Julie Harrell: Photographer

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’…” ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

I love Tennyson’s eloquent writings, and his words seem so fitting for the journey of baby Hope!  Hopes birth is the first birth I have photographed… interestingly enough, the first birth I ever saw was that of her littlest brother when I was 14 year old!  When Ashley found out she was pregnant, she asked if I would do all her photography.  While I couldn’t commit to the birth, I said I would try as hard as I could to be there, since I live over 2 hours away.  When I got the notice she was in labor, I grew sad since I thought there was no way for me to be down with her that day due to previous commitments.  Her sister, Mary, told me things were going slow, so she would keep me updated through out the day… on whatever miracle I might be able to re-arrange plans.

By evening that night, when I was finally able to drive down, Ashely was still in early labor.  It had been 12 hours with very little progression.  She was moved from the birth center to the hospital.  She was disappointed, but I was a little hopeful that I might have a chance of being there to photograph her birth.  When I finally showed up at 10pm, she was basically where she was when she was admitted.  Ashley had become accustomed to pregnancy not going according to plan.  Steven and Ashley tried for 6 years to conceive their first child, and finally after learning a little more as to why they could not conceive they opted to try IVF.

One of the eggs implanted, and Ashely was finally pregnant!  She definitely had her vision for the pregnancy and birth, but after so long of no progression her midwife (who also happened to be my mom’s midwife when my mom had my little brother) suggested moving to the hospital, another step that was not part of the plan.  After 36 hours, and almost no progression, the doctor finally said it was time for a Cesarian (definitely not part of her plan).  Her doctor was awesome, though, and let her keep trying to have the birth be as natural as possible for 36 hours.  I was super impressed at how quickly Ashley was able to be with baby Hope after the operation, and even though most of the labor was not the way they imagined it would be, seeing Hope on her mother’s chest, with her father overlooking fit perfectly into the plan of being together, being a family–finally!

Cheers,
jewels

Meet little 8 day old Calliope Gene! I know some of you Greek History buffs can say her name, but for those of you reading her name for the 3rd time, wondering how her name is pronounced, phonetically its “kəˈlaɪəpi” but my way is “cah LIE oh pee.” … Right Tracy?

Calliope was as sleepy and sweet as a newborn should be. She wasn’t into all the curled and scrunched up newborn photos, but she did love a good swaddle! Calliope is the 2nd baby of Nina and Matthew, and if you’ve seen that sweet boy I’ve photographed a couple times with incredible blue eyes, and a onesie from his 1 year old photos that say’s “Made in Portland,” well this is his little sister! Destined, I’m sure, to have the same stunning blue eyes.

Through out the pregnancy, Nina photographed her progress in photos of herself with a chalkboard wall they painted in their home, with the week marked on the board. I knew when I saw her pregnancy progression photos we had to use that chalkboard with Calliope. I am not a graphic artist, but I tried my hardest to write her name in something other than my normal chicken scratch writing! I hope Nina and Matthew still have it up in their home… I will be sad when it gets erased

Thanks for the fabulous weekend Horn family, hope you are in love with these images as much as I am!

Cheers,
jewels

I think Granville Island is one of the best places in Canada. I know Canada like the back of my hand (meaning, not at all), but I fell in love with the whimsy and charm of this little corner of Vancouver, BC. For part of Nat’s birthday present , Dave arranged to have a fun couple’s photo shoot. They hadn’t had photos together in years, so I felt honored to spend the afternoon capturing their giggles and sweet whispers of sweet nothings. I’ve known Dave and Nat for many years, so the photo session was more like a fun date with old friends where I just so happened to have my camera with me… and happened to be posing and checking out nooks for good lighting and crannies for spare change… I mean potential for background elements! After hardly being able to turn a corner without feeling some urge to stop walking and start shooting, we finished the frist part of the session at Granville island then headed into an older, almost Parisian part of town (Gastown) for some moody, early evening lit shots, where I think I’ve captured one of my all time favorite images to date (the one of Dave and Nat kissing in the middle of an old cobblestone/brick street with the lights surrounding them). I’m pretty excited with the variety of settings from this session, and I’m even more excited to go back and shoot at either Granville Island or gastown in Vancouver (any Canadians out there reading this, I’m up for hire!). So after you are done looking at Dave and Nat’s smiles and playfulness… check out Nat’s blog, where she shared some of her favorites from the day. She has a great style of writing, so after you’re finished reading her blog and realize an hour has passed, consider yourself warned

Cheers,
jewels

I met Lisa at MOPS, but I felt a special connection with her after we were both in the hospital together with our newborns, well almost in the same hospital. 3 weeks after Juliet was born, Lisa gave birth to Sophie… but there were complications, and after spending her first 8 minutes without oxygen, Sophie was airlifted from St. Josephs to Children’s Hospital in Seattle. This was the the same time of day same day that Juliet was being transported from Children’s to St. Joseph’s here in town. Over a year later, we both are completely blessed to have two healthy little girls without any known issues. So when Lisa asked me to do their family photos, I couldn’t wait, and not just because they are a great looking family, but because I felt I had a connection from shared experiences. Aaron and Lisa, with their daughters Addy and Sophie, are that family that you wish you had grown up with since you were a kid, and would be friends with till death, and that your kids would all marry each other, you know what I mean! They are warm, open, friendly and so fun to photograph!

Cheers,
jewels

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

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

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

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