Ella's First Day of School! | Seattle Portrait Photographer for the Modern Family

Well, once again, better late than never.  I took these photos on Ella's first day of kindergarten - and have been meaning to share them with you.  I was a nervous wreck that day but she was soooo excited.  And I'm happy to report she still {2 months later} is excited to go to school every morning.

I got to volunteer in her classroom earlier this week.  If you haven't volunteered in your child's class I strongly encourage you to!  Besides being able to help her teacher Mrs. Koch, I helped the kids during their reading and writing workshops and got to 'observe'.  What fun!  And I have to say, kudos to all you teachers out there.  I don't know how you do it.  There are 22 kids in Ella's class and Mrs. Koch has them engaged in so many educational activities throughout the day - and she keeps them on task!  I don't know how she does it.

Twins Update! - Seattle Modern Child Photography

Here's some new photos of my favorite family with two, yes two, sets of twins!  This session marked the older twins' 4th birthday, and their younger sisters were almost 1-year old in these photos.  So, if you're wondering, YES, they {and we - me and my parental support crew} were extremely busy in this 1.5 hour session.  I was literally sweating afterwards, and even a little sore the next day :)

But it was worth it!  Aren't these photos scrumptious?!

iPhone Friday - Introducing the iPhone 4S

I'm drooling.  Literally.

The iPhone 4S came out today.  Among many of the fabulous upgrades Apple introduced {like the better, faster processor and Siri, the voice recognition system} the phone has an 8 MP camera with an f/2.4 aperture!  What does this mean for you? Higher quality photos period.  Apple boasts that these files can be blown up to a high-quality 8x10 print, and a wide aperture like this allows you to take better photos in low-light situations at a higher shutter speed, thus creating cool moody available light shots while reducing or eliminating blur.  It basically gives you more versatility without having to always resort to using your flash, which I try to avoid at all costs.

Some of the other major upgrades that will help enhance your mobile phone photos are a new, faster A5 processor that will enhance white balance accuracy and reduce shutter lag to zero.

And we haven't even gotten into the new 1080HD video capabilities!

Read here for more benefits of the new iPhone and show me some photos if you are a lucky new owner of one!!  I assure you, once I get one you'll see some of mine.

Happy Shooting!

What to Wear | More Fall Inspiration!

I found more great Fall wardrobe ideas from Wardrobe Wednesdays on Facebook - go check them out!!

Do you see the common theme here is to pick one to two colors and plan the outfits accordingly?  I also see a trend of having a few patterns mixed with different textured materials and solid colors.  It provides interest without clashing.  And as always, layering is a key component {although not shown in these photos}.  They allow us to easily and quickly change the look of a photo {and an individual} by adding or removing layered pieces.  Examples of these are:  scarves, hats, flower headbands or barrettes, denim jackets, vests, or blazers.

I am LOVING the yellow/grey in this example!  Maybe its because I use these colors on my website?

And I love boots!!!  Check out the fun shoes that they've picked.  So fun, interesting, and adds a bit of whimsy.

And last, don't forget the little things - the pieces of flair {I love Office Space}.  Notice the jewelry, watches, headbands?

Unlikely Bird's Nests | Seattle Child Lifestyle Photographer

My sweet, zany kids.  How did bath night turn into this??!  They make me laugh until my belly hurts :)

Chapman Family | Issaquah Portrait Photographer for the Modern Family

Meet the Chapman Family.  You may remember seeing their photos from last year.  I've had the pleasure of working with them for 3 years now, and I adore them!  They have 2 girls who just loved getting their photos taken this session.  We met at the beach just before sunset after a hot, sunny day.  It was packed!  A hot, sunny day in Seattle is just hard to come by, so the entire city flocks to the water on days like this.  I'd say the biggest obstacle for this shoot was composing the photos without any beach combers in the background!  Emma and Lauren loved playing in the sand, going on a long walk, jumping off old logs, finding dandelions, running through the grassy maze-like paths, and cuddling all together on my grandmother's soft quilt.  This is one of those sessions that just came all together.  They are a sweet, happy, loving family who had a lot of fun together that evening despite all the people!

iPhone Friday by Kim Hildebrand Photography | 1197 Mobile Phone & iPhone Conference

For you iPhone and other mobile photo fans out there - the first photo was taken with a mobile phone June 11, 1997.  This October will be the first conference dedicated to mobile and iPhone photography in San Francisco!  You can sign up to attend in person or remotely on this link.  Talks will focus on visual storytelling, photos, techniques, new apps, and much more.  Let me know if you plan on attending!

Until then, check out this iPhone photo of Isaac at soccer practice yesterday.  Just taken with the regular iPhone camera, no other processing involved.  He's getting so fast {and notice the light-up sneakers he's sporting}?!

Happy Shooting,
Kim