Sierra - Senior Portraits - Golden Gardens, Seattle

Ahhhh, summer, how I'll miss thee. Featured below is my last senior portrait session of the summer! Bracing myself for the coming sessions the next 2 months with more Fall / Seattle weather!

Sierra was such a sweetheart. Very soft spoken and kind. She spent a lot of her summer at Stanford doing a special summer learning program, so you know this girl is SUPER smart and beautiful! Sidenote: her eyebrows are amaaaaaaziiing, though! MY GOODNESS!

Sierra kept her looks very casual and chill which suited her natural beauty and the beachy vibe of Golden Gardens perfectly. She and her mom had never been there so it was a treat to show her my favorite areas around the park/beach.

I wish her the absolute best luck at college next year, you're gonna kill it, Sierra!

Rose Garden Styled Senior Fashion Shoot

I had SUCH a great time creating and capturing this styled senior / fashion shoot with a fantastic team of ladies!

Marellen was our amazing wardrobe stylist, Alisha worked her magic with hair styling, Vina did the beautiful makeup artistry and our gorgeous model was Natalie Z. with TCM Models.

When we arrived at the Woodland Park Rose Garden in the first look (the white and floral print cold shoulder ruffle maxi dress), I jokingly said out loud to the team "It's just like Alice in Wonderland here! Maybe we'll even see a rabbit!". Not even a minute later, we see a mom and 2 kids with what I thought was a little puppy nearby. Upon closer inspection, we find out it's actually their pet white rabbit, Walter on a leash! OMG. WHAAAAT. We all freaked out over his cuteness and after asking the owners if we could use him for a couple shots, we proceeded to squeal with delight over our luck while Natalie held him as her co-model. Too good.

The rose garden is SO gorgeous. It feels like you're in the English countryside and the white fountain area is Italian ffeeling. One of my favorite places in Seattle for sure. After shooting near the topiaries and pond and the main patch of roses, we did the second look was very red centric and involved a great romper from Revolve. I love the patch of roses we found that perfectly matched the lip color and romper.

Planning a large styled shoot is something I tend to shy away from, but I'm so glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone in order to do this! Everything turned out so amazing and better than we all anticipated. I love the serendipitous quality of it all. It really challenged me & helped me be more confident in planning and orchestrating a big shoot with a team. I look forward to doing more shoots like this after the busy Senior portrait season is over!

Portland Weekend Trip

A few weekends back, I took a trip down to Portland with my boyfriend and some of my dancer friends. We attended some Brazilian Lamba Zouk classes and late night dance socials, but during the day, I had a fabulous time exploring the city on foot by myself. I had meals with Robert at a ton of amazing places around town, too. As per usual, I try to eat dairy and gluten free (90% of the time) 😉

Featured, in order:

+ Appethaizing (homey Thai spot)

+ Ebb & Bean (frozen yogurt with vegan options)

+ Tasty & Sons (amazing brunch. We had the shakshuka & also the steak and grits skillet but I forgot to take a photo because I was starving)

+ Powell's Books (so busy but fun)

+ Tanner Spring Park (gorgeous garden with water lily pond, fish, and a cute brook)

+ Tea Bar (amazing natural bubble tea spot, I had the vanilla rose bubble tea. SO DELICIOUS! I adore the interior, we need something like this in Seattle!)

+ Revelry (Seattle is home to their sister restaurant, Revel. I actually preferred Revelry more! Korean fusion at it's finest. Loved the live DJ)

+ Teote (gluten free Latin food featuring arepas (gluten free corn cakes))

+ Dapper & Wise (great coffee spot with gorgeous interior)

Also found this cool outdoor food truck rally. Not sure of the official name but it had about 20 different food trucks. Loved the concept and outdoor seating. Another idea we need in Seattle!