family portraits and a dress

My good friend and very talented photographer, Jami, took our family portraits yesterday.
She found the most gorgeous spot at the base of our mountains, and we met her there for the shoot.
The fall evening air was chilly and crisp.
The sun was peaking out from behind passing clouds, sending rays of perfect soft light over the valley as it set.
We stood in a golden field, surrounded by trees, with painted mountains glowing in the background.
It was unbelievable.  Perfect.
Forget about the photo shoot...I just wanted to park myself in that field until dusk and stare at the beauty around me!

The kids were great, and they all looked beautiful in their (very carefully selected) muted gray and blue attire.  It's not easy trying to get all eight of us to coordinate!

I didn't have what I wanted for little Sarah to wear, so yesterday morning I pulled out one of my Japanese sewing books, and whipped up a darling little dress.  The pattern was a bit tricky to decipher, but it was simple and lovely!  I did have to draft up my own bodess front, since I couldn't find it anwhere on the pattern prints, but I was so happy to get into my studio and sew, and, though it's not flawless, I think the little dress turned out so cute!

Sarah was happy too.  She stayed with me for the duration of the project, (minus a few excursions to the kitchen to get a snack), while the other kids played outside.  When she saw that I was a little frustrated with the pattern (I had traced two of the wrong pieces because they were labeled only in Japanese), she suggested I just go to China real quick and learn to speak Japanese, so that I could read my pattern! :)  I told her it would take too long because I had to finish the dress today, so she settled on singing and playing me some (improvised) music on the piano, to help me "sew better."  And it did.  How we laughed at her lyrics and hilarious conversation.  I love that girl!!

If you want to see a picture of my little cutie in her new dress,
and have a sneak peak at our family portraits, go here.  Isn't Jami amazing?  And this photo was taken just after her husband called mid-session, to tell her he was on his way to the ER!  Read about it in her post, under our photo.  And look around at Jami's other beautiful photos while you're there.

It has been two years since she last took our pictures...see those here.

And if you want to learn how to take better pictures yourself, go here to find out about Jami's upcoming photography class.  I attended one of them, and learned how to use the manual settings on my camera. My photography took a huge leap in quality, and I was so happy!!!  The class includes instructions on using your camera's aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, some basic photoshop tips, a free face shot (go for it...update your facebook profile photo!), live shooting practice with models, a catered Kneaders lunch (yum!), and much more.  If you're in Utah, you should really consider enrolling with Jami.  You'll be so glad you did!