Portraits

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A Spokane Backyard Wedding: Matt + Tiana

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

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

Disclosure: In the photography industry there’s been some recent controversy about photographers hiring models & staging weddings then posting them as actual weddings. So I feel like I have to explicitly say: These are real people, not models. I know you’ll look at them & think otherwise, but I assure you Tiana & Matt are an actual couple who are absolutely in love & hired me to shoot their wedding.

I’m thrilled to finally be able to post photos from this wedding that took place a mile down the road from my house in the backyard of Tiana’s mom’s Spokane Valley home. I spent an entire day being surrounded by some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. The day went off without a hitch & everything about the day was amazing. Thank you Tiana & Matt for the opportunity to photograph your wedding.

In addition to being one of the most beautiful brides ever & a total sweetie, Tiana’s an amazing hairstylist. She just gave new back-to-school haircuts to all the female members of the family & they all LOVE them. You should call her if you need something new.

Posted in Weddings, spokane | 17 Responses »
Tags: backyard wedding, beauty, grass field, Portraits, Spokane Valley, washington

Spokane Wedding Photographer: Hallie & Lee Roy Engagements

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Last weekend Hallie, Lee Roy & I set out around downtown Spokane to get some portraits for their engagements. These two were so easy to take pictures of that I could have shot them for the entire day—if it didn’t get windy & cold so quickly.

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…

Posted in Engagement, Portraits, Weddings, spokane | 20 Responses »
Tags: couple, Engagement, fine art, kiss, laugh, love, modern, Portraits, romance, spokane, wedding

Spokane Portrait Photographer: School Valentine’s Dance

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

I was asked to take photos at an elementary school dance and decided that it could be a fun project if I break outside the norm of what’s expected for the genre. So I set some rules for myself.

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:

Posted in Families, Portraits | 22 Responses »
Tags: dance, Elementary School, fun, Portraits, props, valentine's day

Street Portraits in Downtown Spokane

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Last night we had our Inland NW Photographers Assembly (INPA) meeting where it’s always nice to talk to people who enjoy the minutiae of photography as much as I do. Afterward a few of us headed in to downtown Spokane for a photo safari. We started taking pictures of the normal downtown things (hence the trash can hand warming shot). We were across the street from the bus depot and I saw some interesting people hanging out so I grabbed Shane Savage (who volunteered to be my voice activated light stand) and headed over there to make some portraits.

LIke my business card says, I shoot people. I really enjoy the interactions with people, asking strangers if I can make a portrait of them is a lot of fun for me. When the results are great, I enjoy it all the better.

I wasn’t sure what I had but when I got them on the computer I was really pleased with how they turned out. Hopefully you’ll think so too.

Big thanks to Shane, Jon, Lacey, & Tyson for the invite and a really fun evening

As usual, click the thumbnails to see the photos.

P.S. The officer was fine with us taking pictures, even of him, and didn’t try to stop us at all. He and his partner even did some joking around with us.

Posted in On the Street, Portraits | No Responses »
Tags: fun, INPA, On the Street, Portraits, strangers

Photoshoot: Frank Family

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

Here’s a family that I was lucky enough to be able to shoot. Each one was adorable and quite a bit of fun. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such patient children. Each child waited their turn and when it was their time in front of the camera they were raring to go.

Honestly, when kids are this cute and fun in front of the lens, the best thing I can do is get out of the way and follow their lead. Besides, if I could get away with a mohawk, I’d wear it in a second.

Here are some of the photos from the session…

Posted in Families, Portraits | No Responses »
Tags: kids, photoshoot, Portraits

Photoshoot: Taylor

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

I recently had the opportunity to shoot a little girl named Taylor. She was quite a little personality and it oozed out of her in the session. I don’t even think her parents expected her to be such a ham in front of the camera. We both had a lot of fun and her parents seemed to be pretty happy with them—especially the shots in which she insisted on playing with her toes. I’d have to say I am pretty happy with them as well.

If only all of my clients were as easy to photograph as Miss Taylor was.

Here are the photos…

(click to view larger)