Gabriella, age 6 {Portland, OR Child Photographer}

My Gabriella. 6 years ago she came into the world with her full head of black hair and made me a mother. I have always wanted to be a mother. I spent many hours of my childhood imaging out my future children and giving them an array of soap opera worthy names. My firstborn girl has many of my maternal, baby loving, imaginative and dramatic traits, but I can clearly see some of Jonathan's personality in her as well.

For Gabriella's 6 year old photo session I wanted to capture a slice of who she is right now and one of the first things you'll discover about Gabriella is that she is a voracious reader. She devours meaty chapter books at an astonishing rate. Including books in our session not only captured a bit of what Gabriella loves, but it also gave her a way to relax and forget about the camera.

The Parry Family {Portland Family Photographer}

Kellie Parry (you may remember her from the weddings we worked together here and here) is a good friend that I happen to have a LOT in common with. To name just a few... We both have an fine arts degree, we both welcomed a firstborn baby girl in the summer of 2005, we both started portrait photography businesses around the same time and we both suffer from MBACS.

You've never heard of MBACS? Probably because I just made it up. It stands for "Mom Behind A Camera Syndrome" and it is a serious condition. You may suffer from MBACS if you frequently find yourself at the back end of a camera endlessly documenting your family's day to day life and yet there is little photographic proof of your actual existence. If your child asks you questions like, "Hey Mom, were you actually AT any of my birthday parties?" then you likely have an acute case of MBACS.

To remedy this situation, Kellie and I decided a family photo swap was in order. Our family went first and braved a little baby spit up and some obnoxious bees. The Parrys went the next weekend and braved a gloomy day and a few raindrops.

These are a few of the images I captured of the fantastic Perry family.

And, just to prove that I really do exist....

Family Portraits in the Pearl District {Portland, OR Family Photographer}

This family put together a fun weekend in PDX in honor of their mother's birthday and decided to throw some family portraits into the mix. We met up at Tanner Springs park in the Pearl district and enjoyed a warm end-of-summer evening.

Happy Birthday Anita! You have a wonderful family!

Mia {Portland, OR Senior Portraits}

Gorgeous.