Pettit Family – Lacey, WA

I found my new favorite location, Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. If you have not gone, drop everything and head there this weekend. It is $3 to park and well worth it. We have been there as a family and enjoyed it. But as a it truly comes alive at sunset. If you are a Pokemon Go player, it is also a location of a ton of pokestops and 3 gyms so I mean, go. No shame for my location plugs. Washington has so many gorgeous locations that are just begging to be shared and enjoyed by all.

You guys, I just love babies. Seriously, I could be the next Duggar’s. I have a baby of my own and 7 month old Sienna still gave me baby fever. I mean those baby blues. How can you not swoon over her? With an outfit that adorable, I even found myself yearning for a little baby girl to dress up as if I don’t already have two girls to dress every day!

But the best part about this session was her parents! I have been so lucky to get joyful moms and friendly dad’s not too upset about the hour of photos they are about to go through. You can see it for yourself in their photos below but the love they share for each other and Sienna was the star of the show. It makes my job so easy when my families can just fall comfortably into guided posing.

A special thank you to the Pettit family for letting me spend an hour with them and adore that little girl of theirs. If you love their session as much as I do then share this post on facebook with your friends! While you are there make sure your swing by my facebook page and check out our summer special!

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Thorson Family – DuPont WA

This was my first time out to Solo Point. I am an avid beach hunter. I thought that I been to all the nearby waterfronts. So when Marissa mentioned somewhere close by that I hadn’t explored yet, I was immediately down.
Solo Point did not disappoint. Getting there is a little questionable. It is technically on Fort Lewis, the roads to the beach are lined with explosive test areas and other types of ranges. But ones you see it, it is so worth it.
A little piece of paradise, an oasis. Clear waters with a stunning view of a cliff side island and distant shores. With the sunset hitting it just right to give it that true summer vibe. Though lets be real, this is the pacific northwest so it was still not warm enough to get in the water.
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I spent my time here with Luka and his parents. Luka was a 2 year old on a mission. He was surrounded by rocks and pebbles with the goal of getting as many into the water as he could. I might have bribed him to look in exchange for a few rocks. Not that we were weren’t able to persuade him to join in on some family fun.

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We were able to capitalize on the rocks to sneak in some shots of mom and dad. Those shots you don’t get many of after a little one joins the family. But are so important to capture that bond that started it all. These two are gorgeous together. They certainly made my job easy.

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Just as I arrived at the beach I noticed these blackberry bushes and knew I wanted to end the session here with the sunlight leaking through. Luka agreed that was a great idea after he discovered they had berries. Most of them were not quite ready yet but there was a few ripe ones in the mix. I think every session needs to end with fresh picked berries. I think all kids would agree that photo sessions would be a lot more fun.
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Thank you to the Thorson family for giving me a fun Sunday evening on the beach! I loved being find special rocks with Luka!
Comment below with your own favorite Washington beach!

An Evening with Autumn

 Sometimes paths align and everything works out perfectly. This was one of those times. After a last minute switch, I  get to shoot Autumn and her momma last Friday . It was a superb Washington evening. Warm, angelic sunlight with clouds spotting the skyline. Pair that with a delightful rambunctious almost 3 year old and it was a photographers dream.

Autumn was so outgoing. We let her call the shoots, taking point for her session, allowing the magic to happen. She turned a stick into a magic wand and a tree into a pinata. I am even fortunate to get my own piece of Autumn artwork. She drew my self portrait into a rock pile.

These sessions are my favorite for the love. When you get to chase after a young child and their family, you get to witness their spirit. You see how their relationship unfolds. The adoration it holds. A mother with her daughter playing together. Making memories. Strengthening their bond.

That is my goal as a photographer. My passion is to capture those in front of my camera as they are in that moment. Limited guided posing paired with natural interactions. This is how the magic happens.

For the you get those real smiles from little ones, not the posed fake smiles you can see through a mile away. You give that client images that can bring them back to the fun time they had. Running around this field together at sunset. Instead of remember that stressful hour where they posed unnaturally.

Because that sweet smile right there should be remembered for how it was. A silly piggy back ride with mommy, wearing a party hat for a birthday a few weeks away. Soaking up those moments of our babes being little while it lasts. The cuddles and idolization from our babies is gone all too soon.

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A & R Engagement

The game of catch up has began with this darling engagement session. This was a session that I could not wait to edit and could not stop editing once I saw how stunning these photos were. I loved working with Amanda and her Fiancee and future step son! They were a blast with such chemistry between them as you can clearly see in their images.
This was also my first time shooting at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. I am in love. It is one of my favorite locations for sessions now. If you are a photographer and have not yet checked it out, please do yourself a favor and go walk around.

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Thompson Couple

It has been a crazy couple of weeks in the Conrad household! Part of that was taking 2 weeks off while my husband went on a  “business trip” of sorts then plunging head first into a weekend full of 5 sessions! Add that in with getting our house painted and sprayed this week and normal parenting  duties, I am running a little behind with blogging! Better late than never though!

Jumping back into the swing of thing with the Thompson couple! They drove up form Southern California over the weekend and I was lucky enough to be able to do a session with them while they were in town! This session was a photographers dream. Plan and simple. They rocked their session.  I gave them over 100 images from a 40 minute session! I love every single one of them! It was so hard to choose some highlights to post here! So I included  little more than I normally would. 😉

Enjoy these highlights from their sessions last weekend!

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