Reflections | June 2015 Roundup

Taken on Monday 6/22/15 just East of Snoqualmie Pass.  I was lucky enough to be looking north where I could see the Northern Lights and then turning about 90 degrees to see the milky way.

My sister has a gorgeous garden, full of beautiful flower, fruits and herbs. I was lucky enough to get this Allium just before the heat rolled in.  

Allium close up.

Hummingbird on feeder and my first image with the beak (or bill) parted.

This hummingbird was sitting on a tree branch.  These tiny creatures are so hard to focus on (and I was in my office behind glass) so doubly challenging.

Juvenile hummingbird, tiny, fluffy and even harder to photograph.

My nephew graduated from University Prep this month.  I am so proud of him!  David is off to Denver University in the Fall.  

Jamie Brown Borzy

The fact that you're no longer here will always cause me pain, but you are forever in my heart

until we meet again.  I love you always...

Reflections | May 2015 Roundup

I have varied images and experiences to share for this month's roundup, so let's kick it off with the hummingbirds...

I decided to try mixing hummingbird nectar from scratch this month, instead of using the store bought red stuff.  They love it!  

Here's the mixture I used:

1 cup granulated sugar

4 cups of water

Heat mixture until sugar is dissolved

Be sure to let it cool completely before filling feeders.

Here's a story you don't hear about everyday...  A few weeks before I took these photos, my mom had emailed me and in the subject line she said, "Oink! Oink!  See if you can find one of these in your yard?"  We both see a lot of wildlife on our property, but I couldn't believe my eyes!  She sent me pictures of this mama pig and her five piglets in tow.  It turns out a bear broke into her pen and took one of her piggies and she was on the move and ended up at my mom's property about a half mile away from her pen.

A couple weeks later, I was visiting my mom and all of sudden her dogs are barking at something and I look up and what do I see trotting down the driveway...  Miss Piggy!  She was back!

There's a big problem with this, because the last time she and her five piglets escaped, they destroyed part of the lawn.  The pictures from the lawn damage would have blown your mind, unless you're raising pigs; you cannot imagine how fast they can and will root through your lawn!

So she was back and alone.  The owner was soon to follow and told us the bear broke their pen again and got one of the piglets for sure and she wasn't sure where the other piglets went, because she was running after Amanda (aka Piggy-see below)

Piggy walked about a half a mile and ended up at my mom's again.  It was chaos, you cannot make a 250 pound pig do want you want them to do.  She collapsed at one point, probably overheated, traumatized from another bear attack and exhausted.  We took buckets of water and added some molasses to her grain in an effort to help her regain her strength and wait it out.  Her eyes, they look so human and while my heart was going out to her, it was going to be dark within a couple hours and she needed to get on her way.

The owner was unsuccessful in "guiding" her off mom's property.  Finally, reluctant decision was made to put a rope around her like a leash as a last resort.  All I can say is if I never hear the noises she made after being leashed as long as I live, I will be just fine.  It was...  well, no drama I swear--horrific!  The good news is she kind of "broke" and quieted down after a few minutes and the owners were able to push her from behind and guide her towards home.  It's true what they say about pigs, they are stubborn.

I went to visit my granddaughters this month.  Olivia is holding the chicken and the twins, Addy and Evie the eggs.   They sold a dozen eggs to the neighbor for $3.00 and were so excited!

This is a Clematis from my yard over a 24-hour period.

My friends Brenda, Louise and Nellie came over and Louise was kind enough to let us use her digital microscope.  It was fun seeing the different things we'd collected and photographed, we all captured some unique images. Thank you Louise for bringing your gear and showing us how to use it, this could be addicting!

Can you guess what the following three items are?  Leave your guesses in the comments.

Reflections | April 2015 Roundup

These are some of the random photos from this past month.  The first one is from a Redmond on a night when the sunset was so pretty.

This dandelion was in a field in North Bend next door to a softball game I was shooting that night.  Same night that I photographed the Elk (below.)

Bull Elk, sows and calves from the North Bend herd.

Some Forget-me-Knots from just outside my front door.  I planted these from seed and they are in bloom and beautiful right now.

One of the many cottontail's stretched out in the yard enjoying the sun.

This is Finn who turns away everything time the lens is pointed at him, but  I caught him just as he was waking up from a nap.  Seeing him on the third tier of his cat tower had been a year in the making and now he's so proud he sometimes sleeps there all night.

Taken in the Snoqualmie Valley looking over at Carnation.

This is my dad who passed away 20-years ago today.  It's an image I took back on September 15th, 1993, just two years before he passed away.  It is my all time favorite picture of him.  A family tradition that started back when we were kids was to go to the Puyallup Fair every September.  In this image he just finished treating us all to barbecue ribs (his favorite at the fair) and the look on his face says it all.  He is missed, but never forgotten.

Sisters | Peek from Friday evening session

I had the pleasure of photographing these sisters again. The love they feel for one another and the love their mother has for both of them is palpable.  It's a delight to be in their company and around so much love.  More to come soon!

Bellevue Portrait Photographer | Melissa

I love Melissa's urban chic style, such a pleasure to photograph her whenever I can!

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Beauty Portraiture + Sneak Peek

I did a stylized beauty portrait session with Jess last week.  Her adorable smile lit up the studio as you can see in this sneak peek.  There's more to come next week, but I couldn't resist posting a little teaser.

These sessions start out with learning a little about the woman I'm working with, what she loves about herself, what her passions are and what she enjoys.  The goal is to glam you up and wrap you in tulle or a gorgeous gown you may have and rarely get to wear and show both your inner and outer beauty, you will feel radiant and your portraits will remind you every day just how beautiful you are!

If you are interested in booking your beauty portrait session, please contact me here, it's a wonderful gift to give yourself.