A young girl embraces a large black dog inside a room with sunlight coming through a sliding glass door. The room has colorful clothes on a couch and a patterned rug on the floor.
Close-up of a painted wall with vertical orange stripes on a green background.
Two children and an adult sitting together by a window, with sunlight coming through the curtains, the adult is doing something with their hands while the children look at the camera.
A fabric patch featuring a colorful butterfly with orange, purple, yellow, and black wings, decorated with white spots and green accents.

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR PLAYFUL KIDS & THE GROWN-UPS wHO LOVE THEM

AWARD-WINNING SEATTLE FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER SPECIALIZING IN PLAYFUL, CONNECTION-FOCUSED FAMILY AND NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY

A young boy with short brown hair and a striped shirt working on a laptop at a table in a warmly lit room.
Close-up of a baby's belly button and diaper, with the baby lying on a textured surface.
A pink and yellow fish with circular markings on its body, swimming against a black background.
A young girl with fairy wings hugging a man outdoors during daytime. Other people are in the background.
Broken glass with yellow and green paint strokes

Let’s make images you don’t just look at but can feel.

Maybe you’re here because, like me, you feel that time is both a thief and a gift. But maybe for now, the house is quiet, the kids are asleep, and for a moment you have space to reflect.

You're here to create something that will outlast childhood—a love letter in photographs that reminds your children, forever, how deeply they were cherished.

That’s why I’m here. Please have a look around and reach out when you are ready to schedule a time together for photos or if you have any questions.

-Anela

TYPES OF FAMILY SESSIONS

Relaxed family and newborn photography for families who want real connection instead of perfect poses. Sessions are playful, child-led, and designed to capture your family exactly as you are right now.

A young girl with long blond hair and wearing a pink dress and rainbow shorts, lying on her side on a bed with a rainbow quilt. She is holding a stuffed animal. The bed is decorated with various stuffed toys, including pandas, unicorns, and other animals. The wall behind her is decorated with world maps and educational posters, including a large map of the world, a poster with children holding hands, and a sign that says "All Are Welcome." There is a white lamp attached to the wall above the bed, a speaker, and a plush unicorn lamp on the side.

“It was just so easy and fun with you, and they've been our favorite images of us.” -Jenny J.

A woman with two young children outside, sitting on grass with a white picket fence in the background. The woman wears sunglasses and a striped shirt. The girl, wearing a hat and a floral dress, leans on her shoulder. The boy in a blue t-shirt sits on the woman's lap, playing with a small toy.

HI, I’M ANELA

YOUR KIDS’ FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Kids don't sit still, that would be boring! They have big feelings, endless curiosity, and their own ideas about how a photo session should go. That's why I build sessions around who they are rather than asking them to perform.

For me, it’s always been about the kids, even before I had my own kids (I was an elementary school teacher!).  My photography is here to not only help you remember the “creeping slowly out of the room because you finally fell asleep” days…but really it’s for your kids to remember through the images you print and the albums I make for you that they had someone who sang their favorite song while laying with them when their restless body just couldn't sleep. 

So let’s get together to remember the rocks in the pockets, art on the walls, how your hands on their face will always feel like magic, and the beautiful fleeting now.

MORE ABOUT ANELA
MORE ABOUT ANELA

“How rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist”

-Sleeping At Last, Saturn

NEWS

KIDS ART CONTEST!

toddler draws art with paint sticks 
Getting to photograph your kids at ten of the sweetest schools in our area is such a privilege.  Kids are invited to enter my art contest to make the new cover design for school galleries!  Winners will get a fun prize package and their families will get a full digital download of their images in the next year!
ART CONTEST DETAILS

SUMMER PLAYDATES

FAMILY plays in the sprinkler in their backyard 
I’m hosting a small round of Family Playdates on July 26 in the evening—short 15-minute sessions at your home or a nearby park where your kids just get to be kids. Think sprinklers 💦, bubbles 🫧, popsicles 🍦, sidewalk chalk, and whatever summer looks like in your family.
SUMMER PLAYDATE!

LEARN FROM ME!

A woman with short curly black hair and a nose piercing sits on a wooden bench outdoors with four children surrounded by pink flowers and green foliage. 
I'm so excited to share that I'm working on a course to help photographers create stress-free sessions where kids feel seen, comfortable, and authentic, leading to better photos and happier clients.  Photographers, click here to give your input!  Parents, click here interview your kids so THEY can give me input!
KID + PHOTOGRAPHER INPUT

Wonder /ˈwəndər/ the profound emotion of surprise, curiosity, and awe that you experience when encountering something rare, unexpected, or magnificent.

A girl jumping on a bed in a bedroom with two windows, curtains, and a small bedside table with books and a lamp.
A group of people lying on a bed, playing with a young boy hanging upside down, all smiling and enjoying.
A group of people lying on a bed, playing with a young boy hanging upside down, all smiling and enjoying.

“Anela is a great photographer. She is really nice and takes amazing photos! I love taking photos with her and my family.”

-Sonny, 12

Colorful watercolor illustration of a daisy flower with a pink stem.
Young child lying on multicolored textured surface, looking upward, with hand raised and fingers extended.
A young girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes wearing a red and white striped shirt outdoors.
A young girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes wearing a red and white striped shirt outdoors.

“These are beautiful!!! It’s like if I daydreamed about my family and my life, this is what the images would look like! Thank you for capturing the spirit of our family so well!”

-Ben + Jeffrey

A woman sitting on a couch breastfeeding her baby, with a young child and a man standing nearby in a brightly lit living room with plants and cushions.
A red brushstroke or painted area on a surface.
Refrigerator covered with colorful children's drawings and magnetic toys in a kitchen with wooden cabinets and a countertop.

You, exactly as you are.

My hope is to help you know forever that you are wanted, loved, and exactly who you should be.

Oh you magical young human. Photography is my love letter to the energy of hope that you bring. It’s how I connect to what makes magic feel real. To tiny fingers and calling strawberries “fwadies”. To the moms that carry all the groceries, coats, snacks, and somehow still find an octopus arm to pick you up too.

SEE WHAT A SESSION FEELS LIKE

I’m here for…

The playful ones who crave to snuggle the people they love the most.

Art lovers, color lovers, creatives, and magic seekers… but I think we all are this.

You, in ten years, with your feet up on the coffee table, looking at the book we’ll make, remembering what is true.

All families, however you identify, whoever you love, and however you define family.

“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky, and want more than all the world your return.”

-Mary Jean Irion