Oroville senior portrait: Breanne

Breanne! I had the best time shooting you yesterday. You are such a photogenic girl, super sweet and easy-going. Love it! Made my job easy and fun. My daughter called later to ask how it went. I told her it went great and also that "I wished we lived closer because I would totally be friends with her mom!" And, not that I'm rushing you or anything, but now I'm excited about shooting your wedding someday. It sounds like you have a bright future ahead of you and I'm honored you let me capture a little bit of this exciting time for you. Here is a sneak peek of the first few images. (By the way, we got a lot more than 10! You photograph so well!)

Wenatchee senior portrait: Ashley

I always consider it an honor to be asked to photograph someone. And I consider myself lucky to also get to enjoy something I do so much that I don't really consider it "work". This past weekend I got to spend some time with Ashley shooting her senior portraits. Such a nice girl, meeting someone like her always makes me feel hope for our nation's future. She is polite, friendly, funny (loved her interacting with her little brother!), and I know she makes her parents proud of the young woman she is and the woman she will be all too soon as she graduates high school. Thanks Ashley for trusting me to capture a little bit of your senior life for you.

A quick sneak peek with many more to come:

Before and after: Portrait with point and shoot

My one and only blonde daughter decided to go brunette. I loved her blonde, I love her brunette and either way, wow, she is so beautiful! Is it appropriate to be jealous of your own kid?? Probably not. Anyway, this is a photo of my middle daughter taken with a cheap "point and shoot" camera. Nothing fancy, but, and here's the important part, it was HANDY. What's the best camera? The one with you, or the one you'll use. Ghetto lighting all the way (a lamp on the floor beside her, in an all white closet.) It gave a really nice "beauty-dish" look. "Beauty-dish" being a type of lighting used in the cosmetic industry to achieve that flat, shadowless, even light on a face close-up. Yes, a bit overexposed, but shot in auto, with a camera that was HANDY, it's a shot I love that I wouldn't have had otherwise. I did a bit of hilight recovery in LAB to bring back a bit of the skin and ran a few favorite TRA actions (+Contrast Luma and Lux-soft), as well as sharpened the eyes and lips (using the duplicate>overlay>high pass method). That finished the middle color image. I then tried a "greyscale-ish" version by running a TRA recipe (sorry but I couldn't find it online any longer. It ts Brooklyn and Get Faded Winter at 40%) and then adding back in some warmth. Love the different feel to each version!

Family portrait: Wenatchee siblings

Got to spend a few minutes (a 13 minute photo session anyone?) shooting these siblings this weekend. Met with them and their Dad (all of whom I've shot before), and it was raining. Not a full on pour but definitely more than a drizzle. Dad wanted to go ahead and we were all game so spent a few minutes getting some shots. He normally has an annual portrait taken at the local "mega-studio" (who shall remain nameless, but if you're from Wenatchee, you know who I'm referring to), but was so happy with the family portraits I did for them a year prior that he asked me instead. I'm thrilled to have another repeat client and they commented at the end that they wanted to do the family sessions annually and I would be hearing from them soon. Love that, getting to see, and document, a family grow and change over time. Thanks Smith family!

I [heart] faces: Wenatchee sports in action

 This week's contest at I [heart] faces is "Sports in action." Thought it was the perfect opportunity to enter one of my favorite shots. My daughter always talked about her friend, Matt, "an amazing soccer player with GREAT hair!" We spent a warm, weekend afternoon shooting one of his games and got some great action shots. Yup, he's great at soccer, playing for one of our elite teams, and such a nice kid! Last time I saw him his hair was all gone and he said he would never let it get that long again, so I guess these will be the last photos of that big bouncy hair in action.