Serendipity Photography

It's Alive!!

2010-04-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

The new blog, that is! This will be the last post on this blog, I leave you with a handy link to the new one: http://portraits.serendipitypics.com/blog/ All the links on the websites have been updated so you'll be automatically taken to the new blog. There's also a link under the tab labeled Serendipity Links on the new one that will bring you back to this one.

Thanks for reading!!

Code Name: Cake Smash

2010-04-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

Your Mission: Should you choose to accept this mission, smash and destroy all evidence of a pretty cake.

Good Luck!
Mission Accomplished!! :)

This little guy has been so much fun watching him grow up through his first year! Even better, I was mom and dad's wedding photographer so I've seen them tie the knot and add to their family! I love that part about my job!!

Truly one of the more messy and happy cake sessions I've seen lately! He had no trouble digging in and enjoyed getting all that frosting in some...um, ahem, interesting places. :)

Proud to be a mom!

2010-03-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say how proud I am of my daughter and her school. Every year they do a play and this year's is Jack and the Beanstalk. My darling girl got the role of the Giant's Wife and she is so excited with her lines. I'm not kidding, a day or two of knowing which part she got, she had most of it memorized! Last year's play was incredible and I'm sure this year's will be no different. Anyone can go see the play, tickets go on sale at the end of the month and the play is at the end of April. Even better, dessert will be served! :) Totally worth the price of admission! Of course, the play is going to be great (I know most of lines now as well...) and if you've got kids, they'll enjoy going as well!

Okay, proud mom going back to work now. I have lots of duckie pictures to edit! :)

We are quacking up at the studio!

2010-03-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

We're having so much fun with our spring duckling sessions right now! In-between all the laughing and giggling, today was another AMAZING day with duckling portraits. I must be blessed to have such terrific kids (and mommies!! The wardrobes have been perfect!) coming in for pictures. They've been patient and quiet with our flock of babies and very gentle when petting the ducks.

If you're thinking about doing this, or already telling yourself to remember for next year, you actually still have a chance this year. We'll have the ducks for another week and we do still have some openings here and there on the schedule for next week.

You can schedule a duckie portrait session if:

You have children that are old enough to be able to sit up on their own.

And yeah, that's really the only requirement!! :) We've photographed children as old as 12-14 years old, we've had a couple of dogs, we've even had a family in!

Of course, there's the whole procrastination thing about calling and scheduling a session...don't! I kid you not, our duckies were hatched on Monday, arrived on Tuesday and they've doubled in size since then. Just imagine how big they'll be in another week! Pin feathers will start sprouting in about 10 days I think.

Clients always ask what we do with the ducks after our sessions are done. There's the fun answers and there's the realistic ones. :) As much as I love using the fun answers, the reality is that there are a number of families who live here in the valley that are more than excited to adopt our Serendipity ducks from us when we're done.

Keep Quacking!!
Kaela at Serendipity

Northwest Women's Show

2010-03-01T17:37:00.001-08:00

Our grand unveiling of our new line of photography will be this weekend at the Northwest Women's Show this weekend. We're spending this week taking care of last minute details (do they ever end??) and frantically placing orders for the things I've let slip thru the cracks for the show. We've also got some new products to show off and a GREAT discount for sessions that are booked at the show.

We're in Booth 634 at the Women's show! Come see us!

Show hours:
Friday 10-5pm
Saturday 10-6pm
Sunday 10-5pm
Qwest Field

Women's Show website

Quack, Quack!!

2010-02-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

It's that time again!! Time for ducklings and loads of fun!

We'll have our duckies available from March 11th-20th and two different choices of scenes to choose from. Our Saturday sessions will be the absolutely wonderful Spring Forest scene with plenty of pretty greens, flowers and things for the kiddos to use to interact with the ducklings. Our weekday sessions will have the Classic scene and you can choose from three different colors or we'll pull a background that will match your child's clothing.

Plan early and book asap! Those duckies grow fast and they'll be much smaller and cuter the earlier you book in the week.

Sessions last 30 minutes and are $99 and include 1 8x10, 6 wallets and a Facebook image (all one pose). You can add additional children for $10 each.

You can call the studio at 206-947-4686 to book your session or email: kaela@serendipitypics.com. A credit card is required to reserve your time.

Four month old baby portrait session at Serendipity Photography

2010-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

How cute is this little man? I just love babies that have rolls all over them! They last for just a short while and then poof!! The rolls melt away once that baby grows up and starts walking and running all over the place. It's going to be so much fun seeing how he changes throughout the rest of his first year. Right now he is 4 months old and this was his second session with me. He's so quick to photograph because he's so smiley and happy, what a joy!! I can't wait to see him for his next session!

2010-The Year of Challenges!

2010-01-20T09:25:00.001-08:00

Well, it's January 20th and I can already tell this year is going to be a roller coaster! New year, new challenges, and it didn't even wait until January 1st for the first one! How fair is that??

I received an email from the company that hosts my website that said they were going to be moving files over to a new server, I might experience downtime on my site for a few hours. No big deal, I thought, it's between Christmas and New Years, it's pretty quiet. HA!! I FINALLY have my website back!! Can you believe that? It was offline for at least 2 weeks! And when I did have a website back, it was the old one I replaced last year! Amazing. And not in a good way. lol, can you tell I'm still fried about it? So, I've been website shopping lately. I think I found a solution I'm liking, hopefully I'll get some chances to get it working so you may be seeing some online changes in the next couple of months.

On a fun note, I got back from Imaging last week. Imaging is the national photography convention show put on by PPA (Professional Photographer's of America). I go every year, it's my chance to unwind after the crazy holiday season, play with new products, maybe pick up a new idea tidbit and hang out with all my friends I only get to see once a year. This year it was in Nashville (the show moves every year to a different city, one of the AWESOME perks!) and oh man, it was COLD!! It never got above 25! Thankfully we were in what we ended up calling "The Bubble": A convention center with thousands of hotel rooms, restaurants, shops, etc. Unfortunately they didn't seem too well prepared to deal with the influx of 10,000 photographers. The wait times for food were incredible and the coffee line? Not pretty.

I'll be spinning off a new division of my business shortly. If you go to the Northwest Women's Show this year you'll be able to find out what it is. Currently it's not something that I'll be advertising, it's more word of mouth, but I guarantee it'll be FUN! (this is one of those challenges as mentioned above...new branding, website, samples, eek!)

And in the roller coaster category for the start of the year is the amazing, energetic, excited addition to the Serendipity team...Jeanene Court! Hold on to your hats everyone! She's an amazing whirlwind of ideas and action. You'll start to see her effect in a month or so. I'm excited to see what we accomplish this year with her onboard.

So, to wrap up, this is going to be a crazy year full of possibly painful but worthwhile changes. It'll be aggravating, exhilarating, laughable and a whirlwind.

BRING IT ON, I'M READY!! :)

A Christmas Carol

2009-12-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

Wow. I am mostly speechless by what I saw this evening. My mom, my daughter and I went to see Cascade Community Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol this evening. This was by far, the most impressive production they've done! Singing, dancing, wonderful acting, this had it all. The actor for Scrooge was amazing. Heck, everyone was amazing but Scrooge handled the spotlight wonderfully. Brazenly in love with money and churlishly sarcastic about life and happiness, Scrooge delivered quick-witted sharp zingers at everyone. And the humor ran the gamut from Mac/Window jokes; politics, Cheney hunting jokes and my daughter LOVED the Twilight references.

Now the sad part...It's over tomorrow...that's Sunday the 13th at 2pm at Cedarcrest High School. GO SEE IT!!!!

It's tomorrow!!

2009-12-04T12:04:00.001-08:00

Are you coming? Santa will be here at the studio tomorrow (Saturday, December 5th) from 10am-2pm for portraits with the little kids and the big kids and the grown-up kids! We put up the scene last night and it looks FABULOUS!! All in whites, silvers and pretty sparkly light blue/turquoise tones. I think this will end up being one of my most favorite holiday sets...of course, I think I say that every year... :)

Don't forget!! Tomorrow, 10-2, all sorts of fun will be had! :)

New Moon at Serendipity Photography!

2009-11-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

With all the crazy New Moon this, and New Moon that that my darling daughter regales me with every day, it's time for a REAL new moon event! :)

From now until December 18th, I'll photograph your new moon for free! That's right, bring your adorable sleepy new baby in for free to be photographed!

Oh, and I am seeing New Moon tonight. Team Jacob for sure.

Santa's on his way!!

2009-11-19T11:15:00.001-08:00

Okay, about this time of year I start to get very giddy with the idea of Santa portraits. I love seeing kids meeting Santa, be it for the first time, or the 65th time, it's unique each and every time! I even love the screamers! Especially since I have 4 (or 5, I can't remember!) years worth of screaming/crying pictures of my daughter. They make me laugh everytime I see them...her first one at 6 months, looking up at Santa, mouth open, screaming, tears running down her face. It's amazing the kind of looks you can get in the split second you're away from your child! We were much braver at about year 3, but that was because I had to be in the picture as well (there were still tears from her)! Now at 10 and a half, she's much more older and experienced in the way of the world and she's around to help out the scared little ones. :) So much fun to watch her grow up!

This year Santa will be visiting us on Saturday December 5th from 10am-2pm. No appointments needed, so if your young ones need a few minutes to get used to the idea of seeing Santa, no problem, they can have it. Packages will run from $35 to $95, we also have Holiday cards available, and yes, they WILL be back asap so you can get them out in the mail! I'm expecting to have orders ready for pick-up by Saturday December 12th, and cards will probably be ready by Tuesday December 15th. We do have envelopes you can take home and address in your spare time.

I have a new product or two that will be making their debut at Santa portraits...they're perfect for holiday giving! :) You'll just have to come in to see what they are!

Hey, did I mention the best part of having your Santa portraits done at Serendipity Photography? Very Short Lines!! Plus we'll have cookies and cider to tide you over. See you then!!

Halloween Pictures were a HIT!

2009-11-03T14:16:00.001-08:00

We were graced with the presence of around 800 ghoulish, adorable, amazing & jaw-dropping costumed people on Halloween! It was a non-stop crazy event and all the pictures we took for the treat portion of trick-or-treating are terrific!

If you came by to visit us and had your picture taken, your free 4x6 is done and ready to be picked up. If you didn't come to visit us and have your picture taken, you are still welcome to come into our building and admire all those amazing costumes we got to see! There's well over 300 images on the wall right now, most of them with multiple kids in them so there's plenty to check out!

Another Hit by Cascade Community Theatre!

2009-10-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

I always have so much fun working with the cast from CCT (www.cascadecommunitytheatre.org). Not surprisingly, they're outgoing, very entertaining and tons of fun to photograph! Their newest production is Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe which shows this coming weekend over Halloween up at Cedarcrest High School. This time around, I got a copy of their playscript so I could brush up on my Poe works before photographing them and my daughter and I ended up reading through the parts of one of the plays one night at home. It got her excited to go see this so we'll be there Friday night getting ourselves in a creepy Halloween mood! Hope to see you there!

To get us in the Christmas mood, they'll be performing A Christmas Carol over December 5th-13th. I'm excited for that one as well!

Never Too Old for Portraits!

2009-10-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Meet David & Ruth, aren't they cute together? They've been together now for 60 years! I was so delighted to catch them interacting with each other and showing me what they're really like, in addition to the wonderful posed portraits we did as well. All of these portraits will be so nice for their family to have to remember mom and dad together. Ruth's secret...she makes trufffles for David each week!!

It's done!!

2009-10-26T14:34:00.001-07:00

Woohoo!! I've finally finished up the new website...actually, let me rephrase that...I've finally stopped obsessing over all the little details and changes and things I might be forgetting! :) There's all new images in the galleries, new info and new slideshows with VIDEO! I'm especially excited about the video part. I'd love your feedback if you have a few moments to check it out. Anything! The yays, the nays, the "what were you thinking". Email me!

THE NEW WEBSITE

Next up is to get the html version done so that all of you cool people with iphones can actually see my website and then the blog gets a rehaul. No idle hands here!

Trick-or-Treating!

2009-10-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's never too early to mention Halloween, right? Especially since I've been hearing about Halloween from my daughter for the past 5 months about what kind of costume she's going to wear. Every morning, without fail, there's some new update on what she wants to do. I think she finally has it figured out though. Thank goodness!!

This little guy is whom I called "Turtle". Conveniently enough, his costume was of a turtle and he was the only turtle that we saw last year at the trick or treating event in Duvall so the nickname wasn't much of a stretch. :) He also came to be photographed with Santa, and with our duckies for the sessions in the springtime.

In case you haven't heard, Duvall is THE place to be for trick or treating!! We have over 70 businesses in town participating from 3pm-6pm on Halloween handing out candy and treats. Each year, our treat to you is a free 4x6 of your costumed cutie in our spooky scene. Pictures will be ready for pick-up by Friday, November 6th.

Sorry for the lag between posts, it's been crazy busy around here with high school seniors doing the yearbook scramble (deadlines are during October and the first part of November) and families coming in for sessions, and all the fun sessions we've been doing outside in the leaves! I have plenty of things to post to the blog, it's just finding the elusive time to do so!

Keep an eye on the portrait website...there's going to be a huge change shortly! :) Also, all the images in the senior website's galleries are brand new!

Happy Fall!!

Chance of Showers!

2009-10-06T14:24:00.001-07:00

Baby session this past Saturday....I'm a sucker for baby skin and I love showing off all those cute little folds and roly poly wrinkles on them. Mom's pulling off the diaper and I'm prepping her for the "just in case" scenario. I warn her that whenever we do baby sessions, there's an 85% chance of showers in the studio and if he goes, just let him go all over the floor, no big deal. She asks, do you ever catch it in the portraits? I answer, absolutely!! And sure enough, this little guy didn't disappoint! Not more 60 seconds into this pose he got mom good!

Thanks for being such a good sport Robyn! You are going to LOVE the portraits we got!

Lost treasures...

2009-09-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

My mom came into the studio last week (this is a normal occurrence as she is my bookkeeper) and she pulls out this old photograph that she had found in some boxes. It was a picture of her from waaaaaay back when (sorry, mom!). On the back she had written "Kaela is a very good photographer!". I got such a kick out of seeing this ancient picture (wait, that means I'm ancient!!), ok, this treasured momento come to light. I must have been maybe 3 or 4 years old when I took this of mom. It set the tone for the future I think! :)

Seeing this made me think though...what have we lost by introducing digital to our world? Snapshots and portraits are saved on a disc or on a hard drive (if they even get downloaded from the camera to begin with!). How in the world can you stumble across a picture tucked away in a box if none of your images are printed out anymore? Sure, some may get printed, but the majority of them don't. CD's scratch, hard drives fail, cameras get stolen. Personally, I'm grateful for my snapshots, albums, scrapbooks and yearbooks. I love searching thru a closet for something and getting sidetracked with reminiscing about high school friends, childhood, pets and mom & dad while flipping thru a random pile of pictures. It's really tough to purposefully sit down in front of a computer with the intention of remembering the past, turn it on and search thru folders for certain images. It loses something I think.

Redmond High School Senior Girl

2009-09-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Look at those clouds! Wowzers! This was a day that was threatening rain the whole time we were photographing outside but it was so worth it being out there! I just love the clouds! Sabrina brought me the coolest toys to play with (her ribbon and fans) and I love her Defy Gravity t-shirt! We had a terrific time with her indoor and outdoor senior shoot. Thanks girl!

Not quite the end of summer...

2009-09-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last blitz of summer weather this week! It was beautiful up in Birch Bay yesterday where I went to photograph this little man and all his nieces and nephews...what? Yes, you read it right, this is Uncle Zak and the nieces and nephews! :) This is such a fun bunch of kids and we get into all sorts of fun with them. This is my fifth year now photographing for this extended family and it's been so much fun watching Zak grow up! Yesterday's session was no exception to what's been a terrific half decade of photography history for them.

High School Senior Seattle Safari Photography!

2009-09-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

This lovely senior gal from CHS wanted something different and we were very obliging!! We headed to Seattle and took advantage of some terrific weather and a stunning sunset!

Have you been shopping in Redmond Towne Center lately? The image on the red wall is on display in our kiosk right now. Check out those shoes!! Rwowr!!

Senior photography: It's a muddy messy job but someone's got to do it!!

2009-09-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

I love my job!

Autumn Sessions are being booked now! Don't miss out!

2009-09-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

We're booking the autumn leaves sessions right now and they're going quick! The dates available are:

October 17th & 18th
and
October 24th & 25th

Take advantage of the beautiful fall colors we have for such a short time! Hey, remember Christmas? It's right around the corner. You'll have some terrific images from these sessions that you can use for holiday cards or gifts for those family members that you don't see often enough.

You can call: 206-947-4686 or email to reserve a time.

Horses, Sunflowers & Fun with Senior Photography!

2009-09-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

What more could a girl want? Two hours in studio, two hours on location, the weather was PERFECT!! In fact, everything was perfect! This CHS student took advantage of our Makeup Artist's services that we offer and she looked stunning! In her spare, she works with the horses at Phoenix Rising and wanted to know if we could go out to photograph her with her favorite horse there...OF COURSE!! :) I love photographing with horses, they're so much fun and each one has a unique personality.

Puppy Pictures!

2009-09-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Chewie and his very cute owners came to see me! We had so much fun with this little ball of fluff, he looked like a dandelion puffball about ready to be blown away! I love puppies!! :)

Baby Portraits with Serendipity Photography

2009-09-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

I photographed this little guy's older brother a couple years ago and mom wanted to capture this guy at the same age. He was fabulous! He played ball with us with a ball and mitt that has been in the family for awhile and was a bit of a super fast crawler! Fun trying to keep up!

Messy First Birthday Cake Session

2009-08-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!! This is Miss Scarlet with her oh so adorable cake session! She brought boots, a horsey and of course, the washtub to wash up in after she was done demolishing the awesome cake her mom made for her. She wasn't too pleased to be done however...

Four month old cutie pie! Baby Photography in Duvall

2009-08-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Meet Michael, isn't he adorable? :)

Family Portraits in the Park with Serendipity Photography

2009-08-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

I've had so much fun with this family over the years and watching the kids grow up! Two are out of high school and on to new and exciting ventures while the youngest gets to stay home and rule the roost! Thanks for being such a great family! It's been my pleasure to photograph everyone over the years!

Amazing Duvall Dad sets the bar HIGH!!

2009-08-21T12:22:00.001-07:00

After being married for years, are you left wondering each anniversary what to get your spouse other than the obligatory "happy we're still married" card? The dad of these awesome kids called me up to schedule a secret session of the kids together to surprise his wife on their anniversary. And boy, was she surprised!! We put together a slideshow for him to show her while they were on their family vacation and it went over terrific!

No pressure to all the other dads out there! :)

More Fun on the Farm with Serendipity Photography!

2009-08-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

This little guy is related to the kids in the previous post about grandpa's farm. This Dad spent his summers hanging out here on the farm and has lots of fun memories for this location. It was the perfect setting for a family session with him and his wife, son and soon to be son #2! Congrats you two! I can't wait to meet the newest member of the family!

Kids out on the Family Farm: Duvall, WA by Serendipity Photography

2009-08-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

I was able to photograph these wonderfully photogenic kids out at their grandparents' farm here in the Snoqualmie Valley. White picket fence, huge willow tree, beautiful views of the valley, this place had it all! Their mom is the amazing massage therapist here in Duvall at Sno-Valley Massage. Be sure to check out her wall portrait in her office! :)

Don't miss tomorrow's posting...how a dad surprised his wife for an anniversary!

Youngest WSU Cougar Fan! Baby Photography Duvall, WA

2009-08-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

This little doll came to see me at 6 days old and brought her oh so adorable older sis. These girls and their daddy also brought along their Cougar props and we had a great time with jerseys, blankets, bead necklaces and pom-poms in Maroon and Gray colors. Go Cougs!!

Doggie Filled Weekend at Duvall's DirtyPaws DogWalk

2009-08-17T18:12:00.001-07:00

Wow, I don't think I've been around quite as many dogs as I was this past weekend! Friday night my family hit Emerald Downs for their annual Wiener Dog races. Unfortunately poor Basil (our wiener) didn't qualify to be in the race. He didn't even make it across the start line during the rally at Seattle Center on Thursday! A wiener named Lucy Lu was the Wiener Dog race champion AGAIN for the 4th year in a row. Watch out Lucy Lu....Basil's coming to get you next year!! I thought the really nice touch at Emerald Downs was the Oscar Meyer theme song that was played right before each race. Totally set the mood! :)

Saturday was Duvall's first DirtyPaws DogWalk and I'd call it a terrific success! Lots of dogs, large and small, and everything in between! Here's a few that posed for me!

Oreo, a mix of pekingese and something small...chihuahua maybe? Totally cute!!

This is Piper, one of Basil's play buddies. Piper actually made it to the wiener races on Friday and qualified in the first heat and raced in the final to place 4th.

Boo, an absolute vision in pink! She's on her way to be joined in holy muttrimoney. You'll see her bridegroom below. I'll give you a hint to his identity...pick the MOST unlikely pairing!

Mocha...a shitzu and a totally adorable!!

Someone who couldn't resist a dip in the pool!!

Max, a Lhasa Apsa and a ball of energy!

Basil meeting up with one of the largest participants I spotted that day! Meet, Tron, a Great Dane AND Boo's bridegroom!

Engagement Session with Serendipity Photography

2009-08-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Fun engagement session! Soon to be bride Chelsea and her Navy Man. :) We were blessed with beautiful weather and a willing couple...they even went in the river!

Motley Zoo & Duvall Dirty Paws Dog Walk

2009-08-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

These puppies are just 2 of 8 that the sisters family from the previous post is fostering for an organization I just learned about called Motley Zoo. The blonde baby is Hope and the little dark dude is Leo. They were so cute! I'm sure all 8 of these puppies will be scooped up fast once they're ready to go home with new families.

Motley Zoo will be doing Doggie Weddings at the Duvall Dirty Paws Dog Walk event tomorrow, Saturday, which runs from 10am-3pm. This event will have vendor booths, door prizes (I donated something!!), Pet adoptions, music and lots more! C'mon down to hang out and see all the dogs as they pull their owners from checkpoint to checkpoint to receive stamps in their doggie passports. It's also a great way to see all the new changes to downtown and to peek in all the businesses. I'll be out front of my building, helping with directions and snapping pictures of dogs as they go by. We've got a nice display of doggie images going up on the windows out front later today, one of which is an absolutely adorable image of Hope the puppy.

Hope to see lots of people! You don't have to have a dog to come out and enjoy!

Senior & Tween Portrait Photography Duvall, WA

2009-08-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

Sisters came in for group shots and individual portraits. Wow, we had some fun! Older sis is off to college shortly and younger sis gets to rule the roost now. :) You two were so much fun to photograph! We kept things moving along nicely with action shots, sports images, and water fights. Thank goodness it was a beautiful warm day!

Sarah's 7 month session - Duvall Baby Portraits at Serendipity Photography

2009-08-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

Miss Sarah! Aren't you the cutest with your adorable big eyes, chubby cheeks and sweet grins? Thank you for bringing such fun outfits and colors to play with!

Duvall Cedarcrest High School Senior Portraits

2009-08-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

Otherwise known as "Nebraska", this senior was great fun to photograph. I loved trying out the basketball image with my new ring light. LOVED the results!! Any excuse I get, I'm trying out that light! Thanks for the great session!

Redmond High School Senior Portraits

2009-08-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Jason, from Redmond, brought all sorts of fun things to photograph with. I loved the hats he brought and he's been involved with martial arts for quite awhile now so it was terrific to capture his sport that he enjoys. We did this on a very hot day (not THE hot days we recently had) but I think he got a kick out of the thought that his mom had to keep him cool and shade him from the sun so he didn't sweat in the pictures.

Little Mr. Personality

2009-08-10T13:21:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I confess, I got called on my lack of posting by a photographer friend of mine. She says that it looks like I haven't been busy. I say it looks like there's not enough hours in the day!! :) Life has been hopping like mad since about, oh, say March!

This little guy was out visiting his grammy for a week. Such a cutie-pie! He was so talkative and so well-behaved and polite for a young man of his age! He was a blast to photograph!

Quack, Quack!

2009-03-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! The 2009 Flock of Ducks will be available for portraits starting on April 10th. They'll be at the studio until the 14th. As always, these are very popular sessions and I've already pre-booked a number of them with those in the know. :) (you know who you are!)

I'll have two choices for backgrounds. One is the pond scene, which is always in demand. The portraits from this scene are timeless and the amount of depth in the scene is amazing. You'd swear you stumbled across a tiny little pond in a meadow that a flock of ducks were living in. This is a popular choice for boys, they really enjoy the water feature of this scene.

Your other option is a simple classic style of background. You bring in the cute outfits, we'll help choose the perfect scene for the portraits. There's minimal props, the focus is on your child.

Sessions are $45, Portrait Collections start at $295. These sessions are perfect for babies who can sit up or who stay on their tummies and can push up, children of any age, and VERY well-behaved pets.

Bring a friend and get a bonus gift!!

Thru snow, and floods and fog...

2009-01-21T08:45:00.001-08:00

I remember thinking back in mid-November about how nice and mild winter was behaving so far. Ha!! I certainly had that thought thrown back in my face! Between the 2 feet of snow, the record flooding and now the thick soupy fog we have...well...I'm ready for spring!! Of course, it didn't help going to Phoenix last week for the latest professional photographer's convention. That was some nice 75 degree weather!

The convention was, as usual, a terrific event. I go every year and every year I learn more secrets, more tricks and discover new and fun products to bring home and incorporate into the business. This year, I'm bringing in a new lighting system to play with. It will give me a terrific continuous light to photograph with. No strobes popping off in your face! :) It's not something I'll use for everyone, but it will certainly have it's place in the studio.

The newest lab products this year are metal prints. Yes, I'm talking brushed metal! They are incredible!! Shiny with a terrific metal sheen to it, I think this will be fabulous for senior portraits with cars, water or other shiny objects in it. It'll probably be another month or so before we're ready to get a sample in the studio to show it off but there will be some major wow factor when you first see it.

Hmmm, did I mention I got to see Anne Geddes? :) That was by far the highlight of the trip. She's incredible! How she does her photography in her studio and how she got started; she is the reason we all have so much fun photographing babies now.

One last thing, I'll be posting some announcements on the website and blog, as well as sending out some info early February about a new addition we've got going here. In the meanwhile, anyone interested in a free session to come in and model for an hour or so in the camera room? Anyone is welcome, young and old, families or a baby, maternities or high schoolers. All sessions are free for this offer and there's no order minimums or anything like that. We're trying out some new lighting, backgrounds and equipment and we're just looking for some people to come in and let us experiment. The calendar is filling up and I'll only offer this thru the end of the month (I think there's 3 or 4 openings left right now). Give me an email or call if you're interested!

Sisters

2008-12-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

I love photographing siblings that are older. They pay attention, they do what I ask, we can be more creative and they've got the coolest shoes!! Although, I have seen some really cute squeaky shoes on some 18 month olds lately. So flipping cute!! Everywhere they go...squeak...squeak...squeak...squeaksqueaksqueaksqueak!!!

Thanks ladies!! You were terrific fun!

Santa Baby!

2008-12-08T22:10:00.001-08:00

Have to share this adorable little pouty guy. Mom brought in the best holiday outfits for him and we had a blast photographing him with them. If you caught his earlier post (Three day old smiler), he's now 2 months old today! What a cutie he's turning into!

Santa's Visit

2008-12-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

Just a few tidbits from our Santa Portraits over the weekend...WOW!! It was so much fun watching the kids see Santa. Yes, some of them screamed like crazy, others screamed "Santa!" in excitement, still others took some time to conquer their fears and bravely reach out to accept a candy cane from Santa. We hammed it up for the camera, read stories together, checked the list to make sure who was on the nice list and got plenty of great big hugs. It was such a terrific experience, I've already made sure Santa will be sure to come out and see us again next year!

Your order can be picked up at the studio on Saturday the 13th between 10am and 1pm. Let us know if you need a different time.

Want advance notice of it for next year? Make sure you're on the email list and we'll drop you an email around November to let you know when Santa is coming next year! Email me and I'll put you on the list!

Flooding in the valley? Photo-op!!

2008-12-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

I finally had the opportunity to take advantage of the flooding that happens every year out here in the Snoqualmie Valley. This adorable couple wanted portraits to capture their life as it is before they start on the next chapter in their life and the timing was perfect for what I had in mind. Outside we went with their cute puppies and their adventuresome spirit! Thank you!!!! The water was COLD but oh so worth it I think!!

Santa Saturday!

2008-12-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited!! Santa's coming to visit Duvall on Saturday the 6th! That's THIS Saturday! He'll be here at the studio from 10am until 2pm. This years set is a log cabin fireside scene where Santa is hard at work finishing gifts and toys for all the kids and piles of gift-wrapped toys are ready to be loaded into the sleigh.

Portrait Packages will be available starting at $30, and ala carte options will be starting at $20. Remember, this is the super duper Santa pricing, you don't get prices like this any other day of the year!!

I'll also have some really cute designs for Holiday cards available as well if you haven't tackled the annual card yet. I would expect to have cards back and ready for pick up by the 16th, maybe even as early as the 13th. Plenty of time to get them in the mail!

Where's the studio??? We're on the corner of Main and Cherry in the Historic Duvall area in the same building as Quilter's Garden and Duvall Performing Arts. Of course, this is right in the thick of all the construction, but there's plenty of parking in the side parking lot, behind the library, behind our building and off towards the Shell station.

Oh! And don't forget!! If you came by for Halloween and I took your picture, you still have your free 4x6 at the studio that you can pick up!

15705 Main Street
206-947-4686
kaela@serendipitypics.com

Where'd November go?

2008-12-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

Wow, that was a fast month!! Ok, I'm unearthing my desk and getting things squared away. Christmas is almost here and I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving!!

Things to know:

You still have time to have portraits delivered in time for Christmas! But only until the 5th. After that, you have until the 12th to get your order to me, but now there's rush charges to be factored in. You should have been photographed by now, of course. This only works if we're ordering from a previous session.

Holiday cards!!! I love, love, LOVE the new designs I'm working with!! And, yes, I still have time to get your holiday cards back in time for you to mail out! Even better, take advantage of Santa pictures this Saturday and send out holiday cards featuring your adorable children with Santa! (no rush charges for any portrait/card orders with Santa!)

Families, Santa and Halloween Updates!!

2008-10-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Two specials to announce! First, Santa said he could tear himself away from overseeing the elves at the North Pole and come hang out here to see what good girls and boys we have in the area. Although, he'll have to keep working on toys while he's here, hopefully kids won't mind helping Santa make toys. :) This will be on Saturday, December 6th from 10am-2pm. Don't forget I have a knack for picking the one day in December that it will snow for Santa's visit so be prepared. :) We'll be photographing regardless of the weather (unless of course, it's so snowy the reindeer can't see to fly!) and I'll update here on the blog about Santa's journey from the North Pole.

Second, mini sessions for families on November 15th! Perfect small sessions for getting everyone together for gifts for the holidays and greeting cards. Sessions last 30 minutes, 1 outfit, numerous poses to choose from. $400 for the package covers the session, 3 gift portraits (up to an 8x10 size) and 24 greeting cards (choose between postcards style or the ever popular 5x7 folded style; we can send you home with envelopes to address ahead of time!).

Ok, one more thing...for the month of November I'll have holiday themed sessions available. I'm only photographing them until the end of the month and November is already half-booked. Do not wait until the last minute! The theme we did last year that was so popular was "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and it will be back again this year! I also have plenty of other things we can photograph, just depends on what kind of look you would like!

Ok, ONE more thing!! This is it, I promise!! Halloween is right around the corner. Duvall is doing their annual trick-or-treating downtown from 3-6pm on Halloween and there's over 100 businesses in the downtown area participating. We will, of course, be handing out candy like everyone else, but I will also have a Halloween background up to photograph in. Last year, we tried out BYOC (bring your own camera) but that didn't work so well since most people didn't have one with. This year, I'll be taking the pictures and printing a free 4x6 for everyone to come by and pick up starting Monday after Halloween.

Autumn baby!

2008-10-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

My darling Miss Olivia! Isn't she cute? One of my VERY few girls right now, I treasure each and every cute outfit in varying shades of pink. It's like a balm to my girly soul. :) These are some of the favorites from the session we had at the park for the autumn leaves. We had the best weather for it and plenty of leaves to make a pile for her. Thank you, darling girl, you were the best sport about sitting in leaves!!

Three days old!

2008-10-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Meet Mr. Ethan. What a doll he was. Barely three days old and already mugging for the camera. :) His mommy and daddy have been waiting a very long time for this little guy's arrival. Congratulations, guys!!

Autumn is here

2008-10-10T14:09:00.001-07:00

As I sit here typing this, the day is sunny but I'm wrapped up in a long wool coat dreading going back outside. IT'S COLD!!! That means summer is so long, see ya next year and the cold weather is sucking the breath from us in the morning. Brrr....

I'm pretty excited about our autumn leaves sessions over this weekend though. My fingers are crossed that I have as wonderful weather for next weekend as we're forecasted to have tomorrow and Sunday. Hopefully, if you've been thinking about making an appointment for something outside or a family portrait in the studio, you've called or emailed already. The calendar is getting tight and I'm upping my holiday deadlines earlier this year. Last year I was working just too darn close to Christmas.

Thanksgiving will be the cutoff date for BEING photographed for holiday gifts. Orders need to be in by December 6th, that includes holiday cards, new orders, reorders and anything else. Start planning ahead now, rush charges will apply for orders placed after the 8th of December.

Now go out and enjoy the sunshine!!!! :)

Vacation...uhh...I mean WORK highlights!! :)

2008-10-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

Back from my convention in Florida on Captiva Island and working hard again! Trust me, I did manage some downtime and hanging out and soaking up sunshine I while I was there. The weather was beautiful, 85-95 most days and humidity! I felt like I was finally WARM for the first time since last year when I had gone to Florida! I managed a sunrise shoot with an engaged couple (6am came so early that morning...I think I had gone to bed about 2am after working on images) and I took a family of three kids out to the beach and played in the studio spaces with the models. All in all, I came home with plenty of images that I took, some new ideas and plenty of excitement for the fall pictures to come!

Heading out for some sun!!

2008-09-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say I'm heading east to Florida for a week starting tomorrow. :) Heading out for a convention and to soak up some last bits of sunshine and no hurricanes!!! Yay!! I've been checking on the NOAA site for any potential storms and it's looking pretty clear!! Of course, now that I've made that public...

If you need to get ahold of me, or make an appointment, email is the best way to catch me. I'll be checking that regularly throughout the days.

I'll try my best to bring home the sunshine again! :)

It's Raining Men!

2008-09-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, ok, it's not really raining (more like pouring!!!) and they're not men yet (give them 20 years...) but my gosh, I've had just a huge number of baby boys in the past few months! And I keep getting calls from new families with you guessed it, all boys!! Has anybody else noticed that? Lol, I'm wondering if they put something in the water!! ;)

Attitude

2008-09-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Is this picture not the coolest? This senior gal had the cutest outfits and terrific sunglasses! We had a great session last night, she even took a dip in the river with her dress! :) Thanks, you were fantastic with all of my crazy ideas!

mmmm.....Raspberries!!!

2008-07-14T18:28:00.001-07:00

Yup, summer's finally here!! I spent my morning picking raspberries and then I went back in the afternoon for more! There's nothing better than a nice sun-warmed overly ripe raspberry that just falls off when you brush against it. YUM!

Today was the first day of picking at the Harvold Field in Carnation. Only $1.25 per pound! How can you beat that? I know we'll be having raspberry pie, raspberry cobbler, raspberries with our oatmeal, pork with raspberry-chiptole sauce, and raspberry margaritas for quite awhile!

Checked off the list!!

2008-07-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ever make a mental list of things to accomplish in work or life? I'm not talking things to do by the end of the workday or what to pick up at the grocery store, more like very long-term plans and goals. One of my goals were crossed off my mental list this past weekend. :)

It started out as a very normal portrait session in Carnation; extended family out visiting for the summer, I'm there to photograph everyone together. The weather cooperated wonderfully; cloudy, and the rain held off long enough. We got all done and then the fun started! I have always wanted to photograph a family that was brave enough and adventuresome enough that would jump in the water for me! Thank you!!!

Family Fun On-Location

2008-07-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

Oddly enough, I get a lot of questions based on whether or not I travel for sessions. I've always thought it was obvious based on the content of my galleries, on-location price options and locations in the calendars. Apparently not, my fault. Oops! :) Time to share some on-location ONLY and skip my studio work!!

In the past few months, some of the places I've been are the tulip fields in Mt. Vernon, a beach on Camano Island, a home in Spokane for a newborn session, two families in North Bend, and east on Highway 2 for a family who likes the outdoors. Shortly I'll be off to Oregon for beach sessions this summer and of course, I'll be spending all my October weekends outdoors as well. I LOVE the autumn leaves!!!

So, yes, I travel!! Where's the furthest I've gone? There were a few families I photographed in California in the San Francisco area. Weddings I've helped with in Mexico. Sessions I've helped with in Austin,Texas. What I love the most is finding new fun places to photograph and explore.

Thanks for getting me out of the studio!!

Darling Miss Delani

2008-06-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

Isn't that the cutest name? I love it! I have to share a few sneak peeks, this little gal came to see me today because of her awesome uncle who's visiting from California. He called earlier this week to see if I could fit them in while he was visiting. Of course!!! :)

Yep, those are heels!! Have you seen those in shops yet? They're called Heelarious and they're soft little bootie type shoes. Even better, there's a style called Kayla (I'll have to correct them on the proper way to spell that!) that is zebra striped!

Such a cute outfit! I'm so happy Delani managed to hang in there long enough to be photographed in it!

Bear Bottoms

2008-06-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Miss Olivia came to see me last week with her stuffed teddy bears and the CUTEST hat to go with them. Isn't she an adorable little gal? That smile just lights up her face!

It's summer! For a day...

2008-06-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was awfully nice with the warm weather and clear blue skies but what's up with the clouds today? Brrr!!! I took advantage of the pretty weather yesterday and joined my daughter in the pool at her swimming lesson and borrowed a couple other willing subjects. Finally got to play with my Christmas present: a new camera with underwater housing! Totally fun!!!

My Munchkin!

Duvall Days

2008-06-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 7th is Duvall Days!! Come on down to Duvall to see the Parade in the morning starting at 10:30am (we're in the Kiddie Parade with our Dolls of Duvall Portrait Contest Finalists!) and then come by our booth and say hi!! We've got all sorts of fun new things to show off, plus tattoos and balloons for the kids, and Double Dollar Gift Certificates for the grown-ups! This will be the ONLY day of the year when we offer $100 gift certificates at 50% off. What the heck was I thinking??? :) Come take advantage of my insanity.

I hope to see lots of familiar faces regardless of rain or shine!!

Ducks are Back

2008-04-03T20:05:00.001-07:00

That's right, the duckies are here!! We're photographing for a full week with the duckies, any kind of background you want and then on Friday and Saturday we'll have our awesome pond scene available again. There's still some openings for Tuesday-Thursday the 8th, 9th and 10th of April for any scene and some on April 11th and 12th for the pond. There's a gallery of duck images in the family website under Limited Editions. Call or email! 206-947-4686

Meet Noodles!!

2008-04-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is Noodles! Isn't he adorable? He was hysterical to photograph. A lightning ball of energy, yappiness, baby growls and silly jumps, flips, rolls and slip-ups! This pint-sized little pooch exhausted both me and Laurie. It was a challenge to keep him in one spot and hold still for a fraction of a second. And of course, in his sweet little puppy mocking way, he'd pose for a split second then run off and attack a broom. Or me. Or my toes. ouch.

Odd Couple

2008-03-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

Need something to do this weekend? Starting tomorrow night, the production "The Odd Couple" play will be performed at Cedarcrest High School until Sunday by our local Cascade Community Theatre group. Did you get a chance to see their performance of "An Ideal Husband" last year? This one promises to be even better! Yours truly photographed and designed their production poster...you'll have to go to the show to see the full size version. Bet you can't tell which cast member didn't make it to the original photo shoot and had to be photoshopped into the group image. :)

Official Details:
March 28-29, 7:30pm
March 30th, 2:00pm
Showing at Cedarcrest
High School Theater
29000 NE 150th St
Duvall, WA 98019

You can find links to buy advance tickets on their website. Hope to see you there!!

Make way for the Duckies!!

2008-03-12T13:01:00.001-07:00

The duckies are coming!! I think this is my favorite time of year, I LOVE the duckies! :) This year I will have the little quackers for a full week before our pond scene goes up and takes over the camera room. Not so crazy in love with the pond scene? No problems, give us a call or email to set up a time to come in earlier for any background or scene you want with the duckies. We've got all sorts of fun possibilities.

Official dates (I originally had them for March this year, moving them to April now!):

Day with the Ducklings (pond scene)
April 11th and 12th

Week with the Ducklings (name your scene!)
April 4th thru the 10th

Hmm...I am also considering going out to UW for the Cherry Blossoms. There's thirty huge old cherry trees that are covered with white and pink blossoms for a short window of time. They should be blooming the the last weekend of March, the 29th and 30th. Anyone, anyone? Send me an email if you're interested, don't forget to let your friends know as well!

Model Senior Session

2008-03-01T18:45:00.001-08:00

Our latest "Fashionista" Senior session with the lovely Tashina! Enjoy!

New Website is up!

2008-02-15T08:56:00.001-08:00

Ok, it's official, the new site is up and looks great! But don't trust MY judgment on that! :) Go take a look yourself: www.serendipitypics.com . The first major change you'll encounter is the splash page where you can choose to look at Family & Children, check out the newest blog, or go to the entirely new site for high school Seniors. The old site (now strictly for family and children) is still mostly the same (just minus the gallery for seniors) and we'll be updating the galleries with some current work here soon.

Enjoy!! I'm off to cold Idaho this weekend for a workshop with THE Miss Shelby Lane. She's a portrait photographer in New Braunfels, Texas. You can check out her work here. I've always loved her work so when I found out she was going to be in the neighborhood, I had to sign up and go see her! I'm flying though, not going to try and make it over the passes! :)

Bunny Fun!

2008-02-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend we did our marketing images for the Springtime Bunnies which is coming up very soon. The sessions are scheduled for Friday and Saturday March 7th and 8th (Easter is March 23rd!). Our bunny is absolutely wonderful and sweet with the kids. We've already started filling in times on the calendar and we'll add extra dates as we need them.

Taken down a notch by the kid...

2008-02-10T20:02:00.001-08:00

Just had to share the lovely comment made by my daughter this weekend.

Adam (my boyfriend) and I were talking about Morgan doing or not doing as she’s told and he mentions to me, “You know, our next door neighbor says that her son doesn’t listen to her either but when her boyfriend is over, her son listens to him.” (obviously this whole conversation stemmed from me commenting that Morgan doesn’t do as I ask, but when Adam steps in, she pays attention.). So I say, "Well, he’s big and scary, of course her son is going to do as he’s asked!" I jokingly add, “Maybe I just need to be scarier!!” Morgan pipes up, “That’s ok mom, you’re scary enough already.”

Confessions of a Bad Blogger

2008-02-06T14:19:00.001-08:00

Hi!! My name is Kaela and I'm a bad blogger! :) Whew, now that I've got that out of the way, let me tell you why I've been so quiet.

Christmas was insane!! Everyone was so awesome with coming to the new studio and more people found us and we were buried in designing Christmas cards! Did we do your cards? Did you get someone's card who we did design it for them? Ever since we changed to the new card styles, I've never had so many clients come back and tell me how much they loved their cards and how many comments they got back from their friends and family that they sent them to. I'm guessing that we're going to even more swamped this coming year with all the holiday cards for everyone. That said...there'll be a special for you early birds in September for family portraits and holiday cards. Feel free to call the studio and get on that list quick, I guarantee they will all be filled and then when you call in August, we'll have to put you on the waiting list. September 27th...Christmas in September!

I've been working like crazy finishing up the studio. We moved in at the beginning of October and never once really had a chance to organize it! It was just an immediate jump into work! Now, though, we've got more displays up, we're working on changing out the older ones (btw, if you're on our wall and we're going to change it out and you'd like to have the wall portrait, it's yours for 50% off). We've been working hard at setting up new scenes to photograph with and fun walls and props.

We've got two Limited Edition specials coming up in March. The Ducklings are back of course! We'll be photographing the ducklings in the pond on March 21st and 22nd. New this year are Springtime Bunny sessions. These are being scheduled on March 7th and 8th. I've got samples being photographed this weekend, so watch for some seriously cute images of kids with the bunny!

Coming soon online...the website will have a bit of a hiccup...we're going to change things around a bit and do some shuffling to accommodate a new splash page and a whole new website geared just for high school seniors. I'm really excited about this site, it's got a whole different feel to it and I'm pretty excited about the coming summer for seniors.

Pretty soon when you call in to ask a question or book an appointment you might be hearing a couple of different voices on the phone. One of which might be Kathy (aka my mom!). She's been working part-time with me for the past year but at the beginning of January she said adios to her old job and has been working with me full-time. Kathy is in charge of framing your portraits and assembling your orders. Another new voice will be Laurie! A past client (she's got awesome duckling portraits on her wall too!), she has come on board to help us out! Laurie will soon be taking care of setting up appointments, helping you out during sales sessions and being a photoshop wiz in the office.

See!! I've been busy!!! :) Although there's one other thing that Laurie will do and that's crack that whip over me when I've been a bad blogger...

Santa's coming!

2007-11-24T10:07:00.001-08:00

That's right, we've got a GREAT Santa for pictures this year!
Why go to the mall and fight the line that will last at LEAST 45 minutes?
Come out to Duvall and munch cookies and candy canes and
get your picture taken with Santa Claus!

Saturday, December 1st
10am-2pm
No Appointment Needed
at the new studio:
15705 Main Street

Packages start at $25

Happy Autumn!

2007-10-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

The color is here! A sneak peek for a mom of her two cute girls this afternoon out at the park in Duvall. Enjoy! :)

Grand-Opening!

2007-10-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Whew! We did it!! The new studio is up and functional! :) I'm happy to have the house back after a long 5 years. Although now it's bare and echoes a lot.

The grand-opening was lots of fun and it was so great to see so many familiar faces and long-lost kiddos (you know who you are!!) that I haven't seen for awhile! We even had a ribbon-cutting with the biggest pair of scissors Morgan's ever seen! Of course, she had to be in on it! :)

I am absolutely thrilled with how everything has turned out. Please, feel free to come by and check out the new studio and sign the wall. The address is 15705 Main Street in Duvall. Keep in mind I am still "by appointment only" but I love to hang out and chat when I've got a free minute!

2007-10-02T12:34:00.001-07:00

It's Official!!! I'm moving out! To celebrate the regaining of my house (wow, all this empty space now!!) I'm having a Grand-Opening/Open House this Friday, October 5th from 2-8pm for everyone to come check out the new location, sign the wall (you'll have to come see it to see what I'm talking about), get a goodie bag for you, get a goodie bag for the kiddos and take advantage of the specials I'm running for the Grand Open (which you can ONLY get if you come see me!).

Now, where is it? Duvall, of course! :) Right in the old downtown area, in the same building as Miss Rachel's ballet studio (for those of you who know where she is). For everyone else, the address is 15705 Main Street in the Duvall Plaza building. It's a big green building, right across from Bearzabout on Main St. and Cherry St. There's a quilt shop in the front of the building, I'm in the back on the main floor (there's a downstairs area in the building as well). Just look for the big colorful posters in the windows of the front space.

I hope to see you all there!!

Underwater fun!

2007-09-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, just a bit of of crazy underwater fun!! I couldn't resist when a client called me up to ask if I'd be interested in trying this out...ummm....let me think....hmmmm....OF COURSE!!!! :) What fun we had. This little guy could not wait to jump in the water! I even went and rented an underwater camera to see what I could do with that. Unfortunately it was a film camera and now I have to wait for the processing on it! Boy, have I been spoiled rotten by digital!! We took these with my digital camera so I've had a little bit of gratification from seeing some images at least.

Maybe a new line of portraiture to start offering. Hehehe, honey, I need a swimming pool in the backyard! :)

Wild and Crazy in Monroe!

2007-08-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

That's MISS Wild and Crazy to all of you!! We had a great senior session on location in Monroe last night. A friend of the family graciously let us run all over her property using it for props and backgrounds. Did you know kiwis can grow in Washington? They had a huge kiwi plant and it grows into this huge viney monstrosity!! I had no idea! :) And, yes, that's a creek "Trashing the Dress" that we did at the end! SO much fun! They bought a "really ugly dress" (their words!) from a consignment store so we could have fun with it in the really cold water. I don't think my feet warmed up until bedtime! Enjoy the sneak preview!!

Miss Katie's Senior Portraits

2007-08-17T15:59:00.001-07:00

Miss Blue-Eyed Cheerleader! Can your baby blues BE any bluer?? Wow! That blue wall was perfect! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Summer Fun

2007-08-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Fish Faces, bare feet, bubbles, fun outfits, what more could you ask for during summer? And it's almost over...I'm crying inside. I sent Morgan off with a list of school supplies today! Summer takes so long to get here and then all too soon school starts back up and crazy hectic routines take over. Hmm...this sounds like the perfect lead-in for a reminder for last minute summer portraits with Serendipity Photography!! And because I enjoy being twisted...a reminder that I'm booking appointments for the Autumn Leaves sessions on the Sammamish Plateau and at the Seattle arboretum for October 2oth and 27th! :) Now get out there and enjoy summer!

Babies everywhere!

2007-08-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

As always, there's never a shortage of babies at Serendipity Photography! I love those cute little fingers and toes and their darling little expressions! Here's just a few highlights from the past few weeks.

Another local Wedding!

2007-08-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Now, this wedding had the BEST commute ever!!! 2 minutes and I was there! :) Perfectly blue skies, crazy groomsmen (check them out once they figured out that they were in the backgrounds of my pictures!) and an adorable couple!

Where in the world has Serendipity Photography been???

2007-08-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have a confession....I am obviously a better photographer than I am a blogger. Here it's been over a month since my last post and every night before I go to sleep I mentally plan out blog postings that I have good intentions for posting the next day...Yeah, RIGHT, like that's been happenin'!!!!

So! Welcome to the Blog Blitz! :) I'm catching up tonight! I've been buried in work and I've been creating so many great images that I've been wanting to share so here goes!

First off was a fantastic wedding of local Duvall families. We had guests and wedding party members from the Cherry Valley elementary school, the Duvall Fire department and City Hall attending (even someone who used to be at Duvall Thrive gym!). Plus a very adventurous ring-bearer!

Wedded Blissfulness

2007-07-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to receive an email several months ago from someone that I've known for four years saying that she was getting married! Even better, she wanted me to share in her day and photograph her wedding. Of course, I said YES!!! :) Please enjoy some of my favorites from her wedding day on Whidbey Island!

During the First Look:

The vase he sent her a dozen roses on her birthday 9 years ago:

June Baby

2007-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Happy June!! Where'd the sunshine go??

Ah well, I had a little bit of sunshine in my studio the other day. Please welcome Miss A, 6 days old and weighing in at 4 and a half pounds! What a perfect petite little doll she was! She obliged me by sleeping for most of the session and then popping awake at the end to give me the "look". I get the "look" a lot from little babies. It's them saying "What the heck do you think you're doing disturbing my sleep with that bright light!!" Thanks Miss A!! That look is a keeper!

Summer Evening Senior

2007-05-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

Can you believe the wonderful weather we've got? :) It's beautiful!! Just had to share some fun images from a session photographed recently of a soon-to-be Cedarcrest grad and her horse up by Lake Margaret. Enjoy!

A visit to Safeco, Snoqualmie, Lake Joy...OH MY!!

2007-05-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

Some favorites from a few sessions recently, I feel like I've been all over the place in the past week! I've had a family session out at Safeco Field (IN the park and ON the field!!), a wedding at Salish Lodge (a follow-up to the engagement session that was posted earlier on the blog), a one year old, her brother and a cake, and a senior at a local lake here in Duvall. Enjoy the images and enjoy that SUNSHINE!!!!

You all are FAST!!!

2007-05-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, I sent out emails at what, 10:35am for the "Where's Morgan" contest? Almost instantaneously I was bombarded with where Morgan is on the new site! GOOD JOB EVERYONE!!!! Here's the first 5 to correctly tell me where she was:

Lisa North (mommy to the cutie I won the award for!!)
Jayna Danforth
Renee Schaberg
Becky Sandwith
and
Beth Dann

Yay!! Congrats to you all, there'll be a $50 gift certificate in the mail to you soon!

And runner-ups because there were so many of you that were quick quick quick!

Lisa Glover
Nancy Perry
Dionne Miller
Jeanie Shields
and
Robyn Yoder

All of our runner-ups get a $25 gift certificate!

Don't forget there's still some openings for those free sessions for the Back to Basics sessions!

Grand Opening for the New Website!

2007-05-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'm having a grand opening for my new website! And for the first FIVE people to email me and tell me where a picture of my daughter is on the new site will receive a $50 gift certificate towards a future session! It's not quite Where's Waldo since there's at least 5 spots where she's on the site that I can think of.

And for everyone who's thinking that they have no idea what the Squirt looks like, here's a picture of her!
Let me know what you think of the new site! I'm pretty excited by it! :) Happy Hunting!!

It's Back to Basics for the Month of May!

2007-05-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

For a Grand Opening celebration of the new website, I'm offering a special Limited Edition of Back to Basics for the month of May and FREE sessions for it if you book fast!

Photographed on an all white background with minimal props, these images are timeless yet modern. White shirts, blue jeans, crazy colors, cute dresses, or skin; any of these options can create beautiful portraits!

The first TEN people to sign up for it receive a free session (worth $45). These sessions have to be booked and photographed in the month of May to qualify for the Limited Edition pricing (which is less than regular portrait pricing and has smaller Collections that start at $100) and are only available Mondays thru Fridays.

This is a great session to have the baby photographed, those last minute seniors that need some pictures, update the kids' old portraits or to plan early for the family portrait for the holidays! (Wow, did I just type the "H" word? Yikes!!)

Vancouver BC

2007-04-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been at least 15 years since I had been north of the border (somehow it's always the heat of south of the border that calls me!) so Adam and I went away for the weekend and drove up to Vancouver BC. We stayed in a B&B in West Vancouver and had a great time wandering the city. We visited Granville Island (picked up some GREAT Serrano ham and wine there) and found our way to the Vandusen Gardens. Very pretty garden, with some great possibilities for a future location for a Portrait Safari.

On our way home we took the roundabout way which included a 90 minute detour out east to visit another garden. Stopped along the way for lunch and ended up finding a tulip field out in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no one around so of course we had to go take pictures! :)

The Grandparents came!

2007-04-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

How sweet are these? Grandma and Grandpa came with to this family portrait session last week to have portraits done with their adorable grandkids.

Mr. "N" and I always have a great time playing peek and he loves to make me work for one of his adorable grins. And look at Miss "M", she's hanging on every word from Grandpa! So sweet!

I love photographing the grandparents with their grandkids, we have so much fun with their special activities. I really think it's very important to catch those moments before the kids grow up or life takes away the opportunity that we have right now. Don't have any ideas for portraits? That's what I'm for!! :) Paper airplanes, cookie-baking, ice cream cones on a hot summer day, playing guitars, fishing, reading stories, anything that says this is Grandparents time with the grandkids.

Snoqualmie Falls & Downtown

2007-04-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

Just a quick share from an engagement session done this past weekend. Aren't they adorable together? "J" & "W" are getting married soon at the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge and thought that the Falls would be the perfect spot for some portraits. And sure enough, a stunning backdrop as always! :) We also stopped over at the trains in downtown Snoqualmie for some wandering. Such a fun place to photograph at! Perfect for not just couples, but families and kids and seniors as well!

Enjoy!!

I can add "Award-Winning" to my resume!

2007-04-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

There was a PPW (Professional Photographers of Washington) convention down in Ocean Shores over the weekend and guess what! Yours truly walked off with an award for the Best Portrait of a Child! And there wasn't just photographers from Washington to beat...there were folks from Oregon and California as well!

I also merited with two portraits. One was the Best Portrait and the other was a cute little ballerina that was rather attached to some pearls (don't worry, they get washed after every baby!). What does meriting mean? It means I know what I'm doing!! Lol. It's a ranking system designed by Professional Photographers of America to judge on twelve criteria of a portrait. Things like lighting, composition, impact and story-telling are just a couple of things the judges consider.

The next opportunity for judging isn't until the national convention in January in Tampa. I can't wait to go!!

Best Portrait of a Child & Merited Print: Playing Footsie

My other Merited Print: Bella Ballerina

Accessories Days!

2007-03-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, Mother's Day is coming up on May 13th...have you thought about what you want to hint to dad for your Mother's Day gift? :) What about the proud grandma's? For the first time, I'm dedicating three days of Photography time to ACCESSORIES!!! I've designated April 11, 12 and 13 as Accessories Days.

These days will feature "Mini-Sessions" where we will plan and photograph the type of image you want for a piece of jewelry or handbag. Wednesday the 11th will feature a Black background and all images will be in BW for a classic presentation. Thursday the 12th will be all for color! Plan bright outfits, funky hats, flowers, props, anything that is bright! Friday the 13th will hopefully be outdoor images (cross your fingers it doesn't rain). Plan for greenery, trees, flowers, fences, and grass. These sessions are only $25 and plan to make your decision for which jewelry or handbag you'd like so we can order right away.

The Jewelry: I discovered a great new line of jewelry at the convention I went to in January and I have plenty of samples from her line. She's got chunky bracelets, charms bracelets, oodles of options for necklaces, keychains, rings, cell phone charms and bookmarks. And why not plan for Father's Day as well? There are golf keychains, money clips, and cufflinks for dads! Everything is sterling silver and believe me when I say they are stunning!!

The Handbags! Designed and created by the very talented Gina Alexander crew. These handbags are amazing. I've been using a Nicole Baguette for almost 3 years now and it's still in fabulous shape and I'm constantly getting compliments on it. They've got small, medium, big and must-carry-everything-with-just-in-case size. We can use one image for both sides, design a collage for it or put two different images/collages to accommodate plenty of images. Your choice!

Ok, you've been fully informed! And don't forget that you can use images from previous sessions! You are definitely not limited in what you can do! Now call or email me and give me an idea of what you'd like to do! :) 206-947-4686/kaela@serendipitypics.com

My Newest Display!

2007-03-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is Peanut Butter and Lili in the Snoqualmie Ridge area, a FANTASTIC baby and kid's store. Jacque (that would be her trying to ignore me and not be in the picture) does a great job stocking her store with all sorts of neat items, pretty dresses, cute boy's outfits and great presents for baby showers (in fact, she's wrapping two for a client in that picture as well as ignoring me! lol, she's very multi-talented!). Jacque has two children of her own, one boy, one girl and she's quite good at helping to pick out items and clothes if you're at a loss for what to get. Her store is at 7722 Center Blvd. SE in Snoqualmie and her phone number is 425-396-1717. her website is: www.peanutbutterandlili.com. Go by and say "Hi!", check out my newest display of artwork on her wall and if you bring me one of her business cards, I'll put a credit of $25 on your account! But ONLY until April 30th!

And a very special THANK YOU to Robyn Y. for suggesting I go by PB & L to check it out! She'll be getting a special surprise as a thank you!

Ducks, Ducks, Ducks EVERYWHERE!!

2007-03-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was our Duckling weekend and WOW, it was popular! I had only meant this to be Saturday only, but with call after call I had to open up times on Sunday! I'm very glad I did too, we got lots of familiar faces through as well as lots of brand new clients to Serendipity Photography. Welcome!! I was very happy to meet you and your little ones and I had so much fun photographing them with our ducklings! I can't resist and have to show off some teasers before the official viewing sessions start, enjoy them!