Olivia Jolie Belinge

So here is a slide show from the hospital. I put it together in about 30 min so it's not all that polished but I know you all really want to see pictures of Olivia.
Stephanie doesn't like the first picture, it's of her. The best thing about that photo is I took it just before we left (at 2:30am) for the hospital and just after Steph's water broke. I was surprised at how calm that time was, as if we had all the time we needed to make sure we had everything in order before leaving for the hospital. Neither one of us was nervous just really excited at the prospect of meeting Olivia.
In short the birth was not what either of us had expected; the Epidural didn't work and Olivia's heart rate dropped quickly during labor and it became critical to deliver ASAP. Suffice to say there were more than a few medical staff in our room "just in case".
Everything worked out in the end and Olivia is in good health despite some extra medical attention.
We are so excited to have Olivia in our lives!
Check out this slide show.

Scott & Kimie

So my wife and I have been loving our new home town, Portland. Thanks in part to our friends Scott and Kimie we now have a few new spots to enjoy. I offered Christmas card sessions for the first time this year. So for Scott & Kimie's session we headed up to The Pittock Mansion. WOW! This place is beautiful, it's an early 1900's stone mansion that overlooks Portland and the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge. I'm going to have to revisit it for some architectural photos. We walked around a bit and stopped for photos here and there. There are plenty of great locations to choose from so thankfully our schedule limited our time and options. After the session we headed down to the Pearl district for some drinks and food... and a couple more photos. Scott & Kimie were great tour guides. After some nice cocktails at Bluehour we headed over to Manzana's for food... and maybe a wee bit of football. Good times!

Sadly, this one didn't make it to the Christmas card. No that's not a real cigarette. It's actually a pen!

Hayden

This is Hayden. We had a awesome session a few weeks ago. This kid has so much energy I think he almost exploded with excitement during the shoot! His mom Heather wanted some pics to celebrate Hayden's fifth birthday. It was w bit on the cold side for the session of course I don't think Hayden even noticed. He was great though and he was happy to sit and pose a bit. We all had a lot of fun.

Thanks Hayden... enjoy.

The Carolus gang at Joe's Place Farm

I'm now living in Portland, OR (pics and story to follow soon) and I had my first photo session in town. You might recognize these folks from a session I did for them last year. This time around we went to Joe's Farm to get some pumpkins and Christmas card photos. It was a great fall morning cool and overcast. We had a ton of fun playing in the hay bails, going for a ride on the tractor, and spending time with friends.

Debt Free by 30

I think this is my first real post about something totally unrelated to my photography. Of course this being my photography blog I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this. This is worth it though.
Anyhow my good friend Melanie has come up with a great idea to help her squash the $150,000 of debt she has accumulated from college. The plan is rather simple but I can't really explain it very well so you should check it out for yourself, click here . She has her own blog set up for it and I'm totally looking forward to following her progress. Did I mention she is a damn fine photographer too...?

The Ellis Kids

Here are some, maybe a lot of pics from a quick session I did with one of my sister's kids. It's actually one of the only times I've ever done a 'proper' session with them and it was pretty cool. Despite lack luster weather and a really short window for shooting I got some great shots. Enjoy!