willowdawn | Whidbey Island, Washington's Premier Photographer » Whidbey Island

I missed the sailboats.

willowdawn — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:18:49 +0000

Race Week just finished here on Whidbey Island and well, I missed all the boats in the cove and the photo ops that come along with them. First couple of days I was busy, yesterday I was held hostage by Comcast cable (and my internet STILL goes out… grrrr!) and today I was having such a nice time socializing that I got distracted and FORGOT to get down to the wharf in time. It’s not like it was an arduous journey, the wharf is only two blocks away! Oh well, I’ll have to be more diligent next year.

*paying respect where it’s due… I saw a similar shot on the Coupeville facebook page and HAD to go recreate it for myself. Theirs of course was filled with lovely sail boats racing and Mt. Baker is FULLY visible. I’m jealous and will have to make do with my partially visible Mt. Baker and the sailboats heading back to Oak Harbor.

A little collage of our trip.

willowdawn — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:06:48 +0000

So our very very busy first week of June started with the sale of our home (closing) on May 28th, our daughter’s graduation on May 29th and then she and I starting our journey west, across the US. Starting in Virginia and ending in Washington, here are just a few pics of our journey and what we’ve discovered on our new island home. As I type this, I realize that I’ve completely forgotten some important stops along the way – that I do in fact have photos of, so I will have to update this when I figure out where I’ve put those pics. We are currently between homes, living in a couple (yes plural) small apartments whilst we await our move in to the house we’ve rented for the two years we will be here. So until I get my act together, enjoy the first installment…

AJ’s grandmother let AJ and her friend drive to lunch in Grandma’s BMW convertible. I’m pretty sure there is a rumour that the car was a gift. No such luck for AJ. We hit a lot of “big sky” in Montana, discovered the darling town of Leavenworth, WA – and then proceeded onto our island home. Our first night, I found a heart shaped rock and a couple of days later I found a crab, holding a crab town council. That amazing poppy is growing in my new front yard. Yep, I’m a happy girl!!!

The sun DOES shine in this part of the world!

willowdawn — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:55:14 +0000

And I’ve got the sunburn on my shoulders to prove it! Seriously though, we’ve had some amazingly beautiful days and I’ve been taking full advantage of them to discover as many hidden gems on this island as I can. Yesterday, my youngest and I hit Fort Casey to check it out – and to enjoy the weather! WOW! Fields of flowers, concrete structures, a lighthouse and a beach. It’s a photographer’s one stop shop for locations! Though the fact that it closes at dusk does throw a bit of a damper on it. I still think my faithful readers should get used to seeing it!

Call me crazy…

willowdawn — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:52:55 +0000

but I LOVE working with teenagers. I know what you’re thinking… “was she dropped on her head?”

And maybe I was, but I truly truly truly love working with teens. On the flip side, I’m not a happy pregnant woman. I never “glowed” or had that expectant mother “radiance”. Maybe I did, but no one could see it because I was in the bushes losing everything I just ate. I think the green nauseous aura overpowered any “glow”.

So just thinking about pregnancy brings a flood of not so “radiant” memories… which is probably why I don’t specialize in Maternity and Newborn photography. I’m very happy to recommend other photographers for areas that I don’t feel confident that I can produce the quality of images that I expect from myself. So on that note, I’m so very happy to refer expecting mommas (CONGRATULATIONS!) in the Whidbey Island area to Renee of renee giugliano photography . Renee is a fellow Navy wife and we “met” online a couple of years ago… and now we FINALLY get to meet in real life too! Her trademark “Whimsicals” – your image, embellished with special quotes and other elements (see sample above), are sure to steal the spotlight in your home.

Well, I’ve been distracted…

willowdawn — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:07:05 +0000

… because we SOLD our house! Whew! What a huge weight off of my shoulders. But the next challenge was finding a house to rent in Washington – and I’m happy to report that we will signing a two year lease on a home in the town of Coupeville, Washington. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am. Coupeville is a tiny one stop light town (population of only 1700) with a vibrant art community, farmers markets, local restaurants and a quaint waterfront area. The movie “Practical Magic” with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman was filmed in Coupeville. The entire town is within the boundaries of a National Reserve. And the bestest part (other than the farmers market being in our literal backyard) is that the house we are renting is zoned for a home business and I will be setting up a studio in it! I still love and plan on utilizing the amazing beauty of Whidbey Island for on location shoots, but will be offering more studio opportunities now as well. To celebrate, I ordered some new backdrops and before I even got the fold creases out, I dragged my oldest daughter down to the basement to try them out. I LOVE THEM!

A White Wedding…

willowdawn — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:07:13 +0000

I should have come up with a more creative name, but I panicked! If you don’t name your treasury within 10 seconds, you LOSE your spot! Curating treasuries on Etsy is like a competitive sport. The number of people WANTING to create one, and the number of spaces available is 2:1. But it’s fun to compete and even more fun to get one! And yesterday, I GOT ONE!

I have been curating lovely wedding related items for the past week or so, as I cruised around the Etsy world. So today I present… A White Wedding.

Click HERE to go and view the actual treasury and to click on the wonderful objects. But it will ONLY be there for today and tomorrow! So don’t delay, CLICK NOW! And you can leave a little comment on the bottom too!

Sunshine, after the storm.

willowdawn — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:52:02 +0000

Snow is beautiful. It’s like a fresh coat of paint covering the wear and tear, the dirt and grime and all that it broken, with a fresh coat of white. It makes you think that everything can begin again. A fresh start, a new beginning. Well, at least until the cars start traveling the road and making “snirt”. But it’s pretty while it lasts.

Yesterday as we were digging out the driveway, I looked up and just marveled at the beauty. I’m quite sure that my neighbors think I’m nuts, but it’s ok, I probably am. I went inside to get the camera so that I could not only document the snowfall for family who lives in warmer climates, but also to preserve the beauty I saw around me. I’ve added this image to my Etsy shoppe – though it’s not yet back from the printers… so it won’t ship immediately. And I don’t really know when I’ll next see the USPS lady or my wonderful UPS and FedEx men due to not only the snow currently fallen, but the additional storm we are expecting tomorrow. It’s a good thing I love my children as much as I do, though I fear they will be in school till August if the snow days continue!

Let it snow!

willowdawn — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:15:40 +0000

I’ve got milk, toilet paper, bread, eggs, coffee and pancake mix. I can survive! So bring it on. It will give me more time to file my taxes (blech!), clean my house (double blech!) read a book, watch a movie or work on my Etsy shoppe! I might even go out shooting. If the roads seem passable and it’s not a bajillion below zero with wind chill factors – keep an eye out here. Maybe we can go out and play! I love shooting in the snow. I tortured my poor children last year, the winds were HOWLING and it was COLD COLD COLD… but it was worth it! Don’t my children look happy with me?

So here’s hoping for more pleasant snow days to shoot on this year. If you are interested in a snow session, holler!

And a shameless plug for my Etsy shoppe – I uploaded 10 new images… and yes, a couple of beachy ones! Check them out!

Well, colour me flattered!

willowdawn — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:17:32 +0000

It’s been an exciting week for my little corner of the Etsy world. I hope you’ve gone over and checked out all of the amazing and wonderful handmade (or vintage!) things on Etsy.com and have seen the wonderful items featured on the front page. Those collections are called “treasuries” and are made by other members of Etsy. There are hundreds of treasuries at any one time and this week, two lovely Etsy members created treasuries, and included one of my images in them!

This first treasury features my Eilean Donan Castle print. Movie buffs may recognize this castle as it used in many motion pictures, most recently in Made of Honor and was also used for the filming of Highlander.

CLICK HERE to view this treasury on the web and to leave a comment.

BTW – Allerleirauh is a Brother’s Grimm fairy tale.

This wonderful treasury was also featured in a blog entry featuring the “Elite Eight” where Sarah and Olivia select their eight favorite treasuries! You can check out their blog here – some truly beautiful treasuries are featured!

Then today I awoke to learn that another image of mine was included in yet another stunning treasury! This one featuring all things lovely in shades of cream, white, grey and beige. But good beige, lol!

You can CLICK HERE to view this treasury and leave a comment.

So a big THANK YOU to both SimplySaren and Natalya1905 for including my images in your treasuries. If you enjoyed their treasuries, take a moment to let them know! I’ve only managed to put together one treasury – it’s a lot of work. Fun work, but work none the less!