“My Concept will be ‘Children Grown on the Edge of the Ocean’ a lyric from Fleet Foxes song ‘Grown Ocean’.” – Laura

I loved the attention she put into this.  I especially loved the flowing fabrics, texture, and rustic details.  Not to mention how much I adore the Fleet Foxes.

Check out Laura’s board on Pinterest!

Yes, it’s true!  On Saturday, May 5th, 2012 at Discovery Park I am offering a no-strings-attached, absolutely FREE day of mini sessions in honor of Mother’s Day and in support of a cause very dear to my heart.  Spaces will be very limited and will be scheduled back to back for every 15 minutes; I still have a few spots left so it isn’t too late, but hurry and snatch them up before someone else does!  Maybe your a grownup and want some photos of you and your momma and you’re wondering if this applies to you… I’m here to tell ya that ALL ages are welcome!

If this is such a great value (and it IS), why on Earth am I giving this away for free?  Well, it is a charitable endeavor on my part, and who doesn’t love a good cause!  I am planning a humanitarian trip to Russia this September to photograph orphans (please read all about it here).  If you feel like giving back, I welcome donations towards this project, but this really is a no-strings attached celebration of all my clients and followers.  Email me for details on how to sign up or for any questions about my upcoming trip and project!

Can I just say how much I adore these two?!  They have a really precious story and are apparently known for travelling everywhere.  I think they told me they lived in like 4 different places (as in cities across the country, people!) within the course of a year.  I’m simultaneously jealous and amazed.  I love love LOVE to travel, but I also get really attached and sentimental really easily so it would be very hard for me to actually live in a bunch of different places.  I’m amazed by anyone that can do that… and a bit jealous.

And, remember how I said I would never photograph a wedding because I am not a wedding photographer?  Well, I lied.  I’ve agreed to photograph Anna and Trevor’s wedding this August and I am so excited.  Anna and I have very similar taste and she and Trevor were SO GOOD in front of my camera.   I’ve been so pleased to be able to share in telling their story; for this shoot we wandered around Capitol Hill in Seattle since this neighborhood is special to them and their relationship.  We started at Stumptown Coffee while it was rainy and overcast and by the time we decided to start walking to Molly Moon’s Ice Cream as we had planned, it was sunny and gorgeous (almost TOO sunny for photos at this time of day) but the rest of Seattle decided they needed ice cream as well, so we didn’t end up stopping (I desperately want to do a shoot at Molly Moon’s!  If you want to take me up on this, I’ll treat you to Molly Moon’s during your session!  Email me so we can set it up… how fun would Summer ice cream photos be?!) and just snapped a couple outside in front of their adorable shop.  Then we headed to the park to take advantage of the sun.

It really was a lovely session that incorporated places that were special to Anna and Trevor.  I love that these photos show their relationship and will have deeper meaning to those that know them but are just plain lovely to look at for anyone that happens to see them, whether you know the couple or not.  Do you want a session like this?  Contact me so we can start planning your very own Soulmate Session!

Check out Linday Bergstrom Photography’s shot and then follow the ring around to see everyone else’s interpretation of “reflect.”

And, if you are in the Seattle area, don’t forget to enter the Pin It to Win It contest!

If you need a Pinterest invite, email me.

Head over here to snag a Pin It button for your bookmarks bar!

In addition to the rules above,  you need to know the following:

• The winner will be chosen based on which pin board I love the most.  Pin your dream session!  Have you been eyeing that precious DIY project or craft but have no idea what you are going to do with it when you are done?  Pin it!  Literally, anything and everything prop and clothing related is welcome.  Show me your style and what you love!  Get creative!
• Pin your favorite props, hairstyles, clothes, colors, textures, etc. to your pin board.  Dream big and let your imagination go crazy.  Seriously, I want you to shoot for the stars here!  The only stipulation is that no other portraits from other professional photographers are allowed.
• If you win, I am happy to help create, style, plan, and set-up your session.  If I already have the items you’ve pinned, we can totally use them; however, you are ultimately responsible for your own props.
• The winning session must take place within Seattle city limits or the winner must be willing to pay travel fees to the desired location.
• Session must take place before September 1, 2012.
• Many will enter, one will win.

In case you’d like some examples of boards pinned with sessions in mind, check out these two concept sessions I am currently working on: Queen Elizabeth and The Crane Wife.

That’s it!  Are you Pinterest-ed yet?  Ready, set, go!

An oldie but a goodie!  I couldn’t help but recycle this photo (Yeah, it’s cheating.  I know. Shhh!) when I learned that our assignment was “bloom.”  I had good intentions, but I just kept coming back to this one.  I love it so much and I took it a few years ago, before I opened my business, before I found my style, and before I was secure in my technique as a photographer.  It was definitely one of those “happy accident” photos but I love it so much because of sentimental reasons and because it reminds me that the photographer that I dreamed of being was in me all along (and is still… I’ll never be through learning and growing), I just had to keep snapping that shutter and discovering.  And it is a photo I am proud of (everyone loves it; even Pioneer Woman - she featured it on her photography blog back in the day!) and have hanging as a 20×30 print in my dining room.  Plus, don’t cherry blossoms just make everyone happier?

Check out Lindsey Bergstrom Photography in Denver, CO and see what she has been up to and then follow the circle to see everyone’s shot of inspiration.

Concept sessions stand out from a typical photo session in a big way in that a lot more planning is involved.  Concept photography is similar to editorial photography in that it is usually planned out to the very simplest detail.  Everything matters and nothing is overlooked.    Concept photography tells a story or sends a message and is more than just simply capturing a memory or showing a subject’s personality (although, I make sure that happens in my concept sessions, I am speaking generally here).  The point of concept photography goes deeper than that and is even further into the realm of art.  I believe it is different for every photographer and that there are levels of concepts (as in how realistic you want it to be or how much you want to draw the viewer into the photo).  For me, I aim for as much realism as possible even when I am shooting unrealistic things.  My goal is always to create photos that make people (particularly my clients) want to crawl in them and live inside them forever.  I have a theatre background, which is probably the heaviest part of my inspiration and why I am a concept photographer.  I love to create visually striking photos with elaborate costumes and sometimes props.  Usually, I am inspired by a play, idea, song, folk tale, piece of literature, etc. and that idea begins to grow in my mind until a single image forms and that is what I begin to gather my props and costumes from and what I stage my set around.  It almost never is what I originally envisioned as it always evolves as I am creating.  My passion is taking these wonderful pieces of culture (which are usually thought of as intended for adult consumption) and shrinking them down into child size form.  There is something fascinating and ever-whimsical about the innocence of children that translates so beautifully into this genre.  When a client books me, the first thing I do is have them fill out a questionnaire that I have created specifically for my creative process.  It has both practical and off the wall questions that help get both of our creative juices flowing so that we can begin to plan all the crazy details.  After the questionnaire is completed, I usually have at least a vague idea of where I might want to take the session, which is usually enough to draw even the most “uncreative” client in and get them involved so it is truly a unique and custom experience.  I never shoot the same thing twice!

As much as the work of other artists – from eras both past and present – inspire me, my deepest inspiration comes from those that I photograph.  Sure, every now and then I get a crazy awesome idea and execute it on my own (I’m in the middle of a couple of those right now and I am so super excited to share them once they are complete!); however, every family has a different story and a different personality.  Every person has something new and interesting to share with the world – yes, even YOU!  My job is to dig deep and find what that is and then show it off in a way that makes your heart sing… remember, I’m here to create photos that you want to crawl inside and live in forever!  Concept photography is such a unique and fun experience.  It’s true that it isn’t for everyone.  I am not the photographer for you if you are looking for traditional posed studio work, but if you are looking for something that makes your family stand out, that you are proud to hang on your walls, and that makes you swoon and remember that wonderful day every time you look at it, then I AM the photographer for you!  Why don’t you call me (253.655.7848) or email me today.  Don’t wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that.  Let’s chat today.  I’ll buy you a coffee or some ice cream and we’ll get to know each other and plan a wonderful few hours of fun for your family that will result in some seriously stunning art when it is all said and done.

I had to really push myself for this one.  I’ve been trying to specifically avoid photographing people (and children especially) since that is what comes so easily and is definitely my preference.  These sailboats have captured my imagination for some time now and I have been trying to figure out a way to photograph them that appealed to me.  Yesterday evening (yep… nothing like a good old fashioned deadline to inspire this girl!), with the light getting low and my kids crashed in the backseat and me with fresh breve latte in hand, I decided it was now or never and this was the push I needed.  15 minutes later, I had the shots I wanted.  Or, more accurately, I gave up and figured that was good enough because they just weren’t looking right on the back of my camera.  I couldn’t get the angles that I wanted due to being prohibited by barriers and the proverbial red tape around the marina.  It wasn’t until I pulled the photos from my camera and had them on my computer and started processing them and cropping them that I fell in love with these two.  And so, here is my perspective on this forest of sails.

As always, head over to Lindsey Bergstrom Photography to see what she was up to and then continue around the circle.

Then something kind of miraculous happened.  Russian things suddenly were popping up all around me last Fall.  At first I thought it was a coincidence but it began to happen more frequently.  I started to think I was noticing it more because I was just thinking about it and it was on my mind.  Ideas were forming in my head.  You see, for a while I’ve had this crazy thought: I’ve wanted to go to Russia to photograph the orphans and the orphanages and the homeless.  Why on earth would I want to do this, you ask?  I want to bring awareness to the situation happening with these groups of precious people; people so often forget that because Russia is not considered a third world country that they also have problems.  I also want to use my camera as a tool to show them that they are loved and cared about; I want to tell their story.  I want people to know them.  I want to know them and I want them to know that they matter.

The situation is so dire that only one out of every ten orphans will become a functional member of society.  The rest will succumb to drugs, crime, or suicide.  Many girls become victims of trafficking when they leave the orphanage.  Every year the number of “social orphans” grows.  What’s a social orphan?  A child with living parents that the government deems unworthy to raise their child due to moral or psychological reasons, poverty, crime, alcoholism, drugs, etc.  Numerous sources show that at the moment in Russia there are 2-5 million homeless/street children, more than 700,000 orphans, about 2 million uneducated children over 11 years of age, and about 4 million child drug addicts. These numbers have significantly grown in the past 15 years.

Annually, orphans will leave the state institutions without any training or support. They have no jobs, no money to survive or live a self-sufficient life and frequently have no place to live. Statistics show that upon leaving the state orphanages, for every 10 orphans, 4 will become drug addicts and alcoholics, 4 will end up absorbed by crime, 1 will commit suicide, and only 1 – with great difficulty – will try to survive and become a functional member of society.  How incredibly bleak and heartbreaking.

Finally, all of this craziness converged and I was able to connect with SunErgos International, an amazing organization that works with Russian orphans, widows, and the poor.  I am being presented with an opportunity to do exactly what I have dreamed of doing but it is going to cost approximately $3500.00.  So, I am asking you to help me get there.  Help me in this journey to make a difference and let people know what is going on.  Help me make a difference in the lives of these kids.  There is so much more in my heart that I want to say and I just don’t even know how to say it.  I am hoping that these statistics resonate with you.  I am happy to talk with you and answer any questions you may have.  Skype me (sarochka123186), call me (253-655-7848), or email me.  Just help me get there and make a difference.

Reference: “Russia in Numbers. Orphaned Russia where every hundredth child becomes an orphan.” Posted by the official website of the Russian Federation Statistics Bureau (November 14, 2007)http://statistika.ru/russiainprices/2007/11/14/russiainprices_9282.html

These photos are courtesy of the wonderful people at SunErgos International.