Lindsey Trashes the Dress!

Ever since I first heard of the trash-the-dress phenomenon, I've been chomping at the bit to do this kind of shoot. As it turns out, most new brides shudder in horror at the idea of doing anything that might harm their precious gown! Thankfully after eight years of marriage, Lindsey's attachment to her wedding dress has diminished enough that she responded to the suggestion very enthusiastically! A talented graphic designer by trade (she's the girl-wonder responsible for my new logo!) Lindsey and I had a blast participating in a little creative collaboration. Along with great enthusiasm and a love for being photographed, she brought a bunch of fun accessories for us to play with... all we needed was some great locations which we found around downtown Bellingham. We created so many great photos together that I had a really hard time narrowing down the ones I wanted to share! Here are some of my favorites... After kicking around a couple of alleys in downtown Bellingham, we headed down to the waterfront where we stumbled upon a gal who had an old bike that perfectly matched some of the accessories Lindsey brought along. Too good to be true! Of course I asked immediately if we could borrow her bike for some shots and she happily obliged. I love it when these unexpected moments occur.... they make for the best photographs!
The setting sun provided just the perfect golden glow to accompany Lindsey's cowboy hat and denim jacket. How cute is she?

That's the look of shock after hearing a train whistle blow while walking on train tracks... oops!I've saved my favorite photos for last. I admit I was laughing my butt off at this scene while continuously shooting. I could not believe Lindsey was able to keep such a serious face for so long! You can see the facade starting to crack in the very last picture : )

Lindsey's trash-the-dress shoot has my mind whirring with ideas for future shoots like this so I'm putting out a call to all you women itching for an opportunity to wear that dress hanging in your closet just one more time. C'mon, let's have some fun!

Keli & Jonathan 7.5.2008

Keli and Jonathan were married on the afternoon of July 5th at Tail Skid Meadows in Custer, WA. I first met Keli & Jonathan last October so we had plenty of time to get to know each other prior to their wedding day as Keli diligently stopped by my place to drop off monthly payments. I was really excited to shoot this wedding because I learned quickly at our engagement shoot that Keli absolutely loves the camera and I knew she would rise to the occasion. She didn't disapoint... here are a few shots of Keli and the girls getting ready...
I'd never been to Tail Skid Meadows before so I was a little disappointed that Mother Nature delivered gray skies and rain on the day of the wedding, as the ceremony was originally planned to take place next to a lovely pond. Thankfully the owners have created a nicely decorated site to move to when the forecast is for rain and there are nice covered places with full views of the gardens. Still, it is infinitely frustrating to this photographer to be in such a beautiful location and be limited by the whims of the weather! Despite the gray skies and rain, the wedding was wonderful and we did manage to get some time in the garden between showers, and eventually Mother Nature threw us a colorful little surprise!
Keli found a wonderful way to honor her deceased Grandpa and have him be part of her special day by adding a small framed photograph of him to her bridal bouquet : )
By nature I tend to spend a lot of time with the bride on the wedding day but I try to pull aside the groom for some time with the guys too. It seems every time I tried this with Jonathan it would start raining, so unfortunately I didn't get too many shots of him and his buddies!

I love the look on Keli's face as she and Jonathan are announced husband and wife : )
After the ceremony I steal the bride & groom right away to capture their first moments of wedded bliss! This is my favorite part of the day... usually the bride & groom have not seen each other all day so it is always fun to be part of the conversation when they privately size up each other in their wedding garb : )
Gathering a wedding party of eighteen people for a group shot on a nice day is difficult at best... throw in some rain and it's nearly impossible! We managed to get off a few shots of the entire party and this one of the girls before the rain let loose again and the girls were off and running...
After family photos I had finally released Keli & Jonathan to go enjoy their guests... until I rounded the corner and discovered this beautiful rainbow over the field. Suddenly I turned into the typical bossy wedding photographer and demanded they rejoin me in the garden- NOW! I'd never been blessed with a rainbow at a wedding before and I was afraid it would disappear at any moment! Of course I thought of a hundred shots I *should* have taken after all was said and done but I was so excited about this good fortune that my wits were trailing somewhere behind me... maybe next time : )
After dinner and toasts, Keli & Jonathan enjoyed their first dance together as husband and wife... then the party was on! The photo of Keli dancing with her grandma is probably my favorite one from the entire day : )
To Keli & Jonathan... thank you, thank you, thank you for the opportunity to be part of your wedding! It was so fun experiencing the build up to the big day with you and I am oh-so-grateful for your enthusiastic support of my work : ) Congratulations to both of you, I wish you a long life of happiness and good health!

Summer & Chris

Wow, I can't believe it's been a full month since I've been able to post new photos! Playing catch up is a slow process but I'm finally comfortable enough with the new monitor to share some new pictures... and just in time too because Summer and Chris are getting married in just four days.

After months of emailing each other it was great to finally meet these two, who have been living in Idaho where Summer was studying medicine. Since she'll be transferring her studies to the UofW this fall, they planned their wedding to be closer to their new home. Last month they graciously made the drive to Bellingham so we could discuss wedding plans and get to know each other a bit before their big day. I chose Whatcom Falls Park as our location because I thought it would be fun to give their photos a real Northwest feel, in keeping with their new home. Here are a few shots from our time together...

I'm always trying to figure out ways to feature the ring when I do engagement photos and Summer's ring is so gorgeous that I had to have some fun with it. I love the deep sapphire blue against Chris' classic blue oxford.
While I corrected it in files for Summer & Chris, I had to save this photo in its original state because it was such a memorable part of our shoot. I'm not sure how many times I had to instruct the three boys jumping into the falls to stay clear of our backdrop while I got some shots. They didn't seem too interested in appeasing the bossy lady with the camera! Ahhh, who can blame them? That looks like a lot of fun to me!

Can you spot the photo bomber?

Be sure to check back sometime next month when I'll be posting photos of Summer & Chris' wedding day on Whidbey Island!

Status Report: Back in Action!

Just a quick update as I get back to work... it's been a long two weeks of zero processing of photos while I researched, ordered & waited for new equipment and I'm happy to say I am finally ready to roll! I really can't believe the amount of processing work I have in front of me- by far more than I've ever had at any one time and I am shooting two weddings this weekend! Crazy. The good part is I've got a really great monitor and a new color calibration tool to help me keep your printed images looking good! It's always exciting to have new equipment : )

I'm still getting used to the new monitor so I'm sorry to say everyone who is scheduling or has scheduled appointments and projects with me this summer is going to have to bear with me while I recover from this setback. I usually try to get photos to clients within two weeks of our shoot (4 weeks for weddings) but that won't be the case for a while. I've already called my massage therapist to schedule a string of appointments and I'm thinking that trade I did for laundry service is going to come in very handy in the near future!

I thought since I was sharing a photo of the new monitor it might be fun to share a few photos of my home office work space as well, lest any of you think my job is ALL just running around in beautiful parks playing with cute kids! 75% of my work goes on behind the scenes. From marketing to communications to processing to shipping, this is where it ALL happens...

This shot was taken from as far back in my kitchen as I could go. My work space used to be a corner in my bedroom. As my business grew, it took over the dining room. Now Asher & I eat our meals Japanese style in the living room : )


Things are usually a bit more cluttered than this when I am working but I like to start fresh when I have a steady stream of work coming at me, so today was a good day to take a picture : )

My work space is limited so I keep it pretty efficiently organized, but I need to have room for some fun personal affects too. I zoomed in the above picture to show you a couple of my favorite things I keep on my desk. The first is my Dwight Schrute bobble head. Asher and I are big fans of the show The Office and last year I ordered him one of these for Christmas. Somehow, I was shipped not one, but two bobble heads. I didn't ask any questions- I just figured it was from Santa, since I'd been such a good girl : ) Asher also received his very own label maker for the same Christmas, so naturally my Dwight always has a descriptive label stuck to his brow!


My other favorite thing is the little dish that holds my miniature statue of Buddha from Archie McPhee in Ballard. I put this together about four years ago when I was working a lowly $10 an hour receptionist position. I kept it next to my monitor every day to remind me to keep a little Buddhist nature about me (not always easy at that job) and it remains next to my monitor today. Besides Buddha, it's always held a different variety of little tokens (and usually whatever jewelry I wore last!) Right now it holds the cacao bean I brought home from my shoot at Theo Chocolate, some shells I picked up on adventures to Lummi Island & Birch Bay and a cool seed pod- from who-knows-where!
Okay, it's time for me to start making this w0rk load a little less daunting! It might be a bit before you hear from me but I'll do my best share what I'm working on when I can. I'm involved in a lot of super fun projects this summer so be sure to check back ... both at this site and at my Soulstice Imagery site (where I share all of my work with non-human subjects!) Also, if you are planning to schedule an appointment with me for some time in Autumn, early September would be a good time to get in touch!