Category Lifestyle Photography

A Day at The Beach – Family Vacation on Kauai

April 12, 2018 1 Comment 5 on 5, Family Photography, Landscape Photography, Lifestyle Photography, Spaces and Places

Waaaay back at the end of February, my family and I, along with two other families, met up on the island of Kauai. We had sun, rain, and everything in between over our week’s vacation. The kids learned how to boogie board, and I practiced my sun tanning skills. These images are from our trip.

We hit the beach even when the sky was grey. Telling the kids, “You’ll be wet, or you’ll be wet.” when they questioned why we were going to the beach when it was raining. As you can see, they caught on quickly and we were prepared with our umbrellas to keep towels dry. We got a super awesome day of sunshine at Tunnels Beach. It took some serious work (not pictured) to wheel our wagon through the sand full of gear for 5 kids and 5 adults to the sweet spot. But it was totally worth it – and a good excuse of a work out to eat extra Doritos and sip a beer once we settled in. The house we rented was within a quick walk into Hanalei. So we made sure to take a few strolls into town. Early morning wanders led us to coffee, mid day for shopping, and afternoon walks for shave ice!
And we were also a quick walk to the beach. We made several spur of the moment, and not really prepared (no swim suits!) trips to the water for sand castle making. When the rain was too heavy for even the roosters to crow (and oh my goodness did they crow!), we had a sweet house that fit us all. The kids played a few fierce games of monopoly and soaked up a bit of screen time after all the sand and sun. It was so wonderful to be back on the island where my husband and I spent our honeymoon 15 years ago. We even hit up a couple of places that we had been drooling over since that last trip. Don’t pass up the ahi nori wrap at the Mermaids if you are there.

It was so good to have some of my best friends and the kiddos with us for the adventure. It already seems like a life time ago already, so I am glad to have these photos to remind me of all the fun!Keep chasing that light, Vanessa

PS this post is a part of a blog circle. I would love if you hop on over to Staci’s blog to see what beauty she has to share with you this month.

Lolo + Bear | Seattle Portrait Photography

July 20, 2015 2 Comments Environmental Portraiture, Food Photography, Lifestyle Photography, Pacific North West, Promotions

Remember this spring when I put out a call for small businesses and creatives in the Pacific Northwest? I asked, and you all are amazing and set me off with some really fantastic leads for Environmental Portrait (EP) candidates. If I could do EP sessions every day, I would be thrilled. I love the photographic mix of portraits and the details of the “making” (and in this particular case, the eating of the end product). Plus, I get to make some amazing new friends in the process. When my dear friend connected me with the lovely crew of Lolo & Bear, I was thrilled. I mean these four are darn good looking, hysterical, and they make a mean snack. Lolo & Bear rolls out some amazing goodies. To quote directly from their website,

“In our family, we’re big fans of snack breaks. We love second breakfast, happy hour, and all the other in-between times. But we wanted a snack we could feel good about eating, one without weird ingredients. That’s why our clusters are made with heritage grains, authentic flavors, and only whole real stuff.”

They set the goal to create a unique, specialty snack and they are winning. I really liked all four flavors of their clusters, but my favorite has to be the Blueberry, Vanilla, Thyme.
Meet Rosie. She doesn’t help in the kitchen, but she did try to herd me while I was photographing her humans. It was almost as endearing as her Elvis impersonation.

And now, a little bit of the editable goodness that goes into Lolo & Bear…
Before I close this post, I need to give a huge thank you to not only the L&B crew for spending an afternoon with me, but to the beautiful and generous Deb Achak (go see her work, it’s stunning) for welcoming us ALL into her amazing West Seattle home for these photos. Words can’t express how grateful I am for new friendships and solidifying existing ones via my photography.

Do you have a creative business? Do you need images for your social media campaign or real stock images of you, your work, and your workspace? That is what Environmental Portraiture is all about. Drop me a note and let’s get you and your business photographed!

Keep chasing that light, Vanessa

Walk in the Park | Seattle Family Photography

April 10, 2015 0 Comment Family Photography, Lifestyle Photography

I met up with this sweet trio at the Seattle Arboretum. Have you been there? Oh, my. I was so glad they had a favorite part of the park because it is HUGE, and beautiful. We headed into the Japanese Gardens with Keegan at the lead. This sweet little blonde headed boy showed me pretty flowers and plans and the mouthy koi fish in the pond. And guys, I can’t get over his big grin and that polka-dot bow tie. A toddler in a BOW TIE?! I die from the cuteness. Thank you, Tiffany and Stuart! I had a blast photographing and capturing your sweet family last weekend.

I’d a Baked Cake | Tacoma Food Photography

March 30, 2015 0 Comment Environmental Portraiture, Food Photography, Lifestyle Photography, Pacific North West

One of the things I really enjoy about my work as a photographer is that I get to meet other creatives. They might be photographers, or they might be an artist in a totally different medium, like Emily. She is an amazing baker. Mixing flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and butter to make the most delicious edible work of art. What a treat! I had so much fun with this lifestyle session. If you are one of my Environmental Portrait clients, this is another example of how I can help tell your story. By the way, I have one more of these sessions up for grabs, hurry though, you have to schedule your session by Wednesday, April 1st! For my brides out there, Emily makes amazing treats and also has a few gluten free recipes up her sleeve, the smaller of these two cakes was GF and DELISH! To find out more about Emily’s business and treats, go to

For my brides and event clients, Emily makes amazing treats and also has a few gluten free recipes up her sleeve, the smaller of these two cakes was GF and DELISH! To find out more about her business and offerings, go to Sweet Things by EH.

Ready to get a sugar rush? Okay, go!

If I knew you were comin’ I’d’ve baked a cake
baked a cake, baked a cake
If I knew you were comin’ I’d’ve baked a cake
Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do

Had you dropped me a letter
I’d a-hired a band
Grandest band in the land
Had you dropped me a letter
I’d a-hired a band
Spread the welcome mat for you Oh, I don’t know where you came from
‘Cause I don’t know where you’ve been
But it really doesn’t matter
Grab a chair and fill your platter
And dig, dig, dig right in
If I knew you were comin’ I’d’ve baked a cake
Hired a band, goodness sake

If I knew you were comin’ I’d’ve baked a cake
Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do

Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do
Howd-ya do-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh Emily, let’s get together again soon, you bake & I can shoot!

Keep chasing that light, Vanessa

Artists at Work || Tacoma Lifestyle Photography

March 19, 2015 0 Comment Environmental Portraiture, Lifestyle Photography, Pacific North West

If you have been following along for a little while, you know how much I love photographing artists at work. (see my post about Tina, and What is shoot Environmental Portraiture). When a creative is ‘in it’ you can see the energy and feel it in the room. I love witnessing that process. These images were taken while we were setting up for our session where I created the photos from my last post. These are a few of the behind the scenes of what else was happening in the room while 15 photographers collaborated and learned while shooting Lifestyle photography.

Here Candice is doing her thing, adding some whimsy and magic by adding sprigs of ivy to our model Danielle’s milkmaid braid.

Here, photographer Mark French sets up the shot and captures Danielle with is Hasselblad. Mark, if you are reading this, I can’t wait to see what you got from the weekend! Please make sure to share with us.

Thank you again for all the fun and learning, Made to Create PNW
You can find more of Candice’s work here Ivy & Tweed and Mark’s work here.

Keep chasing that light, Vanessa

Secret Garden || Tacoma Lifestyle Photography

March 17, 2015 2 Comments Lifestyle Photography

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that ‘she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow.”
–Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

A huge thank you to Candice of Ivy & Tweed for her assistance, foraging, and amazing window light.
Also, to the people of Made to Create PNW
And finally, to Danielle, the lovely and oh so patient model for this session.

Seattle Family Photographer | Playing in the Park

December 16, 2014 2 Comments Family Photography, Lifestyle Photography

A couple weekends ago I finally got to meet this sweet little family. We have had plans in the works since mid-July, and I was thrilled to finally have the day be here. Tina and her boys braved a classic Seattle drizzle as we wandered around the Olympic Sculpture Garden in downtown. Tina and Aaron’s littlest dude isn’t even 3 months old (part of the reason we had waited so long for the session, we were waiting for his arrival). He is still in that floppy-squishy baby mode, that just about melts me with each coo. He was SUCH a trooper with the weather and didn’t cry until the very-very end of our session. Big bro is a sweet two year old with a vocabulary beyond his years, (“This is RIDICULOUS”!) His big words go perfectly with those soulful brown eyes and mischievous grin.

Thanks again Tina and Aaron! I hope you had as much fun as I did taking these images for you!

Morning Moments |Family Photography | South Sound, Washington

November 15, 2014 0 Comment Family Photography, Lifestyle Photography

Sometimes I break rules with my camera and the light. I see my children move through their day and dance in the light and I can’t help but slow it all down. To create time capsules of their childhood. I wonder if other families would want images of their children like this? Because these, these are how I see and (want to) remember mine – in the moment, beautiful and true. I am betting other mamas do too.