jamaica wedding: kristin and jason

I remember exactly what I was doing . . . sitting in the sun on a summer afternoon last year while the girls napped, when I saw the blinking light on my Blackberry. It was a Facebook message from Kristin. I've been thinking about this long and hard, and I would love to have you come to Jamaica to photograph my wedding . . . It was one of those surreal moments for me. Not only was I going to photograph my first destination wedding, but it was also for a family I have known since I was eleven years old.

Kristin's older sister, Jen, was my very best friend throughout junior high school. She was a year older than me, and at her 8th grade graduation, we bawled our eyes out because we had to be separated for a year before I got to high school. She wore a red and white polka-dot dress, and I wore a flowered shirt and jeans, and there are photographs of us at the cafeteria reception afterwards with tear-stained cheeks and blood-shot eyes. I spent countless nights at their beautiful home, admiring the bond of their family. I remember they always had Redken shampoo in their shower, and the time that Kristin's mother dumped my contacts down the sink. I did endless back flips into their pool, and walked miles on our weekend trips to the mall. I didn't spend as much time with Kristin as I did her sister, but I felt safe and comfortable and at home with the entire family, and I did again, years later, at this beautiful wedding.















We had a very emotional best man . . .



And a very emotional maid of honor :)

































Kristin and Jason, and your families, thank you so much for having me . . . it means more than you know! Much love, Morgan

heather and bill in seattle!

Ah, Heather and Bill. And a beautiful day in Seattle. And a ton of laughter.

Those who look back through my engagement photos probably find two things heavily in common. The first is flare . . . I love flare, and I love the element it brings to an image. The second is posing. When I begin shooting, it only takes me a few minutes to determine whether my couple is better off to be left alone and instructed to interact with one another, or whether they are looking for more direction from me. And some couples just fall into each other, deliriously happy to be in one another's company . . . and just laugh.







They had some very sweet moments as well :)



Tim McGraw look-a-like! Very handsome, Bill.



And Heather, you are beautiful.





It was a day filled with wonderful company, amazing food and wine at dinner, and a cozy place to rest our heads before we left for Jamaica at 3:30 the next morning. Heather and Bill, thank you kindly for your graciousness and hospitality. I am looking forward to seeing you in June! Much love to you both!

wrapping up: food, wine, photography and life

For those of you who know me, and those of you who simply read this blog, you know by now my love for cooking, eating, sipping wine, writing, and beautiful photographs . . . and lately I have been thinking about the simplicity of all of these things, and how they make me feel so incredibly happy and content and in love with my life.

I realize that Sunday is technically the beginning of the week, but to me it's the end, and it's never a wonderful day for me. I love my long, lazy mornings in my sweatpants sipping coffee until noon, and then the day just sort of becomes a time bomb leading to Monday, when the mailman comes and bills get paid and phone calls made, and my computer requires my full attention, as well as my children, and I go back to balancing it all out as best I can, knowing I could have done a better job. I am a thoughtful person, and at the end of the week, I usually think about my successes, my failures, and what I've learned about them, and of course now I want to write about them in the most simple way possible.

Food: It has been a bad culinary week for me. There is nothing I look forward to more than my dinner. The second my first bite of lunch enters my mouth, I ask, so what are we having for dinner? Joe usually laughs at me, tells me not to eat so fast, and throws out suggestions. Tuesday I overcooked my grape-glazed chicken and grilled asparagus, Wednesday I noshed on a plate of grapes and toasted bread with brie and apricot cheeses with my girlfriends, and Thursday I over-empowered my shrimp boil hobo packs with the flavor of mussels. Friday's lasagna noodles were a bit too al dente, and Saturday night's slow-cooked swiss steak almost put me in tears. In fact, they were brimming, but I was a big girl and didn't let them spill.

Wine: The Assets have officially incorporated boxed wine into our nights, and while it is quite economical and doesn't taste all that bad, there is an element to opening a bottle of wine with a cork screw, rather than pushing my thumb through a cardboard tab, that I missed. Other than that, Joe and I made big plans to sip on a Rose of Malbec one sunny afternoon, but stuck to our staple pinots and cabs during our evenings together.

Photography: I need to take more pictures for fun. Plain and simple. I am headed to enjoy carne asadas with a dear friend, and I'm bringing my camera, if only to get one good shot of pulled pork.

Life: It was another week of feeling incredibly lucky. I have two healthy, beautiful daughters who are as mild-mannered as they are stubborn and difficult, but in ways that keep me learning. My mother continues to inspire me everyday, and I love that we are so much alike, because it means I am going to grow into a better person than I am today. And I am in love with a man who informed me the other evening that I am the most nurturing woman he has ever loved, and that he makes the choice everyday not to take that for granted. I have learned that no matter how much you love someone, and how easily that comes to you, that it is still a choice to remain kind and respectful, and that if we simply make that choice each day without wondering or fearing what may or may not come in the future, we will probably be very happy there when we arrive.

found: old blog!

In a very boring story I will spare you, I was able to find my original blog, thank god! Please, please, please, if you are here for the first time, scroll its pages, read my stories, browse my photographs, and keep coming back here for all new things. Click here to view. :) Happy Sunday!

emily and tyler

Emily and Tyler are one of those darling couples who show up a bit quiet, feel a touch shy, and yet the second I bring the camera up to my face, they worked it. It was a muddly, slushy, warm winter day in the Storyhill District, but of course I managed to find some flare :)

oh, cecilia!

I have quite an addiction to perfect little babies . . . it's their smell, of course. But it's also that every handle of their tiny bodies requires such care and gentleness, and it is how we all become a little sweeter and kinder when an infant is in our arms. When I was a young girl, I used to pick up any baby I saw, with or without permission, I didn't care. I'd place the child on my hip and go about my ways, giving the parent a break I know now is all too well appreciated. :) As I grew up, all I ever wanted to do was be a mom. My girlfriends would tease me because I constantly rubbed my belly, without even knowing, because I just could not wait to carry a baby inside. To this day, if a baby is in the room and not even in my arms, I sway, back and forth.

It has been a long time since someone so dear to me and who lives so close to me has had their first baby. Early last year over a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter day, Lauren told me she was expecting this perfect little peanut. Cecilia truly will break your heart. She was born on December 15, 2009, and I cannot get enough of her, and neither can her mama. I get to see all these little miracles all over again . . . when CeCe bats at toys, we stop and stare, and then we cheer her on. We protect her from the wrath of my daughters' dirty hands and sticky kisses. We pass her around on our ladies' nights, saying we want to keep her happy. But really, it's because she keeps us happy.

where, oh where, has my old blog gone?

Well, my beloved blog, where I have shared every story of every wedding, family shoot, personal photos, and personal stories of my life and my business has disappeared into cyber world, without a trace, without an explanation, and without even my hosting company understanding where it went. I did hear that Blogger basically dumped blogs that they were not hosting, yet here I am again, back on Blogger, only because it is important to me that I get this going again, and without having to learn a thousand new tricks. Because all I really want to do is take photographs, and tell stories about them.

I am also making the transition back to my roots, and my business name will now, and always be, Morgan LaMare Photography. It is a scary transition as I gain quite a bit of work from referrals, but my wonderful clients, colleagues and friends are helping me remain one person, and for that I am eternally grateful.

I am searching high and low for my old blog, if only to be able to print its pages and read it through when I'm feeling nostalgic. Some day hopefully in the near future I will be able to hire a fancy schmancy company to customize something beautiful for me . . . but for now, the point is to have a place to share, as I love to share. And since my last post on my long-lost blog, I have photographed a Seattle engagement shoot, Jamaica wedding, and tango session. I have engagement photos to share, and photographs of the most beautiful baby girl I know that you need to see. And I am sure you are dying to hear how my daughters' manners have improved, how my friendships have strengthened, and that I've fallen a bit deeper in love.

Stay tuned, and enjoy :)