I am terrible about sending Christmas cards. Well cards of any sort, really. If you don't believe me, you can ask my mother in law how many birthday and mother's day cards she hasn't received. I still have almost all of them, too.
It's not because I don't want to send cards, or let people know that I am thinking of them and care about them. It's really a conglomeration of 2 issues; one is that I am both a terrible procrastinator AND a bit flaky so that I forget about one thing as soon as I remember that other thing I had to do, and the other is that the moment you try to pressure me to do something, I automatically want to want to do the complete opposite. I absolutely HATE feeling pressured by the Christmas "industry" to send cards, and then feeling guilty if I didn't. Plus, having to buy stamps and write little personal notes to everyone when I have a 3 boys, a baby, a business, a home and 2 pets to take care of...it kinda takes all the joy out of the holidays.


Sometimes I just want to spend my extra time during the holidays WITH MY KIDS.
So this year, I just said no.
Not doing it.


I figured there had to be other people out there like me, right? People who don't want that pressure. I still want my family and friends to see how we have been doing through the year, and I'd like for them to know that we are thinking of them during the holidays, but I don't want the drudgery of Christmas cards.

That's why this year, I am offering family commercial mini sessions! I LOVE this idea, because it get's everything across, is personalized, and can be easily shared with your loved ones!
Now, I know that most of us have family member that are...let's say, technologically impaired, and wouldn't see this kind of video, so I am including 25 beautiful gold foil stamped cards with gold lined envelopes so that those family members who won't see your video will still get gorgeous portraits of their loved ones.


There are only 4 sessions available, so please don't wait to book!
Email me at:  nicoleyorkphotography@rocketmail.com

Senior Representative; Kristiana Tupua

Senior Representative for Yelm High School, Kristiana Tupua...where do I begin? National Honor Society, Running start at South Sound Community College, and a very talented singer who is active in the Yelm High School Select Choir; how in the world could I NOT want my business to be represented by this young lady!?
Aside from all the great qualities she possesses, and c'mon LOOK at the girl she's gorgeous, I was also really excited to photograph part of her heritage. I literally got to watch her Hula on a beach during the sunset. Wow.
Being passionate about singing, and wanting to incorporate that somehow into her Senior Photos, was great fodder for my imagination. I immediately thought, hey, let's glam this girl up and do an homage to Billie Holiday!
Lesson to all...don't give me any excuses to get creative if you don't want me to go all-out-crazy on you!






Here are a few of Kristiana's favorites...and a couple of my own, to boot.

Senior Representative: Kati Armstrong

It is finally time to unveil my first Senior Representative for the Graduating Class of 2014!

I have to say, I am pretty excited about working with these great young adults.

Kati is a 17 year old Senior at Tenino High School. When I read her application, I was struck with the words she used to describe herself...confident, strong, outgoing and loyal. What a great combination is that!?
She is involved in Track and Field, nearly has her black belt in Tang Soo Do, and enjoys camping and riding quads. Aside from the fact that she is smart and gorgeous, she also works on classic muscle cars with her dad, and rides horses. Could she possibly have any more talents up her sleeves?

Oh,  yeah...she can add model to the list, if I have anything to say about it.

We shot both in the studio and on location at her family's property, which had all kinds of great backdrops for shooting, not to mention the fact that we lucked out with some fantastic light.

Big thanks to Kati and her parents for being great sports and letting me photograph their beautiful daughter!





Kati, you have a bright future ahead of you. Go do great things with your Senior year!

Bedtime Stories

I love my job.  Really. I love helping women see their beauty. I love creating unique images that stir the imagination. I love capturing the emotion and romance of a wedding day. I even love the editing process that leaves me waist deep in pixels with a stylus in my hand, rings around my eyes and in desperate need of sugar... I would say Red Bull or a huge coffee, but I don't really do caffeine so a doughnut will have to do it for me.

Sometimes, I get so caught up in everything that running my new business entails, that I forget the other things I love. Like baking bread, playing board games with my kids, or reading to them at night; shoot even having clean clothes feels like a distant memory some days. When I stop to think about the list of things that need to be done in a day, from getting my kiddos ready for school, taking care of our home, my 18 month old, editing, marketing, creating templates, managing finances, home work and boy scouts and the LIST GOES ON...I think I might just like to drown myself in a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

I have a backlog of work to take care of, a HUGE (seriously huge, like, takes up an entire corner of the room and looks like it might eat my bed) pile of laundry to sort, wash, dry, fold and put away, an oven that is desperate for a good cleaning, floors that are longing for the gentle caress of a mop, and a myriad of other things that I *could/should* be doing.

Instead, I read to my boys.

It's been way too long since I read a book to my guys at bedtime. That used to be a nightly ritual for us. I love to read, always have, and I want to foster that love in my boys. It's a quiet time for us to let go of the day, be in each others presence, get lost in a story, and for my most precious pieces of art to listen to the sound of my voice.
For a while now, I have let work the take priority. Starting a new business and managing it and a home and kids on your own is HARD. So I sent the kids to bed with a distracted hug and kiss and mumbled reminder to say their prayers while I sorted and culled images.
There was too much I just _had_to do.

But not tonight.

Tonight I read to my boys, and damn but it was nice.

That was the most relaxed I have felt in weeks. The list will still be there in the morning, but my boys will be another day older and another day closer to not even wanting their mom around at bed time. I might have been gaining an extra 30 minutes to work by sending my boys off to bed, but how much does that really matter?
Evening rituals like bedtime stories will be fondly remembered for the rest of our lives.

I do love my job and will never cease to be honored that people are willing to trust me with their memories.

But tonight was a good reminder to myself and to my boys that I love them MORE.