Allen Family
A few months ago I packed mine and my daughter's bags to head to sunny Arizona to visit my sister and her family (and take a bunch of pictures for several families!) While I am based out of the Pacific Northwest as a Seattle wedding and portrait photographer, I never turn down an opportunity to travel with my girl and my camera. My sister called me and said she would buy my ticket if I came down to take some family photos for them. It was truly a gift to have this opportunity to be there with them and create memories to last a lifetime.
And just like that we were off to Arizona, ready to take some pictures!
Flying with a toddler is no joke. I was by myself and it was during this trip I experienced my first real toddler meltdown/tantrums. It was so hard, but we made it in one piece. Remind me to never fly by myself with babies again (without help!) A few bumps, bruises, and tears later we landed and it was HOT! Coming from a very wet part of Washington State, the dry heat felt amazing. I just knew this week was going to be amazing. I cried when I saw my sister for a few reasons. One, because I missed her so much and two, because I think I was just so overwhelmed by the trip down there I was grateful to be there and off that airplane! My sisters and I are very close so being this far away from them has been a challenge, especially while our little ones are just that, little. She and her family are in Arizona because her Husband Heath is in the thick of medical school. He's a rockstar and I cannot wait to see where this journey takes them! My sister Andrea is a Physicians Assistant. These two have crazy schedules and then throw in three kids under the age of 4, yep, busy!
I hope you’re prepared for cuteness overload.
Family sessions can always be a challenge. You never know how the kids are going to behave and while sometimes you get those perfect smiling pictures, other time you do not! And don't think because I photographed my own nieces and nephew that it was easy by any means, we had our moments of pure chaos, but those are my favorite pictures! I think there is something so honest and raw about capturing kids in the true moments right in front of me. Sure, I'll try to get them to smile but sometimes they just aren't having it and at the end of it all, the parents are always thrilled with the outcome of the images. I don't need every kid to look at me throughout the whole session because it's the moments in between those "poses" that end up being mine, and my clients favorite images. The Allen kids were a blast and SO beautiful behind my lens! I'm biased because they are my family, but you can see for yourself. To my sister and her husband, thank you for bringing me down to Arizona and sharing this special time with me! I love that my passion can take me anywhere I want to go and hope this is the first of many destination shoots. I miss you all so much and cannot wait for the day you're back in Washington so our babies (who won't be babies anymore) can spend more time together.
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