That is her absolute favorite dress ever. She picked it out this spring from a clearance rack at Macy’s while we were out shopping for pajamas for my son. Little did I realize when I bought the dress how dearly she would love it. She would wear it every day if I let her (she manages to wear it about five days a week and it’s a real struggle to sneak it away for a wash what with her waking first thing in the morning and rifling through laundry baskets looking for it). I am so glad we got these photos with her wearing it.

Thank you, Stefanie! We will treasure these images for years to come.

Ah, so much for keeping up with blog this week! I mean well, but I should know better than to make such promises during the peak of wedding and high school senior season. This week I photographed Melinda for her high school senior portraits. Melinda was such a natural in front of the camera and I had a difficult time narrowing down my favorites.

In other news, today my husband, Dave, and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary! Some of my clients have met Dave at weddings when he shoots with me (he’s really good!). Anyhow, much has happened in that time…babies, awesome trips, new jobs, and what seems like a countless number of moves (although I did just count and we’ve moved exactly six times in 10 years). And through it all we remain best friends.
/sap

To celebrate, Dave is taking me out for a yummy dinner tonight. And in honor of the event I decided to scan and post one of our wedding photos. Have mercy on me–it was 1998.

Tomorrow I have a huuuuge wedding that I’m so excited for. I also have a backlog of weddings to post, so check back soon!

Last night we ventured out to the Sacajawea Bluegrass Festival just east of Pasco, WA for a little music and fun. Here are some shots from the evening. (I rented a super-fun-bendy lens for a wedding I am going to photograph tomorrow, so of course I had to test it out!)

There were quite a few golden retrievers there and someone was joking that they thought they might be handing them out at the gate.

These days all she does is dance, dance, dance.

Some fun with the 24mm TS-E!

We had a weekend full of graduation events. On Saturday, our nephew Jake Haworth graduated from Richland High School and there was a party held in his honor. Here he is surrounded by his two big brothers. These three are all incredible athletes!

Then tonight my son graduated from kindergarten. Here he is with his buddy, Alex.

And waiting in the wings for the ceremony.

Accepting his diploma.

We never had these sorts of intermediate graduation ceremonies when I was growing up and I thought perhaps it would be overkill, but it was really sweet and fun! Now I need to get busy planning some fun stuff to keep us entertained this summer.

Tomorrow is my son’s birthday, so last night we had a small pirate-themed party to celebrate his big day.

Behold the birthday boy in all his pirate glory.

And here he is featured with the rest of his crew–don’t they look mutinous?

Messy after feasting.

Time for a treasure hunt!

And then a three-legged race.

And finally what the kids had been waiting for all night–cake!

Six candles! When did my baby turn six? I know it’s a bit cliché to say, but I can’t believe how fast he is growing. He’s such a sweet, wonderful boy and I’m truly blessed to be his mother.

Anyone in need of a fairy godmother?

We’re hanging in Portland with my sister and her husband. Dave, my husband, couldn’t join us because of work, so it’s just the kids and me. Yesterday the kids and I ventured in to the city on a dry, gray day. I love Portland…I’m a Seattle native, but Portland always feels more like home to me. We had lunch at Flying Elephants Delicatessen. They have fantastic food, especially wood-fired pizza. Oh my!

If only I could find a bread display like this in the Tri-Cities!

Enjoying that wood-fired pizza.

After lunch, we headed over to Posh Boutique in the Pearl District. So much eye-candy.

They have the cutest stuff…like cowboy hats!

After the boutique, we headed over to Green Frog Toys. Portland has quite a few fantastic toy stores, but I think this one might be my favorite. We couldn’t stay long because my paid parking was about to run out, but I did manage to snap a few shots of Claire playing.

After a trip to Whole Foods, the kids were tuckered and we headed back to my sister’s house.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out in my sister’s yard (they live on acreage…vineyard included!). Time to chase chickens!

So I got new hair. You may have noticed on my web site that I have, er had, really short hair. I love that pixie cut, but getting to the salon every three weeks to maintain it was a bit much with my busy schedule, so I’ve been growing it out. I’ve gotten a few inches of growth and decided to go in to my stylist to have it shaped…I ended up going for something totally different…a bob with bangs! If only it were straight–then I’d really feel a bit Lousie Brooks-ish. Anyhow, here’s a rather serious-looking Ali posing for a self-portrait at arms-length.

Anyhow, back to business. I had a smokin’ engagement session on Friday that I’m going to blog about, but I’m trying to hold out for my new blog. My designer and I are just finishing up a few things and hopefully it’ll be up and running this week. It’s got a very clean, streamlined look and I’m really excited for it to get up and running!

I found this blog post about why it’s wise to not skimp on wedding photography. Thank you, Gwyneth, for posting such wise words.

Hi everyone,

Spring is here. Phew, sweet relief! Wedding season is gearing up and I’m really looking forward to all of the wonderful weddings I’ll be photographing this year. I’m almost completely booked through October, but do still have a few dates still open open so please contact me for availability if you’re looking for a photography for your wedding day.

We had a great Easter weekend. We were supposed to go to Portland to visit family, but the kids have been sick so that trip feel through. We ended up staying home and relaxing instead. By Sunday morning, everyone was feeling a bit better so we decided to go out for lunch at 26 Brix in Walla Walla. Hands down the best brunch I’ve ever had…seriously. I wish I had brought along my camera! After our delicious meal, we came back home to do an egg hunt with the family. It was a cold, early Easter full of sniffles, but we enjoyed ourselves just the same.

I’ve got a blog post in the work geared towards photography specifics (the technical stuff), including processing, gear, and so on. It’s on-hold for a bit while my blog migrates to a new location, which will hopefully be complete by next week. Stay tuned–I’ll be back soon with an update and a link to my new blog home!