Ali and I recently celebrated five years of marriage by getting back into our wedding clothes and doing a wetplate collodium portrait (three second exposure!) with Giles Clement.

My friend Gwyneth just relocated to Portland (yay!) and we asked her to help out with my hair (in addition to being a very talented photographer, she went to beauty school). Isn’t the hair fabulous and period? We also asked her to do some portraits of us in the home before we went out for our session with Giles.

photo: Gwyneth Colleen

Gwyn had the idea to recreate one of our favorite photos she took on our wedding day in 2008. The one on the left is her 2008 version in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The right is her 2013 version in Portland’s Chinatown. HOT TUB TIME MACHINE*

photo: Gwyneth Colleen

* note: I have never seen that movie but my husband and I like to shout that to one another every once in awhile

Wondering why I’ve been so quiet? Becoming a mother changed my life! This first year has been truly challenging and all-consuming of my energy and creativity. At the moment I’m on sabbatical, but still photographing in the home. I am also collaborating with a few great people throughout this year – the musicians of Resonance Ensemble whose music continues to bring tears to my eyes with every program – plus the brilliant minds behind Portland Made to photograph makers and shakers in Portland. FUN!

photo: Samantha Shorey

Rachel’s casual interview with Janna Lopez, the editor of Portland Family Magazine about boudoir and why every woman should consider it.

Also: found a great quote for those of us mamas dealing with post-pregnancy bellies:

“… the scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That’s it. It cannot measure beauty, talent, purpose, life force, possibility, strength, or love. Don’t give the scale more power than it has earned. Take note of the number, then get off the scale and live your life. You are beautiful!”

― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Terah shares her birth story on the Portland MamaBaby Center blog, using images from her portrait sessions in our studio.

A lovely portrait from a new mama boudoir session in the studio… March 2012.

I’ll be out on personal leave from March 15 – May 1. Although I am not accepting portrait commissions during that time, feel free to contact me to set up a shoot in May. I won’t be on email regularly but I will be checking in every week or so.

PS: you might want to get on my email list (upper right hand corner here) if you’re interested in future announcements, offers, and special projects.

photo: husband (7 months)

A couple of months ago I did a studio shoot for Bridgit Danner, who wanted real photos of real mammas for her health program website. It’s a nice change from all the coaching programs that use generic stock photography, don’t you think? I really like the way she cycles different photos in the upper right hand corner.  I enjoyed working with all of the families who came in for the shoot; it was a crazy day at the studio.

Check out Joyful Mammas. The site features my portraits of local Portland Oregon families:

If you click on the image above, you’ll go to the page with a signup for her teleclass scheduled this week. On Thursday, March 1 at 12:00pm PST, Bridgit will be giving a free talk about Diet & Fertility. Since being pregnant, everyone always talks to me about fertility stuff so I thought I would put this out there for any readers around the country (or world!) who might be interested in more information about how diet can affect your ability to make babies.

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Joyful Mammas is a comprehensive natural health program designed to achieve pregnancy. We carefully assess your medical history and health habits, and design an individualized plan for you and your partner. We then give you tools and support, and monitor progress to adjust as needed until baby is well established!

Love those kids!