Valentine's Day Wedding Reception

My friend Shawna, a very talented and creative decorator, transformed the cultural hall of our church into an elegant setting for her son's Valentine's Day wedding reception (the wedding was a couple of weeks ago in Arizona). Aaron and Carla (the newlyweds) chose cream, silver and green as their colors for the evening's decor. Here are some photos of the evening. An inventive touch was the Advice Tree. Guests hung their filled-out advice cards on a light-strewn tree.A kids table (complete with candy!), Italian sodas and plenty of delicious food complemented the gathering of family and friends.

cousins

These photos of were also taken during the holidays, but I'm just posting them now. In Oregon in winter, you can't count on there being enough natural light available, so you have to use flash. I was trying out my new radio slaves on my flash units. Nice to have the flash off-camera. We also used my club chair to pose the group. I liked using it better than the stools I usually use. This gave it a more casual look--which is more my style. It's been several years (at least 6) since we took a group photo of these cousins. I'll have to scan the first pics and post them! They have all changed so much!

have to include "my" kids

It's inevitable--the minute I set up my backdrop for a client, my kids want in on the action. The day that Sadie and Mikayla came over, Taryn, Jason and Missy also wanted some photos taken. Here are just a few from that brief photo shoot. Usually "my" kids are the ones that I use to set light levels and adjust the backdrop or seating. Because they're always around, I don't take many portraits of them. So it's kind of fun to to pose for their own mini photo shoot!

if it's february, it's time for mikayla

Mikayla, my photo-partner-sister-in-law Kathi's granddaughter (can you follow that?), turned two in February and so we happily set up a time for the two of us to shoot her yearly photos. Sadie, Mikayla's 6 month old sister, joined the group. Kathi arrived with the two girls (their mom had to sleep before going into work) and all their stuff. No matter how many times we've photographed a group of very young kids, it always surprises me how much of a challenge it is to get kids posed just right and looking in the right direction. Kathi and I always end up very tired, sweaty and a little discouraged (until we look at the pics). And it's usually the oldest one who is the least predictable! Even candy doesn't always encourage cooperation!










Even though Sadie is 6 months old, I haven't really had the opportunity to take many photos of her. I thoroughly enjoyed shooting her!

way too much fun!

This photo shoot of a friend of a friend was SO much fun! First, her outfit just blended right in with my new brown backdrop. Normally she wears glasses, but because she had so much glare on them (no matter how we adjusted) she just took them off. She seemed so comfortable in front of the camera. These photos aren't even all of my favorites!

new backdrop!

I LOVE my new backdrop! When I was in Tucson, some of my favorite shots of Jackson (my great nephew) was against the backdrop of the living room walls. The soft brown was such a flattering color.
So I've toyed with getting some fleece in a soft brown for a new backdrop. Finally, I succumbed and bought some. It's been great! I love it! Here are some headshots of my friend, Amy. She was the first one I used it on.





I like fleece for a backdrop because it really absorbs light and is not see-through. It has such a soft finish that makes a great background. Some of the "professional" backdrops I have are so thin, that I can see right through it. Fleece is a simpler alternative, especially for individuals or small groups.

dominique

Dominique was out of school and came with her mom to visit with a friend who was having some head shots taken. While our friend was changing, we took some fun shots of Dominique. She's so cute and funny!

eleven months old

I have been taking Cheyenne's photos once a month for almost a year now. This was her 11 month photo shoot. We've included her bear in each month's photo shoot. I'll probably post 1 photo from each month after we do her 12 month sitting. It's been fun to do and the year seemed to fly by! (Maybe not for her mom!)

This time we tried a new red backdrop and a blue cloud backdrop. Cheyenne's mom, Rachel, has a new camera and is starting to gather supplies to do her own photo shoots. I liked the blue backdrop but am still undecided on the red one.