Elena Photographers

New Blog

2009-05-10T19:44:00.002-04:00

Hi, folks!

Happy Mother's Day!

This day is a great day for me--I have upgraded to a new blog. It looks absolutely amazing. If you are subscribed to my old blog, make sure to update your subscription.

My new address is: http://www.elenaphotographers.com/blog/. See you there!

Trash the Dress, Part II

2009-04-26T18:49:00.006-04:00

Here are a few more of my favorite images from last night's shoot. It was so much fun doing it--I met three local photographers and a few amazing models. I also got to challenge my artistic "juices" a bit :)

The sky was amazing, when the sun came out for a few short minutes.

Look at how gorgeous she looks! She is WEARING that dress like it was meant to be worn.

Janna's husband is away on a trip in Australia, so we made sure to take a few images to make him miss even more :)

When I was capturing this image, it was still raining [the little specks you see is rain], and the rainbow came out. I could not believe how perfect the sky was!

Ladies, thank you for a fun day!

Trash The Dress, Washington Style

2009-04-26T02:33:00.005-04:00

Today was quite a day for me--three different appointments, all of different origin and for different purpose: a consultation with a bride-to-be, a nutrition related movie screening with a Q&A session (this is one of my "other" passions in life) and a Trash The Dress/Bridal session in Kalama, WA (Cowlitz Co.)

It was quite chilly outside, but all of our brides were troopers--they even got into the water of the local lake... Brrrrrr.... But the sun graced us with its presence, as it chose, and we made the best out of it.

Since it is getting late, I will share only a few of my favorites from today. Enjoy! More to come later.

News!

2009-04-20T13:07:00.000-04:00

I can barely contain the excitement… My new web-site is up and running. Full-screen images, client mini-sites, and a shopping cart are just a few new features. Make sure to stop by and check it out: www.elehaphotographers.com! Soon, I will be updating my blog as well! Make sure to check regularly, because once it is up I will be offering a special deal to one lucky winner!

Celebrating Most Amazing Events

2009-04-12T12:52:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Demetrye and I drove out to Seattle, WA to celebrate three most amazing events of our lives, which all happen to coincide on the same day this year: 7 Years since Demetrye's brain surgery, from which he was miraculously helped by our Lord when the doctors could do no more for him; 6 years since the most beautiful day in our life together--our wedding anniversary; and, of course, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus! It could not be a more perfect day today!

Happy Resurrection to everyone! Happy Anniversary, Baby! I am so glad that you came into my life and especially that you decided to spend it with Me!!! I love you! Every day seems to get only better with You!!! And, Thank You, Lord, for the gifts You have given us through Your life, death and Resurrection! You Are Amazing!!!

Photos of the Day

2009-04-10T00:36:00.001-04:00

I am working on editing images from my last weeks baby shoot, in Longview, WA. This image took my breath away. I can't put into words how it makes me feel inside. What a Dad! There is so much love here! Garrett, you are one blessed man!

And this one is no less breath taking...

There are so many times after birth when all the attention is centered around baby and the Mom (and deserving so), but dads somehow slip through cracks and go unnoticed. I think that dads should be celebrated more! Just look at this images.

Enjoy!

Baby E* II

2009-04-06T02:14:00.000-04:00

My wifely duty was fulfilled--rescued my hubby (see post below), so that I could get back home to finish a few more favorites from today's session. They all make me smile...

Never to early to start on the "BLING"...
Amazing, but I actually remember the Mom at about the same age (a couple of months older than that) as her infant son... Where has the time gone?!
Little E's room was beautifully decorated and now is only awaiting pictures to fill the frames. What can be better than the MAN himself to do the honors?..

Little man got tired, and it was time to let him rest.
Sweet dreams, E*! You will be loved in this world...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are in Longview or Kelso, WA area and are looking for a family/children photographer, I would love to hear from you.

Baby E*

2009-04-05T20:32:00.003-04:00

What a fabulous day I had today. I had an opportunity to photograph my grand-nephew, who is only about a week old. He is so beautiful (as you can see).

His Mom and Dad made it warm and comfy (although we were feeling like we were in Hawaii).
He was as alert as they come at that age. He is so blessed to have such loving parents.
Mom (my niece) looks gorgeous to just have given birth.
CUTE!!!

This is just a sneak peak of what is to come... I would have posted more, but just received a call that my hubby locked his keys in the car. So, Irina, just know that I am not discriminating against you :) We love you, guys! You are amazing and blessed to have such a beautiful baby boy.

If you are in Longview or Kelso, WA area and are looking for a family/baby photographer, I would love to hear from you.

Baby Inspiration

2009-04-05T03:49:00.002-04:00

After a long day of Spring cleaning I was looking for some artistic inspiration. Thankfully, whenever I am in the mood to shoot (images that is) I never have to look beyond my own family. There are too many wonderfully beautiful subjects, all I have to do it ask. My sister invited Demetrye and I over for dinner. Need I say how pleased I was--my little niece would provide a perfect end to my busy day. I grabbed my camera and off we went.

I cannot believe how the time has flown by. It seems that only yesterday we were seeing our little angel for the first time, and now she is 8 months old.

She was such a happy model... Super delicious. Look how she "posed" for me.

I loved how her little foot just popped up... Such a perfect moment!
And she already had two cute front teeth... :)

Ahhhh... My day is over... I am off to bed. Thank you, little M for making it perfect! You have prepared me for tomorrow's newborn session :)

Family Addition

2009-04-01T11:37:00.000-04:00

Two days ago my niece Irina gave birth to a wonderfully cute baby boy. We are so happy for her and her husband Garrett. I will be doing a newborn session for them soon, so I can barely wait to share images here. Stay tuned! And have a great day!

Fatherhood

2009-03-22T16:59:00.001-04:00

What an adorable commercial. I am still smiling from ear to ear...

Out of Town

2009-03-09T23:55:00.001-04:00

I will be out of town starting tomorrow, March 10th, and getting back Monday, March 16th. My wonderful husband surprised me with a mini-vacation, and I am more than happy to go!

If you have an urgent request, please contact me through my web-site contact page: www.elenaphotographers.com.

Till next week!

Image of the Day

2009-03-07T18:20:00.002-05:00

My Saturday was off to a great start this week. I got to eat great foods, meet great people... and eat cheesecake.
Check out details on what happened today here: Eat Healthy!!! Be Happy!!!

Exciting Project

2009-03-06T19:27:00.001-05:00

I have been diligently working on launching a new site. It is bigger, better and very exciting. I can hardly wait until it is all done and ready to go... I am only days away from completing it.

While I am getting ready I have an opportunity to update my portfolio with my most current work. I will be adding gems like these:

My new site will be hot and sizzling! Stay tuned!

A Day Off

2009-03-06T14:04:00.003-05:00

I stayed home today, to catch on a little bit of so much needed sleep, and to go through my paperwork to prepare for taxes (yes, I know, I wait a bit long to do it, but in the last few years I did not have a huge incentive to do it early...) While checking my e-mail I decided to grab my camera and try a couple of different lighting and processing techniques. Since there is no one else as willing of a subject as I am, here is the result...

A Few Favorites

2009-03-02T00:31:00.005-05:00

I wanted to share a few more of my favorites from a recent session with gorgeous Jessica and her baby A*. They are too gorgeous not to let others see them.

Impromptu Session

2009-02-22T16:29:00.004-05:00

I am surrounded by beautiful people all the time, and especially in my own family. My niece Oksana was visiting yesterday. We got to spend a little bit of "girl" time together: I did her make-up, hair, and then, which is only natural for me, pulled out my camera and fired a few shots. By "a few" I literally mean just a few this time. I had less than 5 minutes, but she made it very easy for me to walk away with what I wanted to see.

Isn't she model material?

I think that at times people don't realize how beautiful they are until you show it to them. I had met some that would tell me that they are not photogenic, yet I proved them wrong with only a couple shots done at a right angle. Throw in good make-up (for ladies) and a cute hair style, and you can have a "super-model" experience.

If you would like to know what that feels like, visit my web-site: www.elenaphotographer.com (located in Longview, WA, and serving Cowlitz and surrounding counties), and complete a contact form or call me (contact on my site). We can set up a session and help you feel more beautiful, or capture most precious moments in your life.

Beautiful Jessica

2009-02-17T23:10:00.003-05:00

The weather was beautiful last yesterday. It was sunny... but it was also barely over 40 F. Add in being right next to the water and it felt more like 20 F. Jessica was BRAVE! She had a couple of summer outfits. We took breaks warming her up, and warming my hands up. It is a good thing images do not show us shaking :)

Jessica's little girl A* joined us for a bit. She had her own idea of taking pictures--she ran and we chased her.

They are a beautiful pair, aren't they?!

She is pure hotness...
This is one of my favorite images from the day...
...as is this.
Jessica, it was a pleasure working with you and getting to know you a bit more :) Your gallery will be up soon.

Valentine's Surprise

2009-02-17T10:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had a very fun session with beautiful Jessica at the Willow Grove Beach. Here is a sneak peak. More is to come.

Valentine's Day Special for Love Birds!

2009-02-09T15:38:00.004-05:00

Love is in the Air! I know it's true for me... and not only this season--around the month of February :)

To celebrate Couples in Love, I am running a Valentine's Day Special for all who are in LOVE! If you are love struck and want to treat your "honey" to something special--forget the flowers and chocolate! Flowers will wilt, chocolate will be gone before you know it. What lasts is PICTURES! There is no better way to freeze a moment in time than with photographs :) You, of course, can still get the flowers and the chocolate, and we can even make them a part of the pictures :) But you are sure to sweep your sweetheart off her/his feet with a special Valentine's Day photo session!

Or... if you know that you cannot live without the Love of your Life a day longer, maybe you would want to make this Valentine's Day UNFORGETTABLE, and propose? How about proposing On Camera? She does not have to know... at least about the proposal part, until the very moment... And then you will have images that you can pass down to generations to come...

I am full of ideas and... LOVE!

VALENTINE'S SPECIAL

$25 off the Session fee, AND $25 toward a purchase of images/products on orders of $200 or more*

If you don't have someone special yet, I don't want you to feel left out--you are more than welcome to treat yourself to this special as well!!!

If you are in Longview, Kelso WA, Vancouver, WA, Rainier, OR, or anywhere near, drop me an e-mail or call me to schedule! My contact information can be found here: www.elenaphotographers.com.

*Session fee cannot be counted toward $200

Waking Up Early

2009-02-07T08:29:00.004-05:00

We were abruptly awakened at 4 am today by my sister. I was jerked out of my sleep hearing her running up the stairs, telling us to get up. It took only a few seconds to figure out what was happening after her words registered in my brain. All I had to do was look out the window to see this...

Our nearest neighbor's house was ablaze. FD came out in a few short minutes, however not in time to save the house.
We still don't know if the couple that lives in the house was home or not--we are hoping the were away.
We all got dressed and ready to leave, if we had to. I hated waking Mom up. About two years back a house right next to hers burnt down to the ground. The house that is burning today is situated right next to that property. It is hard to imagine what it would be like to be a firefighter and face stress like this on almost daily basis, answering the call of duty. A lot of firefighters are volunteers.
Thank you, Longview Fire Department fire fighters for risking your lives to save our!
We are grateful to God that it was not our house that caught fire. We are thankful that the fire did not spread. And our prayers are for the family that lives in the house, primarily for their safety.

Taken Off

2009-01-13T11:34:00.004-05:00

Today we woke up to see our Mom off to the airport. She is flying out to see my brother in MN. It is amazing that she is nearly 80 and still as brave and independent as ever. We made sure that she had a non-stop flight to make it easy on her. But she is quite a trooper!

It was odd to leave for work today and not know that she is home or that she will be there when we get back, albeit that it is only for a few days. Mothers are wonderful, and ours is the best!

Sweet Songstresses

2009-01-11T10:47:00.004-05:00

Oh, what a day we had yesterday! It started of with a walk-off between Demetrye's friend, Brandon, and myself. We were competing to see who was going to make best time walking around a 3.6 mile lake. I am not going to boast too much, but will only say this--I beat him by 10 minutes. I walked the entire distance in 44 minutes! [No running or jogging was allowed]

So, here is to the sweet moment of victory, right after Brandon caught up with me. [I am grateful that my niece Anastacia came out and snapped these couple of photos with her iPhone.]

And with my "manager", of course. I could not have done it without him bugging me for two days with: "You can do this!" "I believe in you!" "Now get out there and show me what you've got!"

I did try to explain to him, unsuccessfully, that I am a female and that things like that don't really drive me or pump me up... but I finally had to give up and watch him psych himself into a crazy state :) [Love you, babe!]
I don't want to forget to mention that the wager was for Brandon to go on a Vegan diet for 30 days (I did try to convince him), however, he absolutely could not imagine his life without beef, so we settled for 2.5 weeks with no fast food for him. I am loving it! What a way to get someone to commit to a better lifestyle, even it is for a short time.

Anyone out there wants to take up the challenge?

After the walk we went home and I made a three course meal (I know it makes no sense, especially since I won the competition...). We enjoyed food and each other's company.

When I found out that Anastacia (my niece), and Courtney (my newly found daughter [she is not really my daughter, but I love her so]) had their guitars with them, I bugged them to bring them in and sing for us.

The music, the melody, the sweet presence of God filled our house. It was as if He was riding on the wings of their songs as if on the wings of a dove... I still cannot believe that both of them are self-taught...
Anastacia...
Courtney...

I could barely fall asleep after their were gone. The songs kept replaying in my heart and mind over and over again. I think I might have gotten no more than 3 hours of sleep. I am pretty exhausted today. The competition left my body sore, and the music, although enlivened my spirit, left me with no sleep... I fell asleep passed 2 am and was up by 6... But I am not complaining. I hope that one day, when they record their own CD, I will be asked to shoot cover images.

Everyone, I wish you a beautiful Sunday!

Announcement

2009-01-08T13:22:00.003-05:00

For all of you Russian speaking folk out there: my brother, Leonid Pisarchuk, just started a blog. He is a poet, pastor and an artist. Make sure to drop by and welcome him into the on-line community.

www.leonidpisarchuk.wordpress.com

You will find his poetry, paintings, even audio recordings of his teachings on the blog that you can enjoy or purchase! I am SO proud of him! Go, Leo!!!

Mom's Song

2009-01-04T17:37:00.002-05:00

I saw this YouTube video and think it's a blast... Every Mom and every Kid can relate to this. Watch it. I promise you will enjoy it!

...and one for Dads out there:

Christmas Presents

2008-12-26T21:47:00.003-05:00

Snow is starting to melt, and, oh, how glad am I to see it go!!! Demetrye and I had put in 5 hours shoveling it yesterday, so it would not flood our front door, when it melts. Our presents to each other for Christmas happened to be tired bodies and aching backs... But we were grateful for a warm bed afterward.

Before we headed outside to shovel, I took a few last pictures of the wintry mix in our back yard. There is an abandoned old house not too far, it looked almost enchanting under its white burden, with a backdrop of majestic trees.

Blessed Christmas to All!

2008-12-25T13:31:00.003-05:00

We woke up today expecting that the weather was going to change. We were going to shovel old snow out of the way, make a great dinner and enjoy each other's company... I can now officially say that I do not trust the weather.com site... If you look there for our zip code now, it will tell you that it is raining here and might snow with an accumulation of less than an inch of snow. When I look outside I see this:

I don't know about you, but this does not look like rain to me at all! It looks like snowballs are falling from the sky (all the white dots that you are seeing in the air is SNOW!)

At this rate, we will accumilate more than an inch in less than an hour...

With that said, I don't not want to give an impression that I am complaining... I am not!

There are, actually, many things that I am grateful for.

I am grateful that over 2,000 years ago, our [my] Saviour came into this world and took on human flesh to show us the Way back to our Father! I am so grateful that He came, even though He knew that He won't be well accepted. No music, no fanfare for the King of Kings when He was born, just a few humble hearts gathered around His Majestic being.

I am grateful that He came not only to live, but to die and rise on the third day after His death, to redeem us [take us back]. If it were not for His death, His birth would have been in vain. If it were not for His Resurrection, His death and life would have been a waste. But, folks, we got the WHOLE PACKAGE in ONE person--the person of Jesus! If that is not the best Christmas gift, I don't know what is!

I am grateful for a wonderful family, and my irresistible husband! I am grateful for my health, for my job, and for my mind!

So, let not this Christmas day be wrapped up in a tree, the ornaments or the gifts--they are not really the essence of what Christ-mas is. Christ-mas is about Christ! Let's accept Him as the only GIFT today!

Celebrate life! Celebrate family! Celebrate Christ!

Let It Snow... Let It Snow... Let It Snow...

2008-12-24T19:14:00.004-05:00

Just when I thought the snow will start melting away, it picked up again. I believe that I heard that the weather like this has not occurred since 1965... Go figure...

I got home a little early today, after getting groceries for tomorrow's dinner. Mom, Demetrye and I sat down to have lunch together when I looked out the window and saw snow coming down fast and hard. I grabbed my camera and told Demetrye that he will be taking pictures of me today. Demetrye, in turn, told Mom to get ready and come outside to take pictures. Both, Mom and I, got a bit excited in our girly way--taking pictures together is delightful. Mom even ran and put her dentures in today (she was disappointed that she forgot to grab them a couple of days ago, when I took pictures of her).

Here are three pictures from our impromptu session. She is lovely, isn't she?!

Sneak Peek

2008-12-22T20:13:00.006-05:00

Here is a quick sneak peek of a fun session I did today with Mark and Anastacia... They were loads of fun! It was freezing cold outside, yet they decided that they want to stay stylish :)

If you are in Longview/Kelso, WA area and want to record this once-in-a-while unusual snow, right around the holidays, e-mail me or call (contact on my site: http://www.elenaphotographers.com/).

More tomorrow.

Lunch, Photographer Style, and I am the Star of the Show

2008-12-22T09:31:00.001-05:00

I recently blogged about meeting up with a few photographer friends for lunch. I mentioned that we had an impromptu photo session for me. I just saw some images Lori posted of me, so I thought I would post them here, since the ones she posted are on the Facebook, and not all can see.

She made me look pretty ")

She even caught me in action, bossing Shannon around.

Lori, thank you!

All This Snow...

2008-12-21T21:50:00.005-05:00

I cannot believe that it is actually happening in the state of WA--over 5 days of non-stop snow with more on the way. When I lived here from 1992 to 1998, I believe it snowed only a couple of times, and the snow was gone in less than 48 hours... Not this time. The roads are covered with ice and snow... and we are stuck in the house. It just happens that we live on a hill, so getting down, unless you own a 4x4 or have chains for your tires, is pretty much impossible... and pretty dumb. I thought that I knew all there is to know about driving in the snow, having spent almost 10 years living in Columbus, OH, where snow is a normal yearly occurance, but Washington's landscape is completely different than what I was used to. You would not find me on the road now, unless I am walking :)

So, what a girl to do when I have been a prisoner in my own house for a couple of days? I actually did quite a bit: a bit of remodeling, cleaning, laundry, cooking, and, I would not be a photographer otherwise, shooting a few images.

Demetrye had the "honor" of shoveling the entire driveway today. I and my sister did it a couple of days ago, and my back is still sore, so I feel for him.
While I was snapping away, Mom came out and wanted a couple of pictures in the unusually pretty snow. I absolutely adore Mom's cute boots.
...and my darling Mom, of course...
I begged Demetrye to come out and model for me in the snow, since his sister had asked him to send her a few pictures of himself. He finally gave in with the condition that I would take no more than 5 shots of him. This is the only one that he actually stood still for. Am I a lucky girl, or what, to get at least 1 out of 5? (Kashka, this one is for you!)
Then, when he and Mom went back to the house, I went around for a couple of minutes and found pretty stumps and trees to take pictures of.

Who would want a tree like this inside for Christmas? It looks so much better out in nature!
Isn't this pretty? This is my brother's house, across the street from us. By the way, if you are looking for a house, he is selling it. It gets even better, my hubby is a real estate agent, so we can hook you up all the way, just let me know.

Have a beautiful and a safe week!

Jumping for Joy III

2008-12-17T22:47:00.003-05:00

A couple more of my favorite shots from a recent senior session in Longview, WA. This was less than 2 weeks away. The streets are covered in snow now.

New Hair Style

2008-12-13T01:15:00.004-05:00

I thought that it was time for an update, so I gave myself a new hairdo :) It is graduated bob, although you can't really see the back, since this is a self-portrait. I am enjoying it all the way!
Great weekend to Everyone!

Jumping for Joy II

2008-12-07T20:14:00.006-05:00

Here are my most favorite shots from yesterday's Senior Shoot with Zakir.

Zakir looked perfect for this magazine-like image. His outfit, his hair, all were screaming "GQ" all the way.

Zakir did not like to smile for the camera too much, so I had to pull a few tricks out of my bag to actually get him to give me this gorgeous smile.

Zakir was even successful at pulling off a levitation trick :)

The morning sun was amazing and buttery. We were forunate to have a couple of days of sunshine in WA before it started to rain again.

Zakir's hair kept getting in the way (in his eyes, covering his face, etc.), so we went through a couple of exercises to get it to cooperate with us. I kept walking to him and fingering it out of his face, until he could take it no longer... He decided that he could do a better job... this is the result :) I especially love the last image--it is so... glamorous ;)
Zakir, I can hardly believe that it has been already 18 years since the day I was there to wait for you to come into this world, since the day when you stole my heart completely, when your Mom brought you home from the hospital. You were and always will be a bundle of joy to me :)

(Zakir is the little bundle in his Dad's arms... Can you see the resemblence between them? Even their hair styles are alike :))I wish you all the best as you are getting ready to embark on the new chapter in your life! Keep your head up!

Jumping for Joy

2008-12-07T18:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had the honor of spending some time with my nephew Zakir, and not only that, but I was fortunate enough to photograph his senior pictures. Here is a quick preview. More to come!

Things that Move My Heart

2008-12-04T15:53:00.002-05:00

It is a beautiful day outside and I decided to browse the net over my lunch. I came across this photo-story and it made my heart break... but it also made me appreciate the power of photojournalism--the ability to tell someone's story and make you feel someone's emotions...

Have a great day!
(images are by James Nachwey)

Things I am Thankful For...

2008-11-27T14:13:00.006-05:00

I got up this morning a bit early--8 am. It was not because I am going to cook a turkey either--I don't eat meat, so I have that much less headache to face on Thanksgiving. But Thanksgiving should never be about a meal, it should be about things that we are thankful for. It is about celebrating God's gifts in our lives, be it people, a job, health, things that we have or talents we posses.

So, with that in mind, I want to tell you what I am thankful for. I am grateful for a wonderful husband, for the gift of Salvation, for a great family and friends, for a job that I have, for health in my body and breath in my nostrils, for imperfect perfections in my life (one of which is myself :)), and for the future ahead of me.

I was browsing the net and came across this video, which is one of many from the Dove campaign. I am glad that someone is addressing the issue of Fake Reality. It is no wonder our teenagers and women are pressured to be PERFECT (whatever that is). See for yourself.

So, on this Thanksgiving day, I want to thank God for making us PERFECTLY HUMAN--created in HIS image.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

When You're Down and Out...

2008-11-24T16:59:00.005-05:00

I woke up today feeling a bit groggy and sorry for myself for the things that I am facing. At lunch I came across this post: Destination Wedding Photographer: Congo Rape and it broke my heart into million pieces. What I am facing in life is not even half as bad as what this little girl had to live through, yet she is forced to make it through every day of her life. I felt this morning that I had lost my song and I was amazed to read that the father of this little girls said the same thing about her, after her tragedy. I pray the little girl's worst fears will not come true. I pray that her little heart will get mended and that she will find her song again. I am grateful that my sorrows are nowhere near a tragedy like this one.

Have a great day, everyone! If you have a song in your heart, sing it loud! Sing it with joy! And... be grateful!

Lunch, Photographer Style

2008-11-22T20:21:00.005-05:00

Today I, Shannon of Lucky Red Hen, Lori , Mandi of Mandi Mcdougall Lifestyle Photography and Scott of RS Digital Imagery met for lunch. It was great to connect with people who are passionate about same things and have similar interests. Unfortunately by the time we got around to taking a picture together Mandi was already gone, so it was just the four of us...

After lunch we went outside and had a quick photo session (actually I got spoiled and the ladies took pictures of me, more than I did of anything at all). I liked Shannon's shoes...
And then we took a few pictures of us taking pictures of each other (something only photographers will think of doing...)
Demetrye could not come to lunch with me today--he was showing a house, so Shannon send some love his way... (Shannon, it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside ;))

(By the way, the cigarette butts to the left of where Shannon is sitting, are not hers :) I just want to clear that up before anyone assumes that she is a heavy "user" :) Love you, Shannon ;))
And here is Lori... She has an amazing smile that makes you smile right back at her, even if you did not feel like smiling to start with.
(Lori was posing for Shannon when I grabbed this shot).

Shannon, Lori, Scott, Mandi, thank you for coming out. I enjoyed my time off with you today. Shannon and Lori, I am looking forward to seeing images that you had taken :)

Mysterious Lady

2008-11-22T00:38:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to share one image from one of the sessions I did this year. This is the only image from the session that I am allowed to share, and it is a beautiful one at that.

Three Musketeers

2008-11-18T23:20:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we visited my niece and nephew. They have the most adorable three kiddos, who have Demetrye (my husband) wrapped around their tiny fingers, especially the youngest one. While there I did an impromptu session with them. They are true models (again, especially the youngest one)--they love to have their pictures taken. After every shot they would run to me and ask to see the image. It was an easy way to bribe them to behave.

Here is the oldest one. She is so gentle and beautiful.

The youngest is an attention grabber... loves the camera.
I had so much fun watching them swing and twirl in their room... I wish my parents let me do things like that in the house when I was growing up.

Boys will be boys...
Little K* took me to her parents' room to get undivided attention and to model...

Great-Grandma was visiting also. A shot with her is a must.
J* is a character. He used to be shy around me, but not any longer...
Aren't they the most adorable bunch?
Anna, my niece, our gracious hostess (on the right) with her cousin Rita, young lady of tender beauty... Rita has an amazing smile. I wish I had captured it...

Well, every chapter has an ending. This is it for me tonight. Until next time--Enjoy life!

Baby Dreams

2008-11-17T23:33:00.003-05:00

Here are a few more of my favorites of Baby T* and his lovely Mom from yesterday's session.

Pure innocence.
If there was a modern image of Madonna and Child, this surely would come close to being IT :)
There is so much love and tenderness in these images, it makes me feel warn inside every time I look at them.

Baby T*

2008-11-17T02:01:00.004-05:00

Just recently, less than a month ago, our family welcomed a new family member--my grandnephew, baby T*. We was a long-awaited and a highly desired gift for his parents (my nephew and his wife). He is a doll and a joy!

Such a Grown-Up Expression

2008-11-12T14:55:00.003-05:00

It makes me wonder what she might be thinking about... Kids are just wonderful, they smile when no one is around, for no reason; they cry in sleep; and you never know what they are thinking...

Little Feet

2008-11-12T00:31:00.003-05:00

One of my favorites from a recent Baby Session :)

Blue Eye Beauty...

2008-11-09T01:13:00.004-05:00

Lately I had nearly neglected my blogging duties, but there is a logical explanation to it... I promise... It might even make you feel for me a little.

In the last month we moved, Demetrye started a new career, and we are remodeling my Mom's house, and not just lightly, but the entire, two-story house, from top to bottom. So with all this, and my many other numerous daily duties, I barely have a chance to process pictures that I had recently taken. I now feel like my images are held captive on the memory cards, begging to come out. So, I no longer could torture them, and decided to pull out at least a few :)

My beautiful little niece is now nearly 3 months old, and as pretty as ever. Only now there is a little bit more of her to love--she has grown so much (almost double in weight!)

Reflection

2008-10-20T11:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Demetrye went bike-riding with a few of his friends and I had the afternoon to myself. I decided to take it as an opportunity to catch up on a couple of things. Afterward I went to my sister’s house to capture a few images of my niece, who is already over 2 months old (I will post a couple of pictures this week) and is absolutely adorable.

As I was driving to my sister’s house, I was awestruck by the nature. Bright colors of red, yellow, green and brown were sparkling around me in the afternoon sunlight. It seemed as if the majestic hills were whispering sweet lullabies into the ears of the trees, and the trees knew nothing better than to offer themselves in sweet surrender. As they were falling asleep, their leaves changed colors and silently fell to the ground, as if to become a blanket to the trees they grew on. I could almost hear the leaves whisper sweet “goodbyes” and “thank yous” to their mother-trees. They had to give back of themselves to their “mothers”, as they were given sap and nutrients and a chance to live by the trees throughout the year. They also had to let go of their short lives in order to pave a way for their “siblings” to be “born” the next year. They had to die so new life could come.

My heart silently praised my Lord for His death. Death that brought me life. Death that allowed me to be reborn and to be engrafted into the tree of eternity.

My Joy and My Pride

2008-10-18T18:07:00.002-04:00

I could not be more proud this week. Demetrye passed his State Real Estate exam and is gearing up to start working next week. He did SO wonderful on the test--he completed it in less than 2 hours (applicants are normally given 5 hours).

Demetrye "hired" me to do his head shots for the business card (my wages were: a hug and a kiss... and will be so much more once he starts selling :)). Isn't he handsome?

So, if you are in the local area (near or around Longview/Kelso, WA) and need an awesome Real Estate Agent, let me know and I will hook you up with the best!!!

Congratulations, darling!

Summer is now Gone

2008-09-24T11:38:00.002-04:00

With lazy days of summer gone, we now wake up to chilly mornings and shorter days. Several days ago Demetrye brought me a bouquet of my favorite flowers—lilies. I like flowers that are beautiful through simplicity: daisies, lilies, etc.

As the sun was going down I snapped an image of them, to remind myself of the summer during coming rainy months.

One More B-Day :)

2008-09-07T21:25:00.002-04:00

A couple of days ago we celebrated a couple more birthdays in our family--my sister and her b-day present--my nephew. It was a double-whammy.

Yaroslav is my mischievous angel. The little man behind him is another one of my nephews. He has never been shy in front of a camera.
I was trying to catch a mother-son moment, but Yaroslav was camera-shy...
but not for too long :) Apparently getting gifts is the best way to loosen up!
This is my adorable great-niece Vera. Isn't she a cutie!!! Look at here eyes!
Happy b-day, Nadia and Yaroslav!!!

Mom's Birthday Celebration

2008-08-31T22:13:00.004-04:00

Yesterday our family got together to celebrate Mom's birthday. It was supposed to be a "surprise" party, but one of my nephews happened to (unknowingly) tell Mom about it. She was pleased nonetheless.

We gathered around a long-long table, had great food and had time to talk to each other and to reminisce about the past (Mom's memoir quickly became a great conversation piece).
This is an adorable shot of my brother Andrey and his grandson playing a tag-of-war with their mouths... I love the concentration on the little man's face...
Our newly engaged couple: Nina and Carson. Their wedding is set for the next summer.

I had my camera on hand to take pictures of anyone who was willing to pose. This is my gorgeous niece Luba with her Grandma.

Mom's great-grand-daughter (she was not willing to smile for me, no matter what I tried in the few seconds I had with her).
The "rascals" were there as well. I can hardly believe they have outgrown Mom so quickly.
And this is those of us who made it to the party (about half of our large family).

It is Finally Here!!!

2008-08-28T22:40:00.003-04:00

After three years of hard work ("sweat" and tears) I finally held the fruit of my labor in my hands. My Mom's memoirs are finally published... and just in time for her birthday, which is today.

She is still the most amazing person I have ever met in my life. To this day her character and personality do not cease to surprise me with kindness and quite strength. I wish everyone in the world had a mother like mine.

As I presented my precious Mom with this timeless gift, at first she did not realize what it was, but then, after looking at the book for a couple of seconds, she grabbed me and held as tight as she could for a few seconds. Her body started to shake as a falling leaf... but then she relaxed and a smile, mixed with tears of unbelief, came across her beautifully warm face. She was speechless. Literally... She managed to say: "Thank you!" and then embraced me once again. There is nothing else that I could have imagined to give her on her 79th birthday that would have made her happier. I know one thing that could--having my Dad by her side, but that, unfortunately is not in my human power. I came as close to it as I possibly could, by embedding his photographs in the pages of her memoirs, to remind her of the love and the life they shared. It is not that she needs a reminder, but it makes memories that much more real.

The next year or so will be dedicated to translating the memoirs into English for those in our family who cannot read or speak Russian. I know it will be a challenge, but I am more than willing to start on this next step of the journey. After all, there is nothing more important than family, and preserving family's history.

To those of you out there who ever thought about starting the same kind of project, my advice is--jump on it as fast and as hard as you can. We have our parents and relatives but for a mere moment (or so it seems). We cannot allow to waste any time and let hem to pass on without helping them to leave a "foot print" behind. Make their lives count!!! Make their memories last! And give a meaning to the next generation that will come after them and you! You won't regret it... I promise.

Happy Birthday, Yaromir!!!

2008-08-25T01:31:00.006-04:00

Today my nephew Yaromir turned 15!!! It seems that only yesterday he was a toddler. Time flu by. He is an amazing young man now and a total sweetheart (I can say that--I am his aunt :) )

Happy B-day, Yaromir!!!

Yaromir did not want to face the camera, so I had to get what I could :)
That's what I call a b-day cake!!! Easy and delicious!
Yaroslav, the one on the right, is an angel. Every time I see his face my heart becomes softer than melted wax. I pray I have a child like him one day. The other nephew,Timur, is also a sweetie, and an absolute energy ball.
As is his twin brother Avenir.
Avenir, the on at the top, if you closely observe his left hand, is pointing to his "owie".
I asked the two to make silly faces. They had a bagful of them.
And then I asked them to give each other a hug. Avenir, the one on the left, was all for it, but Timur... not so much.
Avernir had to pin him down long enough for me to get this shot...and this one.
I am a blessed aunt, I can't deny :)

Little Feet

2008-08-23T12:40:00.001-04:00

She is 1.5 Weeks Now!!!

2008-08-23T01:04:00.004-04:00

I know that it seems that all I have been posting lately is baby session pictures of my little niece. I just cannot help myself!!! She is our little angel now!

Our little peanut is growing. She is 1.5 weeks old and getting more and more beautiful. But I will let you be the judge of that :)
She's got many faces. They range from this...
to this... within seconds.
Happy aunt Marina :)
She is simply perfect!
It almost looks like the two Marinas were having a fun conversation here...
... and Marina (the niece) was intently listening to her aunt.
Sound asleep in the warmth of the sun peeking through the window.
Little pea in a pod :)

Photo of the Day

2008-08-16T15:07:00.003-04:00

I just found one more jewel out of the pictures Demetrye had taken yesterday. I was kissing my niece on her heavenly soft cheek when he snapped this shot. I simply cannot put into words how emotional this image is...

Day 4

2008-08-16T01:51:00.007-04:00

I had another hectic day and was planning to spend the rest of it preparing for a big presentation I am doing next week. However, it was SOOOOOOOOOO hot out that we could no longer stay in (apparently someone decided that air conditioners are not a necessity in the state of Washington). We simply had to get out until the air cools off. So, we decided that we were going to visit with Jason, Luba and Marina. It was their first day home and we had to, just had to, make sure they were doing OK ;) (at least that was my excuse). On top of that I realized that I did not have even on single shot WITH my little angel. I grabbed my camera and off we went.

When we got to the house Marina was sun-bathing (I am still amazed at how alert she is).

And then it was time for aunt Elena to grab a few shots with the precious angel. I could not be happier with how Demetrye handled this "complex" assignment.

Isn't this shot just a perfection? She was looking right at the camera... This one is one of my absolute favorites...
closely followed by this shot.

After Marina was fed I was given the task of burping her. I laid her on her tummy. She was as relaxed as they come: both hands dangling in the air, and sound asleep. Thankfully Demetrye was nearby to grab this shot.
And then we gave Luba a few minutes to herself. I got the baby (and the camera) and headed outside. It was Marina's official FIRST DAY out :) As you can see, her daddy already has a shotgun prepared to keep the boys away.
Love, love this moment....
It was not too long before our princess was sound asleep...
and, oh, so beautiful!!!

She is Growing :)

2008-08-14T21:08:00.003-04:00

I know that it is hard to say that, but she IS growing. She is 52 hrs old now :) I stopped by the hospital yesterday to watch her for a few hours, while her mom was catching up on sleep. I was able to steal away a few precious moments. I used no flash, not to disturb the baby or the mom, so I had to bump up exposure as high as I could, which was 3200 ISO in this case.

Spending one-on-one time with grandma... She happens to be 51-st grandchild.
It is amazing how alert she has been since birth.
I was so fortunate to have been holding the camera in my hands when she had this expression. It looked like she was getting ready to cry...
but she quickly changed her mind and gave uncle Demetrye a gentle smile.
She is beautiful and my heart melts every time I get to hold this precious gift that God has given our family.

She is Here!!!

2008-08-12T23:41:00.005-04:00

The wait is finally over! My little niece had finally left the comforts of her mommy's womb and came out to bring joy to all of us. Marina was born around 2 p.m. today, a healthy 7 lbs 4 oz. She is a beauty. I am not saying it because she is my niece, although that plays a big role, but because she truly is a piece of perfection, a work of art, a gift from above.

I had the honor of being one of the first to be welcomed into her presence, partly because I was recording the blessed event. Look at these breathtaking moments...

Luba and Jason kept the babies name a secret until the very last moment...
Happy aunt Marina (yes, she was the force and the inspiration behind our niece's name) in anticipation before we were allowed to go in and visit...
Jason came out to bring in the first group. He was beaming with joy. He had wanted a daughter for such a long time and now his desires came true. His mom, Val, was ecstatic.
Marina has a big brother, Nathan. He was anxious to get in and see her for the first time...
... and, oh, so excited...
and loving.
Grandma Luba spent some one-on-one with her 51-st grandchild :)
My sister Luba was such a trooper. She had to undergo a C-section, but still managed to look great, although tired.

And, oh yes, one more Luba (she is our third generation Luba), greeting her cousin (yes, cousin).
Grandma Val had a bit of bonding time as well.
And finally Marina was holding Marina for the first time.

I loved watching my wonderful man holding my niece. He was so gentle and careful.
The nurse came in to check on the baby. Marina was a bit tired and hungry by then and let us hear her beautiful voice :)

Welcome to the world, Marina!!! Luba and Jason, congratulations!!!

Will Post Soon

2008-08-11T19:15:00.003-04:00

I know I have not posted in a while, and I apologize. I have been preoccupied with a super-awesome project: I am finishing up my mom's memoirs and getting the book ready for print. I am also joggling a couple more projects, and... my sister is supposed to be delivering her baby-girl tomorrow. I will be taking tons of pictures.

This is my amazing family. I am the youngest (in my mom's arms).

Expecting Couple II

2008-08-03T13:24:00.002-04:00

I am about to head on out of town, but before I do, I wanted to add a few more shots from yesterday's Maternity Session. Enjoy!!!

Expecting Couple

2008-08-03T03:16:00.002-04:00

My sister Luba is due within the next week or so. We all can barely wait. Today I had so much fun doing Luba's maternity session. Here is a sneak-peak.

And this is one of my absolute favorites.

Self-Portrait

2008-08-01T17:58:00.002-04:00

Once in a while we all feel like we need to capture ourselves and freeze one moment in time. The way we are. Yesterday while getting ready for a work-out, I was putting a little bit of make-up on and decided that it was one of those moments for me. I asked Demetrye to snap a shot of me. It's a good thing that he knows exactly what I want :)

Believe it or not, but I did not do any retouching on this image, not even one blemish was covered. With on-camera flash from the front and daylight coming from the window behind me, I adjusted curves, snarpened the image and made a couple of other minor adjustments, and here it is...

AS I AM...

Baby Shower

2008-07-20T00:52:00.007-04:00

What a day it has been!!! Today was my beautiful sister Luba's baby shower. She is due in less than a month!!! Our entire family is SO excited!

The cake was made by my sister Olga. Isn't it a cutie?
And the inside looks as great as the outside...

Marina and Luba were in charge of entertainment and did such a wonderful job. One of the games they had everyone play was a great ice breaker. Each person was given split seconds (while Marina played music) to try to open the gift box with oven mittens. It was a riot to see everyone try their hardest to get to the gift through layers and layers of paper and a box. Luba gave everyone instructions on what to do and the fun began...
After great food and a games it was time for presents :)
Jason, Luba's husband, along with his brother and my hubby crashed our girl-only party, and just in time for presents...
Luba looks so radiant!!! I can hardly believe she managed to stay so tiny.
I am not sure what she was whispering into his ear, but they are absolutely beautiful together, and just to think these two are responsible for bringing a miracle into this world (with God's help, of course) is amazing. They are going to make me a proud auntie of a baby girl next month!!!
My Mom had knitted this little booties for her grand-daughter. They are picture perfect.

Luba & Jason, you both ROCK!!!

Photo of the Day

2008-07-10T21:16:00.000-04:00

One of my favorites of amazingly gorgeous Masha...

Flower with an Attitude

2008-07-09T00:02:00.002-04:00

I was recently responsible for watering my sister's garden, while she and her family were vacationing in California. I rewarded myself for hard work with a bouquet from her garden. The flowers "spoke" to me. This is how I saw them.

Independence Day!!!

2008-07-06T18:27:00.011-04:00

I know that it has been a couple of days since the actual event, but I have been so busy that today was the first day I was able to get to my PC.

This independence day was like no other for us. Demetrye and I picked up three of our nephews from Vancouver to visit with us, since we missed them so much. They managed to stay up until 4 a.m. watching a movie and talking to each other. In the morning of the 4th we took them to visit with their Grandma. And what a visit it was!!! Mom arm-wrestled with her grandchildren. And let me tell you, she is much stronger than I am. She beat me on a couple of occasions.

Then Sasha decided to arm-wrestle Demetrye. Demetrye is left-handed, but had no trouble making Sasha sweat with his right arm, before mercilessly beating him.

The fun continued when the boys decided to wrestle...
Maxim was the only wise one--he ate fresh raspberries and watched.
Then we headed for the lake, where fireworks were supposed to be fired that night. Our church had a booth, selling Russian food, raising money to buy a new "home" (building).
I caught this "intense" stare-off moment between Yegor and Demetrye. I think Demetrye was trying to hypnotize Yegor into giving him free food.
This part goes to the Unsung Heroes of the Independence Day: people that make things happen.

My beautiful, ever-young sister Olga. She is so full of poise and grace.
The following two shots have something in common. I did not purposefully capture them this way and only discovered the commonality while loading images to PC... Take a wild shot at guessing what it is.
If you guessed that it was a young lady (my niece Luba) eating, you were right. Turns out, poor thing, was trying to get a bite to eat for about a half hour, but was constantly pulled in multiple directions. I think she was finally able to get her food down before getting back to work.
Alla, my niece, hard at work.
My brother Timothy and his beautiful wife Olga.
My brother and pastor, Leonid. He was responsible for making dough for pastries (krebli) and meat pockets.
My ever-gorgeous sister Marina.
And radiantly pregnant sister Luba. She was such a trooper. I don't think she ever took a break from cooking and cleaning.
Aleksey (my nephew) and my sister Nadia were tirelessly at work the entire day as well.
And here is my sweet-heart at work with Jason, Luba's husband.
The way Morgan and Gene worked cannot be put into words. They were in the heat of the kitchen on their feet since early morning until almost midnight with no breaks--men that made things possible and kept our cashiers busy.
Jessica... what a young lady!!! She is a superstar when it comes to selling. While I was rolling the dough (not rolling in the dough :)) I could often hear her yell out: "RUSSIAN FOOD--SO GOOD!!!" Her voice was etched into my brain. I think that when I went to sleep that night I still could hear her.
Clinton and Zach serving up the last of "krebli" aka "elephant-ears".
Tired but still beautiful...
And then it was time for the fireworks...
Thousands came out to watch.
God, bless America--our home, sweet home!

Strawberry Time

2008-07-01T02:23:00.003-04:00

Thanks to our new friends, Darlene and Eric, we are now loaded with fresh organic strawberries. Darlene contacted me recently to see if I wanted to get some. OF COURSE!!! was my response. And so I ordered 4 whole boxes (each box is about 10 lbs.). You might think I am crazy and we will never get through all of them before they go bad... That might be right, except, after Demetrye and I washed and cleaned them we bagged them and now they will be sitting in our freezer, ready for the pleasure of our vegan taste buds...

My tiny freezer is overflowing with strawberries... and yes, you are seeing it right, I even separated the large ones from the rest, so I can have them ready for desserts such as Fruit Tarts whenever I need them.
Thank God for Demetrye. If it were not for him I would still be stuck by the sink. But we knocked it all out in about 2 hours!!! I was bagging and labeling for the most part and he did the rest. I could hardly keep up with him!

So, if you are in the neighbourhood and happen to stop by to visit, you just might be treated to some Strawberry Ice Cream, Fruit Tarts or a delicious Smoothie.

It Was a Great... "Mexican Train" Night...

2008-06-28T02:29:00.008-04:00

It was a great night tonight. Irina, my niece, and her husband Garrett came over for dinner. After eating a great vegan three course meal we got to talking and found out that they enjoy playing a good game as much as we do. So... the opportunity presented itself and we introduced them to one of the funnest games around... Drumroll, please... The Mexican Train!!! Let me tell you this, I never played poker, but I am sure that this is more fun... Don't stone me for saying it, but you will see what I mean in just a few.

We started playing at around 7 p.m. As you can see it was still light out.

It was not long before Garrett caught on to the game and down came his shades and the poker face...

Demetrye and Irina did not want to be left out and wanted to look as cool... (So, I was the only honest face in the house... but I did hide behind my camera a few times to steal away these shots.) Look at Demetrye holding his dominos as if they were cards...
Forget the poker face... Demetrye could not hold his excitement when he scored.
You can see how dark it is outside... We finished playing at.... yep, 10:30 p.m.!!! Crazy, but so much fun. And would you look at these three...
While playing, we got to hear a story about Garrett's proposal to Irina. It is one of the coolest I had heard so far, and maybe one day I will be able to share it.

Garrett & Irina, we had a great time!!! Oh, and I forgot to tell you this: Team W. (that is Demetrye and I) WON!!!! Yes we did!!!

Strap on Your Seatbelts....

2008-06-25T22:39:00.008-04:00

Today I had SOOOOOOO much fun shooting a session in Vancouver, WA. It is hard to describe the adrenaline rush a photographer can get from capturing beautiful images... Today was one of those days.

When I initially started the session with my beautiful subject :) Masha I had captured a lot of great images... However, by the end of the session Masha had broken out of her shell and became the super model she is inside: beautiful, timeless and fierce...

See if you can figure out which images were captured at the end of the session and which in the beginning ;)... and they are not in any specific order.

Masha, you rocked it out!!! I had a great time :)

Gorgeous Model... My Husband

2008-06-23T14:50:00.002-04:00

Check out Lucky Red Hen's (lovely Shannon) post. She added Demetrye's photos from a recent shoot in Seattle, where he was our model. I "stole" a few pictures from her blog, so I can add them here. To see more click on the link above.

This is my absolute favorite.

Even though I look dead tired on this one, I really like it, because I am with my sweetheart :)
Thank you, Shannon. You rock!!!

Making New Friends

2008-06-21T16:21:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago I was blessed to meet Darlene in a nutrition store. Darlene and I share same passions when it comes to nutrition. Miraculously Darlene's family is also vegan... which is rare in the part of the world where we live now. It was not long before we started to e-mail each other and I felt as if I had known Darlene for ages. What was even more amazing is that our families also share same spiritual values, which is a wonderful thing.

A couple of weeks ago we had Darlene, Eric (her husband) and their energetic 4-year old son over for dinner. Since I was so preoccupied with getting things done and keeping our guests comfortable, I did not get to take any photos. Yesterday, however, I did not miss my opportunity.

Darlene and Eric invited us over for dinner. They live out in the "country", where you are not disturbed by the noise of cars going by, or neighbors moving their furniture every day :) My favorite part of being so far away from the city was the quietness and serenity. Living life the way it is supposed to be without any bells or whistles...

Darlene made an amazing RAW foods dinner for us. It turned out that we share one more thing in common: we make up our recipes as we go along, without ever writing them down, or knwing exact proportions--we simply eyeball everything. Darlene's son, Wyatt, was a huge helper. Here he is helping to make banana ice cream (for all of you non-vegans, it is simply frozen bananas put through a juicer).

I like the level of Wyatt's concentration in this image...
What Demetrye and I absolutely loved about watching a little boy who is being raised as a vegan, since that is how we are going to be raising our kids, is that he ate his fruits and veggies with such an appetite and enthusiasm as if it were candy. Here he is munching on a frozen banana.
...this is our banana ice cream... it still makes my mouth water just looking at it.
After dinner Demetrye and Wyatt had a little bonding time...
Eric, Darlene and Wyatt, thank you for having us over. We are going to be asking you to invite us again soon, so we can sit by the fire and have more great conversations.

Things that make you go: HUH?!.............

2008-06-17T18:00:00.002-04:00

My niece, Anastacia, sent me this camera-phone shot today...

What was their marketing team thinking? I wander... You can't just pull if out of thin air... or, perhaps, that is how they did it...

Have a great day, everyone! And remember to find things to smile about.

Photo of the Day

2008-06-17T15:45:00.004-04:00

Oh, who am I kidding? There are a few of them that had been held captive on my PC. It is time I set them free :)

Surprise B-Day Party

2008-06-15T23:04:00.005-04:00

I know that I have not posted in over a week. My schedule has been pretty packed. Also, it was my sweetheart's b-day last week. I really wanted to surprise him this year... so I threw him a surprise b-day party. It was actually very easy to do. I did all the planning and calling with him in the house--can't beat knowing another language in situations like this. He thought I was talking with my Mom while I was calling my relatives, creating menu, etc. It was even more of surprise to him because I waited almost a week after his actual b-day to celebrate. So, when this last Friday, I told him that we were invited for dinner to my sister's house, he was clueless. When we got there he was more than delighted and surprised.

Here he is with our gracious host, my sister Olga...
I am not going to tell you how many candles he had to blow out :) Alla, my niece, made Demetrye a cake... his favorite--chocolate.

I made a slide-show of Demetrye's life to share with family and friends. If you would like to see it, press play on the image below. Wasn't he a beautiful little boy?

After dinner Demetrye, along with other grown men, were challenged by my nephews to prove that they are still young by joining them on a trampoline. Three of them, Demetrye, Jason, my sister's husband, and Garrett, my niece's husband, responded to the challenge and had proven that they still got it.

I would love to thank my entire family for making this surprise possible. I could not have pulled it off without you. Thank you for your love and all the wonderful, delicious dishes.

Demetrye, sweetheart, happy birthday. You bring sunshine into my life. I don't think there is anyone better than you out there. You rock my world!!!

Great Evening

2008-06-05T22:04:00.003-04:00

Demetrye and I had such a wonderful evening yesterday. My niece Anna and her husband Edward, along with their three beautiful children came for a visit. They are such an awesome family. Eddie and Anna are great parents, their kids are so lovely and well-behaved. We could not have asked for better little visitors.

We were in our office looking at pictures, while these three little miracles were watching Aristocats. I grabbed my camera and snicked for a split second into the living room to steal a few shots.

It was not too long before I got noticed...
Jesse, unlike his two sisters, is a bit camera shy. He was trying to hide while I was taking pictures.

Great family!!! Great times!!!

Snow White and 7 Dwarfs...

2008-06-01T01:11:00.006-04:00

So, I finally had a chance to sit down and finish off photos from the time of my nephews' visit. As you can see from the picture below, the title makes perfect sense: seven of them, and only one of me for the entire 2 days.

Sasha is a prime example of a sanguine personality. He cannot allow a moment to go by without being the center of attention. Check out these photos. They speak for themselves.

I begged the boys to sit still, if only for one shot... This ended up the only shot they did.And then the insanity issued... They begged me to put all of the photos I took on the blog, but there were way too many. I adore the expression on Demetrye's face on this one... for all the wrong reasons.

Ebony and Ivory

2008-05-30T16:00:00.003-04:00

When my nephews were visiting a few weeks ago, they thought it would be so-o-o-o much fun to take this photo of Maxim and Demetrye...
The picture reminds me of a song:

Ebony And Ivory

Live Together In Perfect Harmony

Side By Side On My Piano Keyboard

Oh Lord, Why Don't We?

We All Know

That People Are The Same Wherever You Go

There Is Good And Bad In Ev'ryone,

We Learn To Live,

We Learn To Give Each Other

What We Need To Survive Together Alive.

Have a great day, everyone! And remember to find something to smile about today.

Help a Great Cause

2008-05-28T22:01:00.002-04:00

A local organization (Victory Center) and the Church of Truth, whose primary target is to reach the broken and the destitute, have recently lost their "home" and are now looking to find a new one. The two , along with Mountain Ministries have joined forces to help homeless and those bound by addiction to find freedom through personal relationship with Christ. While statistics show that relapse percentage is high among drug and alcoholic addicts, Mountain Ministries' approach has shown a 70% and higher success rate. I, wholeheartedly, believe that causes like this one should be supported at all cost.

A new building, that will be suitable for use by these organizations, has been found and they are now looking to raise funds to purchase it. Here is a picture of it.

They will be hosting a Silent Auction this Saturday to raise funds at Columbia Height Assembly of God's youth building, the Salvage Yard, at 3609 Columbia Heights Rd., Longview, WA 98632. If you are unable to come, but still would like to donate, please follow instructions on their auction page. You can also bid on-line. A session with Elena Photographers (us) is listed among many wonderful things. It is a win-win situation. Please consider helping.

Have a great rest of the week!!!

Photo of the Day

2008-05-28T21:59:00.001-04:00

Mini-Vacation

2008-05-24T01:59:00.006-04:00

Demetrye had a few days off, so we made reservations at a resort at Depoe Bay, OR. The weather, unfortunately, did not cooperate with us, so we spent most of our time indoors and at a spa. However, everything else was perfect. I was able to completely disconnect from the "real world" and enjoy every moment we had together.

My wonderful Mom came along with us. She spent her time reading, knitting and taking long baths... after spending at least an hour at a spa each day. Mom and Demetrye got along just fine...

And when Mom took a moment to look in the window and saw something beautiful she would send me out with my camera to take a picture...

She even braved the cold weather and went outside to watch seagulls.
This pair makes me happy at all times. Two of my favorite people in the entire world...
Mom listened to Demetrye read an article from Forbes, even though she could not understand him...
I love her hands... They are so comforting, loving and beautiful.
A couple more pictures of yesterday's sunset.

Brothers

2008-05-19T17:27:00.002-04:00

Autumn's Many Faces

2008-05-19T01:57:00.002-04:00

And all of them are absolutely beautiful...

A Few of My Favorites

2008-05-15T04:41:00.003-04:00

I have a few more favorites I wanted to add of the bridal shoot I had with Anastacia a few weeks ago...

Anastacia's friend, Autumn, came along to help us and keep company. She has the most brilliant smile I have ever seen. Her eyes are amazingly beautiful. If I am lucky enough she will ask me to do her senior pictures next year :)

Most Romantic Man I Know

2008-05-14T01:37:00.003-04:00

Lately I have always been home when Demetrye leaves for work. Today, however, I had to leave a couple of hours before him to attend Association of Bridal Consultants meeting in Portland. It felt odd, and I was not all too happy about it, especially because Demetrye is on for the night shift today, so I will be home alone. Last night I told him that when I went to bed I imagined that he was laying next to me, so that I could fall asleep. When I got home, after the meeting, I found this on his pillow... ...and his PJs were laid out neatly on his side of the bed. The note made me smile, but at the same time it made me want to cry... I don't like being away from Demetrye. Nothing seems the same without him. No experience is complete.

I know that I have the best man in the whole wide world.

Three Amigos and a Beauty

2008-05-11T01:12:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking photos of three wonderful young men and their beautiful Mom. The weather cooperated with us and I could not be happier. I even lost track of time :)

Dina, Alex, Maxim and Yanis, it's been my pleasure!!!

Stay Inspired

2008-05-07T02:32:00.003-04:00

I was watching one of my absolute favorite shows tonight: "The Bid Idea with Donnie Deutch". He featured an amazing artist-a Hip-Hop Violinist Miri Ben Ari. Make sure to check out her site. What an inspiration: a person who dares to dream big and achieves her dreams.

Youtube Entertainment

2008-05-06T02:06:00.004-04:00

While six of my wonderful nephews visited over the weekend, they could not keep away from entertaining themselves one way or another, but I guess that is the nature of boys... At one particular moment, while busying myself in the kitchen, I heard burst of laughter coming from the office. I hurried in to find them glued to the monitor... They were showing Demetrye the "wonders" of Youtube... I was not crazy about all videos they were watching, but found this particular one quite funny.

Talented...

2008-05-04T03:47:00.004-04:00

Three of my wonderful nephews came to visit with us this weekend. They kept me busy and I am exhausted. But before I go to bed I wanted to add a couple of photos of Yanis, he is the youngest of three brothers and is an aspiring musician. More pictures later on today...

Cinderella

2008-05-03T03:42:00.005-04:00

Pull out a box of Kleenex and hit "Play".

Beautiful Eyes II

2008-05-02T02:31:00.007-04:00

One of my absolute favorite images of the evening. Such a beautiful contrast: innocence and experience, purity and wisdom, infancy and adulthood... Too beautiful to pass up. My Mom is amazing: 14 children, 50 grandchildren, 10 great-granchildren and a life-time of experience later she still lights up every time she is around a child.
It is not very often that you see such a thoughtful, deep stare coming from a child. Agata was born without the ability to hear, so she has a lot of unexpressed thoughts. But we are so grateful that she finally had her hearing aid installed through a surgery. Her wound is healing up, and this month her doctors will be turning the little machine on for the first time. We are so excited to see her experience what we take for granted!
They make a beautiful trio. Don't they?!

Demetrye is a lady magnet... especially little ladies. Andrey's daughter had fallen head over hills for him. All he has to do is show up and they goo over him. This time he whipped out his secret weapon: a game he has on his cell-phone, and in split seconds he was surrounded by beauty. After dinner he went outside to teach Dasha (the one all the way on the right) how to ride her bike. You can only imagine how excited she was. She did not want to let him go, and neither did her sister.

Beautiful Eyes

2008-05-01T02:49:00.004-04:00

A couple of days ago I stopped by my brother Andrey's house for a quick dinner. He has two most adorable grandchildren. His grandson Ruvim is a doll baby. His eyes are so beautiful they can stop a train in its tracks.

Agata is a beauty also. It took her a few minutes to warm up to me, but we became fast friends after I started to show her pictures of herself on the camera screen. She would literally run up to me after every shot, asking to see herself. She liked me even more after I let her press a couple of buttons on the camera.
Andrey is a proud Grandpa... LOL I love saying that...
I will add a few more pictures tomorrow.

Great Start to the Week

2008-04-29T00:21:00.004-04:00

Today Demetrye and I drove out to Portland to have lunch with two great photographers: Melissa and Kevin. Melissa was shooting a wedding in Portland this last Saturday. I had never met Melissa in person, that is until today, but I have her blog added to my blog-roll to follow her work, which I do admire. On Friday I read on her blog that she is going to be nearby, I e-mailed her and she was gracious enough to meet us for lunch. She is as sweet in person as one could imagine by reading her blog. Kevin, who is from Portland, whom we also met for the first time, was wonderful to let us interrupt his plans for today as well.

Thank you, both!!! We enjoyed your company.
Unfortunately we had to leave right after lunch-my Mom was not feeling well, so we had to get home quickly to check on her. Demetrye, my wonderful husband :), was so sweet, he talked Mom into going outside for a while. We took her to a nearby lake to enjoy her company and sunshine.

She is eternally beautiful. No matter how old she gets, I always see a young girl in her eyes.

We sat at the lake and she read me stories and poems from one of her magazines.
Don't believe this picture :) Demetrye looks like he is intently listening to Mom, while he didn't understand a word she was reading. But they do make a great pair in spite of the language barrier. They even find a way to joke with each other. I am so blessed to have both of them in my life.
Right before we left, Demetrye found little flowers and brought them to us. We were more than happy to model for him, although Mom didn't like the fact that we did not tell her to bring her dentures along. She is quite a fashionista...

What a way to start a week...

Happy Evening...

2008-04-27T03:41:00.005-04:00

Today was a special day. Three of my nieces and I were having a "girl's" day... There was only one exception: Demetrye was allowed to join our fun, but that was only because he lives in the house, other than that we were very strict on who could join us :)

When I planned the evening at first, I was going to teach the girls how to make sushi and tiramisu. I guess I under planned, since we ended up having a full-blown dinner. I ended up making Alfredo Pasta with broccoli and smoothies as well.

While Alla and Zarina were slicing vegetables for sushi... Kristina was grating chocolate for tiramisu.
all the while having fun...
Zarina tried her hand at making sushi and did very well for her first time.

Then more fun...
At dinner, Demetrye misspoke a word, or so the girls say, and they thought it was so hilarious-they could not stop laughing... Observe the chain reaction here...
Demetrye and I were clueless what they were laughing about until after they stopped to explain it to us.
And, of course, I had to take a picture of sushi.

Ladies, we had a great time with you. We are truly blessed to have you as our nieces!

Super Fun Post

2008-04-25T16:44:00.005-04:00

This post is nothing but a whole lot of gorgeous pictures. Enjoy!!!

Great Times

2008-04-25T03:06:00.004-04:00

Two days ago, on Wednesday night, Demetrye and I drove out to Tacoma for a PUG meeting. It was held at Me Ra Koh's house. Me Ra and Brian were so awesome to let us come to their home. I think there were close to 40 people!!!

I "borrowed" this image from Me Ra's blog (thank you, Me Ra). Demetrye and I are the two small dots sitting by the window next to Jennifer, Me Ra's attorney, who did an amazing job with her presentation... You can read all about the evening on Me Ra's blog: click here

My Pride and Joy

2008-04-24T03:05:00.004-04:00

Demetrye has been studying for his Real Estate license. I normally leave him alone while he locks himself in the office, except for occasionally popping in to tell him that I love him or just to see how he is doing there without me... Today I found a great excuse to bother him: I baked him his favorite treat-chocolate chip cookies. As you might have guessed, he did not mind being interrupted for such an important occasion. While "delivering" cookies I had to steal a couple of shots of him studying... I am so proud of everything that he is and does.

I love you, Demetrye!!! You ROCK!!!

Thirst Relief International

2008-04-23T14:23:00.005-04:00

This blog is dedicated to celebration of life. United States is a truly blessed country. We have food and water in abundance. We have great health care system. We have government that is concerned with the well-being of its citizens, no matter how much you disagree with their political views. The only problem we have here is too many choices. We are "torn" having to make a choice where we are going to eat, what we are going to wear, what car we are going to drive. But it is not so in many other parts of the world.

Every 15 seconds someone dies of a waterborne illness. That makes 4 people every minute, 240 people every hour. People are dying because they lack something that we take for granted, something we pay to put on our lawns by the gallons or use to wash our cars.*

There is an amazing organization called Thirst Relief International that is dedicated to providing clean water to those in need. In honor of Thirst Relief International I am placing a new section on the side of my blog called Worthy Causes.

Take a moment, visit their site. Read their story and consider becoming a donor. $5 can save a life!!! That is less than what an average American will spend on a fast food meal!

SAVE A LIFE!!!

*context taken from Thirst Relief site.

Finishing Up

2008-04-20T18:38:00.003-04:00

I finally had enough time to finish all of the images taken at Seattle Shoot. Here are a few more of gorgeous Michelle.

New Blog

2008-04-18T00:12:00.005-04:00

Demetrye and I are vegan... No, it is not a religion, a cult or a form of voodoo as some might think... No human sacrifices are being made, no strange rituals are being followed. It is only a dietary lifestyle. To be vegan means to consume a plant based diet, which means we exclude meats and all dairy products, among other things. I am not going to go deeply into the reasons why we became vegan... at least not on this blog :)

We are being asked on regular basis about our lifestyle. Once people hear about the reasons why we do what we do, some ask for recipes, some ask for advice, and some mock us mercilessly. I am extremely excited to hear people being concerned and thoughtful about their health, so I am always more than willing to help. However, over a period of time, I found repeating myself over and over again.

Yesterday I received a call from one of my nephews. He found out that his blood pressure was elevated. Knowing what a change in diet had done for us he wanted to get pointers on what he can do to improve his health, without medication. I promised to send him a few recipes, to help along the way. When I got up today, a wonderful, no... a brilliant thought came to me: "Why not start a blog?" Why not? So, here it is, ladies and gentlemen, my new blog: Eat Healthy!!! Be Happy!!!

Over period of time I will be adding not only recipes, but fitness tips and an entire story of why we became vegan.

In words of the host of our favorite show Iron Chef America, Elton Brown: I bid you good eatings!!!