As promised, here are a couple more images from the wedding last weekend. The reception was at the Zoo and the staff allowed us to shoot virtually anywhere we wanted. We even had an escort with a stretch golf cart to wheel us around. I’m sure it was so we could be supervised, but it was nice not having to lug my gear all over the place! Maybe I should roll up to weddings in a golf cart from now on… My only regret was not getting a shot with the foot fetish penguin. Check out the book,  Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland Oregon By Chuck Palahniuk, if you need to know more about this notorious penguin.

Here are a few images from the wedding on Mt. Hood this past weekend. Things were a bit dicey for this wedding earlier in the week. There is a nasty fire burning on the Northeast face of Mt. Hood that has consumed roughly 4,000 acres and is only 4% contained. Cooper Spur Lodge, which is on the Northwest side of the mountain, had a lot of smoke throughout the week, but the winds shifted this weekend and pushed all of the smoke to the East. There was a constant stream of helicopters and fire truck throughout the day. It was kind of creepy knowing that a large fire was burning only 10 miles away and a change in winds could quickly bring it in the direction of the lodge. When the sun set over the back side of Mt. Hood it illuminated the smoke in the air to a bright red. The sunset shot has no color correction to it, that was the true color of the sky during sunset! The only other unfortunate event, of what turned out to be a great wedding, was that my main camera broke 5 minutes into the day. I had to shoot the entire day with my backup camera. Because I was down to one camera body; I was unable to have two lenses loaded for the ceremony. So, I strategically placed my lenses around the parameter and ran to each one, changed the lens and snapped a few shots. Need-less-to-say, I look forward to getting my other camera fixed, all though I shudder (shutter) to know how much it’s going to cost! (pun intended)

I took the day off work today to spend some time with the family and to get myself caught up processing wedding photos. These are from last weekend’s wedding in Parkdale, Or.  Last fall, I was hopeful to have Mt. Hood in the background of Andrew and Michelle’s engagement photos, but it didn’t show. So, when it didn’t come out on their wedding day I was even more frustrated. I think I looked to the South every 10 minutes to see if it was out, but the clouds just seemed to keep drifting over the top all day long! With that being said, if Mt. Hood would have been visible it obviously would have been a clear day and one of the things that I really like about the shot in the wild flowers is the dark sky. Oh well, you can’t control mother nature (especially this year). After the wedding I took a shower and found a considerable amount of birdseed in the bathtub. I was standing over 10ft away from the bride and groom, so either someone has horrible aim or I was the target! Best wishes to Andrew and Michelle, and thanks for the fun day!

Oh man am I behind at getting the blog updated with wedding photos. Here are a few from Christopher and Kylee’s wedding two weeks ago. They did something unique in that they scheduled a Sunday morning shoot with me downtown at some of their favorite places. Often the wedding day is extremely busy, this eases some of the pressure on scheduling knowing that you still have the next day to get more bride and groom shots. The image of Kylee before the ceremony made me question why I haven’t been using my 50mm 1.4 lens more. Never underestimate the quality that a prime lens can produce. By prime I mean that it doesn’t offer a range of focal lengths like a 24-70mm lens. Prime lenses often vastly outperform their counterparts in terms of quality. I brought it out at the wedding I shot this weekend and it looked great too.

Here are a few of my favorites from last weekend’s wedding. I shot Ben and Ariel’s engagement photos last fall, and they graciously asked if I could cover their wedding as well. The ceremony was outside at McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. High afternoon sun is always difficult to shoot in, but once we got into the shade I got the lighting I was looking for with the couple shots. The reception was in the Compass Room which typically serves as a movie theater or live music venue. With its abundance of natural light and arched ceilings, it was a fun location for a reception. During a break in the action I was playing a game with a little girl that was in attendance at the reception. She would poke her head out above and below this chair as if she were trying to avoid me taking a picture of her. I won!

Congrats to Ben and Ariel, and thanks for inviting me to be a part of your big day!

The wedding season is officially off and running! The first one of the year is always a little more nerve-racking, simply due to the fact that it’s been a while since I shot a wedding. I had a great time and enjoyed spending the day with a truly wonderful and genuine couple. Stephanie and Paul met on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, so they decided to travel back to their roots for the ceremony. I have been looking forward to the opportunity to shoot on the campus of Gonzaga for a couple of reasons. First, ceremonies are often held at venues or churches that hold no special meaning to the couple. Since Steph and Paul met at this location I knew it would come through in the photos. (and it did) Secondly, it’s a challenge to shoot somewhere that you have never been! I was a little nervous about the ceremony. Flash photography is sometimes frowned upon in churches and on-campus chapels seem to be dark.  I was amazed at how beautiful the chapel actually was. I have been in a lot of Catholic churches, but this one was one of the most unique and inviting that I have ever been in. When I asked the Priest about using my flashes he said, “Do whatever it takes to make her happy”.   I knew it would be smooth sailing from that point on.  Overall, great day, great couple, great way to start the season!  ** UPDATE**  Just noticed the word “ERECTED” in the second shot. I’m gonna need to crop that or do some cover-up work  before its all said and done.  Right? Or am I just childish? I guess the way I see it is if I had the option for having, or not having, the word “ERECTED” in my wedding photos; I would probably choose the latter…

Spring is taking its sweet time to show up this year. This engagement session was for Andrew and Michelle and it was supposed to be in the middle of their family’s orchards in bloom, but I think we missed it by a week. These were taken last weekend and I’m going to bet that with the few days of sun we had last week; things look quite different around that area. We made the most of it though and found some other cool locations that could provide a scenic backdrop.  I am shooting their wedding in July, so I look forward to seeing what the area looks like then. Plus, it will be fun to shoot with Mt. Hood as a backdrop!

I finally upgraded from the original Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to version 3.1, and I’m in love with the selective editing tool. Often times when shooting outdoors a correct exposure for some-one’s face will inevitably cause the sky to be overexposed and loose any of its true color. In the past I was limited to the degree of color correction I could use because it would turn other pieces of the image to a shade of blue as well. This might not sound too bad, but it’s unacceptable to turn a bride’s dress blue because I want a blue sky.  Now with  selective editing  I can do just that  and only make color correction to portions of my image.  Here is an example of some editing with the software. I was able to bring out some highlights in the truck and barn with altering the exposure of the subjects. Cool stuff!  I look forward to using it more.

Fall is here and the days are definitely getting shorter. So much so that this engagement shoot had to be stretched over a couple of evenings. Emily and Rex are both in the middle of their Residency at OHSU. By the time they got off at the hospital there was really only an hour left of useable light. At least it’s the best hour of light for photography! I wish I would have had someone take a picture of me while I was 15 feet up a tree with a couple of cameras hanging from my neck. I need to climb more trees; it made me feel like a kid again!

  I’m excited to shoot Emily and Rex’s wedding next summer at Cooper Spur Resort on Mt Hood. I’ve been told we can go for a ride on the chair lift, which will make for some great photos!

Here are a few images from the wedding I shot a couple of weeks ago. The rain this fall is really starting to hack me off. This time it forced me into a scramble to find new locations to shoot that were covered. The two middle images were taken directly under I-5, just before the Marquam Bridge. We had to scream at each other to be heard, but at least it was dry. I guess the one redeeming quality of rain is that it produces a reflective surface that can add some great character to a photo. I had originally set up the dancing shot with a flash overhead, but the batteries in my flash gave out just as I started to shoot. Since the rain was starting to pick up again I decided to steady the camera on a table, leave the shutter open for 1 second and just use available light. The convention center lights in the background illuminated the low clouds and made the cool looking halo. This area is where the ceremony was going to be held before the rain forced it indoors, so I’m happy we got at least one shot there for Ben and Lindsay.  Also, for any future couple that want me to stick around at the reception little longer than originally planned, tell me to help finish the Keg and have college football playing at the bar