Baby Nora- Newborn Session

Kylie, one of my oldest and closest friends, just had a baby! She and her fiance Adam had the FREAKING CUTEST lil' girl named Nora. I had such a great time capturing her for half of a day, hanging out with Kylie, her mom, Kris, and my mom, Karen. Kylie's mom and my mom are really close friends too.  Kylie has a real knack for decorating and has always been insanely creative. The nursery they created for Nora is soooo good. The neon GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS sign is one of the coolest decorative touches I've ever seen in any room (love me some neon)!

I was a bit worried for our session because Nora was only a week old and I don't have any experience with babies. I was so pleased, though. Nora cried for MAYBE 2 minutes the entire 4 hours I was taking these portraits. She is such a well behaved, sweet, smiley, angel of a baby!

Kylie & Adam, I'm so glad you created such a beautiful little human. I can tell she is going to be such a badass, strong girl! I can't wait to see you walk and learn to talk.

WPPI 2017- Wedding & Portrait Photographer Convention

I won an expo pass from Rangefinder Magazine to the WPPI 2017 Expo & Convention in Vegas a few weeks back! It was my first time going to a photography convention! It was a fun opportunity to see the newest photography technology, equipment and products as well as learning from different instructors in their areas of expertise! I took classes from Sue Bryce, Rob Greer, Matthew 'The Body' Kemmetmueller & Melissa Jill. I purchased a new Speedlite modifier from MagMod to help with fill flash for weddings in the Summer! :)

It was super fun going from 4 inches of snow in Seattle to 60 degress in Vegas! My bff joined me on the 2nd day which was awesome. We had super delish Thai food at Lotus of Sian & Irish food at Nine Fine Irishmen and gluten free breakfast (orange blossom French toast) at the Four Seasons. Not pictured: Eating at Canaletto Ristorante at the Venetian having a pasta trio and cocktail by myself, seeing Frank Marino's Diva's Drag Show (also solo) and yeah, I foolishly didn't take any class pictures either! Whoopsy.

Overall, it was really cool to see everything in one place but it was definitely overwhelming trying to fit everything into 2 days of the convention with over 200 vendors and tons of speakers. Next time I'll plan to be there earlier in the day as the expo closes by 4pm.

Vancouver KiZouk Festival Weekend

Whoo hoo! My first time technically leaving the country in 10 years last weekend! (sidenote: what the heck, how did I let that happen?!) Ate soooo much good food and had so much fun.

Went up to Vancouver to perform on our Brazilian Zouk dance team lead by my BF Rob & his partner Cat. It was super duper nerve wracking to perform in front of a ton of professionals and other dancers! We practiced for months on the choreo and we did pretty freaking great!

It's been 2 years officially since I started taking Brazilian Zouk classes. I have never been a performer and always admired people who could express themselves through the art of dance. It's been super rewarding and fun (and also REALLY hard and frustrating), but I'm finally getting confident with myself, my body and my dancing! I've also met sooo many great people through dancing.

I'm super grateful to my boyfriend Robert who is an amazing and patient instructor. He's let me tag a long on sooo many classes and performances the past 3 or 4 years. I love spending time with him and seeing him shine as a teacher and performer! Thanks for not kicking me out when I sucked & got mega frustrated, babe! hahah. He's teaching Zouk all over the world and I'm so proud of him! Thanks to Cat for helping me out so much this year as an instructor and being so positive and helpful! Kelsey, thanks so much for the private 2 weeks ago, it helped me so much!

Besides the super fun classes and social dancing that went on until 3 or 4 am every night, we had a crazy party in our hotel room which was a blast. I wish I had photos of everything but I tend to put my camera away at parties and events so I can really enjoy myself. #photographerproblems

I had the best time planning our meals and scouting for fun spots! Eating out and exploring are basically my favorite things besides photography (and puppies). If you are gluten free like me, I highly recommend the places pictured below:

  • Nuba (Delicious and healthy Lebanese food)
  • Bao Down (Chinese and Filipino style Bao and other food and drinks. They have GF fried adobo chicken!)
  • Tacofino (amazing drinks and awesome tacos. Their neon logo sign and mid century modern decor are also #goals)
  • Mosquito (cocktail and dessert bar, yummy chocolates and macarons)
  • Cartems Donuterie (offers awesome GF donuts, go early)
  • Lemonade Bakery (GF HEAVEN! OMG! Seattle needs to step their game up HARD)
  • Long's Noodle House (amazing and cheap Chinese/Taiwanese food. The Xiao Long Bao were so good)
  • Laduree (more macarons. Expensive but good)
  • SURA (freaking delicious Korean food. They had Army Base Stew which I had been meaning to try, soooo spicy & hearty)

Also, The Steam Clock is fun & also hit up the Nike Outlet by the airport! DEALS!

xo - Haley