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  • Welcome to my Blog!

    Hi my name is Schona, I am an on location custom portrait photographer for Longview (WA) & Kelso Washington including the surrounding areas. I specialize in High School Seniors, Engagements, Weddings and Boudoir. Here on my blog you will find my most recent work, specials and personal stuff like pictures of my friends and family and whatever else I can dig up.

    I love being in front of the camera just as much as being behind it so enjoy my ever changing Bio pics. :) I hope you get to know me a little bit more with each visit.


    A little info on Me:

    I love Jesus-I love My hubby-I adore my kids-I enjoy my job-I prefer natural light-I am a tea drinker-I watch musicals-I like spending time with my friends-I am into drawing-I scrapbook-I sing karaoke-I love music-I love to take self portraits-I am goofy-I am ticklish-I drive a Ford-I really enjoy meeting new people-I use Professional Canon gear

    Call me at 360-957-5918 or email me at schonakesslerphotography@yahoo.com

    I look forward to hearing from you soon.


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Another sign of growth – Kelso WA Photographer

Kai just turned four in the begining January and Zeke turned three at the end of January. They have been stuck to their binkys since the day they were born. Well almost a week ago already they both went to bed without one and slept just fine. We are now on day 4 or 5 of being binky free and I love it! I tossed all of the binkys I could find two days ago. I questioned if I was making the right choice or perhaps I was acting too quickly but my boys are still alive and kickin’! :)  It is so nice to not have to turn the house upside down in search of a binky to calm the storm. This is one hurdle of many we will face and I am glad we made it over it with flying colors!

I took this pic in January thinking we would be saying goodbye then…but that didn’t happen. This poor binky was mangled and the tip was barely hanging on by a thread of rubber but they still used it. lol. Boys!

blank Another sign of growth   Kelso WA Photographerbinky from kelso wa

1 Bring on the comments

First trip to The Melting Pot – Portland Oregon Fondue

Last Saturday my hubby Adam and I went to the Melting Pot in Portland with his cousin Brian and his wife Erika to celebrate our fifth year of marriage and as a late Valentines day treat.

 It was neat that we had to go down a set of stairs under the city sidewalks to enter the restaurant. We had reservations luckily enough Erika had gotten them the week before or we would have been turned away at the door. We were quickly seated at a table for four near the bar at a table with a burner in the middle. The staff was very friendly and helpful throughout our stay. We all knew that we would be spending at least two hours eating and a pretty penny that evening so it wasn’t such a shock when we opened our menus to find that what we all wanted would be around $98 per couple. That price tag didn’t include our drinks at $10 and $5 each or the tip. What it did include was a four coarse meal that was very, very filling.

 We were started off with salads of our choice and then our waiter/cook came to our table and made the cheddar cheese fondue right at our table in the middle. Mmmmm it was very tasty but I prefer Swiss cheese fondue over the cheddar any day. (One con to going with others is that you have to agree on the fondue choice and the broth to cook your meat and veggies in along with the chocolate at the end.) We all did compromise but I am very picky and would have loved to have it all my way. lol. After we ate all of the bread, apples, veggies and fondue the waiter came back to find out what type of cooking style we wanted. We had no clue so he suggested the fondue Court Bouillon which is a homemade, seasoned vegetable broth. He then brought the bouillon out along with our meat trays and more vegetables. You get a pot of this bouillon on the burner in the middle of the table and you put your food on skewers and cook it in the pot. I ate steak, fillet Mignon, chicken and raviolis while my hubby ate the lobster tail, shrimp and a bratwurst. Just when you think you can’t eat anymore then comes the desert! We all agreed on the Original milk chocolate with a swirl of crunchy peanut butter. Our trays had strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, rice crispy treats, brownies, cheesecake and pound cake to dip and we were all in heaven. I think the chocolate was the messiest part…so does the white skirt I was wearing, and my arm too!:)

After two and a half hours we were finally through all four of the coarses. We were all stuffed and couldn’t imagine eating again until the next night.:)

So I give the Melting Pot two thumbs up! The quality was amazing and I wish I could afford to eat there each and every night of the week. If you have a special someone you should definitely go check out your local Melting Pot. You could go alone…but there is more fun in numbers. It has a romantic feel to it and I wouldn’t suggest taking young children. Go enjoy a night out and splurge! Take your camera too.:)If you go let me know what you thought of it.

So here is a little slideshow of our trip. It’s only an hour drive but it’s to the Big city you know. Enjoy!

Comments are always welcomed below.

 

 

5 Comments Rock

9 of 52 – Barnwood floor – Photography Challenge

Here is my ninth week challenge. I got my new faux Barnwood floor rugs in and am in love! They totally look as if you are on an old rustic floor that has been there years and years. Can’t wait to take more photos with them in it. 

 This is my son Kai…he is my middle child and just turned four years old in January. He is quite the ham but still has trouble sitting still. lol. No big surprise with that though is there? The little guy needs a haircut pretty bad as he has inherited my cowlicks. (sp?) He loves to give hugs and kisses…and doesn’t just reserve them for us…he will give them to strangers on the street, at the grocery store and where ever he goes.  People just love him.

blank 9 of 52   Barnwood floor   Photography ChallengeBoy on wood floor

3 Comments Rock

I Heart Faces – Jump for Joy – Week 10 Photography Challenge

I heart faces blog button

 

So here we are at week 10 already. I am loving finding photos to fit the weekly theme over at the  I heart Faces blog. Sometimes I re-edit the challege photo and sometimes I leave it how it is in my archives. This one I left alone and didn’t do any changes to it. This is one of my Senior girls from last year. We did her senior portrait session in Downtown Longview,WA and on the outskirts at Willow Grove. We had a bunch of fun and I was proud to show her and her mom her awesome photos afterwards.

blank I Heart Faces   Jump for Joy   Week 10 Photography ChallengeSenior girl jumping

If you want to see more amazing photos for this challenge click on the camera icon above to go to the blog. Comments are always welcome below.

 Thanks for looking!

 

2 Comments Rock

Castle Rock, Washington (WA) Seniors and Food! – Info for locals

I am currently looking for a Castle Rock High School Senior to be my 2010 Senior Rep. If you know a Senior who hasn’t gotten their Senior Portraits done yet send them my way! They will get major discounts and free stuff if they are picked to be my Castle Rock Senior Rep.   Have them send me an email to schonakesslerphotography@yahoo.com if they are interested! Or they can call me at 957-5918.

So I was dropping my soon to be seven year old off at school today in Castle Rock, WA and decided to take a quick peak at the little shops in their downtown area. I always want to drive slow past them but someone always comes out of nowhere and is behind me….well today the same thing happened again and I decided to pull over to look. I stopped in front of an empty space but right next to it I saw this little cafe. On the sidewalk sign I saw the words Potato soup and I knew I had to go and check it out.:). So I walked into Lacey Rha’s Cafe at 32 Cowlitz St. W. Castle Rock. Right away I notcied the sign that said there was Free Wi-Fi available to their valued customers and I had wished I had my laptop with me. I walked to the counter and ordered a bowl of potato soup and while waiting I looked at all of the great photos on the wall from the Castle Rock area back in the early 1900’s. It’s so neat to see how things were back then…I just wish more people had smiles for the camera. lol. Well I enjoyed my soup and it was gone before I knew it…I ordered a Strawberry Kiwi Italian Cream Soda and was on my way. I did pick up a takeout menu and everything looks so delicious. I will surely be making my way back down there soon! *Note to self bring laptop.

I could imagine this would be a great place to hang out with friends and to get away for a bit. With the free wi-fi you can have lunch and do some work or some play.:)

So here is the address again in case you want to go check it out!

Lacey Rha’s Cafe

 32 Cowlitz St. W. Castle Rock

The hours are Monday – Saturday 8am – 5pm

Phone is 360-274-5360

If you go in there tell them I sent you!

 

Your Comments Rock