Luke and Jodie's Wedding in Harlan Oregon

What you've never heard of Harlan Oregon? Well let me tell you, you've been missing out. Harlan is a small former logging community tucked behind beautiful rolling coastal hills about half way between Corvallis and Newport. I shot Dani and Shane's wedding there about 2 years ago, so when Shane's mom called me up to tell me that her son Luke was getting married I was very excited to go back!

Harlan really is a peaceful place. I pulled up to the little community church early in the morning, got out of my car and just listened to the silence for a few minutes. Now Corvallis isn't a large town, but being out in Harlan everything was so still. There were no cars, no humming of electricity, just the silence of the wind blowing over the hills. It was breathtaking. I walked around a bit and took this shot of the sun coming up over the hill and melting the frost on a blade of grass.



So we started with the getting ready. I grabbed the wedding dress for a few classic back lit shots. To be honest this I didn't mean to over expose this one, but I liked the angelic look so I kept it.


All things being equal I had to include the guys too.


Speaking of the guys...they were kind of tired. Luke and his cousins rolled in a couple of hours after the girls but still needed some sleep.


I love the soft window light in this one and Jodie's calm expression.


There were a ton of cute kids running around, and I just loved this shot of the little girl getting her hair curled like a big girl, but still needing to sit on a box.

As Luke got ready with his cousins, they kept cracking each other up.

More of Luke getting ready...


I am really digging silhouettes lately. They can be over used but I think this one really works with the shirt in the background and looks goatee forming a distinct outline to his face.


Back to the girls.


I LOVE this shot. I didn't pose it at all. I shot a few more at different exposures but like I said before I'm really digging silhouettes right now.

Jodie just looks happy!

Most ceremonies are pretty much the same, but you gotta love the expression on the officiant's face!


More cute kids...

There is nothing compositionally exceptional about this picture, but the expressions on their faces are so genuine I had to include it.

As the sun started to go over the hill it turned into prime time lighting. It was actually a little chilly so all the girls had to hold their breath so you couldn't see it in the photo!


Like three angels.


The expression on their faces is priceless...the lighting is pretty good too =)

Sometimes the moment right before the moment or after the moment is the most telling. Here Luke and Jodie were about to kiss and I just loved the expression of their faces and how happy they looked.


Silhouettes. No matter how many times I type that word I still have spell check it!

Filling the frame with just their faces eliminates everything but their expressions.