I’m so happy to introduce lovely Little Miss Sailor Mae, the unexpected addition to one of the loveliest families I have the pleasure of knowing. Mike & I grew up in the same small town of Bremerton, but ironically I didn’t get to know him or Holli until I’d already moved away to Seattle… but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to. If we talk about them, my husband always describes Holli this way, “She is like, the kindest person you could ever meet;” and I describer her this way, “She’s like a Texas Rose.” I don’t even know what that means, but it just seems to fit. They are the type of family who have impecable style, a modern-day grace about them that is a throwback to days of old, and a love & loyalty for each other that’s as fierce as it is tender. I’m so happy to know these two, and their heartbreaker Hank… and now so thrilled to know Sailor Mae. You guys finally found each other, and somehow the world just feels that much sweeter…

Sarah is, quite literally, Mother Earth Reincarnate. She is raising that boy in a world of warm, all-encompassing love, and even at just five months it’s obvious that he is already so thankful for her. We talked about beauty of motherhood, the difficulties of motherhood, the trials of motherhood, the gratification of motherhood… and all the while, he was looking on, as if reassuring her that he knew what was ahead. He knew that he is hers & that she is his, that together they are the Dynamic Duo whose bond will move them through this life, and that she is where all his life lessons will begin. Motherhood looks amazing on you, Sarah my love, and I adore seeing you & Coltrane learning this life together… you gentle souls.

I know I often post photos of families that I meet here, there & everywhere… but you should also know that I especially love to photograph families right here in Seattle! Contact me if you’d love to have your family captured on film: catherine@calimaportraits.com

Geek Notes: Most of these were shot on Kodak Ektar 100, which is my favorite film but is unfortunately almost unusable here in the PNW… so I save it for sunny trips like to the Mediterranean. Also, I didn’t share this post for forever because my Hasselblad H1 crapped out on me, and I was super frustrated about the lines that were on several of the negatives. I’m sure you all know how much I despise using photoshop, so it was a moral battle in my head as to what to do with the photos, and with the camera. Anyway, it turns out that the camera situation is totally fixable (it was one of my camera backs & not the actual camera itself, thank goodness), and I decided to just post them as imperfect photos. Because I love the photos, but I didn’t want to start despising them because of dreading having to open them in photoshop. I am a geek.

Thanks for virtually traveling along with me! If you’d like to attend one of the upcoming workshops, be prepared to have a life-changing experience… http://filmisnotdead.com/ Or in the meantime you’d like to purchase some prints from this post, you can do so here. Gracias!

This was actually my first trip into Europe–I hit Switzerland, Spain, & Germany–but really I only got to see Europe through the customs of the people on the airlines, the beauty & architecture of the airports (did I mention I loooove air travel?!), from the sky above, and from this quick jaunt into town with one roll of film. Traveling alone leaves for a lot of time for introspective learning, and being alone in a foreign country is the perfect time to just be silent & listen to others around me… which is something I should practice more often, quite honestly. I’m seriously hoping for another trip to Europe soon… all this did was leave me wanting more! Please Universe, Please… I’m asking for a trip to Europe soon, and even better, one that I can share with my family!

[prints from this post can be purchased here]

This film came to me just hours after I’d finished my Best of 2012 post yesterday, but this technically makes it into 2012 in just the nick of time… just not into that post! Cynthia & Peter chose not to have a photographer at their wedding, but instead we did some photos of just them & their kids while the winter sun was slowly setting behind the mountains. It was free-ee-eezing out, so we did about ten minutes of photos on about three rolls of film with lots & lots of warm hugging, until our fingers & toes couldn’t take it any longer… and then we sent them off to be married!

Happy New Year to the happy family… and congratulations, big sis.

Even the hot dog guy was partying… yes, there was a hot dog stand for the late night shenanigans. Which was my other favorite thing about the wedding.

Thanks to my girl Stephanie Haller, who brought me along on this wedding right before she moved across the country… so this was both a happy & sad day for me. But! I decided to post this wedding in honor of her impending visit back to Seattle in the next few weeks, where we will have to replay the drinking & dancing & hot-dog eating parts of this wedding.  You can see more photos–from her!–by visiting her blog.

Enjoy your day!!!

But I knew that I wanted to photograph this family because 1) they must be cool because mom loves NPR & KUOW as much as I do, right?! 2) they have two amazing girls who who are the perfect age for photographic playtime, 3) they live in my neighborhood (yay!)… and 4) dad is a music producer so I knew that busting out a bunch of old film cameras would be appreciated on an artistic level; which is very important to me.

So we spent a Sunday morning kind of lazing around their house & their yard… just a couple of hours where I was in their world, getting a feel for what they do together and what they love. At one point, the girls were insistent that mom make us all some hot chocolate… insistent! Even though it was around 70 degrees that day, it’s like I just had to try their mom’s incredible hot chocolate. I love how us moms are sometimes like magicians in our kids eyes… how something as simple as a pot of hot chocolate is so imaginative & magical & worth sharing with new friends.

Lazy Sundays are for family, friends, lazing around, and a little bit of hot chocolate goodness…

And if you’re interested in a little more of the backstory on the day I spent with the Meyers, you can read it on this little feature on Let The Kids Dress Themselves blog… a fantastic blog (and one my favorites!) dedicated to the stories that photographers have to share.