A couple of announcements

Hey photo fans, I apologize for not posting more pictures this past week. I've started my other job, teaching photography at Corvallis High School and life just got a little busier. I do have a wedding this weekend so there will be more photos soon! In the meantime I've got just a few announcements.

1. If you are thinking about booking for next year, book quickly! I've already booked 8 of the most popular wedding dates for next year and had to turn a few brides away, so make sure you book your date as quick as you can!!

2. I wanted to say thank you to all the brides who wrote reviews about me on weddingwire.com. I really think it is going to be an amazing resource for brides, so thanks for sharing your opinions! If you haven't written a review and would like to feel free to click here and share your experience with others.

Check back soon for more great wedding pictures!

Little Man Walking

We interrupt this photography blog for a special announcement. Here is my little man taking his first steps! Now he's only 10 months old, but I'm seeing a future Olympian here.

Calvin and Lisa's Wedding at the Grotto in Portland Oregon

I've died and gone to photographer heaven. Calvin and Lisa's wedding last Saturday was definitely one I will never forget. Here are a couple statistics for you:

2 - Wedding Ceremonies.
13 - Hours of photography.
4 - Different Wedding Dresses.
1 - Full Choir.
2 - Tired Photographers.
1 - Happy Couple.

Lisa and Calvin had a traditional Vietnamese ceremony in the morning at her parents' house. As far as I understand the tradition, the groom and his family prepare gifts at his house and bring them to formally ask for the bride's hand at her parents' house. Then they have a traditional tea ceremony.

This traditional ceremony was by far my favorite part of the day. The attention to detail and all of the beautiful dresses were like a photography overload. At one point Lisa's mom was giving advice and small gifts to Lisa,and it was so touching both of them started to cry. It was very beautiful.

After the ceremony my dad and I (I hired my dad to 2nd shoot for this one) hopped in his car and followed the wedding party across Portland to the Grotto were we had a traditional Catholic ceremony. Then it was off to a restaurant for the reception.

I could go on and on with the details....but maybe it's better if you just watch the slideshow and see for yourself...bet you can't watch without crying!

p.s. Nicole Wagner , Portland's best makeup artist, did the honors of getting the bride ready!

Good Ol' Fashioned Dress Trashing...

Danae loves photography, and she wanted to get more use out of her dress than just on her wedding day, so we decided to have some fun and do a "Trash the Dress" session in the fountains of Downtown Corvallis and the Willamette River. Check it out!

Brianne and Eric's Wedding in Forest Grove, Oregon

Brianne and Eric were the second half of my double header last weekend. They whole the record for booking me in advance-16 months! All I have to say is that their wedding was worth the wait. They were married on a private residence in Forest Grove, on an absolutely gorgeous day that had beautiful cumulus clouds providing soft light and amazing backdrops. Brianne hired Kami Aguilar to help plan her wedding. Kami and her crew did a fantastic job of keeping everything organized and running smoothly. It was a great way to finish out the week.

If you like what you see here, Brianne and Eric's wedding is now featured on my main site. Click here to see these images in all their full screen glory! After going to my main site click on "weddings" and then "Brianne and Eric".

Kayla and Jesse's Wedding in Sweet Home, Oregon

Last weekend I shot Kayla and Jesse's wedding as the first of a back to back. Wow! Whenever I do back to back weddings it kicks my butt!

Kayla and Jesse had a beautiful wedding in an amphitheater that was just gorgeous. The groomsmen relaxed by skateboarding before the wedding, which was pretty cool because it isn't often that you show up for a wedding and get to shoot some skateboarding too. One of the reasons I love Kayla and Jesse's pictures is that they had their ceremony at 7 p.m. and the light was perfect for shooting.

Meredith and Peter's Engagement Session in Corvallis

Hey everyone. This last week was pretty busy for my Thursday I shot Meredith and Peter's engagement session and then I had back to back weddings on Friday and Saturday. (I'll be posting those in a few days). Needless to say I'm pretty tired today. Because of travel time I got about 3-4 hours of sleep the last few days....
Anyway, enough of my whining. Shooting Meredith and Peter's engagement session was a lot of fun. We started off at OSU and then headed down to the covered bridge. I've been living in Corvallis for 4 years now and I'd never been down there. It's a great little romantic spot!

Exploring my other artistic side

So I mentioned a few posts ago that this summer I started working on my graduate degree. What I didn't mention is that my degree will actually be a combination of three majors Art,Photography, and Education. My emphasis will be in Photography but I'll be exploring the other two areas as well and how they relate to photography.

In my art class a few weeks ago we did some work with oil pastels which are kind of like messy crayons. Having wedding photos always on the brain I chose to do a scene from one of the weddings I shot last year. Here is the original photo....


And here is the drawing/painting/coloring I did in my art class...



My teacher made me throw in the building, and I changed a few other things a like the sky. I know it isn't a great masterpiece or anything but going into a classroom and painting and drawing for a few hours everyday was very therapeutic. I think I'll do more in the future...maybe experiment with oils or acrylics....

Alli and Nic Engagement Session in Medford Oregon

I had a great time shooting Alli and Nic's Engagement Session this past week down in Medford. I happened to be down for the week visiting my inlaws and so we hooked up for the shoot. It was fun to get out of Corvallis for a little while!