Holidays, vacations, and a new year...

First, I'd like to say Merry Christmas and I hope all have had a happy and healthy holiday season. This year has been full of new and wonderful experiences for me and my alter ego, Heather Trimm Photography.

I've been a little quiet on the blog this month, but that's just because it's been my busiest yet. This blog post is a recap of December, for those playing along at home.

I started off the month by photographing the Green Holiday Flashback for King County Solid Waste. The photo above is of the Redmond City Hall, during the event on Dec. 5. See more photos.

Next, I visited the Osborn-Burkes home in Tacoma for a Christmas portrait session. We wrangled a dog and two cats to attempt the family shot.

In the end, we moved outside for a photo with Kim, Marcie & Sammy. They picked this one to send out to their family and friends.

I then photographed the Johnson's at Gas Works Park, which I blogged about. Later that evening, I was at the North Helpline and Lake City Food Bank to photograph an open house of the organization's new facility. It's not quite finished yet, and there was a lot of "this will go here, and that will be this" during the tour around a construction zone.

I was tasked with telling a story of the event, as well as taking photos of the "VIPs" and the artwork that will be in the foodbank. All in the 25 photos I promised them in just one hour. I think the above photo is my best photo from the evening. It's women of the Lake City Emblem club, with various others in the background. I didn't know what an Emblem Club was, but I thought having Lake City gave it a sense of place to start with. From what I can gather from its Website the clubs are a ladies version of the Elks, and they often share the same lodges. They have a strong sense of doing volunteer work within the community, and I assume they are active participants at the North Helpline and Lake City Food Bank. So, not only do their vests provide a sense of place, they also give us a symbol of service. Next, you can see the woman in the background with a very nice coat on, the collar appears to be made of fur. I thought this brought in a sense of dependency on donors (large and small) for organizations like this to exist.

Storytelling images like this often appear by chance. I'm constantly keeping my eyes open for details to tell a story in the foreground, as well as the backgrounds of my images. No matter if I'm at a community event, wedding, or family portrait, I'm always striving to tell stories.

The next three shoots were all the same subject: Large Family Groups. But each family was very different and we took photos in unique spaces.

The Wards, had the best setup. We took photos in their garage, and I draped my background across the doors. Mark has his garage wired with tons of extension cords, and I joked that I want this space to be my permanent studio.

In family photo shoots, indoors or out, I focus on making sure that everyone is feeling relaxed and keep shooting until someone in the family starts to joke around. These are the moments that last far after the shoot is over and what make your family pictures most memorable.

Next I took photos of at the Johnson/Plangger Christmas Extravaganza on Christmas Day. After opening gifts at 7 a.m. with my family, Sarah and I hopped in the car and headed for Maple Valley. The were many familiar faces, as I'd recently photographed Chris and Meg, but also because the Johnson's have been family friends for more than 30... dare I say... nearly 40 years. They wanted photos of both sides of the family together, as well as with Grandma and Grandpa Space, who were hosting the lively group.

Baby J is going to have five uncles to teach him the ropes of being in the Johnson/Plangger clan. Meg with her Johnson and Plangger brothers.

Later they said that this photo shoot served at a great icebreaker to an excellent Christmas day, as their two families are learning how to be one.

Finally, the Barnard family had me over this past Sunday. At one point, they were expecting more than 20, although the final count was 12. There was lots of laughter and joking around, which always makes these types of shoots fun. I love unexpected moments...

I've got lots of editing to do from the past week of shooting. I also went on two field trips with CDSA for a project that I'm working on with that organization. I can't post any photos, but I can say that it was tons of fun going to the Children's Museum with a group of preschoolers. I can't wait to share the photos with their families.

Oh, I've also been working with my summer wedding couples to finalize album designs, etc. I got this awesome letter from Carrie & Steve, that you can read. Carrie also shared with me the collage her mom made for them from their wedding photos as a Christmas gift. It's always so much fun to see the creative ways people enjoy photos.

I delivered Scott & Emily's albums, which they gave to their families as gifts. And yesterday I met with Travis & Allison to consult with them about their book. Erin and Alastair are still enjoying their galleries, and we will start their album design sometime after the new year.

As you can see, December has been a busy one! It's been quite a year, full of the unknown and building toward the future. In January and February, I'm going to be doing some major website updates that are long overdue. I invested in a computer upgrade which has improved the efficiency of my workflow dramatically.

Sarah is on vacation this week, and she's encouraged me to take some time off as well. (I'm not doing a good job at all.) I especially couldn't relax until this posting was done. Thanks to all my clients, who hire me to tell your stories and make it easy for me to love my job as your photojournalist.

Happy New Year,

Heather