Maternity photo session at Washington Park Arboretum

Family / Maternity / sessions

Maternity photo session at Washington Park Arboretum

September 5, 2018

It’s so wonderful when clients return over and over. I had the pleasure of photographing Eliza & Mike’s maternity & newborn sessions for their first baby, and then they sold their beautiful Seattle home and relocated to the Midwest. Imagine my delight when Eliza contacted me last year to let me know that they’d be back in Seattle for a visit over Labor Day weekend and wondered if I could take maternity photos as she was expecting their second child. I hadn’t seen hardly-a-baby-anymore-G in person since her newborn photos, so it was very fun to hang out with this precocious little girl.

We did the session at the Washington Park Arboretum, which coincidentally is the same place we took their first set of maternity photos. When they lived in Seattle, they lived walking distance from the Arboretum and came here a lot on walks, so it just made sense. I love it when we can use a location has special meaning for your family.

I love how “grey bunny” made an appearance in these photos!

After time on the bridge, we headed to the water to see if we could find any hungry ducks. We had a small bag of rolled oats on hand, which is one of the healthier options for feeding ducks. It was super fun to watch Baby G learn the word “oatmeal” as she enthusiastically fed the ducks!

And just for fun, here are a handful of Eliza’s maternity photos from her first pregnancy, which as I’m writing this blog post today, realize I never did share the other session! These were also taken in Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.

Photo on the front porch of their first home together. At the time we made this photo, they had no idea a move to the Midwest would be in their near future. This is one of the reasons I love photographing at home. Houses come and go in the life of a family, and if you never have good photos taken there, well then you’ll never have good photos of the place that once was home.

business / family films

Introducing the Studio!

September 4, 2018

Friends, I have some exciting news! I’ve recently signed a contract for space in a highly sought-after photography studio in Pioneer Square, and I’m excited to begin offering this location as an option for sessions.

It’s a beautiful, natural light studio with exposed brick plus white walls and a huge wall of windows. The studio is perfect for family sessions, headshots, professional branding / small business sessions, plus it’s perfect for video sessions! Because it’s a quiet space, it’s perfect for doing interviews and recording audio.

It’s furnished in a modern bohemian style with lots of live plants, but we can certainly change things up to suit your needs. I incorporated a colorful antique patchwork quilt to add some bright color in a few of these. Here’s a peek inside.

Have no fear, I am still offering on-location sessions and in-home documentary sessions. Those who know me know that your home is one of my most favorite places to shoot. I’m just pleased to offer another option, especially one where we don’t need to worry about the weather! The rain will be here before you know it. Contact me now to book your next session or chat about ideas you have for what we could create in the studio together! If you’re not already signed up to receive my email newsletter, please do so by scrolling to the bottom of the page and filling in your info if you’d like to be kept up to date on all the fun ideas I have planned for the studio!

Children / Family / sessions

Family of 4 and their pets

August 31, 2018

I had a blast photographing this sweet Seattle family and their plethora of pets. When mom contacted me, she said, “Oh, and the girls want photos with the animals. So that’s fun.” Hahahaha! We did indeed have fun. They have FIVE cats and one dog. Can you even imagine?! I have one dog and have never owned cats, but still, I can’t imagine adding five cats to our household. But this family assures me that cats are much less work than dogs AND that it’s better to own multiple cats so that they can play with each other. Can you spot the five different cats in these photos? They are all of varying ages, some having joined the family even before the girls arrived. It sounds like they all have different personalities, but they seem to make it work in the house! I really love that they wanted to include all of the animals in this photo session! (What I don’t love is that I cloned out a LOT of white fur from dark clothing while editing! hahaha)

I love how the younger girl wore a floral cat ear headband for our session. Very fitting and festive!

They all really do have fun together, and spending time with this family during our session made me less terrified of my own kids getting older and becoming tweens. These girls were really awesome young people and it was fun to hear about what they like to do as a family and independently.

These home sessions can be a lot of fun doing the things you love doing as a family. I keep things casual and laid-back, with more playing than posing. We headed to their backyard where the kids played in their treehouse, tire swing, and trampoline. Dad was even game to join in on the trampoline fun! I would say that this dad is probably an outlier in the world of enthusiasm for family photos, as he even came up with some quirky ideas for photos like a reenactment of the rose ceremony from ‘The Bachelor’! We were all dying!

Don’t get me wrong, I loooove me some documentary photos of little kids being little kids. But as kids get older, I’ve realized that it’s quite important to make beautiful portraits of them AND to make beautiful portraits of them with their parents. I do that in every lifestyle family session I shoot. Why? The number of GOOD photos you take of your children naturally declines as they get older. The kids are less willing to be photographed by you, so I’m so thrilled when families with older children hire me for family photos.

So much love for this big, goofy dog named Shrek. Yes, I do believe he is named after that movie!

Also on my list of “must-make” photos is one (or three) of JUST the parents, without the kids. Most adults feel awkward about this one (these two totally didn’t and that is the BEST!!!) and I get it. Marriage is complicated after kids. But my hope is this photo will remind you of what you loved about your partner before the giant tornado of parenthood came ripping through your lives. And I can GUARANTEE that this photo of you two “when you were young” will be so precious and valuable to your children in 20-30 years, so you’re welcome. 🙂

So, is it true?? Is life really better with a cat?! Help me convince my husband!

Hospital newborn / sessions

Happy Birth Day, Baby H! Swedish Ballard hospital newborn photos

August 17, 2018

Hospital newborn sessions continue to be one of my all-time favorite types of sessions to photograph. There is undeniably something magical about the arrival of a new baby, and to be invited into that space to document the first hours and first meeting of older sibling and grandparents is an honor I don’t take lightly. This sweet baby girl arrived on a rainy December morning on the quiet maternity ward of Swedish Ballard hospital in Seattle. I arrived at the hospital a few hours after her birth and took some photos of just the three of them to start, then dad brought in their first-born daughter to meet her new baby sister. I could tell she was very happy to see her parents and curious about meeting this new little person!

A big sister was born that day too! Here she is holding her little sis for the first time ever!

Soon came the entourage of both sets of grandparents AND an uncle!

Cue all the mama tears and puffy heart eyes for this sweet moment between mom and her mom. I can tell Baby H was born into a family full of love.

The paternal grandparents were also present to meet this new grandchild!

Oh, imagine the fun and adventures that are in store for these two sisters. As a parent, we tend to worry about how adding a baby to the family is going to affect the older child that’s already here. It’s been my experience that these big kids will totally rise to the occasion, and their lives are made richer by having siblings. It isn’t always easy to see them fight or be mean to each other, but I wouldn’t change things at all. From what I’ve seen on this mama’s Instagram feed, this big girl is no exception and is one awesome big sister!

I love including a photo of the newspaper front page from baby’s birth day! Hopefully she will find it interesting one day – the location, the headlines, the price of the paper, the existence of a print newspaper!

The birth of a new baby is such a special time filled with tender moments and tons of tiny details that are easily forgotten in a new parent’s sleep-deprived-induced fog that can last for months. I’m so happy to provide a visual documentation of the moments and details and that fleeting TEENY TINY baby that will soon morph into a lovable chunk. I, for one, really have no actual memory of my first born as a tiny newborn baby, save for the few (crappy) photos taken on a point and shoot camera (remember when those were still a thing?).

Adventures with kids in PNW / personal

Adventures with kids in PNW: Mt Hood Tiny House Village, Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, Portland

August 1, 2018

When we found out we were pregnant with twins, we were living in a sweet 2-bedroom house in Ballard. We decided to sell that house and move into a much roomier house that checked off a huge item on our wish list: a separate accessory dwelling unit (mother-in-law) above the garage, which my mother could move into. It allowed her to have her own living space yet have her nearby to help out with the twin babies that were on the way.

Don’t get me wrong; I love our current house and it’s been great for our kids, but I do long for a smaller, cozier home with less space to clean and less space to accumulate “stuff”. I’m totally obsessed with the tiny house movement, so for spring break, my husband suggested that we actually try it out. He’s definitely not on board with this crazy, hair-brained idea of mine, but he thought that if we experienced it for a few days, I’d get over this crazy obsession and stop talking about moving into a tiny house! Enter the Mount Hood Tiny House village in Oregon! EEK! Aren’t they so cute?! We stayed in Lincoln, that log cabin-looking one on the left in the top photo, but the others are all equally adorable.

Eric and I slept in the bedroom on the ground floor at the back end of the tiny house. Bathroom was to the right of the kitchen area, under the stairs.

There’s only room for a small couch for 2 people! Finding enough sitting space for the 5 of us was the biggest challenge.

The loft area had a full bed, which the twins shared, as well as a twin bed for the big girl!

Here’s me creeping through the window of one of the other tiny houses (it was unoccupied at the time)!

I know you’re wondering about the bathroom! There were both a shower and a toilet, which were both hooked up to a sewer line. Some tiny homes only have a composting toilet, but these seemed to be more permanently plumbed. There was a sign warning us that the tiny home was equipped with a tiny hot water heater, so expect to have a short shower or need to wait between showers for the water to heat up. We solved this problem by having the kids shower after swimming at the pool! Did I mention?! The tiny house village was part of a larger RV park with an INDOOR HEATED POOL!

We had no idea there was a pool at the tiny house village, so we came completely unprepared. A trip to Fred Meyer to buy swimsuits and towels for the entire family solved that problem! Remember when all you needed on vacation was a swimming pool to be happy? That is where my kids are right now!

We checked out the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival since we didn’t make it up to the tulips in Washington this year.

Near the tulip fields is the Marquam Hill Ranch alpaca farm that’s open to the public. We stopped by and the owners were so friendly and answered questions about their animals. I think alpacas are the cutest!!! They also have a little gift shop selling fiber goods, yarn, and alpaca tree ornaments.

We did a day trip to Portland (about 45 minutes from the tiny house village) one day and checked out the science museum before enjoying doughnuts at Pip’s on good advice from a local friend. Contrary to popular belief, Voodoo is NOT the best doughnut in PDX!

We loved the hands-on Robot Revolution exhibit at OMSI! Well-worth the extra admission charge! What I did NOT enjoy was the planetarium movie, which is one of those things where you’re in a dome and they show a 360 degree movie. Hello, motion sickness! I took a nap in the theater while the kids enjoyed the movie.

Overall it was a super fun trip to the Mount Hood/Portland area. There are 5 tiny houses available for rent all in a cluster, and we think it would be super fun to go stay at the tiny house village with friends during the summer. Each family can have their own house, and you all can congregate together outside on the picnic tables and around the fire pit. The weather in April was a little too cold and rainy to enjoy the outside space for very long, but it would be fabulous during the summer.

And did this trip cure me of my tiny house obsession?! Hard to say….I thought staying in the house was super fun, as did the kids. We stayed for 3 nights total, probably not long enough for the downsides of tiny house living to really become apparent. So for now, I’ll continue binging on episodes of Tiny House Nation!

Baby / sessions

Seattle in-home newborn photography session

July 25, 2018

I first met Jen through our mutual volunteer work for Soulumination. I was so happy she chose me to photograph her maternity session as well as newborn photos for their first baby. Have I mentioned that home is my favorite place to take your photos? So naturally, I was thrilled that we did both of their sessions at their cute, new-to-them home in south Seattle. Newborn sessions at home are the absolute best since you don’t need to travel anywhere with baby. I love making things as easy as possible for new parents. I sure remember what it was like to try to get anywhere with a new baby, and the thought can be daunting! Having your session at home allows everyone to be a little more relaxed, and also allows us to incorporate a sense of place into the photos.

It’s so interesting to me to find out the personalities of these new babies. This guy was not that happy unless he was sleeping, and his parents were taking this in stride amazingly well! I have since seen many happy photos of him on social media as he’s gotten older, so I know for a fact that he’s a happy guy these days. But the early days were a different story!

Here he was awake enjoying some time on his changing table and not completely mad!!!

He also really enjoyed when dad would chat with him.

But mostly, I think he needed to sleep on the day I was there!

Their first child fur baby, not to be left out of the photo session!

When mom is a photographer, I know it’s important to prioritize getting her in the frame during the session.

And finally, here is the “after” photo from the before/after series I made for them, and I loooove how mom remembered to put on the same yellow Tieks for this photo! Love love love! You can check out the “before” photo here.

Products

Photo display ideas for busy parents

June 11, 2018

One of the most popular items I sell to clients is digital files. While digital files are wonderful for archiving, they are of course not a tangible piece of art. My hope is that you’ll print your photos so that you can live with them and enjoy them every day, whether you end up ordering your enlargements & wall art through me or printing on your own. I thought I’d share with you how I’m displaying photos in my own home!

Over the fireplace mantle in our living room, I have a large 16×20″ print framed in the center (family portrait by the lovely Jean Smith), flanked by two smaller prints (those photos by me). The square is a 12×12″ in a square frame with mat, and the one of me and Morgs on the right is an 11×14″ print. I love the classic yet modern look of simple black and white wood frames.

These square frames are the Ribba line from IKEA. They come with a mat with a square opening sized to perfectly fit a 12×12″ photograph. Since fitting my photos into a square format is tough for me and I try to maintain the original aspect ratio whenever possible, I had some custom mats cut at Annie’s Art & Frame in Ballard. The bottom row of frames contains these custom mats with 8×12″ openings. I love the large amount of white space around the photographs. Having custom mats cut is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to utilize odd-shaped frames or get exactly what you want if you can’t find a commercially available size. The folks at Annie’s are always so helpful, and will cut mats while you shop or grab a cup of coffee.

Here’s another favorite item from IKEA: the Dignitet wire curtain rod which works as a fantastic picture and kids artwork holder. I have actually never seen anyone use it for curtains, but plenty of my friends use it for artwork like we do. You can cut the wire to customize the curtain wire to fit your wall space. We display square prints from Artifact Uprising or Chatbooks on the top wire and reserve the bottom wire for the kids’ masterpieces. These square prints are a great way to get your favorite photos off your device and into your life!

This gallery wall on our stairway was over a year in the making, so trust me when I say I understand decision paralysis and how difficult it is to choose photos to print, frame, and hang from a family photo session. I found the task of selecting favorites from a past documentary family session so exceedingly difficult, which is why most of my clients walk away with a book that I’ve designed and printed for them, leaving no work for them to complete on their end. All that said, I do love this eclectic mix of framed photos, artwork, our wedding invitation (bottom right) inspirational quotes, and even a shadow box containing newborn stuff from the twins. I’ll keep adding to this wall moving up the stairs. My secret to hanging these items was to use 3M Command strips so that I could easily reposition or move any items (though I haven’t needed to). I get lots of questions about that digital drawing of the 3 kids holding the otter pops. It was made from a photograph I took of them by Emmie Bean. She was lovely to work with.

Finally I have a few frames filled with smaller prints (5×7″ and smaller) on the built-in bookshelves flanking the fireplace. I’ve mixed in old & new photos. Do you notice the old photo of my husband as a toddler having a tantrum on the floor? That is my most treasured photo of him from his childhood, and perhaps one of the reasons I love making photos of kids having tantrums! The shelf also contains our collection of Chatbooks and a few other photobooks. The kids really love looking through our Chatbooks, which is where I print personal phone photos from my Instagram feed. I’ve had a subscription to their book plan since 2012 and I couldn’t be happier. I blogged about Chatbooks a while back here. Since then they added the square prints service, so you can add 5 square prints to each book shipment. It’s a fun and easy way to get new prints to swap out on our wire curtain line.

These photos I have displayed are only a tiny fraction of all of my favorite photos of my family. People have limited wall space in their homes, so I guess my hope is that you’ll have some photos of the people you love printed to enjoy daily, and then you’ll have the majority of them in a more space-friendly yet tangible format which I will write about soon: books & albums! Stay tuned!

Baby / Family / sessions

Kylin’s home newborn photography session in Issaquah

May 11, 2018

I’ve been so honored to photograph this Issaquah family as they grew to four beautiful children over the course of the last several years. It’s so fun to see the kids grow older and take on new roles as big sisters and big brothers. It was really special to document their family as they welcomed their fourth and final child – a girl! I was able to document mom’s maternity session in the backyard of their new home as they’d outgrown their first family home, and then Kylin’s birth day at Swedish Hospital on First Hill (in photo AND video), just a few hours after she was born. Ten days later we met again at their home for her newborn session.

Truth be told, I usually advise my clients to wait a few weeks after baby is born to hold their newborn session. It allows everyone to get a little more rest, kind of get into a groove, and sometimes we even wait until baby’s first social smile appears around 6 weeks. However, being the fourth baby in this family, mom and dad are old pros at this. Can you believe how amazing mom looked only 10 days after giving birth?! Seriously amazing.

One reason I LOVE photographing newborn sessions in the home is for the simple fact that homes come and go. Just like this family is living in a different home than the one they started their family in, we brought our twins home to a different house than the one we brought our first daughter home to. Having photos made in your home ensures that your children will have a record of the place they grew up, long after that house may no longer be in your life.

I especially love it when a home has unique touches, like this one. This mama puts so much love and care into decorating the nursery for each of her babies, a skill that I definitely do NOT have, so it’s extra fun when I can photograph an amazing nursery! I love Kylin’s theme of blue and butterflies, and I love that she had several frames already on the walls waiting to be filled with these photographs!

I like to make a “before (baby) & after” photo from the maternity and newborn sessions. They’re never the same set-up; I just try to create something based on whatever strikes me creatively during the maternity session (as that is the basis for the set-up). This last photo is the “after” photo. You can see the “before” photo in the blog post of this sweet family’s maternity session here!

personal / Products

Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2018

May 7, 2018

This year I’m sharing some of my current favorite things, in hopes that they’ll give you some ideas on how to celebrate the moms in your life. As a reminder from last year, the overwhelming thing that moms really want is some time alone for rest and relaxation. Curiously, when I surveyed my mom friends last week, many of them also mentioned wanting their cars detailed!! Aside from the gift of time & a spiffed up auto, there are a few unique ideas…

Greyston Bakery brownies! You may have seen this video (scroll down) highlighting their innovative open hiring process floating around on social media a few years ago. Ever since then, I’ve been inspired to try their brownies and support this business. You can get free shipping online with code MOM18 through 5/9, or pick some up at your local Whole Foods stores.

I have totally gotten into yoga recently! I am loving classes at Core Power Yoga, and I got this pretty yoga mat towel from Amazon. I started doing hot yoga as a way to supplement my workouts at Crossfit with stretching and meditation (two aspects that Crossfit is not great at, haha) and also because I am always cold so working out during the winter in my (mostly unheated) Crossfit gym was making me pretty cranky. I’ve done yoga in the past but this was my first time trying hot yoga, and boy is it awesome. I love how it makes me feel soooooo warm, like warm to the bone. The Core Power Yoga studio that’s in my neighborhood is super nice and fancy. It has a double-sided gas fireplace in the lobby and facing into one of the studios, and a beautiful locker room full of amenities. It’s so awesome to finish a hot yoga class then be able to take a nice warm shower right afterward. The best part is they are a national chain, so I’m sure you have one in your neighborhood too. I think any mom would love a 10-class punch card for Mother’s Day!

Plants would also make an amazing gift for mom that keeps on giving, long after a bouquet of flowers has died. I have my eye on this mid-century modern planter which is a total splurge. I’d be happy with a very good knock-off too. I’d put this snake plant in it, as it was rated one of the best plants to clean the air by NASA.

A cozy robe in the most amazing, dreamy fabric by Barefoot Dreams would make any mom blissfully happy. I have 2 cardigans in this fabric and it’s hard to describe the level of happiness they give me. I can only imagine that putting on a robe in this fabric would be like a warm hug (Are you noticing a theme here??). I mean, just browse a handful of the reviews. Nordstrom offers this in a variety of colors and the shipping is always free.

Finally, how about booking a documentary session with yours truly? We’ll capture your awesome here and now, and the best part is I’ll make you a beautiful book to flip through so that you can marvel at how much your family has grown and changed by next Mother’s Day, and 30 Mother’s Days from now.

Need more ideas? Check out my Mother’s Day gift guide from last year, the year before, and the year before that! Wishing you a fabulous weekend of celebrating the special moms in your life!!!

Commercial

Sharing my first short documentary film!

April 27, 2018

Asian female photographer posing and smiling with gear

Last June I had the opportunity to learn from world-renowned filmmakers Julie Winokur and Ed Kashi in Seattle. It was such an amazing 2 days, and being able to watch their process from start to finish then see the final film was so interesting! I had been making family films for clients but had been wanting to learn how to create films that have a wider audience, communicate some kind of story or message, and have the ability to connect people to engage in issues that matter. I mean, I still LOVE creating memory films for my clients and my own family. The short films of my own kids are so precious to me and the people that are in them, but I was getting the sense that unless you know the people in these films, there isn’t much to hold the interest of an outsider. I love the idea of using video to tell a story in a way that engages many different types viewers and moves people to action.

Julie & Ed’s company, Talking Eyes Media, describes their mission on their homepage perfectly: “We are passionate about visual storytelling that stimulates public dialogue & advocates for positive change.” Julie & Ed, thank you for inspiring me!

Soon after their workshop, I began planning to create my first short documentary film. The first task would be to figure out what this film would be about. After much thought, I settled on Soulumination, a local non-profit organization where I’ve been serving as a volunteer photographer for the past 2 years. Soulumination celebrates the lives of children and parents facing life-threatening conditions by providing professional photographs of these special individuals and their families, free of charge. The life-affirming photographs of Soulumination are an enduring, positive record of the child’s life, and provide a loving legacy for the children of parents lost to terminal illness.

I pitched the idea to staff and they were very excited. I began filming the first footage for the film in July of 2017, and wrapped the last filming at the end of February 2018. I was able to capture many events over the course of the year for Soulumination, from two Soul family sessions (one taking place at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and one outdoors at the Washington Park Arboretum), an interview with Soul parents, a volunteer work party, the annual Artists Sale in December, volunteers at work in the office, and the annual Photographers dinner. And the heart of the film is an interview where I sat down with Soulumination founder Lynette Johnson.

One of the highlights of filming for me was being able to accompany two photographers on Soul shoots. The first shoot was my friend Wenmei Hill who did the session at the hospital. This amazing Soul kiddo was photographed by Lynette back in 2014 after her cancer treatment. Unfortunately, her cancer relapsed in 2017 and she underwent a bone marrow transplant in which her younger brother served as her bone marrow donor. Her mom contacted Soul and suggested a superhero-themed shoot and asked Lynette to come in her Wonder Woman costume to join in the shoot. You see, Lynette is ironically also battling cancer. Little brother dressed up as Superman, and thus we had 3 superheroes as the stars of that shoot. I loved watching Wenmei shoot; she is so talented. And she even delivered a box of chocolates to my home when I was deep in the editing process. It was such a great surprise and very much appreciated!

The second session I filmed was photographed by Randell Walton, the Soulumination board president. I’ve met Randell at photographers dinners in the past, but never had the opportunity to watch her at work. Boy, is she loads of fun! The family that she photographed was one that I actually photographed several months earlier so it was special to be able to see them again and feature them in this film. Randell took that silly photo of me at work which I’m happy to have! Pro tip: do NOT schedule a session at the Arboretum at the same time as a Husky football game! ACK!!!

I’m thankful to Susan Doupé, the Soulumination director, who helped me coordinate many logistics and all of my filming days. She didn’t want to be in the film, but I did manage to sneak her in! She’s the one holding Claire’s large portrait during the photographer’s dinner when Debbie is speaking. Sue, I couldn’t have done it without you!

Surround yourself with amazing people!!! I’m so thankful for a small group of filmmaker colleagues who inspire me constantly, challenge me to stretch myself, and provide honest no-bull-shit feedback: Francesca, Christin, Angie & Stacey. And finally, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t express my extreme gratitude to my husband and family. For anyone familiar with the filmmaking process, you know the work AND the magic happens in post-production. Ed talked about this when referring to working with his wife Julie. Ed does most of the filming, which he refers to as the “coal mining”; Julie is the editor, which he affectionately calls the “diamond polishing”. It’s so true. There were countless hours spent sitting at my computer editing this film, drawing out the story, trimming and sequencing clips, color grading, and mixing sound. This film was edited in stolen moments over the course of 8 months, while children were sleeping, or off playing with my husband.

It literally feels like I birthed a fourth baby. I’m so glad to have finally finished this project, and I’m so happy to share it with you here. It’s not perfect, but for my first documentary film project, I’m happy nonetheless. Grab a cup of tea (and maybe a tissue) and enjoy! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

xo Carrie

Accessible version with CC can be viewed here.

Maternity / sessions

Issaquah maternity session at home with kids

March 30, 2018

I was delighted to photograph a maternity session to mark the anticipated arrival of the 4th and final member of this family at their new home in Issaquah that they had recently moved into. One of the reasons I have grown to LOVE photographing families in their homes is quite simply the fact that houses come and go over the course of a family’s life, and if you only ever get professional photos done at a park or the beach, then you won’t have a record of your family in THIS place at this time.

Here is the photo with their house in the background that the kids, when they’re all grown with families of their own, will show to their kids when they tell them about what life was like when they were growing up. The yard and garden, the swing set, T-ball and slip and slide in the grass, then who’s windows those were.

This little guy has some serious talent with a bat! The hand-eye coordination is amazing!

Sisters are the best! The new baby turned out to be a girl, so now there are 3 of them!

My favorite! If you’ve followed my work, you know I just LOVE a good crying photo. In fact, at the very end of my most recent documentary family session the mom said, “Oh, I’m kind of bummed he didn’t have a temper tantrum at all the entire time!” Hahahaha! So for real, don’t be distressed if your child cries during the session. This lasted only for just a brief moment, and then he was back to his happy self.

I made a before and after photo of this scene, and I’ll share the “after” photo of mom sitting in that glider holding baby…when I get around to blogging their newborn session. Isn’t it such a beautiful nursery?! This mama sure has a talent for interior decorating and making her babies’ spaces just so special.

Carrie Yuan is a documentary family photographer in Seattle, Washington, specializing in documentary family photography sessions that honestly tell the story of your family’s here and now. Carrie’s passion is to document the full-of-love journey that is parenthood and childhood (with a sprinkling of humor), in all its chaos & beauty. Carrie lives in Seattle with her family: a husband who loves a good sports game and a cold beer, an eight-year-old aspiring gymnast, five-year-old boy/girl twins who currently love the Elephant & Piggie series, and a lab-ridgeback canine who has taken to scrounging for snacks left in my purse!

Carrie is currently booking family documentary photo (and/or FILM…as in video) sessions (that do NOT require the purchase of new outfits, or cleaning your house), candid lifestyle family sessions, in-home newborn sessions in the Greater Seattle area, and hospital newborn sessions in Seattle hospitals.

business / Commercial

Authentic, story-driven videos for small businesses, brands, & non-profits

January 26, 2018

I’m thrilled to now be offering short promotional videos for small businesses, brands, and non-profit organizations in the greater Seattle area. As a documentary family photographer and filmmaker, I will continue to work with family clients to create video time capsules of their family life but let’s face it: family time capsule videos are really only interesting to the people in the film and their loved ones. I’m excited by the creative challenge of telling a story through video that will interest a broader range of viewers, and thus far, making a different type of film has been so creatively satisfying.

I love the idea of creating a film that tells a story, gets viewers excited about a company or product, and helps people get to know a brand or issue. People love listening to stories, and video is THE way to tell them. Video content is being prioritized over still images in every social media/web platform out there, and brands that embrace video will be at the cutting edge of marketing.

And guess what? You don’t need to have a polished on-camera persona at all. It’s my job to create a relaxed environment that will result in a really authentic message, and I’ll share a secret: the magic is in the editing!

I recently created a film for Kim Hildebrand Photography which was geared towards other photographers and highlights Kim’s expertise in teaching her signature lighting techniques used to create beautiful in-home lifestyle sessions on analog film. Kim is teaching at the popular Click Away conference in February, and offers personal lighting mentoring to other photographers.

Here’s what Kim had to say about our collaboration:

“I hired Carrie to create a commercial promo video for my photography business, and I am thrilled by the results! Carrie documented me photographing another family and through the process, shot videos from a list of subjects we wanted to capture while also incorporating movement, laughter, light, and feeling from the shoot to give it life. Through her superb video editing skills, she was able to seamlessly incorporate everything together into a fun, informative and cohesive promo video for my business! I met with her one more time where she interviewed me for the video, and I was the most nervous about this part. I had nothing to be nervous about, though, as she immediately put me at ease. I could tell she had done her research because she asked detailed questions about my business and philosophy, which helped her make my video expertly tailored to my business. If you need a commercial video for your business, no need to look further! Carrie is amazing. She is a true professional and I would hire her again in a heartbeat.”

Thank you for the kind words, Kim! I’m excited for the future video projects we have planned together!

If you’re a business owner and are interested in discussing how a short film can become an integral part of your online marketing or social media presence, I’d love to chat!

Family / sessions

Seattle family photography session at home and at the beach

January 3, 2018

This documentary session has been in my blog queue for way longer than I care to admit! Let’s just say that since this session, I’ve photographed a mini maternity/family session and am getting ready to photograph their new baby in the hospital once he’s born later this month! I’m so thankful for returning clients and I can’t wait to document their growing family and see this little guy become a BIG brother! One of the reasons I love this family is because both parents are just soooo calm & mellow! Definitely my kind of people to spend the day with.

We had a super chill session this fall morning. I met them at their home which overlooks the water, and they spent a few lazy hours there just reading books, drinking morning beverages of choice (coffee for the parents, of course, and a milk bottle for the little guy), and enjoying the mild fall day outside.

After some time chilling at home, they were ready to head out for an adventure. This little guy likes to pretend like he’s driving the car, so he helped reverse out of the garage! We then headed for a quick coffee pick-up at the neighborhood Starbucks before heading to their favorite outdoor space: Carkeek Park! My clients always pick the location of their session, and despite this, I photograph a lot of sessions at Carkeek. It’s probably because it’s a North Seattle favorite and such a great place for families, with the beach, grassy area, and playground.

Conquering the salmon slide and blowing dandelion heads!

And if you’re worried that a documentary session won’t result in any “frame-worthy” photos, we always take about 10 minutes to round up everyone where I’ll actually give you a bit of direction. I believe this photo above ended up on their Christmas card!

Carrie Yuan is a documentary family photographer in Seattle, Washington, specializing in documentary family photography sessions that honestly tell the story of your family’s here and now. Carrie’s passion is to document the full-of-love journey that is parenthood and childhood (with a sprinkling of humor), in all its chaos & beauty. Carrie lives in Seattle with her family: a husband who has been teaching the kids riddles, an eight-year-old aspiring gymnast, five-year-old boy/girl twins who have THE funniest conversations together in the minivan, and a lab-ridgeback canine who has taken to surfing our dining table!

Carrie is currently booking family documentary photo (and/or FILM…as in video) sessions (that do NOT require the purchase of new outfits, or cleaning your house), in-home newborn sessions in the Greater Seattle area, and hospital newborn sessions in Seattle hospitals.

Family / sessions

Seattle family photography session with two children at home and Carkeek Park

September 8, 2017

It’s a real treat to work with Seattle families who totally “get” my approach, philosophy, and style of photography. These are also the types of families who most resonate with my thoughts & approach to parenting. They are juggling a busy work-life balance yet know the importance of holding on to the little everyday moments which are oh so fleeting. I knew these were “my people” when I arrived at their home early one weekend morning, and their son was dressed in his homemade cape and crown, and mom didn’t even bat an eye nor did she try to get him to take it off. In fact, he wore the cape and crown for the *entire* session, aside for the 5 minutes that we took to take an everyone-looking-at-the-camera photo!

We spent the day doing what they love to do on the weekends: make pumpkin waffles and eat together at home, play with trains and read books a bit at home, before heading off on an adventure outside. I love how documentary sessions allow families to slow down, do their favorite everyday things that are so much a part of their days. These things change so quickly that it’s so nice to record the little details.

After a relaxing morning at home, we headed to Carkeek Park, one of their favorite parks in Seattle (also one of mine!) for its train-spotting and beach combing. We had some beautiful morning light on the beach, and the kids wandered around and skipped rocks on the water.

This photo above is super funny to me, as it shows mom holding both kids while dad stretches his arms free. Sometimes the kids just want mama, and for now, they are little enough for mom to carry them both at once. Since this won’t always be the case, I thought it was important to make a photo of how strong she is right now. After wandering around the park, they enjoyed a picnic lunch in the grass, then we headed home for baby girl’s nap.

That crib…it’ll be gone before you know it. I know it felt like a flash to me.

Check out their video slideshow here:

Kinsman family documentary session from Yi Li Photography {Carrie Yuan} on Vimeo.

Here’s what mom had to say when her session was all said and done:

We loved our photo session and the photos we received! Carrie was so easy to work with (preparing us for what to expect in advance) and easy to spend the day with. Our pictures are AMAZING. The video was such a lovely documentary of our lives, I watched it over and over and then shared it with everyone that I could. I love that the photo album was included – it means that instead of a pile of photos and good intentions, I have a wonderful book of memories all ready to look at with the kids. I know we will look at these photos again and again as the kids get older – these photos feel like a time capsule, bringing us right back to that day.

If you’d like me to create your very own time capsule of your here and now, contact me to chat! I’m fully booked for September 2017, with my next availability in October. Since the weather can be quite unpredictable and sometimes downright crappy in November, and most people choose to have at least a part of their session outdoors, I’d suggest October. I take the month of December to spend with my family so will only be taking newborn sessions for December.

Adventures with kids in PNW / personal

Giant bubbles tutorial and recipe | Adventures with Kids in PNW

July 15, 2017

It didn’t feel like summer officially started until my big girl was out of school just a few weeks ago. And now that we’ve passed the 4th of July, summer is in full swing here in the Pacific Northwest. We are having the best time enjoying the warm weather and getting out and about. We wrote out a summer bucket list, and one of the things I’ve been wanting to try is HOMEMADE GIANT BUBBLES! Ever since I saw a guy making these giant bubbles off of the train trestle at Carkeek Park about a year ago, I’ve had the itch to try it myself.

You GUYS. We are having the best time with this! And it’s soooooo easy! You can make string wands from stuff you probably already have laying around your house, and the bubble juice recipe comes together pretty easily with some planning.

My kids love making them but more than that, they love popping the giant bubbles.

First things first, order a bag of guar gum on Amazon. You probably have all of the other ingredients in your pantry.

GUAR GUM GIANT BUBBLES RECIPE

1 cup (8 oz) Dawn Ultra blue dishwashing soap (I purchased the largest bottle since I knew we’d be making this recipe a lot!)

1 T guar gum

1 T baking powder

16 cups tap water

Measure 1 cup of Dawn into liquid measuring cup, then add guar gum & baking powder. Use a whisk to combine well. Pour into large bucket (see my large blue bucket in the photos), then add 16 cups of tap water. Use whisk to incorporate well. Your bubble juice is now ready!

To make the giant bubble wands, you need:

cotton kitchen twine (the kind used to tie your poultry legs together before roasting)
2 sticks (I used big straws or chopsticks)
metal washer or nut (to act as a weight on your string)

Note: there are more complicated tutorials to make sturdier wands that involve dowels, metal eye hooks, etc. but I ~~am lazy~~ was so excited to make bubbles that I did not want to make a trip to the home improvement store.

Tie the string to your 2 sticks to create a triangle loop, and hang your weight at the bottom. The larger the triangle of string, the larger your bubbles will be. I used shorter lengths of string for the kids, and made one big adult-sized one for me!

Making giant bubbles!

Now you’re ready! Dip the cotton string into the bucket to wet the entire string. Pull it out of the bucket with the sticks together, then slowly pull the sticks apart. Walk backwards to create your bubble. Bring the sticks back together to close off your bubble. Get ready to laugh like a kid again!

Storing your excess bubble juice

One recipe usually lasts 2-3 bubble-making episodes. I just leave the excess bubble juice in the bucket, then use one of those stretchy, shower-cap-like food storage covers over the top of the bucket.

I’d love to see how your bubbles turn out! Tag me on Facebook or Instagram @yiliphoto so I can see your pics! Want me to take the pics? This would be such a fun thing to do with your kids while I document the whole thing! If you agree, let’s chat!

family films / Hospital newborn / sessions

Kylin’s birth day in photos & video {Swedish Medical Center, Seattle WA}

June 30, 2017

This sweet girl turns one today, so in honor of her birthday, I’m sharing the photos I took of her minutes after birth exactly one year ago. Hospital newborn sessions are one of my absolute favorite types of sessions to photograph. It’s such a magical time in the life of a family, and can end up being a blur in your memory without these photos. Swedish Medical Center in Seattle is the most common hospital that I photograph these sessions at, but I’ve also been to the University of Washington Medical Center, Providence in Everett, and Evergreen Health Medical Center in Kirkland. I photograph these sessions using a photojournalistic approach, choosing to document whatever is happening when I’m there without interrupting family bonding time.

This baby girl is the fourth and likely last child for this family, so I know it was extra special for mom to have this day documented. Since I arrived only minutes after baby was born, they were still enjoying lots skin to skin cuddle time. I was also able to document meeting both grandmas (who were so cute snapping away with their cell phones!), meeting the three older siblings, her first meal, and weighing and measuring! Don’t miss the video time capsule I created at the very bottom of this blog post!

This photo of the maternal grandma meeting her granddaughter for the first time is one of my favorites from this day. The expression on her face is just priceless, and I know that as this sweet girl grows up, she will treasure this photo of her grandma. I wish I had a photo like this of my mom meeting my babies for the first time!

Here is their first-born daughter meeting her new little sister, already helping to hold her hands and comfort her as she got her vitamin K injection. She has such a sweet, endearing expression on her face. As a mom myself, I know the apprehension a parent can have about introducing a new baby into the mix, so this photo is such a sweet reminder that siblings really are a gift to your children.

Here is Baby Kylin’s birth day in video!

Kylin’s birth day from Yi Li Photography {Carrie Yuan} on Vimeo.

Products

Mother’s Day Gift Guide for aspiring minimalists

May 10, 2017

little girl holding bouquet of dandelions

This year I’m approaching my Mother’s Day gift guide a bit differently, as I’m on a journey towards minimalism. The general premise is to less focus on consumerism and more focus on the things (people) really important to you in life. I also like the idea of being more conscious about the material things that you bring into your home. You can Google the interwebs for a ton of blogs on various approaches to minimalism, and I love some of the ideas out there for gifts in the minimalist vein. These ideas include:

Experiences – tickets to a play, concert, or the ballet, or a day at the spa
Consumables – delicious dark chocolates, caramels, a nice bottle of wine or prosecco, or a jar of homemade jam
The gift of time or skills – babysitting, yardwork, or handywork around the house, or a coffee date with friends
Giving to a charitable cause – for the person who has it all, there are SO many wonderful causes locally, nationally, and internationally that could use a generous donation

I asked my fellow mommy friends what they were hoping for on this Mother’s Day, and spouses, listen up! The overwhelming, and I mean OVERWHELMING response was they want a day to be relieved of all mommy duties. They want peace and quiet and ALONE time. They don’t want to cut up grapes, wipe noses or butts, break up fights, bathe the children, or listen to whining. Spouses have this misconception that mothers want to spend the day with their children, but that is the rare exception! Unless she explicitly states that she would like to spend the day with the kids, please assume that she would rather not!

So here are some ideas for spouses and kids looking for some ideas to honor the amazing mom in their lives:

A gift certificate to Olympus Spa. I haven’t yet been there myself, but I hear that it’s a great experience.
Date with one of her girlfriends to the Theo Chocolate Factory tour for chocolate tasting
Tickets to the ballet. Their last show for the season happens in early June.
Family photojournalism session or family film session with yours truly 🙂
For those that must buy something material, make sure it’s good. Reeeeally good. Like for example, maybe this…..

(Eric, that’s a Sony a7II) 😉

See last year’s Mother’s Day gift guide here. And the year before that here.

Adventures with kids in PNW / Family / personal

Adventures with kids in the PNW: Hawaii! {Seattle family photography}

April 28, 2017

We went to Hawaii for mid-winter break in February, and while this isn’t technically an adventure you could do with your kids in the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii is one non-stop flight away from Seattle and makes an amazing destination for a winter getaway. As you may already know, I grew up in Hawaii, and still have family and friends who live there, so it’s on our list of regular places to travel. Ever since my father passed away in 2011, we don’t have family accommodations to stay in, so we stay in hotels or vacation rentals. This is a bit weird for me, having grown up there, but I will say it does make the trip feel more “vacation-ey”. For this trip, we split our time between an AirBNB in Waikiki and the Disney Aulani resort on the west side of Oahu. It was our first time staying in Waikiki as a family, and we enjoyed the close proximity to the beach, yummy food, and the zoo.

My daughter looooooves elephants, and was quite distraught to learn that the elephants got moved from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, so we made a special trip to the Honolulu zoo so that she could see some elephants in person. She was pretty thrilled. We also checked out the Byodo-In Temple on the windward side of the island, as I had never been there. We ate some delicious Hawaiian food nearby at Waiahole Poi Factory. All of my favorites like lau lau, kalua pig, lomi salmon, and of course poi. Yummy!!!

The girls requested these crazy swimmable mermaid tails for Christmas, and their aunt was kind enough to indulge them. They tried out the mermaid tails in our hotel pool in Waikiki, though the little one wasn’t up for swimming much since the pool was kind of chilly! Here is the big girl:

It’s always great to catch up with my girlfriends from high school. We’ve known each other for the majority of our lives, only see each other once a year if we’re lucky, but always pick things up like no time has passed whenever we’re back together again. We’re looking forward to spending time together in Dayle’s beach house in 2018!!!

Now, it was time to move to the Aulani for the remainder of our trip. We knew that once we arrived there, we wouldn’t really be leaving except to go out for food. It was our second time staying there, and we looooooove it so very much. It’s such an amazing place for families with little kids. Our kids really love the pools and just want to swim all day long.

PRO TIP: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT pay the extra $1 to have Mickey ears added to your shave ice. They WILL fall off, and that WILL cause a tantrum. Eric says this photo series would’ve been better with a photo of the Mickey ear on the ground. Sorry. You’ll have to use your imagination.

But mostly, we had loads and loads of fun. The kids are all swimming really well after the literal thousands of dollars I’ve spent on lessons.

We had such an amazing trip. The kids are at an age where things are {mostly} super fun. I already can’t wait to go back, and incidentally, we’ve already booked our stay at the Aulani for mid-winter break 2018! Who wants to come with us?!

More from the “Adventures with kids in the PNW” series:

Several of the images in this blog post are available for commercial licensing through Offset by Shutterstock. Please visit my portfolio there for more details.

GUAR GUM GIANT BUBBLES RECIPE

Making giant bubbles!

Storing your excess bubble juice

Let’s Keep in touch!