Amanda Shea Photography Blog, Seattle Professional Children's Photographer

Another year, Another favorite series

I photographed this little girl this time last year and it was one of my favorite sessions of the summer.  She and her wonderful parents have done it again for me this year. : )

At two years old, little N ran and ran for much of the session, really keeping me on my toes!  I love the energy she has and the 6th photo down shows how she was leading the way for the portraits...always staying one step ahead, even while holding her teddy bear. 

We started the photo session at home in the kitchen where we started last year.  I adore the light that comes in through the windows there and it was so wonderful to see the series of wall portraits hanging there from last year.  As much as N had changed in the past year, her sweet expressions remain the same.  Thank you, K, W & N for such a wonderful session.  I hope you enjoy this preview and then your slideshow!

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!

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!!!

Spring in full bloom...at least for a day!

After a long day of flights, layovers, driving, etc., I've made it home to Mississippi where spring is already turning into summer. Seattle's most spring-like day of the year so far was for this family's session! It was at least 70 degrees with barely a cloud in the sky. Amazing.

We met at the Washington Arboretum where flowers were blossoming everywhere. There were people everywhere, too, as it turned out, because a big plant sale was being held there that morning! We managed to find some quieter spots for ourselves and had plenty of beautiful spring green backgrounds for the photographs.

I was amazed at how much both of these sweet children had changed since last fall. This is their second session in the Beautiful Year so from October to April, you can imagine the difference ~ especially with the little guy! It was a treat to see the whole group again and how lucky that we had such a beautiful day.

Thanks R & A for another fun session in another wonderful season. I enjoyed seeing you guys again and look forward to sharing your slideshow with you soon!