Ali is a talented photographer based in Eastern Washington.  She has raised two sweet kids.

As many of you have picked up by now, I approach my family sessions from a documentary point of view, starting in your home where you & the kids are most comfortable and the images immediately have context and speak to who you are at this time in your lives.  While the majority of what I show on the blog is from the documentary side of things, I also make time for a few intentional ‘hey everyone look at the camera’ type shots.  Although many families come to expect those kind of images to put on their family holiday card, my favorites have always been the imperfect moments in between, that reveal the ins & outs of their daily lives.  I was curious what would happen if I didn’t do any intentional shots and relied solely on my PJ (photojournalist) skills for the entire session. Would the family be any less satisfied with the photos?   Would they find their one defining image? That’s where the Fetzlings came in.  I’ve photographed Ariel during pregnancy and the family after Tavi was born. They’re an offbeat bunch that trust my work and would give me the freedom to do anything I wanted.  I questioned their daily routines to see what an ideal time to shoot would be.  Ariel sent back a video of Tavi annihilating a stack of pancakes. Done!  I arrived sometime before 7am (ouch – I’m not a morning girl) and this was the result.  Funny thing is, I’m not sure my experiment was a success because we did end up doing something intentional at the end –  an image of them wearing custom Care Bear suits.  You just can’t say no to that.

Baby Jasper isn’t a baby anymore.

Oh, where do I start with these three?  Alissa goes back to my crazy Catch days just like Carly.  On the drums she was my rhythm member. My rhythm mentor, really.  Today she’s still the person I turn to when I’ve lost my beat.   She’s one of the smartest people I know and can hold her own with musicians, sci-fi fantasy lovers, theologians, dermatologists or your grandma.  You might recognize Andrew as the front man for hardcore band Kane Hodder.  No one can scream with as perfect of pitch or hold a note like he does while jumping across stage covered in blood.  About a year and a half ago they brought Jubilee home following a long domestic adoption process with many ups and downs.  Alissa chronicled it all through her blog, Not a Visitor, and will be doing the same their second time around (!!).  If this next one is half as talented as little J, we may have a family band on our hands.