Sawyer - Senior Photos

I never grew up with boys. I was one of two girls, and my extended family is predominately women. So it's no wonder when I picture having kids, I picture having girls. Similarly, when I envision my photographs and photo shoots, I just always picture girls for some reason. Weird, I know. With that said, I am learning a ton about BOYS just by photographing them... and I'm loving it!

Enter Sawyer! Sawyer's sister, Nikki, was a stud volleyball player at Whitworth and actually played there when I was coaching a couple years ago. So she sent her little (well, BIG little) brother to me for his senior pictures. :) Sawyer and his Mom met me up at Green Bluff, which seems to be the requested photo spot lately! It was a pretty windy day and if you've ever been up on Green Bluff you know that the wind up there can get pretty crazy. I kept telling Sawyer I was so glad he wasn't a girl because there would be some major hair issues going on with all that wind! Sawyer is the ultimate sport-aholic -- imagine jerseys, footballs, and baseballs because that's what our photo shoot looked like. :) He is the quarterback at Colville High School and also plays baseball. Not only is he a talented athlete, but this guy is great in front of a camera! Some people just can't pull of a "serious" straight face, but I'm pretty sure Sawyer wrote the book on it... probably from all of his sports pictures throughout the years! :)

Anyway, here are a few Flat 4 favorites of Sawyer! You can click on any of the photos to view them larger.

Good luck with your senior year, Sawyer! And thank you, Nikki, for referring your awesome little brother!

Amanda - Senior Photos

Some people just have it together when they're in high school. Most of us didn't have much of a sense of style "back then" or altogether a sense of who we really were. This is not the case for Miss Amanda!

Amanda emailed me a few months ago and knew exactly what she wanted her senior photos to look like -- she knew location, style, had a ton of ideas, and even brought her own props! Side note: I LOVE props! Anyway, I had a blast shooting Amanda and her great sense of style, and I kept thinking to myself that this girl could be a future Anthropologie model! She is beautiful inside and out, and not to mention super sweet. Her and her Mom met me up at Green Bluff at the amazing Knapp's Farm, and even though it was technically closed to the public that day, the owners were kind enough to let us still take pictures there... and drive us around on their golf cart for some added photo ops! Not kidding, I pretty much adore Knapp's Farm, so head on up there next time you get a chance and pick some of the fruit they sell -- you won't regret it!

Without further ado, here are some Flat 4 favorites of the amazing Amanda!

Thanks again, Amanda, for being so awesome and fun to work with. We hope you have a great senior year and (an early) congrats for graduating from CDA High School!

Hank + Mandi 6.19.10

When I first met Mandi and Hank, I knew immediately that it was a perfect match... their style and mine, that is. :) In all seriousness, this couple was just flat out awesome. Their wedding was so personal, beautiful, had so many fun details (which I LOVE), and was just a perfect reflection of the two of them. They rented a lodge on Rose Lake in Idaho, and we truly could not have asked for a better day! The sun was shining, it was HOT, and they had one of the most brilliant night skies I've ever seen. EVER. Just wait until you see the pictures...

I had an awesome second shooter who also happens to be my husband, Jordan Tampien. :) Needless to say, we had so much fun shooting this wedding together and he did an amazing job! We honestly felt like we were hanging out with friends the entire day between Mandi and Hank, their super fun wedding party, and their family who made sure we had plenty of food and water the entire time. :) It was actually sad to say goodbye at the end of the night!

I am trying a new way of displaying wedding pictures on the blog -- I found a great, quality slideshow program that I'm testing out so let me know what you think! To view the slideshow in "full screen" mode, scroll over the slideshow with your mouse and click on the little box icon that comes up in the bottom right-hand corner.

So check out some Flat 4 favorites of the beautiful newlyweds, Mandi + Hank!

Scheduled

I've never understood people who brag about how busy they are. To be honest, I think being really busy is completely overrated. Sure, there are people who will claim they "love being busy" or who "can't sit still" if they don't always have something going.

I am not one of those people. My schedule, however, seems to think otherwise.

There are no pictures in this post for two reasons: 1) I have about two million pictures of other people's weddings/seniors/families, but I don't have one picture of Jordan and I or anything pertaining to our summer. 2) If I did have pictures of Jordan, they would be of him hunched over a desk at the GU Law Library or working a Photo Booth event; and if there were pictures of me, I would have a camera or a laptop in my face. Let's be honest, no one wants to see that!

Side note: Jordan is finally done with the Bar Exam! He'll find out his results towards the end of October.

Side note #2: We thought him being done with the Bar would give us a little more time in our schedule. We were wrong.

Saying that this summer has been busy for us is the understatement of the century. I could go into every single reason why I've only been in a swimsuit less than a handful of times this summer, but I don't want to be mistaken as one of those people who brags about their scheduled life. And besides, I'm not proud of it.

I guess the reason for this post was more to explain why we've been MIA this entire summer and will continue to be for what's left of it. It's a sad thing when it's the middle of July and you look at your husband and your calendar, and the three of you decide to chalk this summer up as a loss as far as fun summer things go. As much as we're thrilled and feel so blessed that photography and the Photo Booth are both doing really well, it's just a blessing and a curse.

With that said, there are definitely some positive, learning experiences I have gained from this summer...

• I am more capable than I thought I was in terms of working hard while being exhausted 95% of the time, rising to the occasion when more often than not I feel like I'm way out of my league, and somehow just making things happen.

• I am not as afraid as I used to be to ask for help. I've needed it numerous times and so many people have come to my rescue. First and foremost, my amazing husband.

• I have learned to appreciate things more. Being able to spend quality time up at our lake cabin in the summer has always been a given for me -- I've always known I'm so lucky to have it -- but when you can only go a couple times in the summer, it makes you appreciate that time so much more and really cherish it.

• There are certain things I need in my life that no matter how busy I get, I am not willing to negotiate on. Essentially, life is all about priorities.

• No matter how hard I think my life is right now, there is always someone's life who is much harder.

So there is our life right now in a nutshell. In other words, please forgive us if we've seemed flaky or distant lately. Or if you've driven by our house and seen our really beautiful yellow lawn that we are just now starting to water. Or, my personal favorite, if we stink. I'm pretty sure Jordan and I have both chosen extra minutes of sleep over showers a few times. In fact, if you Google "running around like a chicken with your head cut off," I'm pretty sure my picture comes up.

It's an odd season of life for us, but I know we'll get through it. Hopefully alive and with our sanity. :)

The Short Bus

Cairn Terriers are known to be an extremely smart breed, but...

My mom watched Max and Maggie about a month ago and she told me she hosed off her deck while the dogs were playing outside. She mentioned that Max really liked "playing in the water," but I didn't really think much of it. Of course she puts it nicely and doesn't warn me that my dog's a freak. Typical Grandma! :)

Well, I pulled out the hose today (which, by the way, has a huge hole in it that Max chewed, so forgive the white trash double-spout hose), and found out that Max has a little bit of a problem. I couldn't stop thinking that if there were doggie school buses, Max would definitely be on the short one.

Ummmmmmm........?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

Todhunter Family - Maternity

You always hear about pregnant women having a "glow," and I think it's probably true of most women. Kristin, however, took that to a whole new level. In fact, if she wasn't so sweet and fun, I probably would've found her cuteness annoying. ;) Seriously though, she looked way better at 8.5 months pregnant than I look on my best days!

We did the first half of the maternity shoot at her house, which I think made these photos so unique and intimate. And not to mention that the Todhunters have the most adorable house. EVER. I contemplated asking if I could live with them, but I figured that would have made for an awkward first impression. :) In all seriousness, this house and their decorating style put Pottery Barn to shame!

And I haven't even mentioned their little boy, Creighton, who just adds to the cute factor of this family! We ended up doing a mix of maternity and family photos -- some at their house and some at a field and barn on the backside of the South Hill. Check out some Flat 4 favorites! And remember you can click on any of the pictures below to make them bigger if you want.

Thank you to Julie Jones for referring Kristin for pictures!!

At the time we did these photos, the Todhunters had decided not to find out the sex of the baby, so they didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl. Well, a couple weeks ago they had a baby girl and named her Hattie. I'm considering hiring Kristin to pick my baby names when I decide to have kids. :)

Congrats on your growing family, Todhunters!

Tampien Family

If you don't know me very well, you probably don't know that my sister-in-law, Julie, and I actually knew each other well before we met our future husbands, who just happened to be brothers. Julie and I played U-16 club volleyball together in high school and then also played volleyball together at Whitworth. Then Julie met Joel, and about a year after that, I met Jordan. And the next thing you knew, we were related! Crazy, huh?!

Julie and Joel are such a special family to us. Joel, Jordan's younger brother (by about a year and a half), was the best man in our wedding. And together they have created the cutest little family -- Beau, our nephew, who will be 3 in September, and little Bailey, who was born at the end of May. They asked me to do some family photos for them shortly after Bailey was born, which was a little bittersweet because Joel was being sent to Afghanistan a few days later. I can't imagine being in the situation they are in right now, but I know if anyone can handle it, it is this family! They are so strong and their love for each other is truly amazing! Please keep them in your prayers this next year.

Without further ado, here are some Flat 4 favorites of the beautiful Tampien family!