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Evan & Mandy Get Married

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:16:24 +0000

Get comfy! There are lot of photos in this one! Mandy and Evan were married near Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, WA. It was an extended weekend loaded with fun and I was fortunate to be a part of the whole thing.

Thursday consisted of an early evening BBQ followed by a late night bonfire near the water on Westcott Bay. Friday started with a basketball tournament and some tennis. After the rehearsal, Mandy’s sister, Katie, kicked things up a notch for everyone with an all out Field Day. Now I know where they get the expression! Teams wearing costumes left it all on the fields before replenishing themselves with the world’s best BBQ chicken fired up by Evan’s Dad (seriously the world’s best…I went out and bought the spices as soon as I got home).

Then Saturday came. The apple orchard was transformed with bright summery colors and details put together by Mandy and her Mom with inspiration from the Style Me Pretty blog. The day went without a hitch! (I’ll spare you the puns one could make with that last statement) It was a blast as you can see…this was a fun group!

Special thanks to Boone Rodriguez for providing some fun help and great photos!

Click to enlarge…

it’s engagement season!

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:53:02 +0000

With the onset of great weather comes great engagement shoots! Cherry trees are in blossom, flowers are blooming…and for some reason the only other thing that comes to mind is the movie Bambi, so my last item for this list is that people are twitterpated. And for you youngins, that’s not a reference to a fondness toward a certain new technology.

Here are some photos from what is still one of my favorite engagement shoots. Ben & Adrianne wanted to go wine tasting in the Dundee Hills, which produce world renowned Pinot Noir’s. I was listening to a weekend wine show on the radio and learned that 20 years ago, Oregon had about 4 wineries. And today? Just over 400! They were discussing how great it was for the rural economies.

For the longest time, rural communities have been struggling as the logging industry slows and people gravitate toward communities along the freeway (hah! THE freeway, as if there is only one in Oregon…which now that I think about it is sadly true for all but the Portland area). Growing up in somewhat of a wood products town, I saw three of five lumber mills close. It was great to learn that when you consider all the jobs created by bed & breakfasts, restaurants, field hands, materials suppliers, equipment companies, etc. that this boom in the wine industry requires, a lot of those jobs, although different, have at least partly come back.

Back on topic! This was my first time wine tasting and it was an incredible way to spend a Saturday! If you head out around Dundee, check out Domaine Serene for great architecture and ambience. You’ll also enjoy one of the best views of the Willamette Valley atop the hills of White Rose Wines. Seriously, if you’ve done Napa and you’re looking for a new adventure in wines, you can’t beat a weekend in Oregon’s wine country.

Scenes of Vienna

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:52:21 +0000

Ahhhh, Vienna. How does one package this up into a blog post? After watching my cursor blink for a few minutes, I realized you can’t. You just have to go see it!

I spent a week there last fall shooting a wedding that you may already have seen on my Facebook page. These, however, are some of the scenic shots I took as my friends and I roamed the city. This was my first time seeing buildings nearly a thousand years old.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral was built in 1147 and is one of those things you have to just stop and stand in front of for a while to even begin to grasp the history. I laugh when a nice home is built with…wait for it…moulding! Wow! Yeah, right. Try hand carved stone statues on for size.

Statues aren’t really my style, so when I build a home I’m going to stick to your more basic clock tower like the one seen here at the Rathaus, or City Hall. Modesty is key. I love chillin’ on my front porch too, so the arched hallway/porch with hanging lights is an absolute necessity. In case you aren’t picking up on it, I’m just having a little fun with dry humor (or ‘humour’ depending on where you live), but in all honesty, I was truely blown away by all the detail work and immensity of the architecture.

It was also interesting to pick up on all the different architectural influences. That’s about all I know on that topic, so I’ve included links to a few informational pages on each building thanks to wikipedia, which, as we all know, is highly accurate due to strict academic standards upheld for those posting the articles. (hey, you’re getting better at picking up my dry humor) The domed building is the Museum of Art History.

And if you’re looking for some ideas for your circular driveway fountain, look no further than the one at Schonbrunn Palace. In fact, you can look here for all your landscaping inspiration since they’ve…covered a lot of ground…in that area.

ben & kristi get married

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:16:30 +0000

I remember scanning my junk email one day and seeing something about Paradisus Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic in one of the subject lines. I figured it was a financial scam of some sort so I quickly moved on. A few days later, I received a phone call asking if I’d had a chance to check my availability for the date mentioned in the email. Umm, what email? Cripes! The one that was sorted into my junk box. I’m SO happy Ben called to follow up. This was a wedding on referral from a couple whose wedding I had shot the previous summer, whose brother’s wedding I had shot the summer before the previous summer. Yes, another long chain of referrals.

As I thought about the DR and did some research online, I quickly discovered that my standard black dress shirt, charcoal wool dress pants and heavy black dress shoes would NOT work! I wasn’t too disappointed as I knew that meant another trip to Nordstrom was in my near future. I went to the guys at the men’s furnishings desk and said…I’m off to a beach wedding…set me up. I love walking in, getting fitted for dress slacks, finding a white dress shirt, a couple pairs of beachy footwear, and a tie to match. Ahh…I was all set and yes, my passport was current (and still is for any of you shopping for a wedding photographer abroad…hint hint).

The first day there, I roamed around a bit, checked the place out, got caught off guard as I realized the beaches were more…shall we say “liberated” than those in the States? And then it happened! I stumbled upon my former clients and got to finally meet Ben & Kristi over a beer on the deck. We then headed to a great dinner. They had invited about 20 of their closest friends and family, so to be one of a small number to take part in their trip was really a special thing for me.

The second day there, the guys headed out on the ocean for some fishing. All we caught were fumes from the boat though…and let’s just say “DEQ” is not in their vocabulary. hah Nonetheless, there’s nothing like heading out to sea on a nice sunny day and enjoying a few cold El Presidentes. That is, untill the sea sickness kicks in (fortunately, not for me).

That night we headed into the bay for nice evening cruise where we witnessed an incredible sunset! At one point I was talking to another friend of Ben and Kristi’s about wedding photography. They had Jessica Claire shoot their wedding, but didn’t mention her name figuring there’s no way I would know her. Far from the truth as it turns out! We had met each other at one of the first workshops I attended in LA. We had a good laugh over how small this world is.

That brings us to the wedding day…a very laid back day for sure. I still can’t get over how relaxed the whole group was. It’s experiences like this one, that when I think back on, I realize how lucky I am to get to see glimpes of who other people are and what their friends mean to them. Relationships are a powerful thing! You might think…”duh!”…but you have to remember I’m self employed and single, so although I still get out a fair amount, I fly solo quite a bit.

Okay, enough chatter for now…on to some photos!

sports modeling test shoot

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:54:59 +0000

A while back, a friend of mine was in the hunt for a job in sports modeling. It was fun to get out and shoot something so different. We headed down to a few areas around the East Side Esplanade and the Willamette River. It turns out the weather was perfect and the sky was just right. Of course if you ask Amy, she might have another opinion about shooting on a cold and mostly cloudy day. hah

newsletters coming your way

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:09:32 +0000

Ever wish you could just get news, images and other content directly in your email inbox? Well, I’ll be bringing it directly to you in the form of a quarterly newsletter! If the response is great, I’ll even make it a monthly way for you to get a break from work or whatever else it is you need a break from. hah Click the “Newsletter” tab at the top to subscribe! The photo below isn’t an exact sample…but enough to give you the idea.

Tyler & alicia get married

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:38:46 +0000

This wedding was a lot of fun for me. Alicia is one of many in a group of friends whose weddings I’ve photographed. That string of brides started with a wedding almost three years ago! You might remember the wedding at Oregon State University that was on my old website? And somehow I always see my cousin and aunt at these weddings.

Tyler and Alicia own an organic farm, Afton Field Farm, and therefore worked a lot of that into their wedding. I must tell you their reception food was absolutely incredible! Of course it would be when one of the Northwest’s best chefs in working his magic, right? Chef Marco Shaw, owner of Fife Restaurant, closed his restaurant on a Saturday night to prepare dinner for Tyler and Alicia’s guests. He uses ingredients found within 100 miles of Portland so they’re absolutely fresh and representative of the area. Have you ever had oven roasted chicken covered with seasoned crushed pumpkin seeds plated over the world’s best spinach? I highly recommend it!! I sense a visit to Fife in my near future.

The Johnny Lampson Orchestra played the reception. Talk about an awesome music choice! The whole night was filled with class thanks to the sounds these guys put out.

Here are a few photos from their wedding to give you a feel for the day. Fall is an awesome time of year for a wedding! So colorful and bright. A little chilly and breezy from time to time, but nothing this couple couldn’t handle.

myportlandphotographer.com

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:00:21 +0000

Here’s a cool thing to share with all of you. Some of Portland’s best photographers have joined forces! We all face the same issues as small business owners so we decided to start a collaborative blog in the spirit of helping each other gain more exposure (ooh…bad pun…definitely not intended). hah

It’s already been a great resource in a number of ways. One stop shopping for brides. One stop inspiration for each of the contributing photographers. I can see already that there is a huge amount of talent in this group and it will drive each of us to improve our work. I’m excited to see what can happen when you get Portland’s best working together.

Check out www.myportlandphotographer.com !