With my daughter growing so fast, the desire to capture her infancy before it's gone is stronger than ever.  I'm just amazed at her everyday; she learns something new or outgrows yet another set of clothes.  It blows my mind to see just how quick and brilliant she is.  There are only three ways to capture this time in her life:  pictures, video and memories.  I don't want to rely just on memories, so I need to photograph her and take video.

Over the weekend I pulled out my camera again.  It's been sitting in it's case in the office since Anna turned one.  I've been feeling frustrated with myself and it, so I took a little break.  I had bought this gorgeous little white dress before she was ever born and I wanted to take some pictures before she outgrew it.  Even though the dress is frilly and dainty, I knew I wanted a more moody look so I went with natural lighting.  I shot these in my living room with just minimal light from the windows and a couple of floor lamps.  I used Photoshop and Alien Skin Exposure to edit the images. 

My baby isn't such a baby anymore.

 Getting in a little practice with my darling daughter.  I'm excited to be shooting my first infant session tomorrow.

New Directions

I'm taking my photography in a new direction!  Keep an eye out for images of newborns, infants and families.  Thanks for taking this ride with me.

New Look for my website!

Smugmug has unveiled their newest incarnation of their website.  After much deliberation (and more than a few curse words), I've managed to move my site to the new format.  Please take a look!  Http://www.valeriekokphotography.com

Bothell High School

I had the pleasure of assisting on a Michael James Photography photoshoot yesterday.  We were shooting the three football teams, coaches and cheerleaders of Bothell High School.  What a great group of kids they were.  It was really great to work with the other assistant photographers; I hope to have the chance to work with them again.  I had a lot of fun.

I haven't been shooting like I'd hoped to be, but life just seems to be getting in the way lately.  Still, I was able to shoot a very dear friend's wedding and I picked up a new product client.  I've got another shoot coming up next week with another friend, but I'm not going to post those images here.  You can see those images on my website.  I've decided to make this my play area.  Stay tuned for more images.

Entiat River

I got the opportunity to work with a new designer the past couple of weeks.  Gorgeous stuff!  Intricate, delicate jewelry that still manages to pack a punch!  I was very impressed with their work and I'm happy to say that they were pleased with mine.