Thanks to Kelsey who came along and helped a bunch. Click the thumbnails to see the photos…

One of the best parts of an engagement session is getting to know the couples whom I ‘ll be photographing on their wedding day & to get those “in front of the camera” jitters out of the way. As you can probably tell, there weren’t too many jitters and we went straight away in to getting great photos. It seemed like we were buds instantly.

I had a blast with these guys. I don’t think we stopped laughing for the entire session. In fact I’d say the only time they weren’t cracking up was when I was forcing them to show their more romantic side (of course, I didn’t have to force them too much).

I can’t wait to shoot their wedding day. I have no doubt it will be an outstanding & beautiful wedding.

Many, many thanks to H + L for trusting me with their special day.

Click the thumbnails to see the photos…

These two photos really need to be seen large to be appreciated.

1. Photos have to be affordable. I saw the price list of previous photographers who did this and I was astounded by the prices. I felt like these should be priced like an impulse item rather than something that needed to be worked into a family’s monthly budget.

2. Photos have to be fun. We’ve all seen the all too common and boring photos of people standing there looking blankly at the camera.

BOOOO-RING.

The dance was fun. The photos should reflect that. My answer: PROPS!

3. Photos should be printed on location. People don’t really want several 8×10s or wallets of the dance photos. So what’s the reason for filling out forms and waiting to get 1 or 2 photos? After doing tons of research and finding a portable photo printer that could print 5×7s and get great photo quality, I ordered it and figured out the best way to get it to print at the dance (the toughest & most time consuming part). More fun for everyone that way.

What I learned: Doing it the old way has to be way easier. Boring photos are easy. Getting a reaction is tough. Expensive photos mean less photos to take. That’s easier. Sending the files to a printer and dropping them off at the school a couple of weeks earlier would have been way easier.

I worked my butt off for a couple of hours. That was harder work than shooting a wedding. Was it worth it & would I do it again? Without a doubt. It was a blast!

P.S. As a little extra, I emailed digital photos to everyone who ordered a photo so they could upload it to facebook or whatever they wanted.

Here are a few of the photos:

I’ve been trying to get used to my new Nikon D3/85mm combo (oh baby.) so I’ve been carrying it around with me. Yesterday was haircut day for mom & Kels (Reagan would have but she’s growing it to donate to Locks of Love again. Baby G & I are due for one soon). The outstanding new hairstyles, along with the beautiful afternoon light shining through our wall of windows compelled me to grab some shots that I love, so I figured I’d share.

Fortunately for me, these daughters & wife don’t seem to mind being in front of the lens.

Here are a few of the photos I took.

P.S. The B&W photos are natural light shots and the color shot was taken with my new Photek 60″ Softlighter & AlienBee.

I see photography in much the same way as I look at graphic design. You have a problem or need, you create a solution. I feel like that’s a huge part of why I’m able to translate my work as a graphic designer to photographer.

With this, the goal was to shoot promo photos for a local printer, Pacific NW Print & Fulfillment, to use on their website & printed materials so they could get away from having to use the same stock photos as every other printer around.

So I spent some time with the Chris and the crew, dragging my lights around, and seeing what they do while capturing it as well as their personalities through the lens.

They also had me photograph some sample prints (”be fast”) that they ran at 2 other local printers so they could show the quality of their work versus the other guys’ (PNW’s print is on the left).

Here are some of the photos from the shoot as well as a couple of photos of the brochure they produced utilizing the photos.

P.S. If I had to pick a favorite, it would have to be the forklift photo—mostly for the technical aspect. There are 2 different lights being used. One on the overall scene so I could keep the exposure down and the sky blue. But the one that gets me excited is the other light placed in the warehouse to give some extra definition to the boxes. Otherwise they would have been lost in the shadows.

We’ll miss seeing them next time we go back to visit.

So one of the important events this trip was getting a family photo of the four boys and our families. Of course it rained the entire week. After driving around looking for spots to get it done we ended up downtown in a parking garage where graffiti artists are welcome to show off their skills. As you can see, the kids had a blast (like always).

Since these are more of a personal project I felt I could take some liberties and edit these in a style that’s a little different than my own, but I felt the hyper-contrast look worked perfectly with the urban environment. I doubt I’ll be adopting this style for my other work.

A benefit of being a graphic designer as well as a photographer is that I can design my own materials (& website). The hard thing is that I’m rarely satisfied with what I’ve done and I’m usually saved from constant redesigns by a deadline of some sort—I’m always my own worst client.

One of the biggest mistakes that I see other photographers make is that they try to design their own materials without any design training—a DIY approach. It’s a natural reaction while trying to save money. But ask yourself, would you invest thousands of dollars in a business who doesn’t recognize the importance of  a professional look. I wouldn’t. I do feel a little jealous of CPAs who start photography businesses because they already have the bookkeeping training that I desperately lack. So, I guess what I’m saying is that we all need to learn our strengths & weaknesses and apply our strengths and outsource our weaknesses. For example I’m not a great writer. I know that. You’re reading this, so you know that. Understanding this, I had a friend who is a great writer redo my text. I can’t explain how much better her version is than what I wrote.

In addition to the brochure & business cards, the guys at Print NW also printed 2 inserts for the brochure. A little ad explaining the importance of the engagement session and one explaining exactly what the trendy “Trash the Dress” (TTD) session is and whether or not you have to run your gown (hint: you dont).

I’m also adding an image of my ad that’s featured in the 2010 Wedding Resource Guide. Pick it up at most any inland NW bridal shop. Many thanks to the extra sets of eyeballs that took a look at it and gave me some great feedback.

I couldn’t be more happy with how it’s all turned out. That’s why I’m so happy to share.

This time the Osborn family needed their family photos done and we decided it was a perfect time to get in the studio and get some use out of it since the weather has been on the cold/rainy side. First I set up the lights against the 9′ wide white seamless paper background and had Reagan stand in to test things (the last photo is a couple of these test shots). Once they were good, the Osborns showed up and we got to shooting. They were lots of fun and everybody did great in front of the camera. They all have such great personalities which makes my job easier since I don’t really have to do anything but catch it—you know, like karate kicks and stuff.

Finally I got a couple of photos with my daughter Gwyn hamming it up with her friend—which didn’t look like it was going to happen since Gwyn was being a bit of a brat. Of course she saw how much fun everybody was having and decided it was ok to be a part of it.

Even within the confines of a small studio I think we got some great portraits and I can’t wait to use it again.

The Priebes are a great family and a celebration of what families can be. So I was honored to be able to capture them all together.

To the photographers out there who read this, this session was a great example of the importance of back-ups. I had an extension cord, 2 umbrellas, and my wireless flash triggers (and their flashes) all fail. Fortunately I had backups of everything and we were still able to go ahead with it—thank goodness.

Thanks to Reagan & Kelsey (and various Priebe family members) who held down my light stands suring the shoot.

What a great weekend! It exceeded, not only my expectations, but my dreams as well. The booth was beautiful (more on that coming later) and ended up looking better than the design I had in my head.

Thank you to all of the future brides that I talked to over the last 2 days. Hopefully you’ll take a look around and see that we’re a good fit, if not I hope you find exactly what you’re looking for somewhere else—you deserve exactly what you want on your wedding day. If you look at my work on my websites and aren’t sure or have any questions, please send me an email on the contact page or give me a call—the sooner, the better as the dates are starting to fill up.

A very big thanks to Jamie & Regy, Justin & Nicole, & Naomi & Sean for entrusting me with your special day. I can’t wait to capture your moments.

Another thank you goes to the many vendors I got to meet at the bridal expo—especially to those I was only virtual friends with before finally meeting in person. I look forward to working with all of you.

This was one of my all time favorite sessions I’ve had because of that reason. These guys trusted everything I threw their way. They know it was my job to make them look good. I think trust goes both ways too. I trusted that they would work with what ever I threw their way and they’d just work it. Plus I trusted that they’d look as fantastic in the camera as they do outside of it.

On our way to the first location I told them that the pressure is on me when I have great looking clients, because if something goes wrong and the pictures don’t look fantastic, I don’t have any excuses. I didn’t have any excuses. Danielle mentioned that she didn’t feel terribly comfortable in front of the camera. Never has there been a person who had less reason to be uncomfortable getting photos taken. Danielle has a perfect face for photos. No offense to Cory—he can hold his own (he’s family, what am I supposed to say?), but Danielle is stunning. Fortunately, trust came in to play and 5 minutes in, they forgot about the camera and did what they do best—look good.

One of the reasons for the wedding dress shots was that they made the cardinal mistake of hiring somebody they weren’t in love with as their wedding photographer. To all of you future brides reading this, take heed. The pictures suffered because of it and they ended up with wedding photos that they don’t really enjoy. The only solution was to get the photos after the fact—I’m glad they entrusted me with that. Because of it, I took some of my favorite photos I’ve ever shot.

This also technically counts as a “Trash the Dress” session. Notice they didn’t really ruin the dress, they just made the photos the priority rather than keeping the dress immaculate.

After covering my camera—and feet in ocean water and sand (you can tell my camera is wet in the left side of photo #5. See the softness around her dress—wet lens. Also you can see the fog/rain in the atmosphere behind Cory’s head) we headed back so they could change and take some head shots before heading out to the bridge. We only got to shoot a few minutes since the rain started coming down and my lights kind of frown on that.

I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed making them. Cory & Danielle, You guys freaking rocked it. I’m glad I had the chance to work with you.

Thanks to Gina for her help carrying lights and holding them down so they didn’t blow away on this wet & windy day.

Owing to that was the fact that they are such great friends in addition to being engaged. For example, when getting down from the tall rocks (and jumping the partially frozen water) Jamie didn’t just jump—she leaped in to her man’s arms. Not the kind of leap where you hope somebody helps you land. The type of leap where if you’re not caught, you’re landing in the hospital with a broken tailbone. All without so much as one single word of warning to Regy. Of course he caught her perfectly and I got it all on film (or the compact flash card). And now you all get to see their love in action. They were even happy to let me take a little extra time on the first photo (which is using a completely new to me technique) which gives it a unique, but great, look.

Repeatedly I say I have the best clients. To the point where it’s easy to assume I’m just saying that because I should. I can tell you I’m not. I hope whatever luck that brings me these great clients stays. It makes my life so much easier. Jamie and Regy are perfect examples of why I always repeat it.

Many thanks to Eric Strate for braving the temps and helping me with my gear.

On with the pics. Which shots are your favorite?

A couple of weeks ago I got to spend some time with the Fox Family and make some portraits. Mary and Baden are some of the nicest people around and their kids are adorable with their big dark eyes. You wouldn’t know by looking at the photos that it was terribly cold out that day. I had to bump the shutter speed a bit as not to catch the kids’ chattering teeth. We had fun and got some great shots as you can see here.

Thanks to Kelsey who helped me out a bunch on this shoot by holding my light and watching the little ones while I photographed their parents.

One of the recent sessions was for the sister and brother in law of one of my other great clients. Of course, Chris and Shanna were just as great to shoot. The funny thing is I’ve been friends with Chris’s brother since we moved to Spokane 5 years ago. The only conclusion I can come to is that I was just meant to make their portraits.

Like usual, I enjoyed my time hanging out with my clients—we had a lot of fun getting these photos—Chandler smiles (or lack thereof) included. Hopefully that comes through in the images—I think it does. What do you think?

As we were getting packed up, a few people started to come around. So, like usual, I also snapped a couple of shots of 3 sisters (it wasn’t too tough since I’m pretty used to taking pictures of 3 sisters) who were hanging out at the park with their mom.

Kelsey came along to help, but mostly ended up playing with the twins, Marissa & Sierra, which was just fine.

Check ‘em out…

Of course western Washington decided to set all kinds of rain records that weekend so we had to just go for it and hope for the best. I spent the morning drooling (and buying) at Glazer’s Camera Store in Seattle (the likes of which Spokane will never know). While my brother Travis & I were in Seattle, it was beautiful—unfortunately it was the only sun we saw all weekend.

Once we got started with the session we were driving around the south Puget Sound trying to chase the lighter color clouds so we could attempt to stay dry for some outside photos. We ended up at a park street corner with trees. We got some great shots before the cold got to be too much for the little ones and headed to the cars. As soon as our doors closed the downpour started skies emptied like a fire hose trying to put out a forest fire.

Then we headed back to their home for the “studio-type” photos. We had fun playing around and getting the kids’ personalities captured. It was much more relaxed for everyone since the likelihood of death by drowning was far smaller.

So I was pleased when Shawn (dad) asked me to take pictures of his family along with their cousins visiting from Arkansas. We got together at Manito Park and got as much as we could before the cold got to be too much.

Special thanks goes to Michael for helping with this session as well as Sadie Stevenson (the oldest cousin) for keeping her cousins entertained and smiling for the camera. She also took a picture (the last photo in this post of her cousin riding on his dad’s shoulders) which is good enough to include in this post as well as deliver. Great job Sadie!