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…)

❤

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!)

❤

Logan + Melissa // Wedding

A beautiful gazebo ceremony + the happiest puppy dog ever + a relaxed and beautiful backyard reception + the handsomest assistant a girl could ever ask for (aka, my boyfriend) + tons of little Mickey Mouse ear stickers everywhere + so many adorable kiddos + the most generous bride & groom ever + a stunning rainbow and sunset to finish out the evening. This wedding had it ALL!

I knew from the moment I met our sweet bride, Melissa, that this would be a very fun and relaxing wedding. She and her (now!) hubby have the cutest little boy who absolutely stole the show between running to give his mommy a hug mid-ceremony, to stealing a cupcake off the cake table and smashing it into his face. (My kind of way to eat cupcakes!)

The ceremony was held at a beautiful white gazebo at the Keizer Civic Center, and then we all caravanned to Logan’s parent’s backyard where the reception was held. His puppy dog joined us there, and may or may not have totally made my day. The food was to die for, the decorations so beautiful, and the weather ever changing but oh, so beautiful. So much love + laughter filled that back yard, and we felt so honored to capture it all.

Logan + Melissa, thank you so much for choosing us to capture your day. You were the kind of bride + groom that remind us just how fun weddings can be, and just how quickly strangers can turn to friends. We can’t wait to get you in front of our cameras again!

❤