My long time neighbor and friend and her cuter than cute pup named Darby graciously agreed to trek through Kincaid with me a few weeks back.  I was on a quest to get a few shots of the wild geraniums before they were lost to the end of summer.

Darby was unbelievably well behaved while I clicked away and tried to blast him with more and more light.  His black fur was sucking the living daylights out of everything I shined onto him!

My favorite shot of the day probably makes no sense to anyone else looking at it, but right as we were finishing up, Darby closed his eyes and sniffed at a flower.  It totally reflected his personality and was the sweetest moment.  Unfortunately, though, it didn’t translate well in the photo.  He just looks like another dog with his eyes closed!   You can’t actually tell that it was a flower he was supposed to be sniffing.  I threw it in anyway, though, because the thought of it makes me giggle!

Thanks you two for being the best neighbors ever!

My favorite muse is back in town for the summer and she volunteered for a little trek into the wilderness! Misty is always up for anything and although I would never have asked her to hike a mile a when I first met her, the past few years have added an adventurous outdoor streak to her life.  She’s been teaching in the remote village of Chevak for several seasons, and she’s just about seen and done it all.  Throw in a few trips around the world and now she doesn’t even balk when I tell her there might be a minor hike involved!

Thanks Misty for all the entertaining stories!  It was awesome catching up with you.  Let’s do it again soon!

One of the problems of being a child of a photographer is that you are unfortunately always around whenever mom needs to try something new.  Yes, it’s true, my boys have been photographed way too much and can no longer crack a genuine smile.  And, yes, whenever the camera comes out they practice their entire freak-show face making repertoire for me!  Granted, deep down, I can tell that their goofy little expressions will still be tugging at my heart strings 20 years down the line regardless of all the chaos they create during the moment!

Last week, we set out on one of those beautiful sun-shiny days to track down a field of arctic lupine (one of the reasons I think I moved to Alaska:) and to go on a little hike to the Winner Creek Gorge.  One stubbed toenail, a skinned elbow and a bloody knee later, we returned from the gorge and cruised on over to Chair Five for some much needed pizza.  After our day long adventure I was blessed with two little pint sized sleepers snoring happily all the way home.

Click on a thumbnail below to view a slide-show of the images.

**Prior Customers:  Look for your Summer Savings in the mail!

Summer flowers are in full bloom right now everywhere you look!  Geraniums, bunch-berry, prickly rose, bluebells and lupine.  Catch them while you can!    Look for a summer portrait session bonus to hit your mailboxes early next week.