Here are a few images from last week’s wedding in Oregon City. Jason and Shauna did a great job decorating their backyard for the ceremony and reception. I’m sure it was a little stressful getting it ready, but I think it really pays off on the wedding day. Everyone seemed to be more relaxed by being in a familiar place. It was a beautiful day too. I’ve been watching the weather back in the Midwest, and i can’t imagine trying to shoot a wedding in 110+ degree temperatures. I had sweat pouring off of me during the ceremony and it couldn’t have been much over 80 degrees!

These were from a family shoot last weekend. I really prefer to shoot outdoor family photos, but the weather just doesn’t  allow for it in Oregon during the rainy months. One of the other primary reasons for my preference though is that it really is a pain to set up my studio lighting for every session. I envy the photographers that have studios with their strobes set up and ready to go, quite literally, at the the flip of a switch. What makes it even more difficult is that I offer to set up my gear at customers houses. I’m really only taken up on this offer when kids are involved, because it is so much easier to bring the photographer in rather then pack up and head out to the studio. Now, all that being said, I think you get better results when the kids are comfortable at home.  This was a fun session. These two are six years apart, just like my brother and I. Oh the times ahead of them…

I predict that you will be seeing these two on the blog again in a short 10 months from now. I’m sure due to wedding checklists and planning that statement probably freaked Lindsay out a bit (maybe Ben too )  It’s tough to shoot outdoors during the Fall and Winter in Oregon. I found myself on weather websites trying to determine when a break in the rain will occur. I must hand it to them though, you really can’t tell how cold it was in these photos. I had my jacket and stocking hat on and still felt the chill! These were all taken in a little park in the Pearl District. It’s kind of fun to shoot there. With the condo market in the toilet there are tons of empty condo buildings and you have the area to yourself on the east side of the neighborhood.  They’re a fun couple and I look forward to shooting the wedding next Summer. Should be a blast!

Here are a few more from the wedding last weekend in Kansas City. The weather turned out to be quite nice, but it was not looking so good the day before the wedding. I barely got into Kansas City  due to over a foot of snow being on the ground in Denver, where where I was scheduled to catch my connecting flight. It took us three attempts to land. I’m not a nervous flier by any means, but by the time we were on our third approach;  I could have told you where every exit was and how many people I was going to need to climb over to reach it first… My connecting flight ended up getting canceled into Kansas City, as did the evening fight. As soon as I exited the plane I rushed to the gate for the earlier flight in hopes that it was delayed. Sure enough, it was still at the gate and they got me into Kansas City almost on time. My lighting stands didn’t make it, but they got delivered the next day. The weather in KC wasn’t much better, hard rain and wind. It continued to do this up until the night before Jason and Denise’s wedding day, and then Saturday turned out with no clouds and 60 degrees.  They are a fun couple and it was nice to see some of my brother’s friends at the wedding. Jason and my brother roomed together at the University of Kansas. It was nice to see everyone back together.

I had the joy of  being able to photograph this little cutie this weekend. Her name is Lauren, and she will be turning one year old this week. Her mother and I got onto the discussion of kids photography a couple of weeks ago while I was visiting her office for a work function. Anyway, this naturally allowed me to shamelessly plug my website.  The weather cooperated on Saturday and allowed us to go outside for a few shots too. I must say, one of the things I love the most about children photography is capturing moments of kids being kids. Clearly it wast too tough with Lauren!

Well, the flakes have been counted and the grand total accumulation here in the West Hills is… 3 inches. Its tough to tell though because its a dry snow (very odd for this area) and drifting up to 2 feet while other areas are bare. It’s being dubbed “Snow Blast 08″ and its not going any where for a couple of days with the cold temperatures. In fact, it sounds like we might get more on Wednesday! 

The first winter storm warning of the season has been issued for the Portland Metro area. If  your from the area the title of this entry has already made you chuckle. I’ve only lived here for 5 years, but in my estimate 15% of the time these warnings are valid. Portland is a unique winter weather area in that we get tons of precipitation in the winter, but this is almost always rain because the low and constant cloud cover keeps the temperatures just above freezing. However,  apparently as we speak a giant cold mass is going through customs and moving into the area from Canada.  I dont know why, the exchange rate is 1 – 1.244 and from what i’m told they have better weed, so it just doesn’t make sense to me.  The media, along with their triple doppler storm tracker high-definition radar,  have been hyping this one for a couple of days now and i’ve begun to see  several titles that have made me smile:

“artic blast 2008″

“Wind, rain and snow followed by severe cold to test region”

“Oprah weighs 200 pounds!”

Okay, the last one was on the magazine in the checkout stand, but it still made me smile. And who knows, maybe they named the storm Oprah…

All im saying is lets not freak out at the weather reports. Sure, they’re calling for a high of 28 degrees on Monday, but as long as we can still get in touch with FIMA I feel secure. Finally,  before I get to my weather predictions, when the 11 o-clock news said I need to prepare by obtaining alternate sources of heat… will an extra hot cafe mocha do?

40% Just Rain at the valley floor with Snow atop the West Hills

25% Snow under 2 inches accumulation  (still enough to make the front page of the Oregoian)

10% Snow between 2-3 inches in accumulation. (somehow 10 people will become missing)

7% Snow over 3 inches in accumulation.  ( National Guard will be activated)

13% Substantial Icing. (This really does suck, look up ”car on ice Portland” on youtube)

5% Oregon will detach from the continental US and float to Siberia. Don’t worry, we will learn to trade lattes for fur to stay warm… Except the hippies, they’ll protest the wearing ofFur but eventually give up and knit something cozy.

 
It was a beautiful weekend at the coast in Oregon. My dad and stepmom were in town to visit so we took off for Cannon Beach on Friday. These are the weekends you deeply appreciate as an Oregonian. October is the swing month when it comes to weather. The average temperature on October 1st is 71 degrees while the average temperature on October 31st is 58 degrees. I guess it’s a “get it while its hot” mentality in terms of weekend recreation. I love the Cannon Beach area, but I’m ready to travel to the central or southern coast soon. The beaches are rockier and you’re much closer to the crashing surf, which also makes it a better area to go beach combing. That being said, I think Haystack Rock is one of the more amazing formations on the coast. You can click here for my past photos of it.
 
**UPDATED**
 

It kind of sucks posting these photos of our beautiful weekend from last week while it is (and has been) pouring outside.  The rest of these have more of an “abstract” feel to them. Most were taken at the Chinese Gardens in China Town.  The photo of the tree has been turned upside down to really mess with the eye. If you can’t tell from the lily in the bottom of the shot, it’s actually a taken as a reflection in the pond. It’s kind of interesting  that the rocks in the bottom of the pond serve as clouds in the sky too.