The M Family

WOW is all I can say about this family session. When Aaron first contacted me and asked about having a family session on top of Mary’s Peak, I just about died! Mary’s Peak is totally one of my top favorite locations, and the thought of running around the mountain for an hour with this family just made me so excited!

Enter the day of the session. I had a cold, wet, and windy engagement session to start the day off, but I was holding out hope that the weather would clear by the time we drove the 50 minutes to the peak. But the closer we got, the more snow piled up on the road and I quickly came to realization that this session would probably be either insanely amazing or insanely disastrous. Thankfully Aaron and Emily were already at the top when we got there, and I jumped out of my car (which was now shaking from the wind beating against it) to go talk to them. We agreed (in about 1.5 seconds) that the weather was just not our friend today and that we should head back down the mountain and see if we could find another location.

Just a few days earlier, I had been speaking with one of my co-workers at the real estate appraisal office where I work, and he told me about this adorable old bridge that he had driven past countless times. Turns out that bridge wasn’t far at all from Mary’s Peak, so when we didn’t find a satisfactory location on the mountain, I suggested we caravan over to the bridge.

The rest of the session went off without a hitch…their daughter is just the cutest thing ever and has eyes that I never wanted to stop photographing. Their son was so smiley and such a trooper through the whole thing! He even let my awesome assistant for the day (Salina with Spread Your Wings Photography) hold him for a bit while we got some photos of just Aaron & Emily. Either he’s just the happiest baby ever, or Salina is a baby whisperer…or maybe both!!

Aaron + Emily, thanks for being so flexible and such troopers throughout the whole session. Your family is so adorable and I cannot wait to get them in front of my lens again! (Just maybe this time during the summer months when we won’t be dealing with the possibility of snow and insane gusts of wind…)

❤

Parker // Senior

This was a super fun senior session to wrap up a busy day of shoots. His mom was referred to me through a mutual friend, and I’m so glad that she was! We ran around downtown Albany, OR (which has some of the coolest old brick backgrounds ever) and tried to avoid the random wind/rain/super bright sunlight that randomly made appearances. (Crazy Oregon weather.)

I hope you enjoy these highlights from Parker’s session!

❤

Salina // Headshots

Let me tell you about this girl. She is strong, she is fierce, she is sweet, she is humble. She’s on fire for Jesus and passionate about the life that her family leads in Alaska. I first met Salina 14 years ago (wait, WHAT?? How has it been that long??) when my family went up for a working vacation at her family’s fishing & hunting lodge located in remote Alaska. (Remote as in, the only way to get there is via plane or boat.)  My dad and Salina’s grandma are cousins, so that makes Salina and I….related somehow haha!

Last year, Salina started attending school in Salem, OR and since then I have gotten to see her multiple times. She has been pursing photography for several years (learning most everything from her dad who is an incredible wildlife photographer) which means we never run out of anything to talk about! She sent me a super sweet message about two months ago telling me how much she loved the emotion I capture in my photos and saying that she wanted to learn how to do what I do. That was the start of a great partnership, and since then she has helped me with a wedding, an engagement session, a family session, and a senior session! She is so wonderful to work with, and I can’t wait for more sessions this spring with her! In May she will head back up to Alaska for their busy season, and then next fall she starts college back East so that she can pursue photography and art more. I will definitely miss her but am so thankful for the time that she got to spend living in Oregon!

After a full day of sessions + crazy weather + crazy hair + not being completely sure where we were going multiple times, we decided to take some time (in between rain showers) and trade head shots. Here are some of my favorites of the beautiful Salina!

(Make sure to go “Like” her Facebook page and “Follow” her on Instagram to see the beautiful work that she does!)

❤

David + Hope // Couple's Session

Oh goodness, these two. David was my brother’s roommate for awhile in college, and quickly became like an (annoying!) big brother to me. (I really love the guy but don’t tell him I said that.) He found his sweet Hope a few years back, and I have loved getting to watch their relationship grow and change and mature. They are just one of those couples that you *know* are perfect for each other, and I cannot wait to see where God takes them in this next year!

David + Hope, you guys are crazy and wonderful and I am so thankful for you both. Here’s to many more adventures together!

❤