Day numero 30

This is it! The 30th day of my self-imposed 30 blog challenge. And a challenge it was. I am not a natural born writer, I prefer to tell my stories with pictures. Perhaps next, I'll challenge myself to a picture a day and see what type of story develops. The first of the year would be a good time for that.
Until next blog...(tomorrow, next week, who knows.) For now, I leave you with a pretty spring flower.

Fall Harvest

Today was the perfect Fall day with the warm sun and a breeze with a hint of fall's brisk temperatures. Yeah! Sweater and boots season is here! (I'm trying to feel optimistic about the state of our country, economy, the bailout. Take your pick!).
Fall makes me feel like getting back to basics, hunkering down for the winter and settling in for long cozy nights with a bowl of homemade soup fresh from the garden. Our garden didn't do so well this summer, but we were able to eek out enough produce to keep us busy. Tonight was one of our last harvests before we plant a cover crop and winter vegetables.
I just had to share some of what we picked for dinner. Fresh, homegrown food is so pretty.

The Proposal

Most of my business is Wedding and Portraiture and for a while now I've been looking for couples who want to "pop the question" and have it photographed to fulfill my Photographic Trilogy...Proposal, Engagement, Wedding.
After some time looking, I was contacted by a great couple, Maria and Serge. Serge wanted to ask Maria to marry him in a special place that they would remember forever. He picked Snoqualmie Falls, just east of Seattle in the Cascade Foothills.

The weather was foggy and cool and I wasn't sure if it would be condusive to a romantic proposal. Luckily, the sun started coming out just as they got started. I stayed out of their way and Volia! It was a perfect scene! He asked, she said Yes.

Siblings

Love 'em or hate 'em, Most of us have them.
Today was Sibling Day. I had the pleasure of photographing 10 year old twins, brother and sister on the beach in Edmonds this morning and later this afternoon, another sibling set at the Arboretum.
I remember when I was young and my mom wanted me and my siblings to be photographed. It was all I could do to not gag at the thought of having to be close to my brother. Brother "cooties" and the thought of having to cozy up with him was a real obstacle to a great picture. I'm sure we made it tough on the photographer as well as Mom. Sorry Mom!

So I could totally relate to these kids today and having me saying for the 10th time, "come on, get closer, have some fun...!" Well, after some goofing around and general fun, we finally got some great brother/sister images today. Even the dog looks good.

Tis the Season for Seniors!

Mid October is usually the deadline for submitting High School Senior portraits to your yearbook.

I've been inundated with calls from frantic MoHSS (moms of high school seniors). They realized the deadline is right around the corner and their son/daughter decided at the last minute that maybe it would be cool to have a Senior Portrait done. After all, a Senior Portrait now-a-days, is so much more than a stuffy, stiff studio portrait.

It's all about showing off who they are, what their interest are and where they are going. The sky's the limit with these images.

Babes in Toyland

Investing in professional photography to capture the 1st year of your baby's life is one of the most important things you can do.
Whether you have 1 child or 5, that 1st year is so amazing...it's when they are at their smallest and most vunerable, when they will laugh at the drop of a hat at the silliest things, and when you and them are discovering a great new world together.
The Newborn stage is always so magical. They literally fit in the palm of your hand.
The 6month old is sitting up but not yet moving. It's a perfect time to capture their imerging personalities.
The 1year old is on the cusp of walking. This is a great time to take them on an outside photography adventure...maybe a day at the beach or a walk through the fall leaves.

Whether you are thinking about doing just one session or taking advantage of my "1st Year Series", make sure you do something. They are only this small for such a short amount of time.

Woman-Owned businesses

Recent reports say women are starting new businesses at 1.5 times the rate of men. Perhaps it's our innate ability to juggle multiple tasks, think on our feet or lack of fear. Whatever the reasons, women should support woman-owned business when possible. If you are wanting to find a woman-owned business, try this web site BlueSuitMom.com.
Some of my favorites as I've mentioned in past posts are Tatjana Alvegaard (alvegaard.com/) a terrific photographer, Ellen Parker and her amazing bags (web site to come), Jennifer Foege (thejoyfulkitchen.net) with her sage advice on nutrition.

Well, last week I met yet another great Vashon/Tacoma Woman-owned business that I wanted to pass on.
To say that Habitsforming.com (owned and operated by Rochelle Gravance) is another Personal Training company is not even close. I've recently started working with Rochelle and in the first 30 minutes of talking with her, she blew me away. She actually said that I don't have to do Cardio until I'm blue in the face to see results. I was hooked! After looking at her website and blog, I understand now that Habitsforming.com is more about combining exercise methodology, psychology, philosophy, spirituality, (this is not about God), and nutrition to achieve total body and mind wellness.
It's worth the look!

The true meaning of a "Time Honored Portrait".

My friend Jennifer and I have talked a lot about "what is a portrait" and the type of portraiture I offer to my clients and when she asked me yesterday if I would create an Heirloom Portrait of her and her daughter, I was thrilled. But her request sparked yet more thoughts about what I "do".

I've been really struggling with the right way to explain the type of portraiture that I strive for on a daily basis. As a visual artist, I expect that my work will be enough explanation. But I am constantly reminded that it is not.
While reading one of my favorite photography trade magazines tonight, I came across an article about rediscovering the lost art of portrait photography. This article seemed to have put into words what I have been trying to do for so long. I'm risking plagiarism here, but I feel this is so important to everyone to hear.

"...if you look at a portrait, and there isn’t that “something more” then the naysayers are right, it’s just a manufactured scene with contrived lighting…but if you ever find yourself staring into the character of a given photograph, rooting out a certain mystique in the shapes that envelop the scene, astounded by the eloquence and multidimensionality of the subject looking back at you, then most likely you are staring into a portrait…" written by Tara Propper

It is so important in this digital age to be reminded that the Art of Portraiture is something to be valued and treasured. Great photographers are highly trained in both technical aspects of creating a portrait as well as posses a natural instinct for when to capture the essence of the subject.
We must not get so caught up in "digital files and snapshots" that we lose sight of our visual legacy.

Hello Fall, Goodbye Summer

So, I missed the last 2 days, but I have a good excuse! My family and I decided to take advantage of a free weekend, low tides on the coast and the last few days of summer.
We went backpacking on the coast out by La Push, Wa. It's a trip we try to do every year. This was our daughter, Nora's first backpacking trip, so we didn't make her carry anything (she's only 3).

It was a great way to say goodbye to Summer and Hello! to Fall.

Thinking of Fall...Don't forget to schedule your family portrait before the Holidays sneak up on us. The fall colors and gray days on the beach make a beautiful backdrop for a stunning family portrait.

Mamapreneurs Inc.

I've mentioned in past posts, a few of my favorites sites online that are geared towards working moms, as well as featured a couple of my working mom friends. Well, I have a couple more fabulous mentions for you.
First is my friend Jennifer Foege. She is a nutritionist based on Vashon Isl. who's concentration is "Sustainable Health" She does one on one counseling, group classes, cooking classes, and she just started a new program called Organic School Lunch Program, where she will deliver wholesome, yummy foods for your kid to their school. How cool is that! Check her out at www.thejoyfulkitchen.net

My other "find" is Mamapreneurs inc. It's a web site based out of Portland, Or and geared toward moms who run their own business. They have advise, workshops, a blog, and a great tag line..."helping moms find harmony while rockin' the biz world". It's worth a look!

I"ll be offline for the weekend, so no blog tomorrow. (I know I'm breaking my 30 day of blogs commitment, but the call of the ocean beckons me, and my husband and I promised our daughter at least one night in a tent before the weather turns bad.)

Little Books, Big Impact

I love designing books for all occasions. I'm not a "scrapbooker", but I do love to take a series of images, whether it's from a year's worth of baby portrait sessions from my 1st-Year-Series, a collection of essay-style images from a family session, or something I pull from my own life and put together a classic, simple hard-bound book that tells a story. I find them so much more interesting than a photo album full of snapshots. My husband and I make one each year of our daughter. It's so much better than the traditional Baby Books.

This year we have become quite the little farmers. In addition to our large gardens, we have been raising our own cow, pig, turkey and chicken with our neighbor, Loreen, who owns E-I-E-I-OM Farm on Vashon. (A great place to rent for a week in the country. Just a little plug for Loreen!)

Vegetarian Alert...Although my family and I are meet eaters, we believe in happy and healthy animals as well as a diet largely based on plants.

Early this year we had our first experience butchering chickens. My husband grew up on a farm and was very comfortable with this. I, on the other hand, was not so comfortable. I like my meat in the freezer wrapped in plastic. This was going to be a learning experience!
My husband built a chicken plucker, called The Whiz Bang.
and I thought it would be fun to document the event with some pictures and ultimately a book.

Another Vegetarian Alert...No animals were tortured, all were humanely treated. If you are squeamish, do not look at the following pictures. Although, I did not include any really gruesome images.

Kids

You gotta love them...the big eyes, the chubby legs, the innocent looks. I can't get enough of them! They may not be famous, but they are sure are just as cute as some of those Hollywood kids.

It's been a busy week. Here's a couple of kids from this week.

News Media and Trash TV

All this bad news about Merrill Lynch, Leaman Bros., AIG, and Washington Mutual has been bringing me down. It is so depressing to watch our economy take such a drastic downhill turn, and with little certainty for the future.

I don't know about you, but there are some days (or even weeks) where I just need to step away from the news and tune into some good trash T.V. My favorite trashy show has just started it's 11th season, America's Next Top Model. Wanna-be models who bitch at each other, whine about being a size 2 and generally have no idea what the real world is all about. It's my once a week guilty pleasure. (I watch it for the photo shoots) Tomorrow is make-over night!

This summer, I've been doing a lot of sessions for models who have needed new or first time head shots and updated portfolios. My friend and hair/makeup artist, Eli did the hair and make for these girls. She works out of Helio Hair Salon in the Fremont area of Seattle.

Heirlooms

Do you remember those old B/W photographs of your Grandparents and Great-Grandparents? The images of a wedding day, Grandma and Grandpa standing next to each other looking serious, or an entire family sitting around a small table and chair in a studio all dressed in their best clothes, or perhaps a young debutante looking proud and getting ready to make her entrance onto the world. Those images had a quiet, timelessness about them, as well as a beautiful and simple artfulness.


I have a whole collection of them from my family's history and love looking at them. These pictures are our family heirlooms that we treasure and keep safe. Having a photograph taken was a big deal back in the day. It cost a lot and was an event that was done infrequently, but they were highly valued as part of a family's history. Most were hung very prominently in their homes. They were proud to show off their family.

With the advent of the digital age, photographs have become a dime-a-dozen. The family heirloom photograph has disappeared and been replaced with the family snapshots. Snapshots are a great way to document daily life, vacations, and family gatherings. But what about the images you want to pass down to the next generations?

As a family and wedding photographer, I have been disturbed by this growing trend. At Rebecca Douglas Photography, it is my goal to create your family's heirloom. Yes, it may cost a bit more than the box chain stores or even the photographer next door, but you will receive a one-of-a-kind piece of art work that represents the love you share with your family and loved ones.
It is important to me, as your family photographer to make sure the family heirloom stays alive...for the sake of future generations.

Bollywood

My husband and I had a date night tonight and decided to try out the new All Indian Cafe on Vashon Isl. They were showing a Bollywood movie with dinner. Bollywood movies are made in India and have lots of costumes, music, cultural dancing, sometimes some cheesy dialogue (but that might be just the translations) and don't alway have the best production, but man they are fun! The music is fantastic, the people are beautiful, the dancing is to die for.

Anyway, this reminded me of a terrific couple who's wedding I photographed last summer. Kelly and Maneesh...they and their families are the nicest folks you would ever want to meet. They had a small Indian wedding at a private home on Mercer Island last Labor Day.
Kelly's dress was a gorgeous blue, Maneesh wore traditional garb, the food was mouth watering, the setting beautiful, everyone was so gracious, and the music and dancing got into your soul. I loved these guys! Here are a few pages from their wedding album.