Thanks for stopping by! I'm a Seattle-based children's photographer who dabbles in photographing just about everything else that inspires me. I hope you'll come back often to see what I'm up to! And I always love to hear from my visitors, so don't hesitate to leave me a comment!
~Mimi Inglin
I am excited to announce Lucy Elizabeth arrived on August 11, 2010 and she’s healthy and perfect! The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur as I adjust to my new life as a mom of two. Photos of Lucy to come, but first, I wanted to share some photos of her nursery. I had so much fun decorating a new space and am loving how everything turned out. It’s a different feel from Sophia’s room, but still very girly.
I finally got my film negatives back from the lab and I’m so thrilled with how these images turned out. Remember my gorgeous future SIL featured here? There’s something so delicious about film. I’m excited to continue more personal work with it.
Meet my incredibly gorgeous soon to be sister-in-law. Somehow, my brother totally scored the lottery and will be marrying this beautiful gal next year. She’s just as beautiful inside as she is on the outside. We are so excited to have her as part of the family!
They flew up from LA for a visit this weekend and I jumped at the opportunity to use her as a guinea pig with my film camera. Of course, I’m much too impatient to wait for the images, so I shot some digital ones as well while I send the roll off to the lab. Here are some of my faves:
It’s been 17 years since I’ve held a film camera in my hands. While there is no doubt I love the instant gratification of digital SLRs, there’s something about film that I just can’t seem to replicate in Photoshop. And after spending 3 years shooting digital, I started to get the itch to experiment with film. Inspired by some of my favorite photographers like Jose Villa, Elizabeth Messina, Jonathan Canlas and Tanja Lippert and friends like Leah Zawadzki and Michelle Moore, I picked up a film camera to play around with.
After my first 36 frames, I have this to say: wow, the learning curve is steep.
What I do love is that you shoot and get the film developed. That’s it. I love the simplicity of it.
What I am learning is exposure is tricky with film. I generally overexpose slightly when shooting digital because I like brighter skin tones. I *thought* I was overexposing enough with film, but apparently not. Most of the photos turned out underexposed for my taste — even though I overexposed them. I guess I need to overexpose even more. (Any film photographers reading this blog want to chime in on this? I’m all ears!)
What I also learned: trying to experiment with an active toddler as your subject while you’re 36 weeks pregnant isn’t the best idea in the world. I thought I might go into labor after chasing her around for 20 minutes.
These last two photos I did end up converting to B&W in Photoshop because it just screams B&W to me. If I didn’t have color film already in the camera, I would have switched. But then again, that’s one of the downsides to shooting film. You’re committed to either COLOR or B&W for at least 36 frames.
Shot with the Nikon F100 + Kodak Portra 160VC
We’re t-minus 4 weeks away from meeting our new baby and let me tell ya — I am more than happy to have this baby tomorrow! I’m officially in the waddling, back-aching, can’t get up out of bed without being pushed by my husband, “uncomfortable” stage of the pregnancy. I’m probably the only person in Seattle thankful it didn’t reach 70 degrees today and it’s late-July.
I stopped shooting sessions at the beginning of June and I miss my clients so much! My camera has sadly been neglected over the last two months, but I did manage to capture some details of the two baby showers that my friends recently planned for me.
I really do have the best friends on the planet. First up: my gal pals from PEPS. This group of women will forever have a special place in my heart. We all live in the same neighborhood and had babies at the same time and thanks to PEPS, we were connected and began meeting on a weekly basis for 12-weeks. Over the course of the last 3 years, we have shared laughter, tears, heartache, joys and everything in between that comes with becoming a mother.
They planned a lovely afternoon tea at the Fairmont Seattle. You can’t help but royalty when you step into the Georgian Room.
By the way, that darling pink shirt + onesie (one says “BIG”, the other says “LITTLE) is the creation of my friend Sara Willy, whose adorable onesies can be found in her Etsy shop. She can custom design pretty much anything you want. She is THAT talented!
My second group of amazing friends are women I met while planning our weddings 5 years ago through a little website called “The Knot.” We’ve seen each other get married and have children and I can’t imagine life without these lovely ladies. They surprised me with a wonderful dinner at this darling restaurant tucked away in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. A cozy little place with fresh, homemade food. The desserts were my favorite…I’m drooling just thinking about it!
Thank you dear friends for making me feel so darn special!! I’m officially ready to see this baby make her entrance into the world!
I love escaping to Southern California. Coming out of a wet and dreary spring in Seattle, soaking up a little sunshine was just what the doctor ordered. That, plus a little girl time with my bestie and I always come home rejuvenated and happy. Whenever I get together with my best friend, our day always revolve around food.
We started by driving up the coast to Montecito and stopped for a yummy lunch at Jeannine’s, followed by a tour of the Four Seasons Biltmore.
Outside, I snapped some photos of her at this darling snack cart. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better backdrop to fit my best friend’s personality. I’ve been trying to convince her to start a blog about cooking, food, restaurants, etc. She has impeccable taste, an incredible eye for decor and is the kind of gal who would tackle every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook without hesitation. I am always in awe of her talent.
The next day, we drove south for brunch at Terranea. An incredible resort in Rancho Palos Verdes overlooking the water.
We had so much fun wandering the grounds and sneaking into the spa for a few photos. The spa is TO DIE FOR. There are various relaxation areas, including this lovely room which you can reserve for a private gathering. Comfy chairs, a fireplace, champagne, with a view of the water. What more can you ask for?
That evening, more delicious food at Green Street Tavern in Pasadena. We enjoyed Rock Shrimp Cakes, Watermelon Gazpacho Soup, Pan-Seared DiverScallops with bacon, corn and leeks, and Salmon with an herb polenta pancake.
I’m sure I came home 10 pounds heavier, but then again, I am eating for two, right?
You just can’t beat a sunny Saturday morning filled with dandelions, bubbles and lots of giggles.
After my last post about not getting in front of the camera enough, I decided I needed to get off my bum and do something about it. So, thanks to a rare 70-degree Spring evening in Seattle, a little bribery of a popsicle to get Sophia in front of the camera and a husband who was willing to execute the vision I had in my head, I now have a few gorgeous photos of me and my sweet little girl.
So far, Sophia has been so sweet and excited about having a baby sister. She’s always gently patting my belly and talking to the baby. It warms my heart just imagining them holding hands and playing together someday.
Given the fact that I truly believe everyone should invest in photos of their children and their family and I encourage parents to be in the photos during the session – and forget about their bad hair day, how much more weight they want to lose, etc. – you’d think that I would have gobs of photos of myself with my husband and daughter.
Truth be told — I hardly put myself in front of the camera. Probably because I have the same insecurities that a lot of you do. I need to work out, I have lots of weird expressions I’d rather not have captured on camera, I can never decide what to wear for photo shoots…
But when Jen Williams sent these photos to me, I was so grateful to have them. Because 1) I don’t have any photos showing me pregnant with the second baby and 2) these reflect who I am. They were taken as part of an experiment at the Life as an Artform workshop last month and it reminded me how fun it is to see myself from another person’s perspective.
See the rest of the photos here. Thank you Jen!!
Instead of being critical and pointing out all the negative things about myself, I’ll focus on the positive:
1) Damn, I’m a cute pregnant lady! (just kidding, but somehow these photos make my belly appear to be half the size it is now)
2) I’m lovin’ my new beauty trick: eyelash extensions that I got at Swink Style Bar in Seattle. Go see Christina or Heather. Everyone thinks I was born with these lush, long eyelashes, but ssshh! They’re not real!
3) The outfit I’m wearing is one that I could live in everyday. A maternity shirt by Michael Stars and the comfiest yoga pants ever by Lulu Lemon.
4) My new favorite accessory is by Stella & Dot. I just discovered this accessory line and I have a feeling I’ll be spending way too much money on these pretties.
Two weeks ago, I experienced three of the most thought-provoking and emotional days of my life at the Life as an Artform workshop by Jesh de Rox. It left me speechless. Every time I tried to describe what I learned at the workshop, I just sounded like a bumbling idiot. Now that I’ve had a couple weeks to digest everything, perhaps I can be a bit more articulate.
I knew this workshop wasn’t about helping me become a better photographer — from a technical standpoint. Instead, it was more about life. Loving life. Living life. Seeing life in a whole new way.
It forced me to be vulnerable and face my fears head on. Looking back at my notes, these two thoughts still resonate with me:
So often in our lives, we run away from challenges. We stay in our comfort zone, a place that is safe and secure. We’re afraid of failure. And because of that, we don’t grow. Children are a wonderful example of uninhibited growth. They run as fast and as hard as they can, not afraid that they’re going to crash and burn in a serious face plant. And when they do, they get up, brush themselves off and do it again.
One of the challenges for me: photographing couples. Not just photographing them. Really connecting with them to produce honest and authentic images.
Frankly, I was freaked.out. I was a little really intimidated being surrounded by the numerous talented wedding photographers who were probably used to working with couples on a daily basis. I’m a children’s photographer who is comfortable with singing nursery rhymes and making animal noises to elicit laughter. How would I be able to capture what they couldn’t capture? How am I going to be ORIGINAL?
And that’s when it hit me. Every artist has something to offer in this world that is valuable. No one else is like you. No one else has the same set of eyes that you do. No one else can see the world like you do.
Authenticity is more important than originality. (another thing I learned at the workshop) When you’re truly authentic, it will show in your work. (If you watch American Idol, you’ve probably heard that theme beaten in your head a couple thousand times. Hello Kara Dioguardi!) Some of the feedback she’s given to the contestants: “You’re always coming from a place of truth and it feels honest.” “You didn’t change it too much, but enough to put your mark on it.” This is what I’m striving for as a photographer.
Despite all that I learned, the best part of the workshop was walking away with 20 new friends. It’s hard to believe that I connected with each one of these amazing individuals in some way. They are just lovely, lovely people. Without them all being willing to be open and vulnerable during this journey, I wouldn’t have benefited from this workshop as much as I did. So, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart to my dear friends who made this process so enjoyable.
I know this workshop has made me a better person. Whether it has made me a better photographer…only time will tell.
by admin
9 comments
add a comment link to this post email a friend