Ashlee Brooke | Utah Portrait Photography

I'm a little obsessed with this dusk-y, twilight lighting. Doesn't hurt to have a gorgeous pair of blue eyes to add to my view.

Ashley & Kevin : In Love | Utah Portrait Photography

And we were THIS close to out running the stinkin' rain, dang it. But it was definitely fun while it lasted! 

Kumiko : USU Graduate | Utah Portrait Photography

May I present, Mrs. Kumiko Ryther, Utah State University Graduate!

Libby Henrie | Utah Portrait Photographer

Libby is one of the sweetest little girls I've met. Emphasis on little -- such a tiny thing! But don't let that fool you. She knows how to hold her own having 3 crazy older brothers that can easily toss her around like a beach ball. Libby turned 8 years old and is getting ready to be baptized and become a member of the LDS church in just a couple weeks.

Okay. Confession time. I'm usually not so open with my feelings on this blog, but my most recent session kind of was a turning point for me. I have to be honest -- individual portraits are not my forte, so I was a little nervous as to how I would get that beautiful emotion from one little girl that I usually capture from a couple interacting with each other.

I got home from the session and Deej asked me how it went. I kind of sighed setting my gear down and said, "Oh, I think it was alright...". But inside I was thinking, oh geez, please turn out, please turn out, please turn out! (Do any other fellow photogs ever feel that way?...or maybe its just me.) I kept thinking, man, maybe I should just stick to what I know I'm good at. But then the thought kept returning to me, no one is ever 100% perfect in the beginning without any practice (besides those annoying prodigies -- envy), and also how do I know I'm good or bad at something if I don't try?

I hurried and got the session onto my computer and started going through the images and...I was so surprised! I don't mean to toot my own horn here...but I'm going to (hehe) -- I was actually really pleased with what I was seeing. **WHEW**! HUGE sigh of relief. I was touching them up for the client to proof and maybe I was just being over emotional, but I thought, something about this session and this precious little girl is just making my insides feel like...you know that feeling when you're free falling? Yeah. That tickly feeling! Sorry for the cheesiness, I'm weird. Seriously though, I'm my own worst critic, and I kind of hate it. Anyway, I set my unnecessary worries aside and set up the session for my client to proof. The next morning, I woke up to this text:

Mari!!!  I am blown away. The light,  the beautiful soft colors and crisp focus!  You captured Libby perfectly.  I don't know how to thank you enough!!! These images are perfect. When I look at them, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude and joy for my beautiful, sweet little daughter. These images mean so so much to me.

Melt my freaking heart! You see, that is why I love what I do. It makes me so happy that I can help bring that joy to someone else. And that is why I think it is so important to put photography higher (dare I say, highest?) up on the priority list for any occasion. After the moment or event has past, the photographs are what will stick with you forever, so make them count! Can I get an Amen??

 I'm so honored to have captured this special time in her life. So without further adieu, I give you little miss Libby Henrie.

Meet my family!

I rarely do posts about me and my life on this blog, but here's one to start out the new year!

...Introducing the new and improved...

Osterloh Family: 2012 Edition

Meet the head of the fam damily, Momma and Poppa Osterloh. 

Momma works for Delta and gets the family great discounts on traveling! With her Delta vest and pen in hand, she makes the cutest gate agent ever! One of the best things about mom is when thinks something is really funny, she REALLY thinks its funny and won't stop laughing for a while. Even after she's finished laughing, you'll hear sudden spurts of giggles coming from her general direction.

Poppa is the fixer/provider/researcher/tickle monster, and the best one at that! But the best thing he does for his 5 girls is he loves us unconditionally and never stops teasing us (even though it drives us nuts sometimes).

Love you both!

 Meet Mar-mar & Deej. We are married. We like to tease, flirt, and bring out the silly in each other. DJ is my very own Music Man with his cello, guitar, and vocal chords. As for me, I take the pictures.

Meet Kuma-luma. He will follow you all around the house if he's bored. If he eats too much food for dinner, he'll start pacing the living room with a bone in his mouth, whimpering every now and then, and try to walk it off. He likes to sneak string cheese from the fridge, dig a hole in the yard and hide it so we don't steal it.

 The crazy, yet adorable Michanko! She's a rockin' break dancer. She will always play with you when you're lonely, she fake yawns when things get awkward, and apparently she likes to wear her shoes backwards...

 Spachula. She is the Einstein of the family. She's always singing. During dinner when there is no conversation going on, you will hear her start to hum a random tune. Sachi likes to run away from the camera.

 The ever so fashionable Kum-kum. She is crafty. She knitted that orange infinity scarf all by herself. She loves anything beautiful. Anytime I go shopping, I need her approval before I purchase. I am proud that people think I am her twin all the time.

...I know this is late, but better late than never...

Happy 2012 to all, and to all a good night!

For ojiichan and obaachan

I miss it already!! I am so glad I was able to go over to Japan this last week to visit my relatives there. It is a very rare occasion to be able to see all of them in one trip with one family living in Tokyo and the others in the Aichi-ken Prefecture. We took Deej with us this time to introduce him to the family (He's so cute--he's been studying his butt off in his Japanese class and also doing Rosetta Stone at home. Gosh I love him!) It was wonderful to see all my aunts and uncles and cousins. I am so grateful for all of them who came and sacrificed their time to have a little wedding dinner with DJ and me.

I wish I had hired a photographer to come with us to capture everything (Heather, that means you, lady!) because from the looks of most of my photos, I wasn't there--My eye was GLUED to my Nikon the whole trip. But still, all these photos make for great memories! Here's a little glimpse at what we did in the land of the sun:

I'd like to introduce you to my Ojiichan. My grandpa that I love so much. He is so amazing. 86 and still going strong! He takes care of my grandma every single day (she was diagnosed with dementia about 7 years ago or so) and still finds time to manage all his gardens, which brings me to one of my favorite things about him. He makes the most delicious breakfasts. That might sound funny, but his Japanese breakfasts aren't the simple milk and cereal in a bowl. We eat toast, salad, sausages, yogurt, fish, seaweed, pumpkin, grapes, fig, Japanese pears, sweet beans...Its definitely weird, but it is ridiculously good. And most of the veggies and fruits come from my grandpa's garden. He is a gardening god!

My grandpa has been doing archery for a long time. It was really interesting seeing how ritualistic it was. They would walk in a single file line, always keeping their feet shuffling on the floor as they walked to their position. Then they would take their wide stance, look at their target, and pause for a moment to think. They would slowly raise their bows and arrows. It was so intricate, all the way down to the movement of the fingers. 

I'm so grateful for my grandpa. He's done so much for me and has been such a blessing in my life. I can't wait to go back to see him again!

More to come from my trip to Japan :) Stay tuned...