A Baker's Dozen: Daily Life in a Large Family

Little Earthling Photography and Mothering Magazine

I am so excited to share this ad with you! It's been many, many months in the works...I took the photos for this Snap-Ez ad in Mothering Magazine. I think the  newborn you see in the ad is ten months old now, so you can see how long I've been waiting to share this.  

This is in the current May-June issue of the magazine. Carolynn, Merriann and Heather, you may want to rush out and buy this issue since its your baby's modeling debut!

I ended up working closely with the owner of Snap-Ez and in the end, doing the design work on Photoshop for the ad itself. I was scared to death, because I've never done anything like this before and the technical requirements for the magazine were about three pages long. Most of it in language I didn't even understand!

And while I'm on the topic, let me say I am a big fan of Snap-Ez diapers...when they first came out on the market (I think Mordecai and Jubilee were babies) I had a stash of cloth diapers I was perfectly happy with...until I saw a Snap-Ez diaper in person. They have snaps (instead of velcro) which don't wear out or all get stuck together in the washer...and the inside is super soft fleece (instead of flannel) which wicks the moisture away from the baby's bottom. I now have huge stash of Snap-Ez diapers in all kinds of fun colors and patterns.

For the record- I'm not getting paid or compensated for blogging about Snap-Ez diapers...I simply love the diapers. I did negotiate an agreement to be paid in the new One Size Pocket Diapers instead of cash. An agreement I am thrilled with. I honestly didn't believe the claims of "one size fits all" when it came to diapers. My babies are on the smaller side...and have skinny little legs. But the diapers you see in the ad are actually one size adjustable diapers and the babies you see range in age from newborn (I think about 10 days old) to age 2!

Wordless Wednesday {Bellingham Photographer}

 

 

 
 
  
 

 

Vote Overstreet {Bellingham Family Photographer}

Click on this link to see one of the photos I took of Jason Overstreet's family. I was honored to be able to do their family photos and plan to vote for him in November.

Everett and Isobel {Bellingham Children's Photographer}

 I photographed these two yesterday morning and they were real troopers. Especially considering how cold it was. 

Aren't they just darling?

 

Their mama wanted some cute valentine's pictures and I think we succeeded! 

   

Photo Wall

I've had a vision in my head for a couple of years now to create a beautiful photo wall. My personality definitely leans toward a less-is-better decorative style. I like a clean, smooth look with wide-open spaces. If you were to walk into our large living room, the only decorations you would see are photos. No knick-knacks, no "art work", pretty mirrors or candles. Just photos and space. 

Back in 2007 I began with a goal to create a corner of beauty in our home. It began with three 8x10 frames on a single wall. I have since managed put up a favorite photo of each child. Well, in the interest of total transparency, I only have framed photos of twelve of my children on my walls. A certain child, who shall remain nameless, threw a forbidden object in the living room and broke the thirteenth frame. It has yet to be replaced.

But moving right along. I have now cleared out a wall in our living room and begun adding sprayed, mounted photos. I discovered these through the pro photo lab I use for my business. The photos are sprayed with a matte coating (to protect the surface) and mounted on styrene. The photos can be hung directly on the wall, with no need for framing. I absolutely love the clean look of this.

 

I have Kalina in the photo so you can get an idea of the size of these photos. Chuck was quite impressed when he came  home to this wall last night. He loved it and asked if I planned to keeping adding photos to the wall. The answer is a resounding YES. You are seeing less than half the wall in this photo. There is plenty more room to add more favorites! 
 

 

And here is Avi posing with her photo. As you can see, it is literally larger-than-life.
 

Oliver {Bellingham Newborn Photographer}

This weekend I was able to photograph nine day old Oliver.

He was such a little sweetie. Once he was asleep he was out and ready to pose.

My children have been very busy with the nifty-knitter making me hats to use in my photography.

 

Oliver had perfect skin. No rashes or blemishes like many newborns have.

Sweet dreams, Oliver!

Fall Special {Bellingham Family Photographer}

It's not too late to get those holiday photos and Christmas card pictures! 

 

From now until November 30th I am running a Fall Special.

 The package includes:

50% off sitting fee, 3 8x10's and 5 5x7's, plus one digital file (photo of your choice) to be used on Christmas card.

for $195!

(a $350 value)

Perfect for giving to grandparents.

(free 8x10 and print credits do not apply to this special).

Taking Better Photos Part Two {Bellingham Photographer}

Blog reader Kristine asked a great question. Do I use Photoshop on my photos or are the ones put on my blog SOOC (straight out of camera)? Every photo you see on this blog and my family blog are processed in Photoshop for one simple reason: I shoot in RAW and cannot upload them until they are converted to jpeg. In addition, if I don't resize the photos they take 10-15 minutes to upload. I obviously don't have time for that. So, the short answer is, every photo you see is at least converted to jpeg, and resized and sharpened for the web. 

But what she was really asking was, what do my photos look SOOC? So here's the answer.

 

Here is a photo I took of my four year old son Tucker. This photo has just been resized and sharpened for web, no other adjustments have been made. I loved how small he looked in the photo (compared to the big, wide ocean) and how he was framed in with the dock. I decided to process this photo and use it on my blog and in his scrapbook. Here is the result:

So what did I do? The first thing I did was crop it, so I was utilizing the rule of thirds more effectively, and your eye could focus on his being framed in by the dock. Makes for a much more interesting photo, don't you think? Then I used the sponge tool to bring out the color already present in the photo. I used the burn tool on the water to bring out the detail. Finally, I sharpened and resized for the web. How long did that process take?  Probably 2-3 minutes.

And because I know you will ask, I use Photoshop CS3.

Click here for a post on my family blog about how I turned a photo shot in my carport into a beautiful portrait that hangs on my living room wall.

Happy Sixtieth! {Bellingham Family Photographer}

Tucker (4) and Mom (60) blowing out candles.

 

That's a pretty good-lookin' grandma, don't you think? Now you know where I get my youthful looks from.

 

Oh, and here's my dad too.

 

My mom's brother and sister were both able to come help her celebrate. These three were raised in the fifties and sixties by an incredibly brave single mom who worked endlessly to provide for her children.

 

It made them a bit goofy, but we still love them.

 

This is my cousin Brenda and her four handsome boys. Last time we saw each other we were a couple of crazy seventeen year olds. Now we're a couple of crazy thirty-three year olds...with eleven sons between the two of us! Looks like I'm doing more than my share over here...Say hi to John for me.

Thank you Aunt Lonna, Uncle Gary and Aunt Loralyn, Shelly and Hannah, Brenda and sons,  and Sandy, Jean and Braeden. It was a wonderful day, and I hope it was special for you, Mom.

Beautiful Boy {Bellingham Children's Photographer}

How much longer will I be able to say that about my little boy? Somehow I don't think Judah (12) would appreciate that description. So sweet, so charming. And boy has he developed a temper. Somehow he has figured out that despite living in a family with a dozen siblings, he is, for the moment anyway, the baby of the family.

 

He looks much too grown up in this picture. No roundness around his cheeks. *sigh* 

 

I have no idea what he was thinking when he struck this pose (other than the fact that his brothers salute in Boy Scouts) but I just love the intensity of his gaze. What is he thinking? What's going on in that little mind of his?

As you can see, Im still dragging my children out for fall photo shoots. And I am so happy with the results. Soon I'll have up to date photos of all my children. And the sure beat a school picture!