{Seattle Session: Michelle & Cliff + 3}

Okay, so the title....what can I say.  I don't watch Jon & Kate + 8 but I'm seeing them all over the media these days so I couldn't resist this title.  LOL.  Yep, another Seattle session :)  Look at this beautiful family!  I've known Michelle for 7 years now.  We met at our birthing class when we were both ready to pop.  Now her family has expanded to three adorable  children. This session was taken in her huge backyard - it's pure exploration and fun with the pond, a playground, trees, arbors, and cozy places to sit.  Michelle really wanted pictures of her youngest since we'd previously had sessions with her two girls.  We packed a lot into our 20 minute session :)

{Designer Spotlight: Miss Priss Tutu's!}

This blog post is a bit overdue.  I photographed some gorgeous tutu's for Miss Priss Tutu's a little over a month ago and alas, I'm just now posting them on my blog.  When these were delivered and we opened the box, Briella's eyes got so big and as she squealed, "It's a princess in a box!  It's three princesses in a box!"  She loved dancing around in these beautiful tutu's during our session. We found an abandoned home up high on a hill - I loved the stone steps and the rock around the place.  Oh and we also found a cool abandoned light green school bus to photograph the second tutu - it was 114 when we took these so we were quick, kept the car on with the air conditioner blasting.  :)

  The first tutu is called the 'Long Tutu' - I love it, you can choose any color combination you want with these!  The second is called the  'Double Tutu', so fluffy and girly.  And the third is called the 'Halloween Tutu' - very fitting with the black, orange and purple.  Check out  her many other designs at www.missprisstutus.com.

{Still Alive - just surrounded by moving boxes}

Okay so it's not that bad...the boxes are starting to get unpacked and our house is starting to look more like a house.  For those who don't know, we just moved from Gold Canyon, AZ  (where we were temporarily while our house was being built) to Mesa!  I feel like this last 6 months have been so crazy with all of our moves.  I'm hoping for some normalcy now ;-)  And time for editing, posting and clients.  I haven't officially opened for business yet due to our moves, but I'm hoping by late fall or winter to start.  Thanks for your inquires - I'll post more soon.

Below are a couple pictures of Tyler and Brielle in front of our house in their  Pajamas  getting ready to head to an evening at Tyler's school of Bedtime Stories.  It's the coolest thing - the principal comes in his pj's and reads a story to the kids, then we can head to several classrooms throughout the school and listen to more bedtime stories.  At the end they serve milk and cookies and have a drawing where kids can win books.  Tyler won a book!!  It was such a fun night!!

{4th of July - late post}

Oh my, with all of the designer shoots I've been doing,  the kids being home with summer break and getting ready for my trip to Seattle - I've been late in posting our July Festivities.  I promised several people they would be able to find the pictures on my blog since they weren't on Facebook.   Anyway, what a fun weekend!!  First, I never really believed that Arizona had forests and 'real' mountains.  I was in heaven!  The nights were cool and crisp and the days were warm and sunny.  The kids had a blast playing with all the kids that were there.  Here's just a taste of our weekend :)

 Tyler and Briella, love how they hug all the time.  Hope that never changes.

The Gang - all of the kids who shared in the festive 4th of July celebration.

Friends

Sweet Madison

Tyler flying high as he jumps off the swing  {shot in low-light so excuse the grain}.

Chloe laughing so hard at her brother's face-plant on the swing.  Madison, to the rescue :)

Thankfully, Dylan was fine - no scratches at all ;-)

Larry going for a ride!

Disclaimer needed for this photo.  This was our hayride from Charlie's cabin to Larry's cabin and I'm not completely clear on what this get-up was all about, I think it may have been a dare and Rhonda drew the short straw.  Anyway, the adults were in hysterics and the kids were just confused.  The costume came off after 2 minutes and all was 'normal' again. LOL. 

The real hayride.

Simply content on the hayride.

Starving after the hayride, it was time to roast hotdogs and have a picnic.  :)

Sweet moment - Jason and Jean.

This was the craziest homemade entertainment I'd ever seen.  This was a potato launcher and it had amazing power-  kids and adults were in aw.  LOL

Jean's parents, in from China, got in on the action too.  Love Lilly's expression - priceless!

Tender kisses for Grandpa. 

Tyler and Briella after the hoola-hoop and horse-shoe contest. 

At the end of our weekend Briella agreed to let the grasshopper go that she caught on the first day.  She was heart-broken but agreed.  This jar went with her everywhere (the parade, breakfast, smorse roast, everywhere).  This was one of 7 she caught during our time in the mountains.  After opening the jar the grasshopper didn't  want to jump out right away, so she said excitedly 'See, he loves me, he wants to stay with me'.  Tugged at my heart but we explained how much the grasshopper needed to be with it's family.  She mournfully place the jar under the tree and waved good-bye as we drove off. 

{Designer Spotlight: EarthGroovs}

 I can't believe it's June and it's not blazing hot here in AZ!  In May it was sweltering (I was dying)  and now that June is half way over it's weird to think that this was one of Arizona's 'hot summer months'.   I know I'm going to eat these words the next two months though lol.   Anyway, it's been amazing weather.  We've enjoyed dinners outside, roasting marshmallows in the fire pit, going for late evening strolls while the kids go searching  for bunnies, quail,  lizards, you name it.  The desert is like a huge museum to them.  They are so curious about every cactus, every flower, every rock formation and every animal they see.  It's really fun but I  look like a mom who doesn't know much because I'm in awe too unable to explain the cactus, the rock formations,  and the various desert flowers.  Oh well, we're having fun exploring.  I feel like a kid again.  This summer has been so fun!!  We've been doing all the fun things I remember doing during the summer as a child.  Summers to me are lots of swimming, going for bike rides, making lemonade stands, and being carefree from day to day.  That's how our summer has been - we are spontaneous and each day is a fun new adventure.  So I'm glad that I have this time with my kids right now.   I'm savoring each and every moment!!

Photo sessions have been fun and spontaneous too, we take pictures, we stop and look at something cool on the ground or a bunny hopping by, then we shoot a few more pictures, then we discover more.  It's made Briella excited to go on a session -we get to explore!  During this session Briella wore some of EarthGroovs very cute and funky tops.  The talent designer, Kerry, has been featured on here before and there is more to come, she's been busy!  She offers earth-friendly & retro prints for children.  She tries  to use sustainable, natural materials whenever possible like organics & cottons in order to reduce her carbon footprint.  A very Earth friendly and environmentally conscience  boutique :)  Check out more of her styles on etsy.

{some of this, and some of that...}

As the kids sit quietly munching on pears and watching 'Maggie and the Ferocious Beast' - I can quickly blog.   Ideally I prefer minimal time in front of the TV but sometimes I need to rely on my friends at 'Noggin' to help me out so I can get a few things done ;-)

So life has been moving fast lately which is good but makes it hard to blog and respond to e-mails.  So I'm going to work to make more time for both.  Since I haven't been able to respond to inquires regarding my actions, future workshops, mentoring and other photography related questions, I thought I could answer them here since many of the questions were the same.

Mentoring:  I would like to offer mentoring at some point.  It would be one-on-one and involve going out on a shoot where we can work on the technical aspect of photography, I would also incorporate other aspects of the business.  Details will be firmed up as I get closer to offering this.

Actions:  This is still up for debate with me.  There are so many actions out there and the thought of adding more seems a little redundant to me.  Hmmmm....

Workshops:  Right now I don't have plans for a workshop.  Possibly at some point but no current plans at this time.

Other questions I'm getting...

*'What camera do you photograph with and do you use fixed focal length or zoom lenses? ' Well, I'm a Canon girl and have had success with the 5D.   I use a variety of lenses - macro, wide-angle (both prime) but I'm obsessed to my zoom lenses.  Love the flexibility the zoom provides.  

* 'Do you use a fill-flash or a reflector?'  I currently don't use either.  With children's photography it's not practical to run around with a reflector and I find it intimidates the child and I can't get a natural look from my subject.   And I've never been fond of how a fill-flash looks.  I prefer getting the exposure spot on with appropriate natural light.  

*'Do you travel for sessions?'  I will travel for sessions but plans need to be made about 6 to 8 months out since my calendar fills up quickly and travel requires early planning, weather considerations, etc.  I ask for a deposit and travel expenses to be paid.  This works best when there are 5 to 7 families wanting pictures done, then the travel  and lodging can be split.

I know I'm forgetting to include some questions and others I've responded to directly.  If you have any others  or any I've left out, please feel free to e-mail me at kara@karamayphotography.com   Thanks !!

On a personal note:  {Some of you on Facebook have already seen these. Sorry for the repeat :) }  My kids finished swim lessons (I'm thinking about having them continue but we'll take a break for a bit before we delve into more)!!  We spent every morning at Aqua-Tots  with fabulous instructors and the kids looked forward to it each day.  Here's some pictures of their last day!  They were so excited!

Tyler below perfecting his backstroke.  He's such a little fish! ;-)

Briella below swimming to her instructor all by herself!!  Big goal met!!  And huge safety relief for mommy :)

{Designer Spotlight: ZozoBugBaby}

Oh it's been so fun photographing in my new surroundings.  I'm trying to learn the light here since it's so different from South Carolina and Seattle, but it's gorgeous light.   So recently, Julie from ZozoBug Baby contacted me to take some pictures of a few of her new designs, isn't the outfit below super cute?!  One of my favorite color combinations!  Julie is an amazing designer with such a fun variety of  design and fabric styles - I love them all! 

It was 103 degrees when we took these so we made this mini-session one of the quickest ever (7 minutes to be exact) -wow!  As you can see in the 3rd picture below she was ready to go inside and not too happy with me.  But she's a trooper and asked to do it again the following day - monsoons prevented that however. ;-)   Anyway, I have many more designer spotlights to come, just trying to time them with the weather and our summer activities, can be tricky but we have a bit of a system now.   Thanks for stopping by, I'll be posting more soon. 

{bit of the South}

I've been such a bad bad blogger.  I have so much to blog, so little time to do it (not to mention, wordpress went wacko on me and prevented me from posting for a while).  Wow, life has been so crazy busy since moving here.  I'm not taking any clients here (except for commercial clients) until the fall, so I thought I'd have time to ease into life here but it seems that's not going to happen.  It's all good fun but I find myself going to bed when the kids do since I'm so tired by the end of a very busy and active day.  I think this summer is going to be even crazier...hate to admit. 

I've been editing a few sessions from my last few days in South Carolina. It's fun editing them, but it makes me want to start photographing children now... then I step outside and remember why I decided to wait until fall to resume my sessions.  It's been unseasonably hot here, in the low 100's. The only time I can photograph kids is at ~5  in the morning...since the temp is nice that early (a cool 75 degrees).  My kids are the only ones that I dare bring out that early {giggle, giggle}.    And I will be doing that soon since they get up early enough to give me hugs and tons of kisses before my morning runs.

Anyway, I have a bunch more to blog about but I have to run out and take my kids to their swimming lessons.  I'll be blogging again soon... stay tuned :)  Thanks!

{the world around me}

Ahhh....finally getting time to make a post.  We're are still getting settled here in Arizona in our temporary house until our new house is built (hopefully October/November - just before the holidays!).  Boxes surround me still since I'm hesitant to open too much knowing that we'll just have to pack everything back up and move again.   I think I'll be wondering where things are for months to come - lol.   This area is beautiful!  So much nature!  Each morning I wake up before the sun comes up and head out on my run/walk (it's a bit of both since I'm not much of a true runner) and discover new things.  Honestly I never knew the desert had so much wildlife...so far I've seen - bunnies, carpenter bees, bumble bees, quail, dove, lizards, coyotes, bobcats, a snake (yes, a snake!), bunnies, woodpeckers, bunnies, grasshoppers (Briella has caught dozens already), and did I mention bunnies?  It's incredible how much I see each morning.

And since I've received many e-mails asking to post images of the desert and the surroundings here - I decided one morning to grab my camera after my run and capture what I see each day.

Also, the Botanical Garden is featuring an amazing display of Chihuly glass.  I had to make that one of the first things on my list to see - I studied Chihuly in college and I'm a big fan of his work.  So below you'll see some images of his work in the desert.

More to come!  Thanks :)

Near our house is this post...hmmm... 'decisions'

Close-up of a Prickly Pear Cactus. 

Surroundings next to our house at sunrise.

Chihuly beauty!

{Designer Spotlight: Eliza Kate Designs}

A couple of months ago Krystin, from Eliza Kate Designs, contacted me to photograph some of her fresh, fun, new Spring line.   Even though my life is crazy right now I couldn't resist.  There are 5 pieces to this collection - ruffly capris, halter top, an apron skirt, an apron dress and a sun dress.  I love them all!  I really couldn't pick a favorite.  Anyway, here's a sample of her Spring collection.  She's still working on her website but you can also visit her blog.   Oh and this adorable hat is one of Nuximade's recent designs.  I love it!  

On a side note:  Briella has really enjoyed our 'photo sessions' and asks to do them almost daily now.  Although, it's ironic that she doesn't want to listen to me at all during our sessions.  It's almost comical how much she ignores me and my requests.  I'll delve more into that in my next post otherwise this could be long and I have a lot of packing to do.  But thankfully, somehow we make these sessions work and have been able to get through one like this in 30 minutes.  Yah!!  :)