New Baby Announcement!

Congratulations to Anne and Rob from my Winter Babies Post, whose little girl Madeline was born on February 28th - just in the nick of time before leap day! Maybe mom and dad will even send along a photo for the blog. Best wishes Anne and Rob!

Mom and Baby

Look at this little monkey - isn't she so cute? This shoot wasn't my traditional baby shoot - this one was all about mother-daughter-bonding through nursing. I was able to capture some beautiful tender moments with mom nuturing daughter but during a little break (for all of us!) I snapped this quick shot of Shiloh looking full of personality!

Sneak Peek!

I had a really fun shoot today with a cute little redhead boy at Gas Works Park in Seattle. Gas Works can be a great place to photograph kids - especially little boys - who love to check out the metal, wheels, or "machines" as this little one called them.

He is almost two which is a great age to photograph - they're full of energy and interested in exploring the world. This is just a little sneak peek for his parents - I am sure more shots from this photo shoot will go up soon!

Best,
M. Larson

Women of All Ages and Stages

I love to photograph women - whether they are expecting a baby or just beginning to chart their paths in life.

Women are very often the ones behind the camera, making sure to be the historian of their partners, children, and family. Often, women only get their portraits made on their wedding day and when they're expecting a baby - but there is so much more to women's lives than just two major events!

You will want to look back on all different stages in your life; admire how young you looked, admire how strong you looked, or just marvel at how you've grown over time.

Woman are always looking for a little me-time and trying to find ways to celebrate themselves. Giving a woman you love (yes, even yourself!) a photoshoot devoted only to her can be an experience that will last far beyond the few hours we spend shooting together.

I am currently developing a portfolio devoted just to women. I would love to photograph you at any stage in your life. Watch my website at M. Larson Photography for a debut of this portfolio soon! And contact me if you'd like to be a part of it: info@mlarsonphoto.com



E - I had fun at our shoot!

M.Larson

p.s. Does the staircase from this shoot look familiar?

Winter Babies

You love the look of maternity photographs taken on the beach but your baby is due in February!?! Don't worry! I have plenty of Pacific Northwest babies born from October-March and their moms still get great beach and nature-inspired shots without having to hide inside the studio. Seattlites are hardy souls and there are plenty of gorgeous sunny days in winter even if it takes a little creative scheduling to get to them!

With some warm sweaters and jackets you can have outdoor maternity shots that are fashionable and have the right feel for a winter baby. You can stay wrapped up nice and warm (and wrap up baby too), we can bring a thermos of herbal tea, and hats and scarves give an unexpected twist to traditional maternity portraits.

There are lots of winter maternity shots on my website: M. Larson Photography.


Thanks for reading,
M. Larson

New Toy!

That's right, I've bought myself another vintage camera (or two, or three). This one is nicknamed "Chubby" because he can't quite fit into the contraption I built especially for Margot. Maybe someday I will get around to building Chubby his own homemade lens contraption but for now he will just have to squeeze a bit. The look is a bit cleaner, and softer, with beautiful edges. I think it may be very well suited to babies, in fact! Stay tuned!

Fantastic Vintage Motherhood Shoot!

Recently, I met with Anne and her husband for a maternity portrait shoot. Anne is pregnant with her first child and was intrigued by my "Vintage Motherhood" portfolio. We met at Newcastle Beach Park, which I scouted a few weeks ago and it turned out to be a great location. You can see how we used the dock, the beach, the trees, the logs, everything!

There were so many pictures I loved from this shoot that it was hard to narrow it down to just these!

Scouting

I am still new to the Seattle area so I often go out exploring the area and scouting for new shooting locations! I love the beaches, lakes, forests, gardens and other beautiful Pacific Northwest landscapes. Using nature as a big creative element in my images, rather than fake "school photo" backdrops, ensures that each client ends up with a beautiful work of art. This approach works especially well with maternity portraits.

So, today I was off to Lake Washington and look what I found! I can't wait to put some people into these landscapes and create some lovely nature-inspired portraits. Stay tuned to see these places again in future photo shoots!

Newcastle Beach Park: Easily accessible off the 405 near the 520 and the 90 in Newcastle - the east side of the lake. There are two beaches, a forest path, a beautiful dock, logs to sit on - and just about endless possibilities!



Somewhere near the Washington Arboretum, there's this wonderful staircase that I found. It looks like a fairy tale and I can picture it being good for women, maternity, and older kids. I imagine it even in the rain or snow - beautiful!

Child's Play

Just thought I'd share this lovely nostalgic image I made today - a great rope swing and an entire list of swing games that belong to some nearby kids.

I love the imagination that kids bring to all their activities! This is what I bring to my photo shoots that make them work differently from other photographers. Kids are encouraged to imagine, play games, and otherwise not "sit-still-and-look-at-me-now-smile!" We sing, make silly faces, roll in the grass, play red-light-green-light, do cartwheels - and anything else that makes them forget that they are getting their pictures taken!

Happy New Year!

Hi All,

Happy 2008! In addition to my professional work, I take a picture-a-day. I bet that's something most of you didn't know about me! Yes, I try to take at least one image, every day, no matter what. Today, for 1-1-2008 - it's this one. Enjoy!

2007 Wrap-Up

Well, 2007 has been a big year for M. Larson Photography! Most notably, the move from New York to Seattle!

I have been thrilled to meet so many new families in Seattle - and it has been a privilege to photograph you! From pregnant moms to little tiny newborns, robust 6 month olds to sassy 8 year olds, and beautiful grown, independent women - I thank you for welcoming me into your families this year.

Other accomplishments include starting this blog and developing my new signature style, working with vintage cameras.

I wanted to post some of my favorite, previously un-blogged images from some 2007 photo shoots. Earlier in the year, some of my best work came from the studio:

The beautiful mom expecting TWINS!


I am proud to say that this triptych now hangs in her home as a large framed 10x30 print.


The cutest little 6 (going on 26!) year old who put on her "America's Next Top Model" moves for me and gave me a range of expressions I have never seen in one person before:


And a quiet, shy, understated mom-to-be who graciously let me into her bedroom where beautiful afternoon light poured in the windows:


A big THANK YOU to everyone who made this such a successful year for M. Larson Photography.

Surprise for Christmas

I did a shoot on the Oregon Coast in August that included 3 wonderful people and 6 energetic dogs! Wow, that's a lot of activity! But, I found if you tire them out with long walks on the beach, you just might be able to get all 9 of them at least sitting still in the final shots!

T contacted me, with Christmas coming up, to make some very special gifts for his mom. He wanted a beautiful print of the image below (mother and son, walking on the beach) and a special little photo book of all the dogs and people together. I was more than happy to do this for him since I am a huge fan of giving photos as gifts for the Holidays!



The mini-photo-book turned out great - especially using all vintage photography!

New Mom - New Baby!

Happy baby birthday to Kristin, one of my prettiest mommas this year! We had a wonderful photo shoot back in October, (when the weather was still sunny and beachy and allowed bare tummies), and today she had her baby girl, Emma. Congratulations to mom and dad and welcome little baby Emma! I look forward to photographing you as you grow.

Sneak Peek

I just had to share a quick sneak peek - my favorite photo from a recent shoot with little Julia in her very own cornfield! How lucky is she to have a great big maze/fort/hiding-place/cornfield in her own backyard!? And how lucky am I that I got to be a kid again during the photo shoot with this little one?!

Vintage Motherhood has Arrived!

This fall, through lots of hard work, experimentation, practice, and artistic inspiration, I have developed my signature look to move into 2008. I call it "Vintage Motherhood" and it takes my style of vintage portraiture to a place it's never been before - the maternity photo shoot!



I love doing my own take on classic maternity portraits. But, developing this new artistic look and bringing it to my maternity portraiture has changed my artwork and my life! I am super passionate about creating one-of-a-kind "Vintage Motherhood" portraits for all of the moms-to-be that come to my studio! You have to have a beautiful piece of art that treasures this amazing time in your life.

Giving these gifts to my first "Vintage Moms" this fall has been one of my greatest pleasures. The best part is seeing the emotion when women see how truly beautiful they looked, even when they didn't feel so beautiful! I also imagine their children, looking at the images in the future and being so proud of their moms.

Maternity on the Beach! (In October?)

The answer is definitely, YES! We can do maternity portraits, outdoors, nearly year round in Seattle. Sure, it gets a little cold, windy, and sometimes rainy. But, how's a little weather going to stop a Seattle mom and a Seattle photographer from getting the portraits they want!?



When I met Kristen, a poet, artist, and mom-to-be...it was like fate! She is such a life-loving person that of course she was game for an outdoor shoot on a chilly day in October. Some of my favorite images of the year came from this shoot. You can see them all over on my website and very often on display in stores because I love them so much. Kristen really embodied all of the hope and love that there is in waiting for your baby to arrive. It was a joy to spend the afternoon with her, her husband, and her little dog!

Something Clicked!

Finally, something clicked! I got the opportunity to practice on a real live model, my sister! Sisters are great guinea pigs because they know they have to sit still and cooperate or the less flattering photographs of them will appear in the next family album! :)



We spent August 8th, 2007 on the beach at Golden Gardens and that was the day that I knew I just had to bring this style of vintage photography to life for my clients in Seattle. We talked about what it's like to have a portrait of yourself created in a timeless way. Digital photography is great, of course, and I use it every day - but a portrait taken by Margot (and me!) begins to transcend traditional photography as it's being done today. The subject, the photographer, the vintage camera, the "contraption" I made myself, the moment, the place, and the process all come together to create something completely one-of-a-kind. It results in an unrepeatable, once in a lifetime, work of art.

Testing, 1, 2, 3!

Whenever I learn a new photographic technique, I have to try it out on a willing and patient model. Usually that's me, initially, followed by my husband and my friends and family! Over the summer of 2007, I practiced this vintage technique A LOT, moving up from shoes and other still-lifes to a very funny and complicated afternoon of self-portraits!



If you think pushing the button and running back and forth from behind the camera to in front of the camera is difficult - try it with a 1940's vintage Argus built into a homemade "contraption"!

But, I learned I could create both sharp and beautifully soft edges in my vintage images. The artist in me was awakened and there was no going back!

How do you get that vintage look?

"Is it Photoshop?" is the question I get most often and the answer is "NO!" The vintage look comes from the only authentic place it can come from, this beautiful little baby! Her name is Margot.

I found Margot in the summer of 2007 and began to experiment with her. It wasn't love at first site as I had to learn all about how she works and do a lot of homemade crafting and tweaking to get her to work.

One of the first photographs I considered "successful" with this new method was this one of my shoes...as you can see we've both come a LONG way since July.


Now, she comes along on all my shoots since she (and her friends that I have added to my growing vintage camera collection) is what's behind my signature looks: Vintage Motherhood, Vintage Childhood, and Timeless Women.

Welcome

Hello everyone and welcome to the M. Larson Photo Blog. This blog is a brand new addition to my business! It will be a place to see and talk about my portrait, kids, and maternity photos, get a sneak peek of your proofs, and get let in on special promotions and offers!

To start things off, as I do on my Website as well, I would like to share my absolute favorite photograph from all of my photo shoots in 2007! Not only is it a beautiful shot, with a beautiful Mom-to-be, but for me it is symbolic of my 2007 move to the Seattle area and the new style of photography that the move has opened up to me.

We didn't get the best weather for the photo shoot but Kristen and Kyle were great sports and didn't mind a little rain, wind, and cold! I think their little dog Grover was the coldest of all 4 of us.

Another great thing about this shoot? Kristen emailed a few short hours later that her water had broken and she was in labor! Baby Evan came the very next day.



To see a larger version, go to M Larson Photo.

Best,
M. Larson