portland surprise (part one)

last post of 2008!

2009... i'm ready. very excited to see the changes that may come in the next year, and also on a personal note, 2008 was much better than 2007, and i believe the real good stuff is just around the corner... so i can't wait. :)

in the meantime, enjoy a mishmash of photos i took while in portland, oregon from dec. 4-16th. i was so insanely busy during my trip and had such an amazing time. for sure, i left my heart in the pacific northwest and want to go back as soon as i can.

enjoy this sampling of business and personal shots from my time out west.

ah-HA!

so, if you're a bit of a perfectionist (as i am :)) you may have noticed that the photos i've been posting lately have had sort of a tweaky feel. tweaky as in: the right side of the photos are completely cut off in my blog. oh, the aggravation!!! i've been trying to figure out what the heck is going on but with no success until JUST NOW. :D woo hoo. okay, so from the photo below you can see my friend jess at the deschutes brewery in portland, oregon where i was most of the early part of december. i have loads and heaps of photos to show you from my time in oregon, but this will have to do for now as christmastime and every detail surrounding the season is keeping me incredibly busy.



jess, as you can see, is incredibly beautiful. but what you may not know about her just from looking at this photograph is also that she is an extremely talented photographer. one of my personal favorites, in fact. she's currently based out of seattle, wa but might be moving to nashville, tn at some point in '09. please check out her website at jessica-valle.com and hire her. you should. really.

wherever you go, there you are

currently on the other side of the country in portland oregon, the place where i lived for almost two years. one of the best cities on earth- believe it. :) anyway, i'm technically vacationing but have had two shoots in the past three days, with evidence of those to come soon. due to the business of trying to visit everyone i love in this town, i'll probably be MIA for a little while before heading back to new york in about a week, but know i'll be shooting up a storm with proof to show you coming soon. :)

sneak peek! (wedding)

this past saturday, i shot eli and amy's wedding...



... it was marvelous. :D more to come!

week of thanks

so, thanksgiving is in two days. whatever! where did THAT come from!? time flies when you're having fun, i guess. :)

i've noticed that around this time of year, people are very much reminded of how to go about being grateful. it's like anything else that springs up as a noteworthy "ping!" to our forgetful hearts, catching us off guard and even in the toughest of times financially or otherwise, making us come to the realization of how rich we truly are.

it'd be a good attitude to keep going year-round... it's only when we focus on what we do not have that we lose sight of the gifts right in front of our faces.

speaking of gifts, over a month ago i did a family shoot with one of the most beautiful young families i've had the privilege of getting to know. danielle, caleb, and little brody are wonderful, kind human beings whose love for each other just spills over to others without any visible effort on their part. haha, okay that's kind of mushy and ridiculous sounding, but it's true! i loved getting to know them and we had so much fun on that perfect fall day in the park:

















i'd shot danielle and brody when he was about two months old, and it's been great fun to see how he's changed and grown into such a happy, easygoing little man! :) hopefully these family shoots will continue because spending time around these guys is something i'd like to make a tradition.

more to come, soon. stay tuned. :)

orange is my favorite color

someone was paying attention... :)


i am well-loved, and thankful. seriously, it's kind of ridiculous what a blessed woman i am. just throwing it out there. :D

this poor guy doesn't stand a chance (engagement)

lauren and nate are both good friends of mine, and since the moment he slipped this ring on her finger, i've been itching to shoot their engagement photos. their vibrant personalities are so transparent in pictures, and their love story is one that proves even the coldest skeptic wrong... sometimes love just takes time. :)

they met randomly at a switchfoot concert over five years ago and he was crazy about her from day one. she took a little longer to come around... :)... but since she's said "yes" it's obvious who is going to win most arguments. exhibit a:



i mean, the poor guy. how could he resist his gorgeous girl?











the fall weather was absolutely perfect on this particular afternoon... i'll miss days like this one!







congrats, guys. i'm so excited to shoot your wedding in summer '09! :)

we are fam-i-ly

this beautiful girl is my cousin mel, who i saw this weekend (along with two dozen other family members and old friends :)) in new hampshire as we went up there for an informal family reunion. good times were had by all, and this has to be one of my favorite shots, highlighting this girl who is stunning, inside and out.

sometimes you should double-check

my friend joy on 10/18 :)

life has still been ridiculously busy but i am staying afloat! i have tons of other beautiful photos to blog, stay tuned because they're on their way!

ps

tonight i'm going to see and spend time with this girl:



as she'll be flying up north for another friend's wedding.

i'm super excited, as she is one of the best. :) we look like we could be sisters and that is what i choose to believe we are. it'll be too short like always, but any time with good friends is always treasured.

falling

before this year, i've never really enjoyed fall.

see, i hate being cold. HATE. ;) growing up in the chilly northeast, fall just seems like the beginning of winter that will never end. even though the changing leaves are pretty, all too soon they fall off and leave everything stark and brown.

this is still a true statement. :D but in photographing families and individuals this season after two years in the pacific northwest (which is also beautiful, but without much of the dramatic season change that new york has), i was struck with a (dare i say) love for all that the season has to offer. and although i've been cold almost 24/7 since the end of september, :), somehow i just put on a pair of socks or a scarf and survive.

a few weeks back, i shot laurie and omari, who have known each other and been together a ridiculously long time. i think they told me that they met in 1986!?! crazy. anyhow, they're absolutely amazing and beautiful people, inside and out. we wandered around the union college campus and caught some of the fall colors behind them for new family photos. it was a great day.









besides being awesome in general, these guys have a really random, quirky sense of humor which i definitely appreciate. :) here they are with another member of their family... the king. HA.

lurve

this past weekend, i watched my sister's best friend marry the love of her life. i was so honored to be a part of the wedding as a bridesmaid, but of course i couldn't help snapping a few photos when i wasn't on bridesmaid duty. :) many congrats to leah and joe as they begin their new family together- currently they're honeymooning in florida and i'm sure the weather has got to be better than the 30's and 40's we're experiencing in new york! brrr :)

because i can not help myself

it is so late here

BUT

i have had the privilege of shooting so many beautiful people lately.

here's the littlest one (for now, shooting a 6-pound newborn on wednesday), wrapped in his mother's scarf:



more to come soon. wedding, family, and personal photos. very very soon. :)

three is enough.

today i remembered i hadn't yet updated from this weekend's three shoots. yeah i've been a bit busy this week. :) having my life in so much constant transition makes for a lot of packing and unpacking again, and to be honest i've just been procrastinating. nothing like expected houseguests to motivate me to get crackin'! :) it's been a good week so far but between the day job and cleaning/unpacking/and sorting through stuff, i've had little time to think about the norm.

however. this past weekend was so! busy with three photoshoots: a brother/sister, a boyfriend/girlfriend, and a local band. i've decided that from now on 2 is probably my limit per weekend- whew, was i tired on sunday night! but it was a blast and a lot of the shots came out really well. here are some of my fav's:

sure, this is a little nature-y and cliche, but i could not get over how beautiful this butterfly was! it flew up to me as i was sitting on a bench in the sunshine, waiting to begin a shoot.















unfortunately, the brother-sister shoot was done in preparation for a christmas surprise... so no posting those where they can be seen! maybe after the holidays. :)