taking a break

There's certainly no good way to start this post. My family was in a rollover accident on December 17th as we travelled home from an early Christmas in Spokane. The kids are all fine and David suffered a bump to the head that looked awful but was not serious. Unfortunately, I fractured one vertebrae and I had surgery to fuse it to the next one under it. I'm going to be in a neck brace for at least 3 months and I can't lift or drive. I had planned to take the winter at a slower pace and devote a little more time to scrapbooking and doing some other hobbies I enjoy. So while this isn't the sabbatical I had planned on, I hope to use it to improve and fine tune my hobbies and loves.
David is going to be home a lot (since I can't pick up AJ at all) and use his flexible work from home job a lot more than we ever have before. We are blessed to all be otherwise healthy and together, celebrating a Christmas with a renewed sense of family and gratefulness.
I'll try to post pictures here whenever I have one I love. Other than that you can find me on Facebook, Flickr and the very best will be on my gallery hosted by SmugMug.
Merry Christmas to all, please hug your children tight!!

Christmas Cards

It took several different tries but we finally have a card we both like!

Here are the others I tried...

A quick recap

AGT Thank You dinner

group composite photo

individual photos

Fit for a Cause 2 Finale

Winner Mark Lobell!

Wins a Bow Flex home gym, courtesy of Willow Gardens

Baby Steven Ripley, 6 mo portraits

Big week!

Baby portraits this evening!

FFC2 Finale tonight!
Corporate Dinner Wednesday night!
FFC2 books available for presale!
FFC1 books discounted!

I'll be at Experience Church tonight to enjoy and photograph the finale. After 12 long grueling weeks, this group of contestants has lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 pounds! I can't wait to see who the winner is and also how much money they've raised for awesome charities.

just a little advertising

Photos and the Holidays

I recently emailed my very first business newsletter. A bit modest and simple this time, but it was also breaking news and I couldn't sit on it!



Dear friends and customers of NiksPiks Photography,
It is time to get ready for the Holidays and I have a few ideas up my sleeve I’d like to share with you!


Fast and Frugal Family Portraits
For the minimal sitting fee of just $30, get a family portrait! Anywhere in Puyallup, South Hill or Graham! Perfect for emails, blogs, ready for creating your own holiday photo card. Available for a limited time and limited number of sittings. Please check your calendar and book your sitting soon.





Custom Holiday Cards
You provide the digital photo; I will create a 5x6 or 5x7 photo card. Just as easy as your usual online holiday cards but with a personal touch. $40 set up fee with 20 prints OR $30 set up fee for digital use. See website gallery for samples, available for a limited time only. This is also limited to a certain number of customers. Please contact me even if you don't have a photo yet, I'll set aside some time for you!

Puyallup Football
If you are a high school football fan, if you are Puyallup fan, you really need to visit my website. Puyallup Vikings currently have two galleries that are wide open for viewing and purchases. One gallery is strictly for seniors and most of the photos are taking during the game. The other gallery is for underclassmen (taken during the game), the crowd and all of the other elements of high school sports!

Quick Tips for getting great shots of your own family
Take pictures in the late afternoon or early morning. If you can’t rouse that sleepy teenager or your toddlers are teething, try again later the same day. And don’t sweat if you can’t get everyone to look the same way all at once. Take a lot; there’s bound to be 1 in every 10 that doesn’t have someone blinking.




Kieran’s List
If you have not heard of this fantastic surf n’ save tool, you must head there immediately. Do not even take the time to close this email, just click the link and get hooked! If you like any of the offers above, they all have coupons available on Kieran’s List!

see the sweat

Rough, Tough and not so much...

great workout pictures!

Everyone at FFC is working so hard. I truly get tired while capturing their workouts. This is a really committed group and they are SERIOUS about losing weight! See more or purchase any of these photos at my gallery, http://www.nikspiksphotography.com

something old, something new

Time to clean out some files!
Here is Kimberly, my very first senior portrait!

Here is Marcus just a few months ago at his 9 month portrait. We just took his 1 year old portraits last week.

This is my own daughter at 1 year old. She's now over 3!

This is Tyler, my most recent senior portrait session.
All good memories must be moved eventually. Off to burn a bunch of CDs for archival...

FFC2 Kick Off!

August 14th
Three conference rooms were bursting with energy and excitement. Over 40 people, both contestants and business owners were there to witness the launch of Fit For a Cause 2. Wow, I hope these pics give you just a little taste of what was going on!