Julie Harrell: Photographer

Something interesting happened in my shooting love affair with Western Washington University’s campus, I needed a break. When a dear friend scheduled a family session I knew exactly where to take them–into Fairhaven at one of my other favorite locations! I haven’t blogged their session yet, but funny thing, as soon as I came home from the “new” location, I received a call from Shawn Ellars mentioning that they loved the colors from this photo session and curious if we could use it. Of course I said yes, chuckling to myself about the fact that it was same inspiring location from where I had just returned. Its wonderful to be inspired in a certain setting, creativity magic is made, resulting in truly honest photographs (well, sometimes anyways)! I met Shawn and Frank and their children for a chilly winter shoot at this lovely little setting. Frank’s daughter Caidee was visiting from England (Caidee, can I come visit you please?), and so to play on the whole English bit, we ventured out to the British telephone booth to snap a few frames too. It was very cold, however, so we ended our session with a couple frames at sunset at the bay and called it a night. I think their son Jenson was the most appreciative of the quick departure from the blistering breeze by the beach to head out for coffee. I adore this family, Shawn has always been one of those super creative people from whom I glean ideas, Maddie is amazing, and an excellent babysitter (my girls love her), and Keston is a true life of the party! Thanks for spending a cold afternoon with me Frank, Shawn, Caidee, Maddeie, Jenson, and Keston!

Cheerio! (said in my amazing English accent, just for you Caidee )
jewels

There has been no school for 4 days, I really don’t need to add anything else…except maybe I’ll add that it was 7 degrees outside yesterday, not counting windchill, so the foot of accumulated snow taunting us to build snowmen and make snow angels was almost impossible for us not-prepared-for-snow-more-than-1/2-an-inch Western Washatonians to play in. Not including the half hour of backyard snow fun in these photos, I have not been out of my house since Saturday- 5 days. My car is iced over and my fridge and pantry are empty of nutritional food. Snow shouldn’t be a big deal, I know people all over the world cope and drive and grocery shop in it… but Western Washington seems to be in a state of denial thinking it is the desert… and prepares accordingly. If I were the school superintendent, I might just cancel school another day, (though the weather report shows it to be warm enough for the snow to melt) because who doesn’t want those special opportunities to practice patience, endurance, and gratitude. And yes mom, my kids are all alive today too, just barely

I was going to start this post by making you look at all the photos, and see if you could guess the location for the St. Hilare Family session… but I put it in the title, so you win! I was very honest when I said I’ve re-fallen in love with Western Washington University‘s Campus. I think each session has a completely unique look each time I visit. The nice thing about having the session on Campus was that the place holds meaning for the St.Hilaires. Andrew’s dad was the registrar while Andrew was growing up. We did the shoot on the steps of Old Main, and Andrew told me stories of when he was a boy how they would go sledding down the big hill… that was before the landscapers came in and made it impossible to do these days. I originally met Lindsay and Andrew early on in my shooting career when I did their engagement photos. Depending on how long you have known me or read my blog, I will remind you that they were the ones with the pet chicken (yes, you read correctly)! Lindsay, I totally forgot to ask if you still have Dymphna.. do you? Now they’ve added two sweet boys to the mix, one very recently. Lindsay just had Peter Julian 4 weeks before our session. For being outside in the late fall he couldn’t have been sweeter. I was also excited to meet their oldest son John (2 1/2 years old) and he was of course a boy bursting with levels of energy I dream about! John was set and ready for adventure and playtime, and he could smile for candy corn like no body’s business. I’m 100% pro-bribery on photo day if you didn’t know… Andrew and Lindsay, your growing family is so beautiful, I’m so glad we could fit in photos during your visit to the Ham!

Cheers,
jewels

Luke, Bonnie and Hudson met me at my current favorite location, Western Washington University’s Campus, for their family session. Bonnie and I met at MOPS last year and I have adored her fun loving personality and amazing smile. She smiles at everything, I’m pretty sure she smiles when she is sad and upset too… That’s a guess, she can let me know if there are times she’s not smiling Hudson, who is a year and a half is active and adorable. Playing/shooting him made me realize how great boys are, I am so used to girls, he’s a hoot! Thanks Kaemingk Fam for a wonderful fall session. I adore your photos, I hope you do too!

Cheers,
jewels

Julie Harrell Photography has new session rates for 2012. Senior Sessions will continue to be $350 a session, however most portrait sessions will now be at $350 as well. This does not include newborn, product or headshot photography. Special pricing for these sessions is available via email: info@julieharrell.com. Wedding packages begin at $2800 for 2012.

BUT….tomorrow on January 12th there is a special little promotion! The first 12 people (who have also liked the Julie Harrell Photography Facebook page) to email info@julieharrell.com and pay via Paypal can purchase a session for $250. This includes tax! These prices include senior sessions as well. Senior sessions were $350/session in 2011, so you can take advantage of a little price cut during this promotion and get a special on spring or summer senior photos. The payment is non-refundable and the sessions can be scheduled as late as August 31,2012. The special does not apply to wedding packages or newborn sessions.

So how does it work?

1. Make sure you have “liked” the Julie Harrell Photography Facebook page.

2. Email info@julieharrell.com saying you would like to purchase a session at 2011 rates.

3. You will receive a confirmation email, and an invoice via Paypal for $250.00.

4. Pay, and contact Julie Harrell Photography to schedule your session between January 12, 2012 and August 31, 2012.

Terms and Conditions:

Sessions available include: Seniors, Engagement, Children, Family, Maternity, Pets. This promotion does not include newborn photography or wedding packages.
Payment is non-refundable.
Session must be booked and completed by August 31, 2012.
Subject to Availability.
Payment to be made via Paypal.
Promotion lasts 12 days or until filled.

If you head over to ohdinner.com and check out the blog, Bonnie and Danie have a little feature they do called inspiring moms. I really excited and flattered when they asked if they could interview me. Of course all the images I sent her were my new family photos by Jennifer Morrow! If you get a chance to look around their site, consider signing up for their 2 week trial of weekly meals. Its simple to use, but they plan 10 or so meals every week with a recipe and shopping list for print or emailed to you so you can pull it up on your phone or iPad while at the store. I have a 6 month membership that I actually won at MOPS (yay for giveaways), and so far am really excited to not have to think about a meal idea and plan the list. Thanks Bonnie and Danie for the feature, I am blessed.

Cheers,
jewels

I said before I have found new excitement for shooting sessions at Western Washington University. Maybe its nostalgia of being back on campus, but the lighting is always perfect, and the landscaping and buildings are inspiring! Luckily there are enough trees changing leaves at different times in the fall season to accomodate “fall color” sessions during the majority of the Autumn months. The last time I shot the Miller family, it was snowing, so this time they wanted fall leaves. Even though we did the session early in the fall season, I found a fantastic nook with leaves and fall color. Next Miller session I think we will need the beach with palm trees… in Cabo… It was super easy to capture the laid back, fun loving nature of the Millers. After knowing them for almost 12 years now it makes the interactions very comfortable. Jaden only stuck his tongue out at me 27 cough cough 3 Times. It is a privilege to capture their beautiful faces once again! Enjoy Miller Fam!

Cheers,
jewels

Last year we had every intention of having our family portraits done, but our session fell through after Juliet was born, unexpectidly having to spend 6 weeks in the hospital, and another 4 months isolated. This year I made time in the midst of a busy shooting schedule for our family photo session. It was an easy choice to hire Jenn Morrow for the job. I love her style and artistic vision Her work is simply beautiful. I first met Jenn when she was a manager for the first Woods Coffee in Lynden, WA. My husband, though we were just friends at the time, was one of the baristas, and Jenn was his manager. She always had a smile and a kind word, and she made the shop feel more like she was serving you coffee in her kitchen Our paths have crossed now and then over the last 10 years, but I was super surprised to bump into her at a photographer’s workshop. After I saw how amazing of a photographer she was I knew right away our family needed some of her talent on our walls. My only request to her was that I wanted an image of myself with each one of the girls. It is so important for moms and dads to be in photos with their children, no matter what the circumstances. I am the first to admit I feel like I need to lose more weight, wax the eyebrows more, buy cuter clothes, but I know that these things don’t trump the opportunity to capture who we are in these moments with our children as the grow. I find that being a mom and a photographer, I am left behind the lens far too often, and so it was time to step to the other side. Jenn captured our family so perfectly I teared up looking at the images. Thanks Jenn for giving our family these beautiful images, artwork really! We were so blessed working with you! Check out Jenn’s work at jennifermorrowphotography.com

Cheers,
jewels

Madeline Grace age 8

Clara Joyce age 2

Juliet Adele age 1

I am so excited to share these photos of the Fullers this year. Mostly because this time we added some other special people to the photos. We had Deb and Danny (Grandparents) and Hope and Noah (Dee’s sister and nephew) along for a full family shoot at Paradise on Mt. Rainier. Deb and Dan are regulars at the same lodge, and have been coming here with their family since the girls, Hope and Dee, were little. This was a very special location for family portraits. Even more special as the location, was the relationships. This family reflect a similar beauty as the setting around us. They are joined together with so much love and appreciation for one another. A day spent with this family will rejuvenate your soul! Our family was blessed to spend a weekend up at Paradise with you guys! I hope you enjoy your photos as much as I do. They bring back wonderful memories for our family just looking at them! And as my mantra goes, I have too many photos posted in this post. Of course I’m in love with too many to narrow down, I think all the images tell a fun story!

Cheers,
jewels

When I first started shooting sessions, I use to use WWU all the time as my default session setting. There are a million little nooks and I can find decent lighting just about anywhere around campus most times of the day. I took a couple year hiatus from shooting on campus, though recently re-ignited my love for shooting there. I needed a very good location to shoot Lacey, Caleb and Callie. Caleb is a talented photographer himself, but he works for a local film company, Hand Cranked Films, as a director and on his own produces movies. We saw one of his films at the independent theater, the Pickford, in town last year. His most recent movie was in line to go to the Sundance Film Festival… All that said, I was a little nervous since this family knows good lighting, creative composition, and every technical detail Lacey made Caleb promise not to say anything about lighting while I was shooting! Once the butterflies settled, I was able to capture some amazing (at least I think so) images of this beautiful family. I hope you all enjoy them too!

Cheers,
jewels