Next up, an amazing wedding that was held up at Schweitzer Mountain in Northern Idaho. At this point I’m starting to wonder if I’m carrying a lucky weather charm around. The days before Kailin & Bret’s wedding the weather up on the mountain was not pleasant. I was reminded of this several times by the couple, who spent the previous days snowboarding away on the slopes. The day I was there it couldn’t have been more perfect—to the point that they actually debated whether or not they should cancel the wedding & hit the slopes one more day (ok, I don’t think the debate was that serious, but still). Of course, Kailin & Bret were thrilled, since they wanted a mountain wedding because it’s a reflection of who they are.

The other thing about weddings in the snow, the light is amazing. I love the way the light bounces around in the snow. Windows are brighter & more filled with light. Since I pay close attention to the exposure of the wedding dress to keep the details there, all the snow does is turn the rest of the ground to the same color as the wedding dress.

We had a blast. It was fun wandering through the crowds of skiers & having all of the little girls run up to Kailin, gushing over her beauty & gown.  The reception music was taken care of by a live country band who kept the dance floor packed & the night wrapped with the newlyweds jumping on one of the snowcat ski slope groomers for a once in a lifetime ride.

Now for some photos of the gorgeous bride, her groom, & their day.

A little while back I had the pleasure of spending some time with an outstanding group, the Ross family. We hung out at Mirabeau Park in Spokane Valley for a while, enjoying a beautiful light, & making some great photos. I had lots of fun & I think they did too.

The pictures don’t lie.

**For the best viewing experience, open up the first photo & use the left & right arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the photos.**

I had the chance to meet up with Naomi & Sean at Manito Park in Spokane to take some engagement photos. Most of the time I spend the first part of a session trying to put my subjects at ease & get them ready to be in front of the camera. I think it was the other way around with these guys, but I learned pretty quickly that there are few people who are easier to be around than Naomi & Sean. I had a great time listening to them each give their own funny, & somewhat different versions of their ‘first meeting’ story. They each love to laugh & make each other laugh. Of course I laughed right along with them. It was easy to see why they’re getting married—they already act like an old married couple that have decades of inside jokes saved up.

Not only did they not stop laughing the whole time we were shooting, they were both very easy to photograph & patient while I set up some of the more creative photos.

I can’t wait to shoot their wedding at the Hayden Lake Country Club.

**For the best viewing experience, open up the first photo & use the left & right arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the photos.**

I had the pleasure of [shooting] the Elys last week at Manito Park on Spokane’s South Hill. Talk about troopers. We wandered around the park looking for great places to shoot and all the while the kids were (at least acting like they were) having a great time. Little foot injuries or pangs of hunger weren’t nearly enough to slow down this family.

I really had a great time hanging out with these guys. The kids were so sweet & willing to try whatever I was asking—especially if it was jumping off a ledge while I had my camera on its “machine gun” setting which reminds me a ton of my own girls.  My favorite part of these photos is that  the impressions of the  personalities of everyone seems to shine through in the photos.

Then, after our session was over I saw my friend Ana wrapping up a bridal session so I hopped up on the ledge of the bridge (shhh, don’t tell my wife) & took the opportunity to shoot the shooter. That makes up the last photo in this set.

For the best viewing experience, open up the photos & use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the photos.

While we were over visiting the other side of the mountains—sill refuse to call it ‘the coast’ unless I see the actual Pacific Ocean —we had the chance to hang out with one of Gina’s friends from high school & photograph her little ones as a surprise birthday gift for their daddy (kind of a recent theme at MS Photo!).

She brought up the idea of having her daughter have a tea party on the beach & I thought it was an awesome idea! So at the end of the day we got out the big lights & headed down to the beach just in time for the wind to pick up & the waves come crashing in. In all, we only had about 5 minutes of actual beach shooting before the little model had enough of the cold & wind & we called it quits—not before getting some great shots, IMO!

Fortunately the weather was more than accommodating for the rest of the session & it was a blast for me to catch the kiddos going from being shy (notice the first subject I was offered to photograph was ‘Doggie’ the sheep) to playing it up for the camera.

Take a look by clicking through. FYI, once you open up the window, you can just arrow through the photos with your keyboard which is very cool, try it!

Calvin just turned 2 and his parents thought it was a good idea to get some photos taken of him as well as some of their family. The entire time I was editing these photos I kept finding myself holding back the laughter since Calvin is such a cute & expressive kid. How can that joy not be contagious. From seeing the moon in the daylight sky to blowing out the candles on the birthday cake. Every photo was a different face—and I think it’s great.

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

Recently I had the opportunity to shoot headshots for model/actress Melanie. My goal here was to capture as many different looks as I could in the span of a couple of hours at one location.

The weather was teasing me all day. There would be beautiful weather for a few minutes followed by stormy showers. This went back and forth even as I was driving to the shoot location. When I arrived with lights and camera in tow there was one clear spot in the sky surrounded by ominous rain clouds. We rushed to get things set up and start shooting until the rain came, but fortunately the clear spot expanded until there were no clouds left by the time we were done. Dodged a bullet there.

Melanie was a trooper. Sporting heels that would have come to my knees, she trekked through the wet grass and dirt while carrying her various wardrobe changes never complaining once and even joking that she grew up camping and was used to this. While we’re in spring the weather got downright cold as the sun was setting and the wind picked up. I had a blanket so Melanie could keep warm while I was setting up my lights but in reality she didn’t end up using it much. I would have. I guess I’m a wuss.

I try to keep photoshoots pretty light. Joking around is not only acceptable, it’s nearly required. Fortunately this wasn’t a problem at this shoot. On more than one occasion I’m sure we were laughing so loudly that we upset the solemn mood of the prom-goers getting their photographs taken nearby.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed making them. On with the photos of the tree hugger .

(click on them for the uncropped version)

#5: Columbia River Gorge

Not really happy with one of the stitches, but it was tough to see because the sun was shining directly on the screen, and I like it overall.

#6: Westport Bowl

Good times.

#2 The Grange…

(Click to View)

One of my personal heroes in the world of photography is Chase Jarvis. He’s one of those rare people who can make you simultaneously want to quit because when you measure yourself against them you end up at the 1 cm mark of the 35 foot tape and help you get inspired because they are so creative you just think, “Why didn’t I think of that, I want to try that!”

He also spends a lot of time on his websites promoting general creativity in addition to stunning photography. It’s easy to get the feeling that it just so happens that he chose a camera as his tool of choice and he’d do just as well painting watercolors or producing music.

That said, I’ve decided to steal one of his creative exercises for myself.

A while back Chase made a goal to upload at least 1 photo per day to Facebook and Twitter. His reasoning, which is compelling, is ”The best camera is the one that’s with you.” I love my iPhone. I go nowhere without it. It’s always there even when my Olympus isn’t. As much as I love my Oly, it’s tough to take a great shot with it when it’s not within my reach.

I’ll follow his same rules. Namely, these photos will (with the exception of the first one which I am posting with this entry) never have seen my computer hard drive. They will come straight from my iPhone, and be processed using only native iPhone apps—no Photoshop (this first photo still follows that rule).

I think the motivation in doing this is to keep my eyes looking. Any person who spends time in a creative field spends time thinking about that ever elusive monster of creativity. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut and only “turn on” my creativity when I think I have to, like when I’m shooting a client or sitting in front of my computer working on a design. Already in the 2 days I’ve been trying this I see myself creatively thinking more often. My eyes are open to what’s around me waiting to inspire me.

I’m sure I’ll have dud days. That’s a part of life. But the idea is to deal with them and do something better the next day. It’s about being prepared to find inspiration wherever it may be, not just where you expect to find it.

As usual, comments are welcomed and encouraged.

#1…

Daily iPhone Photo #1: Ice Cream Truck