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!

I'm back!

I can't believe I've been gone for so long. I would love to say that I've been too busy making great photos all this time but I've had a few other things keeping me occupied as well. On the down side my Apple G5 went out in a sparkling blaze of liquid induced self destruction. As I have since learned the hard way, the fluid filled cooling system in G5s have a habit of springing terminal leaks. So I said goodbye to what was once my trusted workstation. Then hello to a nice shiny new Intel Mac Pro. There is no liquid cooling system in this baby!
I've been putting a lot of time into a project with my friend Melanie Hogan. All the details are still under wraps for a bit longer. I can say that we're working on a book and as we are both photographers, yes, it incorporates photography. Beyond that you'll just have to wait a bit longer. It will be worth the wait I promise. If anyone happens to know a thing or two about publishing let me know :-).
That's all I've got time for at the moment. I'll be posting more in the coming days so don't be shy...

Spring Time in Napa

My brother-in-law, Eli, is getting married this June. So what better reason to make a trip up to Napa for a photo session. Well that and some wine tasting too. The weekend turned out to be amazing, sunny and 70 degrees. The vines are still dormant but as you can see mustard is in full bloom. I'm not sure which is more beautiful grape vines or the yellow mustard spread out like carpet between the rows of vines. They really complement each other. I do know they don't let the mustard grow like that in Santa Ynez. Maybe Napa has some sort of copyright on that look, I don't know.
Needless to say we all thoroughly enjoyed our time up there. I was able to do three mini photo sessions in one. An engagement with Eli and Kim. A family session with Eli, Kim, and Kim's son Kiel. A portrait session with just Kiel. Not bad I have to say.

Mindy

I had a fun quick little shoot with Mindy. She wanted something for her husband. She was great to work with and willing to take a bit of direction now and again. By the end of the shoot she was working it like a pro. We fit the session in while the kids went to the park to play. It all worked out perfectly and we got back just in time for lunch.