Mi Vida Photography

Friday, October 16, 2009

Giveaway...

There's a great giveaway for aspiring photographers here. Don't enter...I want to win!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Monday, August 17, 2009

Easiest 4 month old I've ever taken pictures of...

This shoot was so fun! This little one only required a few minutes in each outfit, she was so full of cute expressions and happiness!

These brothers took me right out of my girly comfort zone, and I loved it. At one point, I found myself saying, "poop stain" to try and get a natural smile out of one of them. It worked! I had brothers. I figure mom's let all rules fly out the door to get a good pic of of their kids. We had lots of goofy shots, but got a few great ones too.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Commercial Bedding...

I love Kate Quinn Organic's new bedding line. I got to spend an afternoon taking pictures of the different bedding looks, it was a fun challenge. I love the patterns and quality, and I think I'd have to go for some of the red and orange stuff...I love it! If you want to see it for sale, click here.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Some of the cutest boys I know...

My eldest daughter Ruby and I were weighing in today on which of these two boys is the cutest. We are divided. I can't get enough of the blond curls and 2-year old mischief, and Ruby says that the baby is so cute she wants to squeeze him and cover him in kisses. It's probably a toss up but what do you think?

Friday, July 24, 2009

Outnumbered four to one...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Baby Mia...

This little girl is the precious, miracle daughter of one of my closest friends. Diagnosed while in the womb with a serious heart condition, little Mia underwent a heart transplant four months after she was born. Her little angel heart is strong and she is beating the odds. Mia is full of joy, and offers big smiles to anyone who makes eye contact with her. I love taking her picture! Happy first birthday Mia!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Old friends...

Isn't it weird when new friends become old friends? These were our new friends when we were new parents. Their oldest is two months older than our oldest, and adjusting to parenthood is more easily accomplished with a little help from your friends. Now they have THREE!

Anyway, they have since relocated to Colorado, and on a recent visit we were able to see them and I took a few pics.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

My first wedding shoot...

Anyway, the best thing about being five feet away from a bride and groom is witnessing their joy on their big day. I was so twitterpated by the end of the day!

Monday, June 8, 2009

A senior with her horses...

I could have taken pictures of this senior all day. We scheduled the shoot for 6:30 PM, and boy was the light working for us. I just loved how warm the light was and it was fun to shoot something new...horses! Isn't this senior gorgeous? I love her hair color and her au naturele look.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

One year...

Little S is almost a year old, so it was due time to get some pictures of her, since I had offered to do a shoot as a gift to her mom when she had her. We didn't plan this, but she looked so cute and I was anxious to use my new camera and flash...this is what we managed...she is SOOOOOOOO cute! I adjusted the levels on the pics, but I didn't do anything to her eyes and I didn't pop the color at all...

Monday, June 1, 2009

Simon sneak peek...

This is a family I met in the homeschooling community. I saw the mom with her little one and thought she had a couple little ones, but NO! She has SEVEN little ones. After a week or so, I had to ask...how old are you? She is 32. My age. Seven kids. Homeschooling. Hats off to her. Cool fact about her: she was an only child!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Not just another senior...

This was a fun shoot! A has anxiously awaited this sneak peek so she can send out her graduation announcements! The end is the beginning is the end is the beginning for her...

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Blog HADES...

My blog wasn't anything fancy, but I liked it fine before. Then I decided to use a template from some website that has code for blogs with less blank space and larger images...didn't work! It was totally jacked, and I can't get my old code back, and I can't seem to fix it...nor do I have time...so for now, DEAL!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Free Senior Portraits for Foster Youth...

If you know me, you know that I have a soft spot for children in foster care in the United States. Through my personal volunteer work, I've learned that only 50% of foster youth in Washington State graduate from high school. Nationally, only 20% attend college and of these, only 3% will graduate. In California, one-fourth of foster youth who age out of the system will be incarcerated within two years.

All of these statistics are in spite of the fact that 70% of foster youth want to go to college and 100% of the foster youth who graduate from high school could go for free with funding available to youth with no parental income to claim on their FASFA.

Okay, I'm distracting myself on my own post. The point is, that it's a big deal for a foster youth to graduate from high school...and while they are already used to being jipped so many basics, they rarely get senior pictures.

In the grand scheme of things, senior pictures may not be all that important, but it's a little thing I have fun offering to local foster youth; it's a little lifetime keepsake of a huge accomplishment, of youth, of trendy clothes and that carefree time in life that is hard to hold on to.

Anyway, I don't like to specify which shoots are free and which are for pay, and I don't post them all, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy sharing my time with them both personally and professionally.

A long way to home...

This little bundle of joy came all the way from Ethiopia to join her forever family! I'm friends with her mom and it was fun to meet this little one and take some pictures of her for her announcement.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Worth the wait...

Some little ones are awaited with such anticipation, that it just seems surreal once they are finally here. Such is the case with little baby "A". It was fun to take some pictures of this little one, she is so treasured by so many!

Monitor Calibration...

I got a new laptop so that I could work away from home, and it just occurred to me that my monitor isn't calibrated. I have been working away on pictures only to realize that they are darker than they look on my laptop screen!

Essentially, if what I see on my screen when I edit my pics after a shoot isn't accurate, I am wasting my time! So I had to do some research about monitor/screen calibration.

I started with two recommendations from my sister-in-law: Greta McBeth's Eye-One or Datacolor's Spyder calibration kit.

I didn't see a lot of difference between the two options, they both had great reviews and seemed to offer the same options and results for similar pricing, but I settled on this product because they had videos online that really showed me how to use the product and gave me the confidence that it won't be very complicated to figure out.

I'll write more once I have used it and can share my experience.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

To be young again...

I had so much fun with this senior! We did two shoots: one urban shoot and one costume shoot in a rural setting, and had such a great time. N is going to be a MDT major and needed no prompting when it came to posing in new ways. She got some attention from some "really old" men when we were in the city shooting.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Senioritis...

I love photographing seniors. How lovely to be that young again! Here are some pictures from a recent photo shoot I did. The mom wanted pictures taken in nature, so we shot at a nice park. Her daughter wanted pictures taken in the city, so we did both. I had a really great time!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Seniors, Sisters, Best Friends...

I really enjoyed working with these two seniors! They are best friends and sisters and they had a lot of personality...and they are beautiful!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Before deployment...

This family separated for four months the day after we took these photos. Dad is in the Air Force and was deployed to the Iraq. I am grateful to live in a community affected by service to our country. Regardless of where anyone stands on issues of the war, there is no denying that there are many families who are sacrificing more than I can imagine to follow the orders of the leaders of this country. I am grateful to know them and to have a chance to think about what it is they give up.

Their little one was so happy and willing to pose for pictures, it was a great time taking their pics and I look forward to seeing them together again in four months!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

A little jewel...

This little one is the daughter of an old friend from middle school. Little "R" has the yummiest dimples when she smiles!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Baby M...

He's four months old now! More to come!

Together at last...

This family has been through a lot as most know. They were separated for four months while little baby waited and recieved a heart transplant. I've been trying to put a picture wall together for them for months, but we've been waiting for the right chance to take some updated photos. I usually use natural lighting for my pictures, which is easier OUTSIDE, but we needed to do these inside, and they turned out nice. Baby M is sure a smiler!

Headshots...

I am pleased to announce that I have some almost famous clients. Well, one at least...the other I can't personally vouch for because I've never heard him perform. Anyway, N is getting ready to apply for a musical theater program and they both were going to audition for a show that will play in downtown Seattle, so they came to me for some head shots. We had fun, and I think that we came up with some good options.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Kate Quinn Organics...

I had the opportunity to shoot a friend of mine from the growing up years recently. Love Facebook for reconnecting me with so many people from my past. Kate founded a successful, darling organic clothing line (appropriately named, Kate Quinn Organics) for babies, toddlers and children. I got to meet up with she and her new little babe at her showroom in Kirkland (wishing I had taken pics of it, it is so well put together) to take some shots of Kate and her baby to use in business publicity material. We also got to catch up...it really had been ten years since I'd seen her last.

Here are some of my favorites.

We took a few of her little one and a friend that stopped in to say hello. The light was gone, but we managed to get a few little shots. I imagine this little girl will be a seasoned model for her mom before too long!