Stories

Recently, I photographed Sara and Kevin at the Washington State Arboretum. They were celebrating an important wedding anniversary and wanted to commemorate the event (and their new Hawaiian tans) with a portrait.
After working with them for a while, Sara commented on my easy and relaxed style of shooting and this lead into a discussion about how a portrait isn't always about the faces. A good portrait can tell a story even if it only shows a portion of the subject.
They totally "got me"! I love telling stories with my photography and even though the traditional sense of a portrait is sitting for the camera and smiling, I truly believe that the real story of my subjects isn't always in the face.
Here's Sara and Kevin's story.

Holiday Deadlines

To all you procrastinators and planners alike, It's time to talk about those looming Holiday Deadlines.
Yes, I know. It's not even Halloween yet, (I don't want to see anything Christmasy until the day after Thanksgiving), but if you are thinking about giving something a bit more personal than a cell phone or a new tie this year, then these things take some planning.
I'm talking about giving a beautiful, Heirloom Portrait of yourself, your family or your children. This is no ordinary snapshot or cheesy portrait from one of those chain stores. This is a custom designed, fine art portrait that tells the story of your family. A gift that will definitely have more heart and soul than a new tie. It's the gift of You. How perfect is that?

DEADLINES:

November 15th Last day to order framing and storybooks for gifts

November 29th Last day for portraits (if you want them for holiday gifts)

November 29th Last day to order Holiday Cards

December 13th Last day to place print order for gifts (rush charge may apply)

Happy Halloween

Halloween is quickly approaching! (Where did the summer go?)

If you find yourself on Vashon Island on the 31st, make sure to stop by Cafe Luna in the heart of town. This is the 4th year running that I'll be offering free (yes free!) portraits at the cafe.
This ongoing personal photography project has been a huge success and I'm thrilled to offer it to the Vashon Community. People ask me what the catch is...why I'm not charging for the session. I'm in it for the Art, nothing else. A showing of images will be hanging at the Cafe for the month of February 2009.

Halloween Night @ Cafe Luna, Vashon Isl. 4-7pm Free Portraits!

Hope to see you there! This is a popular event, so come early, then stay to Trick or Treat in town.

Oh yeah...there is one catch...You have to be in costume.

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.