Another Surprise in Alaska

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to participate in and photograph another surprise in Alaska. This time, it was our friends, Blake and Sarah’s surprise engagement!! If you’re familiar with Alaska, or had the chance to see our maternity photo session recently, you probably recognize this beautiful spot. It may be a bit touristy, but it’s the first place they hung out together, so there couldn’t be a more perfect location for their proposal. And come on, I could take photos there every day of the week and never tire of the incredible 360 views. To keep Sarah preoccupied for the day, Blake sent us for a much needed day at the spa. *AHmazing may I add* When I dropped her back off at home, there was a note for her to get ready because a limo would be picking her up soon. They were going to swing by and pick up Blake from a friend’s house, so they could head to Girdwood, Alaska for a late lunch. Sarah had no idea what was going on, but just thought Blake was being sweet after she’d surprised him with a quick birthday getaway to Vancouver the weekend before. Little did she know that he was nervously waiting up atop a mountain for her. She started to get a bit suspicious when the limo driver handed her an iPad with a video montage from all her friends and family. Once she arrived, the driver directed her up the walkway to find Blake. I was tucked inconspicuously behind several tourists and a wall of large rocks with my long camera lens. The weather could not have been more perfect, and luckily there wasn’t too many folks up there at that time. He grabbed her hand and led her over towards the mountains. You’re seeing these photos, so you can imagine her answer. ;-) If not, then you can see her shock and excitement in the photos below. Even though his back was to me when he went down on one knee, I pulled out some photog ninja skills to discretely make my way across the open area on top of the mountain without drawing any attention to myself. What an amazing backdrop to capture such a special moment!! In the photos below, you can see when Sarah finally notices that I was there. Haha. She didn’t expect a proposal anytime soon, and she certainly didn’t expect that I would be in on it, since we were just together. Everything worked out perfectly for them, and then of course we had to take some proper engagement photos! Beautiful, Stunning, Picturesque. I was so excited to be a part of “Project Blindside” and couldn’t be more excited for them. What an exciting way to start a new adventure together!

Oops…. BUSTED. Haha!!

Savvy Images - Surprise Proposal - Destination Photographer

Our Maternity Session Surprise

Maternity, Pets

A little over six weeks ago, Sonja Stafford of Dolce Vita Photo Boutique did our maternity session and took some beautiful photos of my growing family (and growing belly…haha). Little did we know that the night after that session, our feisty little lady would start trying to make her way into this world. Let’s talk about some crazy timing!! She made that happen super early on the morning of March 29th, and our plans to move to Texas the following week quickly changed! There will be much more about her in a future blog post including her much anticipated newborn photos, but now, I want to focus on our maternity session with Sonja. We did our maternity session a bit earlier than I normally would have, due to the timing of our move down to Texas. Because our baby girl was “Made in Alaska”, it was important to me that our maternity photos were done here also. With all of the major moving chaos, each of our crazy schedules and the wonky Alaskan weather, I am SO glad that we were able to schedule them when we did. It was also really important to me to work with a photographer that I could connect well with on this session, as I hoped to have a great recommendation for all my past clients. In my opinion, being able to connect well with your photographer is a HUGE factor to the success of your photo session. You want to make sure they bring out the best in you, and make you feel as comfortable as possible in front of the camera (especially for me spending most my time behind the lens). Let’s just say that from the beginning is was clear that we would connect incredibly well. I wish we had started hanging out together much sooner! Though our photography styles are a bit different, I feel like we see photography in the same light, and aspire to offer the same experience to each of our clients. It’s special to share a passion like that with someone! Sonja was wonderful about brain storming session ideas and locations. We even met up a few times to hang and check out possible locations. My husband and I really wanted to capture as much of the incredible beauty of Alaska in our maternity session. I’m very pleased that even though the wind was INSANELY STRONG everywhere we went, Sonja was able to make that happen for us. AND, she even made me feel fabulous all through out the session. Any expecting woman knows THAT is extremely important when you’re carrying extra weight around the middle! ;-) We included our first (fur) baby in the session, worked with the wind as best we could, and made our way towards/down our favorite road in all of Alaska. Sonja even managed to wrap up our session by capturing a few photos of us standing smack dab in the middle of the Seward Highway! SO for all my many amazing clients that are looking for someone new to capture beautiful moments, be sure to contact Sonja with Dolce Vita Photo Boutique. She just opened up a large, yet charming studio space in the historic arts district of downtown Anchorage last week, and I’m excited to see her do great things in the near future. I like to think that I have pretty high standards for the entire photography experience, and it’s great to be able to recommend her with confidence!

I expect all of you to keep in touch, and continue posting beautiful photos, so be sure to contact Sonja now to say hello and start discussing your next photo session!

Anchorage Alaska Reindeer Run Savvy Images

Travel Tuesday • Running of the Reindeer

Travel

Like last week’s Travel Tuesday, this week is about an experience, as opposed to an actual place. It’s about the annual Running of the Reindeer that takes place in Anchorage! Haha… Yes, such a thing actually exists! This annual event is part of the Fur Rondy Festival, and is clearly a wacky spin off of the much more dangerous event that takes place annually in Pamplona, Spain. After participating in the running of the bulls a couple years ago, my husband couldn’t resist the opportunity to also run with the REINDEER, while living here in Alaska. Thousands of people (including me) lined the streets to watch the chaos. I can’t say that I’ve ever witnessed anything quiet like it..lol. They started the run off with some fun live Music by Alaska’s infamous Hobo Jim. At one end of the street downtown, they gather all the runners and several male reindeers, and they get them to run by having one hot-momma of a female reindeer at the other end of the street. Not sure about that, but I guess it works!? Haha. You can tell from the photos below, that the street conditions aren’t exactly ideal for running, but they made the most of all the many truckloads of snow that they brought in for the day. This event makes for some GREAT people watching because some people really go ALL out with the crazy costumes. Most of them made no sense at all, but hey, neither does running with reindeer! There are four different ‘herds’ that run: guys, girl, groups, non-AK residents. I was really surprised how many people we came across that actually came to Alaska just to run with the Reindeer. Good for them for having and conquering super fun bucket list items! What’s life anyway, if you can’t have some random fun every once in a while?!

Anchorage Alaska Iditarod Featured - Savvy Images

Travel Tuesday • The Iditarod

Travel

This month I had the opportunity to take photos behind the scenes at the ceremonial start of the 2015 Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Know as ‘The Last Great Race on Earth’, and most popular sporting event in Alaska, it’s an annual long distance sled dog race that takes place here in Alaska in early March. Originating in the 70’s and linked to the early traditions of the state, normally it would start in Willow and end in Nome, around two weeks and almost a thousand miles later. But (shocking) this year they actually had to move the start about 300 miles north, to Fairbanks. The race actually started on March 7th at 10am, but the Ceremonial Start took place on the 5th. Thousands of people line the streets of downtown Anchorage to see the mushing teams parade by, as they prepare for the big race. The city actually had to bring in over 500 truck loads of snow to fill the streets, so they could even have this event this year! SO, for all my readers down in the Lower 48 who don’t know much about any of this (I didn’t before moving to Alaska), right now there are almost SEVENTY mushers (people guiding sleds) completely powered by up to 16 small sled dogs, mushing their way north thru whatever conditions they come across. Encountering possible blizzards white-outs, frozen water, rough mountain passes, and even subzero temperatures/windchill are all common. Can we say INTENSE!? Every year, my husbands company sponsors the (in my opinion) best possible Musher candidate out there! DeeDee Jonrowe (Yes, a WOMAN). A sixty one year old breast cancer survivor AND sixteen time top ten Iditarod finisher (who has 33 races under her belt)!! I have no words for that. Being behind the scenes to see the dogs and DeeDee getting geared up was such an incredible experience. As you can tell in the photos, it was pure organized chaos. She works so closely and thoroughly with all the dogs on her team, that she knows them all by name, as well as ALL the little intricate details about EACH of their personalities. They may be smaller than I would have thought, but they have huge personalities! That’s A LOT of love to give to all those cute dogs, and it was clear to me that she definitely had more than enough to go around. Plus, each dog on the team has a handler that takes great care of them. These dogs are incredibly high energy working dogs, born and bred to pull sleds. It was crazy to see how chill they were, UNTIL they were connected to the sled towline. Their excitement was BEYOND me. They were SO eager to get to racing. Barking and jumping up and down with crazy intense looks on their faces. The energy is unexplainable, and not easy to put into words. Traveling almost a thousand miles by sled dog, sounds unrealistic, but there are check points located along the route, where the mushers and their dogs stop to eat and sleep. DeeDee is currently in 32nd place, but has crazy determination, and MANY folks all over Alaska routing for her! The current leader is Dallas Seavey, last year’s Iditarod winner, a third generation Musher, and the youngest person to ever compete in and win the Iditarod (at 25!). He also holds the record for fastest time, of 8 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes, and 19 seconds. Unbelievable! I can’t wait to see how The Last Great Race turns out this year!

Savvy Images Family Maternity Photo Featured

Fun Fall Maternity Photos • Anchorage Photographer

Families, Kids, Maternity

These fall maternity photos were VERY entertaining to capture, thanks to this cute soon-to-be BIG sister! I figured out pretty quickly, that she is a great little story teller. Little Miss also had a few funny jokes to tell us. It’s always nice to have someone help to make SURE that mom and dad are wearing their best smiles for their photo session. ;-) Of course they did great! Dad was super patient with all of us, and mom had that gorgeous Prego-Glow. We chose a location in Anchorage that offered a good amount of variety. As a result, we had the opportunity to adventure around looking for various great photo spots. That was great for their photo session, AND moving around helped us to keep warm! Double whammy!! The fall colors were so pretty, and there were SO many picturesque locations. Thank GOODness, because it really meant a lot to this beautiful Momma to capture her cute belly, her cute family, and the beautiful Alaska fall all together for her Maternity photo session. Now I’m really eager to get her album designed, so she can show off her Maternity session!

If you happen to like these fall maternity photos, and you’re also expecting, contact Savvy Images below to chat about the maternity photo session of your dreams!

A Stunning Fireweed Maternity Session

Maternity

Anyone who lives in Alaska knows that once fireweed takes over, it doesn’t stick around long. And they also know that as soon as that happens, summer is justtt about over. Sad, but true. I’m a strong believer that one must seize the moment. I absolutely could not let the opportunity to take stunning photos in the fireweed quickly pass me by! This maternity session was my personal project for the month of August. Or you could say, my passion! I HAD to make this session happen, and everything about it makes my heart go pitter patter on SO many levels!! It was perfect timing for this beautiful momma-to-be to have maternity photos taken, and after some spur of the moment resourceful researching, we stumbled on THIS incredible location. When we arrived, I quickly scoped out the area, crafted a little fireweed head piece, and she absolutely ROCKED the session! Her entire second outfit was styled by the lovely ladies at Butterfly (maternity) Boutique on Dimond in Anchorage, and complimented the gorgeous fireweed perfectly. We didn’t have any issues with Mosquitos this time, but there was a random bumble bee fluttering around in a few of the photos! The sun tried to peer out behind the clouds and put a kink in our perfectly overcast afternoon, but regardless, I couldn’t be more pleased. Hopefully, you guys will see these images on the walls and website of Butterfly Boutique, and in this gorgeous momma’s home! This session confirms my NEED for a monthly personal photo project. I will seize the moment, pursue passion, and push my creative limits. In fact, I’m already brainstorming/debating possibilities for the next few months. Whatever I decide on, I can assure you there will be an overload of cuteness! If you would like to be a part of the exclusive email list that gets casting call information on any of my upcoming projects, be sure to check out THIS blog post from a couple months ago when you get a moment. You never know, you or someone you know, could be the perfect addition to complete one of the next Savvy Images photo projects! If not, that’s cool. Just be sure to do whatever makes your heart sing! ;-)

Mrs. Alaska 2014

Events

Back in May Gwynnedolynne James passed her crown down to the lovely April Wallen at the 2014 Mrs Alaska America Pageant. Just as both of these young ladies are, Alaska is GORGEOUS. Therefore, I insisted on incorporated the great outdoors into Gwynnedolynne’s farewell photo session, and absolutely had similar big ideas to do the same for April’s Queen Photo Session. Of course we had to get the traditional head shots and studio portraits for the coming Mrs America Nationals, but I was most excited about the photos that would follow those. After brainstorming about her session, we were on the same page that we needed an incredibly dramatic Alaskan backdrop in our future. Ohhhhh the amazinges that came was such a pleasant blessing! We discovered JUST that. Adding blue sparkly sequins and the gorgeous Mrs to the stunning scene was just an overload of all things amazing!! Thank goodness April was just as passionate as I was about her photos, because she was a trooperrrr. Seriously, you should see how many mosquitos that I had to photoshop off her FACE and out of the photos. Then there was the fact that she had to awkwardly balance on a log to get several of the images that we did. That limited the variety of our poses a bit, but I think everything turned out just smashing! At one point, you’d never even know that she was wearing sneakers with her lovely gown. ;-) We also had to be super careful that she didn’t move around too much and snag it on something. It was definitely an interesting session, and I’m SO glad that no wild animals decided to join us by the riverside! One man did happened to hike by during the shoot, and was thoroughly confused. LOL, it’s not everyday that you see a beauty queen hanging out dressed to the nines deep in the forest. I’m certainly glad that she did! As snazzy as April was, she was even more so down to earth. We had such a great time, and I’m so glad that I got a chance to know her a little better. This weekend she will be heading to Tuscon, Arizona to represent Alaska in the annual Mrs America Pageant. Everyone please be sure to keep our beautiful Mrs Alaska America in your thoughts as she does! I have no doubt that she will make us VERY proud!!

Savvy Images Fun Children Photos Featured

A Super Fun Photo Walk…

Kids

These two cuties were due for updated photos, and I was beyond pumped when their sweet momma wanted to schedule a photo session… I mean, photo WALK for them. Because they’re such a cute and energetic age, I knew their session needed to be fun filled to keep their attention, and hopefully get lots of great photos! Therefore, we decided that instead of doing a regular old photo session, that we would just go on a “photo walk”. (wink, wink) Let me just tell you how FUN it was, and how entertaining these two tiny bits are!! We walked, ran, hopped, picked flowers, explored the trees, played games, had story time in a cool teepee made of branches (yes, the same one from my Indian inspired winter Maternity Session), and even finished up with playtime at an awesome playground!! It’s one thing to take a beautiful photo, but at this age, capturing their large and in charge little personalities is most important in my eyes. To have the opportunity to capture them playing together was just priceless, and it was a huge added bonus that the location was just gorgeous. If I were a mom, those are the moments that I would want to locked up in my memory bank until the end of time. Seeing how they look at each other just melts my heart. SO flippin’ sweet!! When they get a little older and start doing that super fun brother/sister fighting thing, mom will have to break out the album from this session to remind them how much they really do love each other. ;-)

Savvy Images One Year Cake Smash Photos Featured

A Colorful Cake Smash

Babies

According to his mom, this cute little ham woke up from his nap with his grumpy-pants on, the day we did his colorful cake smash session. We know…being a one year old is tough stuff, but someone has to do it! He really made us work for the precious photos, it was absolutely worth it. We were able to capture his long little eyelashes, baby blue eyes, two munchkin teeth, and even his cute little chubster rolls! Between the cake and lots of silliness (thanks to mom and dad), we were able to pry some precious smiles out of him. It actually worked out perfectly, because all his dramatic little personalities came out in a matter of no time. The emotional progression in his photos is the best!! Curious, mesmerized, thrilled, content, over it, then finally PISSED. All the while, capturing his cute little details and expressions! He was a baby on a mission… after sampling the cake, he went for the candle, and after he’d had enough, he knocked the whole cake over. Such a dramatic little mister. He showed us! ;-) “Mom.. Dad.. No more of this cake smash madness. Puleaseee.” After seeing his big little crocodile tears, we decided it was time to clean up! Mom came to the rescue, and all was good with the world. These photos will be the perfect addition to the decor at his graduation party several years down the road.

Savvy Images Family Vacation Photos Featured

Alaska Vacation Photos!!

Families, Travel

Are you visiting Anchorage in the near future? And would you love beautiful vacation photos while in Alaska!? That’s what happened with these lovely ladies, and how that ended up happening is a pretty cool story! This past February when I went to Vegas for WPPI (a HUGE annual photography convention), I sat next to Allison in one of the morning classes. It was bright and early after being in Vegas for a couple days, and as perky as ever, she immediately said hello and we started chatting! Allison is a wedding photographer in Dallas, and I was so excited to meet another Texan photographer. After the standard “networking” introduction, we got to talking, and quickly figured out that we had something (besides photography and being from Texas) in common… Anchorage, ALASKA. Every year, Allison and her mother go on a big vacation together. How random and fun is that!? But that’s not it… by the end of the week in Vegas, we also realized that Allison’s sister-in-law is actually one of my old girl friends from college! This is such a crazy, random, and small world that we live in! SO this summer she and her mom came to Anchorage for a few days before exploring more of Alaska by car, ATV, plane, train, boat, raft, kayak, AND cruise ship. THAT is an adventurous vacation!! As a photographer who often vacations, I absolutely understand the value of getting a really GOOD vacation photo. You could ask the random passing stranger, and hope they get you in focus and actually capture the scenery of whatever cool place your visiting. Or there is the infamous self timer photo, which may or may not be straight, composed well, or (again) in focus. And now there is even a “selfie pole” that you can use to TRY and capture everything! However possible, if you take enough, surely one of your vacation photos may come out great. But when you’re trying to enjoy a once in a lifetime vacation, do you really want to cross your fingers and HOPE for a few good photos?! If we get more than ONE really good “framer” while on vacation, I’d say that’s a success…lol. So you can imagine that I was BEYOND ecstatic when I realized that Allison was dead set on scheduling an actual photo session in Anchorage with Savvy Images as soon as she got to Alaska! We had a little lunch with a view, we took a long drive south, we explored several areas along my favorite Alaskan coastal drive (The Seward Highway), we had a little dinner, then finished up with a gorgeous portrait session at Beluga Point. Allison even got to put her toes in the ocean! It was one heck of a day to kick off their Alaskan Adventure. I’m SO glad that I had the opportunity to make sure they started their trip out with LOTS of great vacation photos! Taking photos for another photographer is pretty darn cool, because they understand all the fun things that need to be considered for a great photo session. Though the wind was a bit crazy (as it tends to be in Alaska), we captured some beautiful images of the two of them. I had to share a handful of them below. Seriously, it’s amazing to me that they get to make so many great memories together! What a duo… They’re fun, they’re gorgeous, and they were a blast to photograph. Even though they’d strongly disagree, they really do know how to work the wind AND the camera!

If you’re planning to visit Anchorage, contact Savvy Images about coordinating a once in a life time session to capture some amazing vacation photos of you and your family while you there!

Savvy Images Pregnancy Announcement Photos Featured

These cute twins have EXCITING news!

Babies, Families

I’ve had the pleasure of photographing these cute twins when they were in their momma’s belly a little over two years ago back in Austin, and again for their newborn photo session shortly after that. And I’m BEYOND grateful that I am able to occasionally travel back to Texas to continue photographing old & faithful clients, because I had the opportunity to photo their cute little family AGAIN in The Woodlands last month for their second birthdays! Their photo session followed a nice Texas downpour, and was appropriately filled with lots of chaos. We took some traditional family photos, some cute two year milestone photos, and even finished up with a super cute Micky & Minnie Mouse themed cake smash! They were not a fan of walking on the wet ground, but quickly changed their focus to the important stuff…CAKE. They were so sweet to even feed each other! They didn’t get too messy, but just in case, both sets of grandparents were there on hand to help out. What THEY didn’t know, was that they were actually there to get some REALLY exciting news from Dylan and Drake! You can tell from the photos below, that the twins are clearly not excited about the big news! >>insert temper tantrum here<< LOL, their surprised grandparents certainly were, and I have no doubt the twins warm up to the idea eventually. Mom was a tad bit frustrated that they didn’t cooperate and sharing the exciting news as she had planned (just as I would have been also), but it’s clear that everything worked out great!! Their change of plans included MAJOR cuteness!! They definitely did a great job communicated the news AND exactly how they felt about having to share mom and dad’s attention with a new little addition soon. ;-P I can’t wait to photograph them again once their growing family becomes a cute fam of FIVE. Can you imagine how funny it will be to pull out their beautiful session album to show these photos to them in twenty years!? Absolutely.Pricesless.Perfection.

Are you currently holding on to a big secret, and looking for a creative and fun way to make your big announcement?! Contact Savvy Images right away!!

Miss Alaska America Pageant

Events

In January, I had the honor of photographing the Miss Alaska America Junior High, High School, and Collegiate Pageant here in Anchorage. It’s definitely something a little different from my cute bellies, and little newborn booties, but I embraced the opportunity! I think it’s great to challenge yourself with something different every once in a while, so you don’t grow the least bit complacent. It keeps you on your toes! Not only did I meet lots of amazing new people by doing so, but I learned quiet a few new things (mostly about pageant life). ;-) Seeing the girls strut their thing up on that stage was so much fun! Let me tell you all about some SASS!! lol. This pageant has been hosted by Rita Corwin for YEARS, but this year she passed her duties over to Sarah Smith. After intermission, the team even put an emotional slide show together for her of photos taken while Director. Rita and Sarah (with lots of great help) put on a fantastic show that even included dancers from Studio 49, AND a DJ during the runway portion of the show. It was very up beat and entertaining. Last year’s Queens had the opportunity to say goodbye, and then the new Queens were announced! Definitely suspenseful stuff. I’ve waited until now to post this blog, because these beautiful Queens are heading to Florida today for Miss America NATIONALS. The pageant will take place on July 5th and 6th, and you can even watch it live at www.pageantvision.com. Please keep the three lovely ladies below in your thoughts as they represent Alaska!!

Savvy Images • Austin Professional Photographer

Austin Newborn & Family Photographer

alaska

Another Surprise in Alaska

Our Maternity Session Surprise

I expect all of you to keep in touch, and continue posting beautiful photos, so be sure to contact Sonja now to say hello and start discussing your next photo session!

Travel Tuesday • Running of the Reindeer

Travel Tuesday • The Iditarod

Fun Fall Maternity Photos • Anchorage Photographer

If you happen to like these fall maternity photos, and you’re also expecting, contact Savvy Images below to chat about the maternity photo session of your dreams!

A Stunning Fireweed Maternity Session

Mrs. Alaska 2014

A Super Fun Photo Walk…

A Colorful Cake Smash

Alaska Vacation Photos!!

If you’re planning to visit Anchorage, contact Savvy Images about coordinating a once in a life time session to capture some amazing vacation photos of you and your family while you there!

These cute twins have EXCITING news!

Are you currently holding on to a big secret, and looking for a creative and fun way to make your big announcement?! Contact Savvy Images right away!!

Miss Alaska America Pageant