I'm happy to announce that my brother Jim and his wife Cat are now the proud parents of little Lulu Thrasher Coan.   Lulu came into the world earlier today after making her parents (and the rest of us) wait for more than two weeks past her due date!!!  The photo below is courtesy of my brother... I'll be heading to Virginia in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned!  There will be more photos of the lovely Lulu soon!!!  I can't wait to meet her!!  

Before I was a photographer, I was a kindergarten teacher, and in my class we would start every day with a little dancing.   There were many reason for starting the day out this way.  For one, the kids loved it.  It was a great way to get the wiggles out before getting down to the business of the day.  But the real reason I'd start out with dancing was purely selfish.  Watching little kids dance is funny!  No matter what kind of mood I was in when I got to school, after watching a bunch of five year olds boogie down, my spirits were high, and I could get down to work feeling great!

Lately I've been employing the same philosophy at my studio.  When a little kid comes in, I turn on the music!  It helps the kids loosen up and feel less shy, and it's also really, really fun to watch!!  Makes me laugh every time!

Here are a few dancing shots from some recent portrait sessions.  I hope they bring a little joy to your day!

I had the pleasure of spending my St. Patrick's Day with the Thompson family and their three gorgeous children!  Check these kids out!!  They are all just beautiful!!

Fun family, great shoot!

I was so happy to see my old friend Mr. Sun at today's newborn shoot (oh natural light... how I've missed you!!)  It made photographing this little sweet pea even more of a pleasure than it all ready was! She also slept through the entire shoot, and made it very easy on all of us!

 

I love my studio.  It has huge windows that face south and another huge set that faces west... so basically the best light ever.  But, I'm in Seattle, and sometimes there just isn't enough light, even with the best set up imaginable.

Today was one of those days.... super rainy, and just too dark, so I did what needed to be done, and busted out the studio lighting.

There are many reasons why I try to stay away from the studio lighting.  I love the softness of natural light for one, but the main reason is, I just never know how kids are going to react to it.  Some HATE it, and will cry and squint and have a hard time.  Some don't mind and just ignore it.  And then there are some who love it.  That's the kind of little one I had in today.  She got the biggest kick out of the lights.  Every time the strobes would flash, she'd giggle... it was the cutest thing!   So on this dark, dark Seattle day, we got these cute sunny little pictures, and we all had a blast!

Had a great day of shooting today, despite the non stop rain.

Is this little guy a dreamboat or what?!

Just walked in the door from an amazing day of shooting.  The sun was out today, which is a big deal to those of us here is Seattle, and the studio was just glowing with natural light! 

One of the highlights of my day, was photographing little Mari here.  Last time Mari was in the studio, she was a tiny newborn.  She is now six months old and came ready for the shoot in one of the most beautiful gowns I've seen in a long time.  This stunning baptismal gown has been in the Boswell family since 1908!  Isn't that incredible?!   Check out these gorgeous shots we got of this little sweet pea!!

By the way, Mari has an older sister named Maya, who is equally as adorable.  I'll be posting some of her pictures soon... so stay tuned!

She was pretty cute without the dress as well :)

Here is the gown... just lovely!