Brian and Jen | Maternity Session | Bainbridge Island, Washington

My cousin Brian and his beautiful wife are expecting their baby girl in just a couple weeks! I love seeing our big family growing and welcoming the new spouses and babies is so wonderful and makes me so happy. As I've lived away from Seattle for the past seven years or so and am not able to see my family as much as I would like, I treasure the time I get to spend with them even more.

We had a ton of fun exploring this park on the island that I had never been to in all my years living on Bainbridge and then enjoyed the beautiful June-uary day at Fay Bainbridge State Park for the tail end of our shoot. I really cannot get enough of the Northwest especially when the weather is downright perfect. 

Brian and Jen, you are going to be amazing parents and I cannot wait to snuggle your little girl when she arrives! Yay!

2014: So much beauty and so much gratitude

Is it crazy that it is 2015 now or what? Time is flying. I am so behind on blog posts from 2014 so keep your eyes peeled for a bunch of posts soon! 

This past week with time off for the holidays and a little time at home free of travel I've had a lot of time to reflect on this past year. I actually laughed a bit when Facebook posted "Shannon's year" a highlight of my posts from the year and it was a collection a lot like the one I'm about to post below. It was a collection of pictures that I had taken of friends, couples, pups, baby bumps, and tiny fingers and toes. My year was filled with your year and memories and I loved it. I love being able to freeze beautiful moments of time for people to look back on and remember. There is so much joy in the remembering. 

““A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.” ”

— C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet

I am so absolutely grateful for all the people that trusted me to document some of their most important moments. It's been an incredible year full of so much beauty  and wonder and I'm so stinkin' grateful. It fills me up!

Speaking of gratitude, one of my goals for this next year is to focus on gratitude. I find myself sliding down a slippery slope when my perspective shifts away from gratitude and towards comparison and self-criticism and other negative spaces. It's no good and I want to keep myself in the healthy lens of gratitude this year. Even in the darkest of moments, there is always always always something to be grateful for.

So thank you friends for journeying with me this year and encouraging me. You give me so much to be grateful for. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't wait to see what 2015 holds.

Here are some of my favorite images from 2014. Enjoy!

With love,

Shannon

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

— Melody Beattie

If you've made it this far, thank you for reliving this amazing year of photography with me. Happy New Year to you friends, cheers to another amazing year, 2015 is going to be good. I just know it. 

Dan and Mel Wedding, Howell Territorial Park, Sauvie Island

I've been looking forward to this wedding for a long time. I did an engagement session for Dan and Mel back in the winter and just knew how fun their wedding day would be. Also, our friend Karyn was the officiant so you know the ceremony was lovely and meaningful and full of beautifully crafted and true words.

These two got married at Howell Territorial Park on Sauvie Island just outside of Portland, OR. It was the most beautiful day. It was romantic and rugged and fun. There were orchards, and lawn games and quilts on the ground, Rainier beer, and lace and dahlias and a super fun community of family and friends to celebrate. Dan and Mel are such a complement to each other and I loved being there to witness and capture their wedding day. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Paul & Sarah Wedding, McMenamins Edgefield

I know Sarah from our social work graduate program at PSU. I was thrilled when she asked me to shoot their Portland wedding at the Edgefield McMenamins. Sarah and Paul are both social workers in Portland and share a passion for helping people. They have such a sweet an easy presence and they're just plain fun to be around. 

I love that they chose to have their wedding at Edgefield. It's one of those Portland icons with old restored charm and beautiful grounds, including a vineyard, a distillery, a golf course, and beautiful gardens. It was a treat to shoot there. It was a beautiful day filled with so much laughter and dancing and toasting and sweet delicious pie. Also, check out those beautiful flowers by Espe Floral.

Bethany & Will Wedding, Breckenridge CO

Friends, I'm so excited to share this beautiful wedding with you. Last month, I traveled to the majestic Colorado mountains to capture the wedding of my dear friends, Will and Bethany. The location was unreal, they got married on top of a mountain with their family and friends as witness. Their ceremony and vows had me and a whole lot of other people misty-eyed and tear-filled with joy for their love and relationship. Standing up there and vowing to love the other through the times when it's easy and especially so in the times when it is anything but easy, I was reminded why I love shooting weddings so much. I get to witness that commitment and capture it so they can and those around them can remember, the day, the people, and all the feelings that arise. It's a beautiful thing and I count myself lucky and very grateful that I get to do that for friends and 'to be' friends. I'm blessed to be a witness.

The whole experience was a gift. Thank you Will and Bethany for inviting me in.