Melinda & Shad: Now Mr & Mrs

You may remember Melinda and Shad from their engagement session last fall. It's amazing how quickly the time has flown, and their wedding has now come and gone. In the midst of all their wedding planning, Melinda also endured some additional excitement: an extended stay in the hospital. Her lung collapsed. Twice. Shortly before the wedding, she had major surgery to prevent it from happening again. You would have never known looking at her that she has just survived all that. But I suppose the glow of a bride-to-be makes all the other stress fade away, and, thankfully, Melinda has now fully recovered. Although their scuba diving honeymoon in Thailand has been postponed. I guess something minor like lung surgery prevents you from diving to depths of the ocean for long periods of time. Go figure.

As I was (still am) editing the photos from their big day, I am struck by the emotion in all the photos. There is so much love dripping from each shot, and it's not just from the bride and groom! It's from the whole crew of family and friends!

The day began for the girls at Zante downtown while the guys got dressed at Melinda and Shad's home. The ceremony and reception were at Aspen Hall (the same location where we did their engagement session), and the light during their formal portraits was gorgeous!

Melinda and Shad: enjoy your preview. The rest of the photos will be done soon!

New Christmas Cards in the Paper Shoppe

There are two new holiday card designs in the Ethni Paper Shoppe with more on the way soon! I think I'll go back later and add some ornaments to the trees in the first set. They are looking a little naked.

If you haven't noticed, I have recently been taking a break from my texture-rich designs, focusing more on a crisp, clean look. Don't worry, I'll still be producing the other style so keep an eye out if you prefer that look.

In the meantime, these are the latest additions to the Paper Shoppe!

More of Those Baby Blues

As promised, I have a few more photos from my Corvallis children's session a few weeks ago. I went a little overboard on shooting this one, so mom has plenty to choose from! But look at these faces... can you blame me?

I wanted to put up every shot from this session, but I will refrain. And you will notice that most of these are black and white so you can't see their gorgeous baby blues, but I was hoping you'd make the connection to the last post here!

Danny & Rachel: Married!

I had the honor of shooting Danny & Rachel's wedding this summer, and am finally getting caught up enough to blog it. The day was a hot one--97 degrees, and very high humidity. I had to work fast to get through their formal portraits and get them inside to their reception before we all melted away!

If you haven't read their story, read it here. Josh and I have known Danny and Rachel for quite awhile, and it was so fun to be a part of their big day.

A Quick Peek Into an Incredible Wedding

I have two other weddings in the chute to finish editing, but I was unloading memory cards from a wedding I had the pleasure of second-shooting at this weekend. I just couldn't resist putting this one up. It's one of those shots that you feel like you stumbled upon a very personal, private moment, and they don't quite know you are there. I feel like I have to whisper when I'm looking at it. That's all the break I get today. Back to sifting through proofs I go.

Happy Wednesday!

Class of 2009: Miss Kayla

After rescheduling once due to some nasty weather, and then getting myself lost on the way out to her session, I finally made it to Kayla's house for our session.  We gathered up her clothes and the fantastic chair she wanted to use, and loaded up the car.  The destination: her boyfriend's alpaca farm.

The property was beautiful.  The light was gorgeous.  The model was perfect.  The temperature could have been a few (dozen) degrees warmer, but we faked it.  I just love shooting high school seniors who aren't afraid to get a little crazy.  Kayla's personality really shines through in her photos.  Her plan is to end up at the Portland Art Institute to pursue one of the greatest majors ever invented.  She has a passion for photography, and we were going to get some shots with her camera, but the light faded too quickly.  I had a good two hours of ideas with the amount of beautiful landscape (and subject matter) I was dealing with when the sun disappeared!  Oh well.

Kayla, you are beautiful!  I hope you thoroughly enjoy your senior portraits.  I know I loved every minute of shooting them!

Introducing Charlie

When I first met Charlie's mom, it was a meeting in her furniture store about doing an ad for the newspaper. As I walked into her shop downtown on Wall Street, I noticed the amazing chair on display in the front window. It had a very antique feel to it, with a rounded, full back that was completely covered in signatures. Through the course of our meeting, it came up that Whitney had just gotten married last October, and that chair was the guest book at their wedding. What a creative idea for a guest book, and fitting when your family owns an established furniture store! Also through the course of the meeting, it came out that Whitney had gotten pregnant on her honeymoon. From that moment, I knew I wanted to shoot her baby in the chair when he was born.

Charlie finally made his debut, and I got my session. He's a little older than your typical newborn--he was about six weeks old for our shoot together. It's best to shoot newborns within their first seven days for a few reasons: a) they sleep constantly, and b) you can bend them in just about any position while they are sleeping. Once you start getting out of that glorious seven day window, they start getting more alert and less bendy. Charlie, although a beautiful little boy, was such a case. He was so excited for his first modeling shoot he just couldn't stand it. He wanted to be awake through the whole thing, and not miss one second.

So for two hours, we waited. Mom and I chatted. He ate. Again. And again. And again. I should have taken a picture of his swollen, happy belly before I left. We turned off the lights. Mom sang to him. She held him. Laid him down. Bundled him up. And fed him some more. Charlie just did not want to sleep.

Luckily I'm patient. And I had nowhere else to be. I was determined to get a shot of that boy sleeping in a chair that everyone his parents love dearly in this life had signed! And finally, after two hours, he slept. It was brief. But I got my shot. And it was worth the wait.

This shot just makes me laugh every time I look at it. I think Charlie is just as stubborn as I am. I think he threw me this look that says "oh, I'm going to sleep huh? Wanna bet?" I just love the look on his face, and those eyes! Why do I keep getting so lucky with children that have amazing eyes?

And finally, Charlie's birth announcement. Congratulations, Whitney!

Celebrating Fall

Poor fall got gypped this year. We blew right past it and headed straight into weather, complete with brisk, below-freezing nights this week, and a few snowflakes in the five day forecast. Ask me how happy I am about that. Better yet... don't. Usually I start my countdown to snow in early October, scouring the forecast for the first signs of flakes. But this year is different. I'm just not ready to bust out my Uggs yet. However, my house is fall-ready should you feel like stopping by for a hot latte. Which might be a nice thought when it's only -72 outside...

I went to a pumpkin party last night, and spent almost three hours with the girls, surrounded by glue guns, ribbon, feathers, buttons, glitter, and pumpkins galore. It was nice to break away from my computer for an evening. And I scored at Michael's this week, deciding to purchase fake pumpkins that I can use for years to come (much to the delight of my husband). Luckily, they were 50% off.

So in protest to the very early winter weather, join with me in a hearty "Cheers!" to fall. These are my pumpkin creations from last night. Thank you Martha Stewart for your fine glitter and glitter glue genius brain. I could kiss you.

Lovin' Those Baby Blues

Let me just say.... this session has been a long time coming. It was originally planned for last winter. The perfect outfits had long been selected, and my weekend with Mom was greatly anticipated. But them some nasty weather decided to come through, preventing these precious little ones from making their way over the mountain to see me. So we postponed. And they went back home. All the way across the country.

Finally, this summer, we nailed the date. Ironically, they were visiting from South Carolina the week before I was headed their direction. Mom is now pregnant with number 3, and dad is in the Marine Corp (oops! I originally said he was Air Force!), so I had the pleasure of spending some time with the little ones alone.

Evan gave me a run for my money. Literally. He JUST figured out how to walk, and there was no stopping him. He was determined. Head down, feet stomping, get outta my way determined. If I would jump ahead of him, he would turn the other way. If he was momentarily stopped from his new found adventure, frustration would ensue. It took me a little bit, but I finally outsmarted him. And I got some good shots of his adorable little face, including those hard-to-resist cheeks I just want to kiss over and over.

And Ellie... that tutu... those pink converse... and her striking eyes. Wow. Quite possibly my favorite children's session so far.

There are so many shots from the afternoon that I love. And I haven't even finished editing the whole thing yet, I just wanted to get a quick peek up for Mom before I drew it on any longer. So be warned... a few more shots will most likely find there way on here in the new future. I hope you don't mind. But I just won't be able to help myself.