The Birth Experience by Lyndsay Stradtner

Have you heard of birth photography?


Most photographers know of this...and not only love but completely connect with it. ME...my heart beats fast at the thought of photographing a birth.

I desperately wanted Easton's birth photographed. However, since I was a C-section, the limit to those allowed in the operating room was met and a photographer didn't fit into this equation. {sniff sniff} Although, this past summer I was blessed to be able to photograph my twin sister's last birth and created some of my favorite images.

My friend out of Austin, TX...Lyndsay Stradtner, is an experienced birth photographer. Lyndsay has decided to share her wealth of knowledge with fellow photographers eager to learn more about this avenue of photography.

If you are wanting to learn more about the craft of birth photography, click
HERE. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed with all she offers and the loads you'll learn.

Seattle Part 3

A bit more favorites from my trip to Camano Island. There was so much there to photograph, limiting myself was hard.

The amount of wood that washed up on the shore was incredible. But more incredible to think of the strength that brought the wood to shore.
During our last walk on the beach, we watched this barrel wash up the shore. Shortly after it was beached, one of the residents rushed in as though they feared someone would snatch it up on them. Then telling us that it would be good to wash out a boat. Hmmm, interesting...
A random message on the wall.
Totally laughed when we saw this man's collection...and it's title. I'm thinking if you've lost a shoe, it could be here.
Before we left the island, we took a little more time to get maternity pictures of our friend Jen.

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On a personal note:

Yesterday I came down with the nasty stomach flu...eew, totally nasty! I was miserable and in full fetal position in bed...needless to say, my husband rushed in as super dad and saved the day. But even in my pain, my girls kept me laughing as they kept telling me when "something" was going to happen to call them for help.

My girls were a little taken back as I'm rarely, rarely sick and they saw me in a whole different light. What stinks the most is when a mom's sick, there are NO sick days! Which is never fun!

Due of this recent event, lots of today's happenings were cancelled...including a senior shoot. Now as I'm feeling better, I'm anxious for my shoot on Sunday. Until then...

For now, I'm incredibly proud of my friends Jodie and Kim for starting THIS...look through it and celebrate beauty in some incredibly real woman.

I'm still here, just hanging out!

These past weeks have been completely invigorating for me. While I attempted to take December off, we all know that didn't really happen. But this January, I've really been able to sit back, kick up my feet and totally absorb the slower paced life. AND....I like it. Actually, love it.

But ... a girl must work...and this girl has student loans that nag at me each month. So, in a matter of days, my camera will be back in action with a family I'm completely fond of and haven't seen in over a year. Not to mention the chance to photograph my two favorite senior boys. This weekend has big plans for me.

For now....just a bit of what I'm happily soaking up.

There is nothing better then a lazy day in pj's.

Everything has a reason

As my girl's 4th birthday is literally around the corner, the days leading up are always filled with remembering what led up to their arrival.

Before I get down to the nitty gritty, a trip down memory lane has been looooong overdue!

I'm a firm believer in two things...

1. people come into our lives for a reason

2. how we live comes back to us...life is truly a full circle.

15 years ago, I met a woman that forever changed my life, Allison. Then, she was just a couple years younger than I am today and I was fresh out of high school.

I'm pretty sure when we met, neither of us realized we would still be in eachother's lives 15 years later. But, here we are...and I'm lucky to have her be a part of my arsenal of friends that contribute to me being the person I am today.

After high school, I grew up as her being my "informal" employer as I worked in her home. From there, she became my life coach, friend, confidant, and now parenting counselor.

I still remember the days after working, that I would sometimes spend hours talking with her and absorbing every. single. word. that she spoke. And her probably praying I would make it to graduation with sanity.

After college and marriage, Allison was there for each step I took when fighting infertility.

And, was the one to capture my expanding belly when I was expecting my twins.

All pictures taken by Allison Tyler Jones

I was 25 weeks pregnant here and had no idea how big I was about to be...actually abnormally large with a belly button ready to burst off.

Here is the grown up girl that led me to meet Allison...the only person missing here is her brother. I've been proud to watch both grow up these past 15 years.

Two weeks after my twins arrived, Allison was there to photograph my family we prayed long and hard for.

I'm sure Allison wanted to fall flat on her face when she walked in as I literally live in a dungeon where light is minimal. But, she made it work....with the help of removing my window screens.

My girls pretty much screamed the majority of this session. So, parents, when your newborns cry throughout your newborn session...do know it's not unusual.

This picture melts my heart...me with my baby Camryn. She was so tiny. She has always been a mover and impatient with everything. The only thing that would calm her cries was me holding her...often found walking up and down on my tippy toes between 2 and 6pm. Aside from her impatience, she is full of innocence, happiness and sees everyone as a good person.

And Cashlyn...my dramarama girl. As a newborn, she could call in any animal within miles with her cry...but was so dainty, sweet and quiet. She was the easily content baby.

There are countless newborn portraits out there that many covet, for me...these are my all time favorites. These are my babies...cries and all. These pictures I have hung on my walls.

And back to everything thing has reason...

while I think there are many reasons Allison and I met, I'm thankful for each one. And thankful that she has been there for each step in the last 15 years of my life. Also eternally grateful for all her parenting advice she has never failed me on these past 4 years.

Catching up!

I think this has been the second to longest pass of time between blog posts. All I can say is I've been happily busy with my family and an uber fun shoot with a great group of girls.

Getting together to have fun shooting with fellow photographers is always energizing...especially when it's followed with photobooth fun and lots of gabbing about everything photography.

Here are just a few sweet camera grabs of a starting out model. And...I couldn't believe she is only 15. Is she gorgeous or what! It also helps that she was very comfy in front of the camera. Which, you almost have to be when you have a group of photographers that resemble paparazzi with clicks going off in unison.

The best part of the shoot was when this truck drove up and the owner happily shared it with us.

And, the great group of girls with one guy.

Next door to the studio we met at, there was a concert happening. And, it was pretty amazing. I couldn't resist playing with high ISO and capturing the stage lights on the band.
Then getting up close and personal on the singer.
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On a personal note:

The start of this year has been incredible with the extra time I've been spending at home as I took this month off. It's given me time to think about what I want from this new year...A.K.A. resolutions. Like most, I'm not one for goals. Aside from the goal of surviving, I've had several goals reeling through my mind for this year. But, I think the only goal I want is to be happy with my family....and doing all that needs to be done to be in that place.

The first thing I thought of in helping reach my goal, is...cutting back on work. I know I've written this before, but having a business is EXTREMELY time consuming. Shooting and editing is just a small fraction of owning a photography business....the sad truth.

In just the past hour, a favorite blog of mine was updated and filled with just what I needed to read. This blog is by the fabulous Angela Weedon...to read this post click HERE. Her post was actually inspired by this post. Both posts hit home. This past year, I've had my ups and downs...but I learned from each motion.

These posts are just one more reason I love following blogs and learning from those I read. I recently read the Sloan Photographers blog and learned about the Happiness Project. After reading the first quote, I was hooked and knew this was something I had to be a part of. This weeks resolution is to Tackle a Nagging Task. Now, how weird is it that it took reading this line to force me to complete my data entry.

Check...it's done! I guess motivators show up in weird places.

For now...this year I'm personally committing to not take on more than what my family can spare me for. I plan to keep this one. And, I know if I don't...I'll have friendly reminders from my photographer friends telling me it's not looking like I'm cutting back! Ah...I love my friends!

Baby models!

Yesterday I met with two very cute babies to model a few hats for the talented Cricket Creations. And they definitely didn't disappoint!

Sweet baby I is my cousin's baby...and cute as can be. She is also one very happy baby. Started giggling and smiling as soon as I saw her. My cousin shared that she was just getting ready to go down for her nap as she woke up later than normal... insert the big black camera box. She was sharing her sweetness and then was very curious about what I was about.

Isn't curiousity adorable?


What made this little photo model date even better, is having a super cute baby boy and his sweet sister ... getting some camera love.
Meet baby O....and he is crawling...which made our brief time together very active and exciting. But didn't get in the way of sweet pictures in a couple hats.
While this little mini shoot was for the babies...I couldn't resist snagging bits of sibling love.

Seattle Part 2

Meet Jen Fox... soon to welcome baby dub! And, if I might add an uber talented wedding photographer.

I just popped on my google reader and found my friend Jen Fox updated her blog ... I literally squealed. She posted a picture of the three of us and a shot of us in action during the engagement shoot...courtesty of Mags!

Meet Maggie McDonald. A crazy, good crazy, talented everything photographer!
And...meet Jessica Nichols. Super talented photogrpaher who is taking a break to embrace and celebrate her family! SO respect her for this!
Finally...me. In front of a super cute home...possibly one day mine for photoshoots! There is no detail like a camper held together by a robe for a photo shoot!

And, a super trippy tree!
I {heart} my chucks! They're my travel shoes. Therefore, must be photographed where ever I go...kinda like the traveling gnome.

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I'm getting together the final details for my mini sessions in March and April. Email me at tamiproffitt@yahoo.com if you're interested on getting first crack at times available. If enough interest, possibly considering adding one more day.

Seattle Part 1: I'm back and refreshed!

I have no idea where to begin from my trip to Seattle these past 6 days.

I'll start with me driving to the airport...driving there with guilt that I was leaving my babies and husband. But, then as the whining and what-nots transpired... the first thing on my mind was I am SO ready for a vacation.

After I was dropped off, I seriously felt like a drug addict constantly looking left and right with the nagging feeling like I needed to micro manage something. I kept checking my camera and computer bag to be sure I didn't forget them somewhere...I tend to be spacy and forget things.

Then after I settled down and popped open my laptop as I waited, I saw a principal I worked under as an instructional assistant over 10 years ago. My vacation then begin...my computer was closed and the catching up began. The most surreal moment was when I uttered the words...I'm a photographer. While the words came out easily, I paused thinking that my life took a turn. And took a turn in a direction I very proud of and humbled by.

After I arrived in Seattle, I realized....I had no idea what was happening next. Why? Well, because we planned this trip over two months ago but I left the planning up to the girls I was visiting. I was totally vacant in the planning stages. What's funny, is we didn't even know a few weeks ago where we were going. It was only in the last couple weeks did we find our destinations and try to map what we wanted from our time together. And it felt good...well, except for the part when I was with baggage in hand and thought...um, who's picking us up.

Seattle is by far my favorite city to visit. I grew up visiting my mother's family there and have always secretly wanted to live there.

It's a city where rainboots and umbrellas are part of a wardrobe...too die for boots I might add! A place where they only know ground to be wet as the sun rarely comes out. And they have two different kinds of rain...basically categorized on how it comes out of the sky....either misty or in drops. I learned misty rain is the horrible kind. But for this Arizona girl, rain is beautiful no matter how it falls.

We spent our first couple nights in the city and then off to the cutest, sweetest and most detailed cottage tucked away on a private beach in Camano Island. For the entire 6 days there, we didn't watch television once. We actually didn't even open our computers for a few days.

We were just there. Soaking up girl talk. Rubbing my sweet friend's prego belly. Laughing. Loads of eating. And me...getting a little talking to about finding a balance with my blogging addiction.

While I have piles of pictures to share...I'll start with our home away from home. After my friend searched and searched and searched...sharing the never ending links to beach rentals...we knew this cottage was IT when we saw it.
The details throughout the cottage were endless.

The cottage was literally 15 feet from the beach. If you look in the reflection of the windows, you can see how close we truly were.
My room that I snuggled with a friend in.

One thing about me is I am not a fan of being in front of the camera. But, when talking with my friends, I've come to learn how important it is as a photographer to be on the other end of the camera and to be photographed.

Being on the beach in an area that I'm in love with was the perfect starting place.
photo courtesy of Jessica Nichols

Years ago when I started this photography venture, I was found photographing the little things that I loved. Back then, I didn't really photograph people, but more details in landscape. My walls were once filled with pictures of wood, trees, leaves and other fun oddities.

When I arrived in Seattle, I knew I wanted to spend time falling back in love with landscape. And love I did find. It was photographing the little details in landscape that rejuvenated me. Not giggly moments...but wood, beaches, and trees.

I've fallen back in love with landscape. Now, by no means am I Ansel Adams but these are what make me smile and I'm wanting to see more of these on my walls.

We had an engagement shoot while I was there. For me, this is very foreign...so I left it up to my uber talented wedding photographer friends. But I did manage to snatch a few. Which was good for me...as I can be a camera hog and get lost in a shoot. It was actually relaxing to sit back and watch the talented ones do their thing.

What I want to remember most, is waking up to small waves breaking on the shore, noisy sea gulls and the random pieces of wood that would wash up.

While my mind is swirling with what I want to do with my pictures...I do know this one will be a great canvas in my bathroom.

One of my days in Seattle was spent traveling on a ferry to visit my family in Port Orchard. My plans drastically changed from when I was hoping to see them. When I changed my days, I was hoping to see just my Uncle, Aunt and cousin...but when I arrived I literally was overwhelmed with emotions to find my Aunt had made a large dinner and had her table set for all her darlings to welcome me. AND, this was all done in a matter of a few hours.

My Washington family is amazing and I always love each minute with them. They are real. They ground me. I love them. And I always leave wishing I had more time with them. When my cousin dropped me off at the ferry back to Seattle, I couldn't help but get teary as I wished I could be with them more.

The final highlight to my trip was reconnecting with a girl, Julie, I went to high school with that started reading my blog from another blog. Actually, Julie and I taught special education together on separate campuses within the same school district. I was thinking we might not get together but then we managed to meet up before the sun rose this morning for coffee.

Fact: the sun doesn't rise until way late in the morning.

Fact: I believe it to be a sin to wake up before the sun rises!

BUT, I did wake up to meet her on a gorgeous day. I had so much fun talking with her. And I left wishing we had gotten to know each other sooner. I brought my camera to take a picture of us...but get this....I couldn't find the timer thingy on my camera! HA! How sad is that... Anyhoo, it made me laugh!

I came home today ready for my family. Seeing their surprises faces melted my heart. And, it got better as my mother in law made us dinner before leaving her house. I'm spoiled!

To my girls on the trip...oh how I love thee...let me count the ways! But mostly for how each of you balance me!