There were a few things, big and small, at play in this shoot. I’ll just list them here: 1) Having been in Seattle for a month, wanting to appreciate a quintessentially Northwest setting before boarding the flight home, 2) Never ceasing to think of my grandmother who had passed almost exactly two months prior, and recently having spent time with my mom, who gifted me Gramma’s wedding band to wear around my neck (I bought a gold chain and feather charm to go along with it shortly after). I wanted to honor her, but have been having trouble doing so in words., 3) Having recently purchased this dress as an impulse buy on a day I wandered downtown alone, feeling a strange, familiar blend of happy and hopeless. Lastly, I wanted to be able to play around with Lightroom + VSCO, and I often find that portraits lend themselves best to experimentation. I didn’t intend on the botanical gardens being the setting for this mixture of objectives, but on a chilled, rainy day, we were the only ones there, and wrapped up this little session in under thirty minutes. I was a fool in my dress, but now I’m happy I braved the cold in order to allow the photographs to tell my story, rather than words, just this once. [Read more…] about October, briefly, and Pacific Northwest portraits
fall
5 ways to have the perfect fall day
The more I read (and write) about self care and the importance of doing you when you need to, it seems, the less I take care of myself. I can write about it all day, and I can even put off those anxiety-inducing projects in the name of “needing time” (which only makes it worse, I admit), but taking actual steps to incorporate regular self care (and just plain happiness) into my day is quite a lot harder than it seems. In coming across a lot of cozy fall wonderfulness that I totally want to indulge in this season (and in working on Moorea Seal’s 52 Lists Projects which really opened my eyes to the simple things I don’t spend nearly enough time enjoying), I decided to put together a few ideas for treating yourself this fall. I hope you’ll pick one (or 5) and go for it! [Read more…] about 5 ways to have the perfect fall day
(almost) crisp autumn days
I may be not-so-silently urging fall on its way, but with a long, difficult LA summer of over 90 degree days, I’ll take an unseasonably warm Seattle September, no question. Hours after I arrived, I was off foraging for ferns and pine needles and golden leaves. There was no waiting for fall, knowing it didn’t quite arrive on September 23rd. There was finding pieces of it in the (almost) crisp air and on the cool ground. [Read more…] about (almost) crisp autumn days