Forever Family Designs is live!

The Forever Family Designs website is now live! If you haven't heard about it, I've teamed up with a good friend to create a company offering creative resources to adoptive families. Go check it out, and spread the word to anyone you know who might be adopting. Our one goal is to make what can be a long and stressful process a little bit easier!

What an incredible season this has been! In five weeks, I have successfully designed and launched two websites, built a 64 page full color, glossy magazine from the ground up, spent four days at an incredible photography convention in Las Vegas... all while still working 40 hours a week and only calling in sick twice. Man, God is so faithful! And His provision is astounding--this website was provided free to us on behalf of Blu Domain, thanks to a giveaway contest they hosted at Christmas!

This has been a fabulous Monday!

Bend Fire Dept. Receives a $15,000 Grant

I was hired to cover an event on Friday morning with the Bend Fire Department. The Fireman's Fund Insurance Company has a program called the Fireman's Fund Heritage. Through this program, they provide grants for needed equipment, firefighter training, and community education programs to fire departments throughout the nation. The latest recipient was the Bend Fire Department, and they were presented with the oversized check on Friday morning. Here are just a few shots from the event.

Celebrating Adoption: Darius

There's something special about doing these Celebrating Adoption sessions. For some reason, knowing the background story and the journey involved causes the photos to sort of come alive in a way that they wouldn't normally. I love these in particular, because there is so much love and such a connection between Darius and his mom. Darius was adopted from Ethiopia, and these were taken on his 2nd birthday. He was the cutest ever and had endless expressions. I had to include an example of one of them--you'll know it when you see it! He was a pirate and the trunk was his treasure chest. We asked him what a pirate says, and the expression is priceless!

Free Coffee on Ethni!

Simple Math:

Don't forget--the first five people to visit Stacey at Eastside Java, and mention Ethni Photography, get a coffee on me! Go tomorrow morning--they're waiting for you! Eastside Java is located at Highway 20 and 27th Street next to the Shell gas station. Have a happy latte!

Racie-Roo Sneak Peek

This sneak peek is just for Crys, who has been soo incredibly patient through this insanely busy season! I took these photos of her daughter, who I affectionately call Racie-Roo, nearly a month ago. I just happened to grab this in a rare moment of stillness as mom fixed her bow, man that girl was busy (as you can see below, in mid-run!) Lots of sugar plus no nap makes for a very busy toddler! Crys--thank you for your patience! You're the best!

New Galleries on the Ethni Site

I added a fine art category to my website. Under that category there are two new galleries:

Simplicity is a series of simple florals I did last summer.

Breaking Free was a photo documentary series I did for my senior project in college. It's gritty and grainy, and has the feel of movie stills. It's a different feel for me, all done on film. The portrait of the cross was taken with a medium format camera in a studio on campus. The project was to do a nude figure study that showed movement. A Brazilian friend who happened to have the perfect hair, posed on a cross that was used in a play. If you look closely, there are multiple faces in the shot. I had him lift himself up to take a breath, and lower himself back down again to get the right movement. I miss those days! Anyway, the series tells the story of the emotional bondage that we can carry around with us for way too long. Anger.. fear.. fill in the blank. It all fits. But there is so much freedom found in Christ... a truth that's difficult to grasp and actually believe if you haven't experienced it yourself. If you're skeptical, I dare you to try it. I had emotional wounds in my past that I never thought would heal. I figured as long as you can remember the painful story, the hurt associated with it might lessen, but it would never fully go away. God proved me wrong. Look at the scar you have from the surgery a few years back.. or from an accident you had as a kid. You remember the story of how you got that scar, but when you tell the story, you can't remember the pain involved in the process of it. Such is my heart. I can pull it out and tell you my story, and how God has healed it. But the pain of what once was no longer remains.

This photography series will always be incredibly special to me. My chains are gone. I've been set free. He is a good God. Don't just take my word for it.

Photographers who Inspire: Mario Testino

I got out of the habit of my Wednesday Photographer Who Inspires Feature. Now that I'm somewhat back to a normal schedule, I thought it was time to get back to it.

First of all, if you spend any amount of time with me, you will know that I tend to get things mixed up in my brain when I'm trying to explain things. For example:

• I went to the MAC counter a few months ago to get some new powder. The woman asked me if I knew what my color was and I said (fully assured I was dead-on the money) "NC-17." She looked at me for a minute and said "... that's a movie rating, not a powder color." Shoot! If anyone cares, my powder color is really NC-35.

• A few weeks ago, I was at a women's ministry dinner and Megan and I were talking about jewelry and designing wedding rings. I was telling her about a site I went to when Josh and I were dating. "It's so great, you can build your own ring from scratch! Check it out, it's www.westnile.com." .... nope. West Nile is a virus. The real site I was trying to tell her about was www.bluenile.com.

What does this have to do with a photographer who inspires me? This week it's Mario Testino. When I was googled his name, I put in "Mario Tostino." I love google... if you misspell something you're searching for, it has the reference at the top of the page that says "Did you mean: "mario testino" Yep. Sure did. Tostino is a chip. Thanks, google, for making me feel like an idiot. Now on to the reason for this post... [***edited: nope... Tostino is a pizza... see?! I can't get anything right!***]

A few weeks ago, Josh and I were at Barnes & Noble drinking coffee and looking at magazines. I had the March issue of Vanity Fair, he had some golf magazine. Anyway, in honor of their 25th anniversary, they have been doing a series of articles titled Masters of Photography, highlighting famous photographers who have contributed to their pages throughout the years. Last month's issue was the first one I read--it happened to be on Mario Testino, and it was so interesting. Rather than trying to sum it up (and get mixed up with my brain associations in the process), here are some quotes that have been stuck in my mind since I read the article:

"Indeed, if any fashioned-trained portraitist is considered photographic royalty, it is Testino. In 1997, when Diana, Princess of Wales, sat for what would be her last major portrait session, the photographer she chose was Testino, whose classic images of her were first published in Vanity Fair--12 weeks before she died in a Paris Car Crash...though Diana was the woman whom cameras followed everywhere, even to her death, it is Testino's images by which we remember her at her most glamorous... He has made some of the most photographed people in the world appear as if for the first time in his pictures."

That excerpt had me hooked, and the rest of the article is just as intriguing. My favorite quote of the entire spread is one Testino said in describing his work:

"'It's like the result of a formula in algebra... You document a moment that is so minimal--a split second. And many times I look at a laptop to edit my film: there aren't 20 pictures that are great. There's one.' The marvel of the photographic portrait, he insists, is that 'in our lives, that are 85 years, on average, a single moment can exist that synthesizes your whole being, who you are. What is magical [is] if you manage to capture in that moment your subject's joy, their kindness, their essence."

Awesome! I'm in a season where I'm intrigued by these type of photographers. The Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar contributors. I don't necessarily want to be a celebrity photographer. But I find myself studying the pages, and wondering how I can incorporate the feeling of expansive, luxurious sets and incredible fashion design to the stay-at-home mom, the senior just graduating high school, and the bride on her wedding way... using their own sense of fashion, in their own personal space, decorated in their own style.

By the way, I'm really hoping Vanity Fair decides to put these articles together in a book. It's one I would definitely have on my coffee table!

I Get to Work with the Nicest People

"...I am looking so forward to meeting you. I have wanted a nice family photograph for years now. This is the perfect timing and I believe you are the perfect one to be doing it!"

I get to work with the best people! I got the sweetest email from a portrait client yesterday. Shortly after posting about still honoring the session I was going to donate for the Dara Hatcher auction, Dara's aunt (of all people) contacted me. She was looking for my gift certificate at the auction to bid on it, and then saw my post afterwards. I'm so pleased to not only be able to still donate to the cause, but to sort of be doing a two-fold blessing for the family! Anyway, we've been trying to nail down some dates, and I received this email from her. It put some sunshine in my day, so I thought I would share. Happy Wednesday!

Josh's Self Portrait

We seem to be tooting the horn of Big Folio a lot lately, but who can blame us? They're awesome and they gave us some sweet free shirts at WPPI! This is Josh's self portrait, taken and edited himself. Oh yes, we will be a husband and wife team before you know it! (You think I'm kidding...)

If you look in the background, Josh is sitting in our office and it's a mess. It's not normally like that... ok it can be messy, but it doesn't normally look like a bomb went off! I came home from work a week and a half ago and it was completely torn apart. I'm talking everything inside the desk stacked on the floor, computer unplugged, desk moved around... nothing was in its original place. The reason he tore everything apart? At first he couldn't remember. But after a few minutes of thinking it hit him:

"Because you can see the internet cord!"

Surely that means you need rearrange the entire room! I have to admit, he had the best intentions. He wanted the office to have the perfect set up for me, and he had my best interest at heart. He is so cute and I love that he does these things for me. However, note to husbands out there: if you are going to make a nice gesture like this, make sure your wife isn't neck-deep in the middle of a graphic design project before unplugging her computer! He threw everything back together in 30 minutes, and the office was a disaster for a week. Yesterday his project was to clean it for me. Instead he took pictures of himself in his cool new big folio shirt.

The office is clean now. And he's proud of himself for his photoshop accomplishments. And I have to say... I'm proud of him too! :)

Josh & Jeff: Long Lost Audition Tape

I found the long lost audition tapes of Josh and Jeff Caston, early in their careers with the Thunder From Down Under... I'm not sure who is who though...

Chris Farley - Chippendales | Funny Jokes at JibJab

The Mustard Seed Mission

I've added a new missions organization to the Ethni Outreach section on my website. It's the only organization listed that's tied to a local church, so if you want your donation from your session to benefit a missionary with local roots, The Mustard Seed Mission is it! They are connected to Redmond Community Church, and are a faith-based missions team in Managua, Nicaragua. I learned of the ministry through Jen Thompson, who has traveled there and served with them in the past. She has a slideshow of photos from her last trip on her blog if you want to take a peek. There is a possibility that we may travel there together sometime this year--I'll post more about that in the future if it comes together. Anyway, you can read more about the Perkins family here. Also, if you know of other missions organizations whose home churches are based in Central Oregon, please let me know. I'd love to add a link to the Ethni Outreach page. Clients can choose an organization from this list to send their 25% donation to, or specify an organization of their choice.

Happy Monday! And don't forget your free coffee at Eastside Java!!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Some people call it Easter, but my husband and I affectionately refer to today as Resurrection Sunday. We hope you can look past the candy baskets and dyed eggs... because if that's all Easter is about, the holiday is just as empty as those hollow chocolate bunnies smeared over many children's faces! Celebrating His resurrection is a glorious thing!

And speaking of celebrating, tomorrow Stacey at Eastside Java is having her re-grand opening celebration! That means free coffee all day long! You can find the stand in the Shell Station parking lot at Highway 20 and 27th Street. I love her idea behind the business because it's not just any other coffee stand. She's offering healthy snacks for kids (carrot sticks, etc) and she has a special Mommy Menu with a whole list of kid-friendly drinks to choose from! So visit Stacey tomorrow for a free coffee, and then be one of the first five people to mention Ethni Photography this weekend and get a coffee on me! (Coffee is one of my favorite things, so my giveaways will revolve around it a lot...)

Anyway, God is so good! Enjoy the rest of the day!

Celebrating Adoption: Jadon

I had a session with Jadon and his parents a few weeks ago to celebrate their adoption. As a member of the Celebrating Adoption organization, I am donating a limited number of free portrait sessions a month to families who have added to their family through adoption in the last year. Although I have three sessions for March, I will be limiting appointments to two per month starting in April.

Here are two of my favorites from the session:

Tough Life of a Model

I did these shots about a month ago of Josie. She was such a trooper even though she was so tired. I just had to include the last shot--it was actually the last shot I took during the session, and I was cracking up. She just put her head down on the bed, and she was done. It's tough being a model!

Las Vegas Re-Cap

We got home from our trip to Vegas tonight, and I am renewed, refreshed, and have so many great ideas and tips from to try out! The 2008 Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention was held in the Paris Hotel as well as Bally's... Josh and I didn't figure out they were connected until the second day there. And no, I didn't photoshop the water in the fountain. I think they put green dye in it for St. Patrick's Day.

The convention was wonderful and overwhelming and amazing all at the same time. Our flight out of Redmond didn't leave until after midnight on Sunday night (it was originally supposed to leave at 7:15..) and we didn't get to our hotel until almost 4:00am. So I didn't make Michael and Anna Costa's 8:30am talk, which I was really bummed about. But there were a dozen other speakers every day offering talks on everything from marketing to live demonstrations to commercial photography.

We had the privilege of listening to two photographers in particular whose images are pretty well-known. One is labeled "the most influential wedding photographer in America" by Eastman Kodak, and is probably most famous for shooting John F. Kennedy Jr.'s wedding to Carolyn Bissette. The other is, among many other things, the photographer for America's Next Top Model. It was so interesting to sit back for two hours and listen as they picked apart each photograph, telling the story about what was happening, the technical aspects of how they created the shoot, the tips they paid consultants $2,500 to learn themselves. When the photo of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bisset came on the large screen, there was a hush in the room that gave me chills. Awesome. Man, there's certainly a lot to be said not only for education, but continuing your education!

We stayed at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Resort, which was right next door to the Paris, and had an amazing room. The original room we were in was nice enough.. but at about 12:30am on Monday, the sink and bath tub stopped draining, and stinky, nasty water was coming up through the drain in the shower. Needless to say, we packed up everything and moved to a new room at 1:00am--upgraded for free to a suite. The pics above are of the bath tub in our suite--it was the biggest tub I think I have ever seen and faced a window that looked out onto the strip (granted our view was construction, but awesome nonetheless!)

Other than the talks and the tradeshow, we walked more than I have walked in the last year. Ok that was an exaggeration... but the strip is huge, and we walked a good part of it! That and shopping and I was pretty much done. We went out on Tuesday night with Jeff & Megan (Jeff is part of the Big Folio crew, and we LOVE him and his wife), and found a lucky slot machine. Between the four of us, it paid out about $300. Josh and I actually went back to the machine this morning, put in about $10, and walked away empty-handed (ok, not really--I won $60 on another machine). But just a few minutes later a guy sat down at the same machine, hit it about three times, and walked away with $150. Dangit!!

Anyway, I could go on and on with stories. We were both incredibly blessed. I walked away with a new flash, which I'm stoked about, and a ton of information on album companies and everything else you can think of. I was also able to meet up with two other local photographers at the show: Jen Thompson and Kelly Goff. Sad we had to actually meet a few thousand miles away, but we totally hit it off. They are both very fun, and their work is amazing, and I'm looking forward to building a friendship with them. It even worked out that we were on the same flight home (the photo below is in the airport just before boarding.)

So I guess to sum it up, if you were to ask the one thing I'm most excited about from this whole week, I would say the marked shift in Josh from before the show vs. after. Before, he always referred to Ethni as "you" and "your" when he talked to me about it. On the plane ride home, and at dinner, he's now calling it "we" and "our." I LOVE that! Anyway, time to snap back to reality (including the transition from mid-70 degree temperatures to the fact that it's snowing at the moment...) Now that the magazine is at the printer, I'll be posting a lot of catch-up work I haven't had the chance to touch yet. I'll leave you with this last photo, my best work of art yet--goofing off in the airport while we waited for our flight. I'm not sure who is sexier: Josh or the guy sitting behind him! (The guy sitting behind him is the reason I took the picture!! )

The Best and Worst Day Ever

Ok is that title melodramatic or what? But I'm allowed to be a little melodramatic. (And yes, I just went onto dictionary.com to make sure I was using the right word..) My brain feels like it's been thrown through a blender and turned into tomato soup.. I just can't think anymore. As many of you know, I'm coming off of a very long, busy few weeks. The first issue of True North Parenting magazine is just about wrapped up--only a few pages left to finalize, and another round of proofs before it's off to the printer. At this moment, I am emotionally and physically exhausted. I was up until 3:30 last night turning all the individual ads and articles into an actual magazine. It's pretty amazing to see it all come together! And there seems to be a buzz around town about the magazine, with businesses trying to get a last minute jump on advertising (sorry, guys. Too late for this issue!) Anyway, all that to say, it's almost done. And tomorrow Las Vegas awaits. I've heard that estimates of 10,000 photographers will be descending upon the city in the next week for the annual Wedding and Portrait Photographers convention and trade show, and I'll be one of them! Josh and I fly out tomorrow night for four nights at the Planet Hollywood Resort. I've tried to line up my itinerary, but I've only gotten as far as Monday:

• 8:30 am - Michael & Anna Costa's talk on standing out in the photography industry
• At any point in the day - shopping at H&M (my favorite store that happens to be inside our hotel...along with 120 other stores. I'm in heaven.)
• 4:00 pm - getting a head shot taken by the fabulous [b]ecker in front of the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris Hotel in the afternoon (with a ton of other people, I imagine!)

So what does the title of this post mean? Well, it's the best day ever because tomorrow means this insane season is pretty much over! And the worst day ever... because I had to say goodbye to my puppy. Since I'm working 15 hours a day, and Josh wasn't the biggest fan of having a dog in the house, he was getting pretty neglected. Really, he's been gone since Sunday. Josh took him for a walk and happened to run into a family from Prineville who loved him the moment they saw him (who doesn't?? he's the best dog ever!) They asked where they could get a dog like him, and Josh said we happened to be looking for someone to take him. Within three hours, he was gone. Off for a trial run with the family on their two acres. I've cried every day. Who knew I'd ever cry this much over an animal? They came over this afternoon to pick up his kennel and some odds and ends, and I had to say goodbye to his precious little face . It was sort of bizarre because when we saw him, he just wasn't our dog anymore. He is in love with the family, and they are so wonderful and will definitely spoil him rotten. So it's actually a really good thing. It's just hard saying goodbye. Especially when he lay his head down in my lap and went right to sleep in the brief minutes I had with him. Those kids and the acreage to run on must be wearing him out!

So it really is the best and worst day ever. And this is the longest post ever. Don't ever put a keyboard in front of me when I'm tired. Cheers to Vegas!

Dara Hatcher Auction

You might have read my post a few weeks ago about the auction benefitting Dara Hatcher, a local single mother who was recently diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. The auction was held on Tuesday night at the Mountain Room of the Deschutes Brewery. I was amazed at the sheer amount of items up for auction they managed to gather together in just a matter of weeks! I wish now I had brought my camera to take photos of the tables littered with things so I can show you how it looked. The turnout was amazing and the place was packed. I waited in line for 10 minutes just to get registered and upstairs! Unfortunately, since there were so many donated items, the portrait session I donated was lost in the shuffle. So if you were there, and were looking to bid on it, I wasn't making it up!

All that to say, I'm still going to honor my original donation. If you are interested in scheduling a portrait session with me, and having 100% of the proceeds go to the Dara Hatcher Foundation, your donation will be added to the estimated $12,000 that was raised on Tuesday evening! The session is worth $225. You can choose to make your donation to the Foundation be the value of the session, or you can choose to make it more. It's up to you. If you are interested, please email me at jane@ethniphotography.com.

I Love My Husband

I have no photos to go with this post. Mostly because I haven't had time to do much else than work and sleep. I eat in front of the computer, walk away briefly to either fill up a coffee mug or give my poor wrists a break (I think I'm going to end up with carpel tunnel before all is said and done...) This has been the craziest season I have ever been in. Ever. And through it all, Josh has been nothing but encouraging and loving. I have worked 26 of the last 36 hours. As I work, he massages my shoulders, makes me scrambled eggs, toast, nachos, spaghetti and lattes, refills the bowl of peanut butter m&ms constantly on my desk, reminds me to drink my airborne, is ready at any given moment if I need a quick hot tub break, and continually tells me how proud he is of me. He makes this season bearable. And I love him. Now it's back to work...

Timberline Lodge Leap Year Wedding

It's about time I posted some photos! I had the privilege of being the second shooter at a wedding at Timberline Lodge on February 29. What a beautiful location--you feel like you're on top of the world! There is a shot of the view that was taken through a window (which accounts for the stripes in it.) But the view was too beautiful to not post the photo! Anyway, here's a rather extended peek at the details of the wedding. Very simple, and very intimate. And I love the bride's socks so much I had to include two shots of them!