Amanda Shea Photography Blog, Seattle Professional Children's Photographer

Bright-eyed and beautiful...

This sweet little girl had her second Beautiful Year session recently and I was in awe of her incredible bright blue eyes.  They caught the sunlight beautifully and look amazing in both color and black&white photographs.  It was wonderful to see how much she had changed since her newborn session last fall.  The weather had changed quite a bit, too, as it was snowing on the day of her first session!  This time we were greeted by sunshine.

The Washington Arboretum once again proved to be a great location for a session.  This particular afternoon, we made our way down Azalea Way, finding shady spots under the trees and bright patches of flowers along the sides of the path.  With the great weather, many people were out for walks at the park, with quite a number of them stopping when they saw adorable K, the star of the photo session. : )

Thank you to K and T for K's second Beautiful Year session.  I'll be in touch soon with your gallery login info!

Cherry Blossom Baby: Family Portraits at the UW Campus

I met these parents and their beyond adorable little girl at the University of Washington campus for their family portrait session among the cherry blossoms.  I could not get over how pink the ground was (see the first photo) and to make things even more wonderful, baby S showed up in a matching pink sweater!

Mom and Dad's ease in front of the camera paired with their ear-to-ear grinning baby made for some wonderful close-up shots of the three of them together...laughing, cuddling, smiling, etc.  I could have photographed them all day long.  As you can tell from the photos, this photogenic trio was lots of fun, chose a perfect spot for their session, and the mom and dad couldn't be more in love with their daughter....something so precious to capture in photographs.

Thank you to M & M for a beautiful session with S...and to Ashley for referring this family to me.  I'll contact you soon with your slideshow login!

Thank you, February, March & April showers...

The rain this year has seemed endless at times but it has allowed for some of the most beautiful spring colors I've seen. On another perfect morning at the Arboretum, I photographed 18 1/2 month old J among soft pink and yellow flowers and bright spring greens. I have been photographing her since she was brand new at only two months old! It's amazing to see her running around in the grass, carefully touching flowers, playing peek-a-boo and telling me, "Byeeeeeeeee!" at the end of her sessions.

Watching all my little photo subjects grow up is one of my favorite parts of being a children's photographer. I often see them in some of their earliest moments with their parents, as in this little one's case, and over time I witness so many more of their life milestones. Being able to document such a variety of these moments is something I'll always cherish. 

Thank you H & G for such a beautiful session with J in her adorable ruffled dress!  It was just the right outfit for this background (as were the jeans & top). : )  I look forward to sharing the full slideshow with you!

What a fun age! Portraits at the Arboretum...

I met this family at the Washington Arboretum one afternoon recently for their session. 5 1/2 year old A kept me smiling the entire time! He had such a wonderful variety of expressions and was up for just about anything, as were his mom and dad who even climbed a tree for a family portrait (how fun!).

The Arboretum is the perfect place for sessions right now and having the weather be as nice as it's been lately is a bonus. We found several great places for family portraits: along Azalea Way, on a park bench and in and under the trees. A found lots of fun places for his portraits, too: in the flowers, among the tree branches, with his dog and in the arms of his parents. I couldn't get enough of his contagious laugh. Look at the fourth photo down and you're guaranteed a smile!

Thanks so much for a great session to A, Mom, Dad and the family dog. I had a great time with you guys and look forward to sending you the login to your online gallery.

Beautiful Year I, II and III x Four!

I absolutely love this family and was beyond impressed when W, the mom, called me for portraits last spring. With her hands full, she enthusiastically signed up for the Beautiful Year and I couldn't have been happier! At the first session, the triplets were about 7.5 months old and big sister O was nearing 3. Each session, we work on getting one good portrait of all four sweet kids together and hooray! we've got another one this time!

These guys have all grown leaps and bounds over the year. I remember putting the boys in Bumbos last spring to help them sit together, and now all three are sitting next to their sister on a bench at the park. Big sister O is an amazing little girl, always calm and patient when we're focused on portraits of her brothers, and when it's her turn for photos, she couldn't be more cooperative or cuter. : )

A special thank you goes to W's nanny who came to help us with our Arboretum session and to my husband who came to provide shade for the photos, if needed. Both helped so much with not only the photo work but also just spending time with the kids when I was shooting individual portraits. And of course, thank you so much for a wonderful year of portraits, W & S. I have loved photographing your family this past year and I look forward to the possibility of future sessions on my return trips to Seattle.

Beautiful Year, Session III

I have been photographing these guys since last spring, when the boys were just starting to sit on their own. In the fall, they were just learning to walk and now they are keeping me running all over the place! Luckily, we had a great way to get them together with their big sister: place them all in their little red wagon. Wonderful. : )

All three kids were such great sports for this session as we started out indoors with a lighting set-up and then after an outfit change, the sky cleared a bit and we took some outdoor portraits. I have so much fun with this family. Big sister E loves the flowers in her yard so she and I went walking around looking for her favorites so she could be photographed with them. The boys seem to always like to be within sight of each other and even right next to one another, but when I pulled out my camera this time, they used their newly-discovered fast-walking skills to move apart quickly! Still, we got some great individual portraits of them and several wagon photographs of them with their sweet sister.

C & J, thank you for another great session with your family. I look forward to showing you your slideshow soon AND to seeing you for your October session!

Beautiful Year, Beautiful Colors

I met this little guy last year when he was only 7 weeks old. One of my most vivid memories from that photo shoot was his ability to maintain eye contact with me throughout the session. He hasn't changed a bit! Though he was fascinated with the dandelions and other flowers at the Washington Arboretum on this particular morning, he still looked my way several times, allowing his beautiful blue eyes to catch the sunlight...and for me to catch his looking. : )

This is absolutely one of my most colorful sessions of the year. Not only was the grass beautiful shades of bright greens while the flowers gave various pinks, whites and yellows to the backgrounds, but the clothing colors chosen by the parents couldn't have been better! Their blue and red-orange shirts...and jeans... complemented each other so well and contrasted perfectly against the spring greens. Two thumbs up to this family for clothing choices!

I have so enjoyed all three sessions with this family. From seeing tiny baby E resting quietly over his dad's shoulder last spring, to sitting up in the sand in the fall, to walking and running around in the grass this spring...the changes have been amazing to say the least. Thank you to M & A for a Beautiful Year. I hope you enjoy your session preview!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Two of the dearest and most loving kids I know...

...are my cousins. When I was home in Natchez, Mississippi recently for a wedding and portrait sessions, my aunt and her two children, CR & A, happened to be visiting home the same weekend. I couldn't believe the luck of our trips lining up with one another and I really looked forward to having a photo session with them.

You can see from the portraits how dear and sweet these two are to one another. They couldn't have been better subjects, and I told them this repeatedly during the shoot, eventually leading to a few laughs! We had the session in our grandparents' incredible wooded yard. I grew up picking pecans off the ground in their field, climbing one of the big magnolia trees there, and playing in the creek behind their house. Being able to photograph CR & A in the same field and around the same trees means the world to me.

Something else incredibly special about this session was that my grandparents joined in the fun. The grandparents and the grandchildren adore each other and you can see it in their eyes. Thank you so much to Beth, Granny and Grandpops for making it possible to have this session. To CR & A, I hope you enjoy seeing your pictures! I loved seeing you when I was home.

Let's begin (the catching up) with a tiny, precious baby girl

I have unintentionally been away from the blog for over a week. The wedding weekend and portrait sessions in Mississippi kept me busier than I had originally thought so I have lots of blog-catching-up to do starting now. : )

I am so happy to share some of the portraits of this precious baby girl. Her brother completed the Beautiful Year in the fall and now she stars (and he co-stars!) in her first session at one day shy of 4 weeks old. I can't tell you how much I looked forward to this session and when the day finally arrived I was in heaven. Not only was the time of day just right for the kids but the family's house has incredible window light, perfect for indoor portraits.

One of my favorites from this session is of one little hand holding an even tinier set of fingers. Big brother M was so sweet to his little sister, something I loved having the opportunity to see. I also loved that we had a special guest for the session: the children's grandmother. She had been at a past session over a year ago so having her come over to be in photos with the new baby was absolutely wonderful.

Thanks to M & S for a fantastic session. You are pros at this now! and are as photogenic as usual. : ) Your slideshow is online and now that you've seen some of my favorites, I can't wait to see some of yours!