"for unto you a Child is given..."

The holidays always feel more like a celebration to me when children are involved! This beautiful, 5 week old little boy was in my studio recently for a Christmas card session and after I knew I had those "in the can" as we old film-users used to say, his gracious parents allowed me to try a little more dramatic lighting than I have ever done before with infants. The parents were into it, the baby cooperated fully by falling asleep and I am more than pleased with the results! Fine art black and white prints were the reason I got into photography in the first place, and these images bring me full circle - I'm looking forward to having these printed on high quality fiber paper and giving them pride of place in my studio.

Where has the time gone?!!

It's been so long since I posted to this blog, it's just downright embarassing - I am going to make a New Year's Resolution (yep, it's just about time for those!) to get back in the swing of things and update this blog in a timely fashion! So much has happened since my last posting: October was a whirlwind of senior portraits - I think I photographed some of the loveliest young women at Hood River Valley High! Then there was my adventure at the D-G Ranch in Maupin, where I spent the weekend photographing seniors from South Wasco High School (there must be something in the water in Maupin, because all the girls were gorgeous!)... November was filled with family portraits (just in time for the holidays) and on a less cheery note, a hard drive malfunction that gave me a good scare (remember, alwaysalwaysalways BACK UP YOUR DATA FILES! thank goodness I had backups, that's all I'm going to say about that!)...there's just so much to share, I hardly know where to start!

I guess I'll start with TODAY, as good a place as any: my good friend, Tammy, a fabulous portrait photographer in Camas, WA (Studio K Portraits, check her out!), came to visit me today accompanied by her charming grandmother, Helen. Tammy has created wonderful portraits of her grandmother, but wanted a portrait of the two of them together, to celebrate their close relationship - I was pleased and proud to help her out!

I could hear the voice of my mentor, Monte Zucker, whispering to me as I directed Tammy and Helen into place: "get close, hug each other, love each other!" What you see posted here is Tammy's (and mine!) favorite image from today's session - the loving bond these two women share really comes across...it's destined to be a big canvas in both Tammy's and Helen's homes and for sure will soon be gracing my studio walls as well!

Short and sweet this time - I'll collect my memories of the last couple months and do my best to tell you a bit more about my adventures before we ring in a new year...