I feel like all my blog posts usually center around how lucky I get on sessions with the weather. However, not only did we get lucky with the weather, we pretty much hit the jackpot on entertainment during this portrait session. I thought having two boys to ham it up in front of the camera would be enough. But, not 5 minutes into our first location, Portland Mounted Patrol came trotting down the street and stopped to say ‘hi’ to us. I think my kids were jealous when they saw some of the images! To make it even more interesting, one of the officers addresses me by my first name….”uh oh…what did I do?” Turns out we are high school classmates! What a great surprise! The boys had a blast and got a chance to pet the horses. So…we go about our merry way, proceed to our next location….and…there just parked on the side of the street was a FIRE ENGINE! I really didn’t plan any of this but was probably just as excited as the boys but for a different reason! Anyway, I had a blast and I think the boys did too! Enjoy your sneak peek Jen!

Even though I don’t see these kids on a daily basis like I used to when this boy was an infant, it’s always nice to know that we can pretty much pick up where we left off. Watching them grow and change year after year amazes me and saddens me because of how fast my own kids are growing. My daughter and this handsome young man were at the same daycare as infants. Now, almost 8 years later, they’re nearly ‘tweens’. Scary! Anyway, somehow by some small miracle, we were able to get out last week  - sans rain – for an awesome family photo shoot. There were so many images to choose from, it was hard to narrow them down! Enjoy your sneak peek!

The week before spring break, I had another fun session with the Thornhill Family of 3 boys. I was promptly greeted with groans because, what boy really ‘wants’ to have their photo taken? Well, I had a blast. I happen to know their mom from my previous place of employment and am always amazed at how she handles herself as she is outnumbered 4:1! Watch out girls….the youngest one informed me that he has 7 girlfriends, but only 1 of them is the one he’ll give one of his pictures to! Fortunately for mom and dad, the other two boys only have ’1′ girlfriend. Yep…they were all serious! Fortunately for them, we were graced with beautiful weather on a ‘no school day’ so, I’m not sure what they got to do after we were done, but I’m sure something involved refreshing coolness was in store. Hope you guys had a great spring break! Enjoy your sneak peek!

The best thing about my past experience and my current career is that I get to keep in contact with people I used to work with and see them in a much different light….so to speak. This mom, Cheris, and I used to work together at Intel.
This family photo shoot was about capturing memories. Their oldest son is about to embark on a new and honorable experience by serving our country. I know the whole family is anxious to see these portraits before he leaves for boot camp
on Saturday, March 6th. Best of luck! I look forward to seeing you after boot camp. Enjoy your sneak peek!

This post is LONG overdue. I photographed growing Mr. Owen when he was just a wee newborn and then again just before Thanksgiving right around his 6 month mark. We are making plans for announcing our new ‘Milestones Baby Plan’ and Owen and his family are graciously participating in being the ‘samples’ for this new plan. At any rate, these images were shot just before Thanksgiving and the poor little guy had a bit of a problem with some major diaper rash. As you can see however, this apparently didn’t seem to bother him as long as mom continued to play Justin Timberlake’s, “Bringing Sexy Back”. Owen got his groove thing on and danced like a champ through the photo session.

Enjoy your sneak peek!

http://www.melissahathaway.com/blog/2009/07/meet-owen-8-weeks-portland-oregon-newborn-photography/

For those of you that celebrate Christmas, we hope you had an enjoyable day with you family & friends. Here’s a little holiday greetings from us. An outtake of our day at Mt. Hood on Dec. 23rd. Wishing you all the best for 2010! Please leave us some blog lovin’! Cheers!

Oh yeah…friends & family…holiday cards are in the mail today!

We have been experiencing some of the oddest weather for Portland at the beginning of December. I’m happy that it’s not raining but clear blue skies and crisp bitter cold remind me of when I was living in New Mexico. It is so dry here….it’s actually quite amazing. But, I’m not complaining! However, although we have had blue skies, normally, my clients and I are dodging the odds for rain…my past few sessions we’ve been having discussions about whether it’s going to be warm enough to have photo shoots outside! The Meyer Family were brave enough to tough the cold weather last Friday. Fortunately it wasn’t as cold as it has been these past few days. As you can see, even the oldest boy was tough enough to lose the jacket for a few shots! Thanks ‘K’! I always like to have some kind of story to tell from every session that I have…and the Meyer family was no exception. Braving cold weather and the odoriferous ‘organic elements’ of the downtown scene (mom & dad will know what I mean), they did great and were a blast to hang out with. Enjoy your sneak peek!

We have been incredibly lucky with the beautiful weather we’ve been enjoying here in the Pacific NW these past several days. Although it has been cold…it’s been dry…and it doesn’t really get much better than that around this time of the year. Unfortunately, if you like to ski or snowboard…it’s not so great because it means no new snow in the mountains!

So, speaking of good weather, I had the opportunity to photograph another family photo shoot for the holidays. I have the privilege of knowing this family’s mom after becoming regulars at Bethany Athletic Club and looked forward to being able to meet her entire family and see her out of the creature comforts of gym clothing. After a little mix up on where we should meet and having some time to catch up with dad while we waited for the rest of the family, mom and kids showed up completely decked out and ready to go! If you ever have doubt on what to wear for a photo shoot…lemme know…I’ll send you their way!

As with any photo shoot, I try to incorporate something about the person…or in this case, the family, as part of the shoot. Behind every person/family, there’s a story….the title of this post is ‘Party of 7′ and they truly are ’7′. About 6 years ago, their baby sister passed away but remains an integral part of their family & they continually feel her influence in their lives. During this time of the year as families gather to celebrate the holidays, I feel honored to have had the privilege of photographing the Newsom’s and getting a small glimpse of the strong bond and love this family has for each other. Enjoy your sneak peek!

I’m probably more than a day late and a dollar short on this shoot but I was skimming through the images tonight and couldn’t resist posting this. More to come from this session but Danielle, this one’s for you!