Sneak Peek at January's Promo!

The day before I ended up in the hospital, I enjoyed a wonderful day in the studio with 2 photographer friends from Portland, Daron Gildow of Laughing Coyote Photography and Steve Hunt of NorthWest Rebel Photography, and a couple of my favorite models, Cecy and Keeley. I remember thinking the whole week I lay around that hospital, "Dang, I haven't even gotten to review those images! I just KNOW there is some good stuff in there!" Well, it took a little while before I felt comfortable sitting up at my computer, but I've finally gotten the chance to look over those images and by george, I was right, there IS some gold to be mined there! I'm reserving the images of Cecy for another website (to be announced soon!), but happily share my top three favorites of Keeley here with you...look for these images (and others) promoting my upcoming January Special, Pretty in Pink!!!

Didja Miss Me?!

Just in case, dear reader (all 5 of you), you wondered where I disappeared to for awhile, I have a Very Good Excuse: I was in the hospital from November 8th through the 13th. Woke in the wee hours of Sunday, Nov. 8 with ALOT of abdominal pain - ER at Providence Hospital (what good and kindly folks work there! can't say enough good things about 'em...) admitted me with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis and acute infected gall bladder, ugh! After several days waiting for the pancreas to settle down, surgery was performed that Tuesday evening to removed the nasty, offending gall bladder; I remained under observation until Friday afternoon whereupon I breathed the sweetest fresh air I've inhaled in a Very Long Time! ahhhhh.......

Recuperation has been Slow and Steady - I am constantly amazed at the amount of sleep my body has been demanding. The upside is I'm starting to feel more rested than ever before in my life - so THIS is what 10-12 hours of sleep feels like, wow!

To all of you who have been waiting to pick up prints or had to reschedule portrait appointments due to my illness, I offer my apologies and promise to pick business up again just as soon as I am able. And to all of you who have conveyed your well wishes and support during this stressful time, you have my gratitude BIG TIME!

On display is my first get-well card, drawn by one of my Very Favorite Models, Keeley; also shown is the drawing my admitting surgeon made for me the morning I came into the ER - I even had him and the operating surgeon sign it for me!

Giving thanks...

I am thankful today (and every day) for the love and support of my wonderful husband, the caring and competent folks at Providence Memorial Hospital, and for my continued recovery and good health! May you all enjoy a blessed and grateful Thanksgiving holiday...

THANK YOU HRVHS CLASS OF 2010!

We enjoy a remarkable depth of creativity here in the Columbia River Gorge - it seems like almost every week I meet a new and remarkably talented photographer! So I am very aware that a high school senior has many wonderful choices when it comes to choosing the photographer who will create their senior portraits. This makes me extra grateful and doubly honored when a senior chooses ME to commemorate this special turning point in their lives...

Many thanks to all the AMAZING, GORGEOUS/HANDSOME, INTRIGUING, INTELLIGENT seniors I have had the pleasure of working with these past few months!!!

Head Shot!

WTD (What the Duck) is my FAVORITE online comic strip! Maybe only other photographers (or anyone who's been in front of MY lens!) will find this funny, but it made ME laugh out loud! Enjoy...

(This cartoon is reproduced here with permission of the creator.)

HRVHS Seniors - Your Deadline Draws Near!

But don't panic - yet...I've still got some appointments available, especially if you are looking for a studio portrait! Yeah yeah, I know - we live in a GORGE-ous place so OF COURSE everyone wants their senior portraits done outside...but the weather doesn't always cooperate, especially if you find yourself hemmed in by a looming deadline! Or maybe you think all studio photos are boring and old-fashioned - THINK AGAIN!

I love it when a senior brings in a magazine, shows me an ad and asks, "Can we do something like THIS?" To which I enthusiastically reply, "You bet we can!" I am a studio lighting specialist with years of experience working with models in the San Francisco Bay Area and well, requests like that are just music to my ears.

Your senior photos shouldn't look like everyone else's - you deserve images that are as unique, as expressive as you are! Just because the yearbook deadline is fast approaching doesn't mean you have to settle for anything less than the BEST senior portrait you can imagine...give me a call at 541-436-2755 and let's talk about what YOU want and how we can make it happen!

(oh yeah, that's the modelicious HRVHS senior, Lily, decorating the top of this post. She asked me to recreate a couple of looks from ads in the latest Vogue magazine - we had a blast making it happen for her!)

PIE OH MY!

Picture-perfect weather, delicious desserts made from fruit grown right here in the Gorge, an old-fashion pie eating contest and music by Chigwaya, a local youth marimba ensemble...it was an event to remember! Here's a list of the winners and a handful of images to remember a wonderful day by...

• Kathy Hannen-Smith won $500 for Best Apple Pie - award sponsored by Shortt Supply and Providence Health & Services
• Stephanie Haliei won $500 for Best Pear Pie - award sponsored by the Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers
• Linda Mills won $500 for Best Baked Fruit Dessert - award sponsored by the Hood River Heights Business Association
• Monica Haliei won $500 for Best Professional Fruit Dessert - award sponsored by D'lish Delivered

Congratulations to the winners and a big THANK YOU to everyone who came out to help set up, perform as judges, and eat wonderful desserts! All funds raised at today's event will go to Helping Hands against Violence - thanks again for helping SIHR help the community!

Not-so-basic "Basic Senior Session"!

Presenting Monica G., the latest HRVHS senior to have her portraits created at Photosensitive Portraits' studio! These are two of her favorite images from her senior portrait session - though she said it was a difficult choice because she loved so many of them!

Just a reminder to the Class of 2010 that you don't have to spend a fortune for a FABULOUS senior portrait in your yearbook - just because you THINK you don't have the funds, don't use that gosh-awful school ID photo!

This year Photosensitive Portraits has added "Basic Sessions" to the list of Senior Portrait Session offered: Basic Studio ($75) and Basic Location ($95). Either Basic Session gets you 40 minutes of camera time AND your yearbook portrait delivered to the school as a digital file. If you bring in a card or wallet from one of Photosensitive Portraits' Senior Super Models, you will also receive 24 FREE WALLETS! That's a really great deal for less than a hundred bucks!

Of course you can choose one of the more elaborate sessions - the Designer, Combo and Ultimate Sessions are designed to give you as much variety as possible and feature unlimited clothing, background and location changes. These sessions are a great value and also include your yearbook image delivered to the school.

So once you've got your classes in order and things have settled down a little, call Photosensitive Portraits for YOUR senior portrait session! Get what you WANT - get what you DESERVE - get the VERY BEST! (Get Photosensitive Portraits to create YOUR senior photos...)

A WINDY Afternoon Session!

Da Gorge lived up to its' reputation yesterday and blew like gangbusters through one of my favorite shooting locations! HRVHS senior Elizabeth O. was a trouper, insisting that all that hair whipping around her face wasn't bothering her at all, no ma'am, let's just take some great photos...which of course we proceeded to do! Just like windsurfing, it's all about making the wind work FOR you instead of trying to work against it (which never works!)...so here's Elizabeth, self-described "country girl" looking fresh, beautiful and serene despite the gale blowing around her!

More Seniors, yah!

I am having so much fun with seniors this past month that it ought to be illegal! I wake up with a smile on my face 'cuz I know I'm going to be working with someone new and fascinating, together creating something truly special just for them - and I go to bed at night KNOWING that's exactly what happened! I am blessed to be able to share my love for photography with so many incredible young people - MUCHOS GRACIAS to the Class of 2010!!!

And now, heeeeeeerrrrreeeee'sss NANCI and SILVIA, who both visited the studio last week for their senior portrait session...

FABULOUS day at Edgefield!

Many thanks to my Senior Super Model, Deisy, and her boyfriend, Hugo, for their patience and forbearance as myself and two other photographer friends, Daron and Julian, walked them all over McMenamin's Edgefield property and exercised our off-camera flash techniques! Here's a few photos from the day: me talking (I'm ALWAYS talking, sheesh!) to Julian about different poses for couples and one of my favorite couples' pose - followed by yet another stunning portrait of the gorgeous Deisy - then there's Daron setting up his version of the shot. All in all, a most enjoyable way to spend a couple hours...

Shout out to Louise McCulloch!

Just wanted to let you all know how much I love working with realtor Louise McCulloch! Louise was my agent when we bought our home here in Hood River four (FOUR! OMG, where does the time go?!) summers ago and not only do I enjoy her friendship, but we've also developed a wonderful working relationship - one day she asked me if I could/would photograph a house she was about to list, I said "sure!" and the rest, as they say, is history...

I gotta admit that I thoroughly enjoy being Louise's "secret weapon" in the awesome arsenal of techniques and tools she utilizes in selling her clients homes! She's currently revamping her website (I am too! stay tuned...) and asked me to create a page illustrating our work together - THAT'S what you see up at the top of this entry, some of her and my favorites images from the many homes I've photographed for her clients.

So next time YOU'RE looking to upgrade or you know someone who is moving to the area, make Louise the first call on your list of things to do - she's a first class professional who will treat you right, work her tail off for you and always be there when you need her! Oh yeah, check it out at LouiseMcCulloch.com - and tell her Denise sent you...

Lady in Red

It's raining seniors - and I LOVES it! The Class of 2010 is getting a head start on their senior portraits and it seems alot of you are digging what I do - thanks for the privilege of working with such fabulous teens!

Here's a couple of images from Wednesday afternoon's studio session with Angela of HRVHS - she was so bubbly and upbeat and just plain FUN to work with! Thanks for a great time, Angela - I'm really looking forward to your autumn outdoor session...

Sweet AND Fierce!

Just HAD to share a couple of images from this morning's senior session with HRVHS senior Carla - she was totally at ease in front of the camera, a real joy to work with! I like how these images showcase the two different sides of her personality - warm and sweet, someone you want for your best friend, and then pow! she is a fierce fashionista! Thanks, Carla, for a wonderful time this morning...can't wait for you to come back and choose your senior portraits!

Let Your Love Light Shine!

I'll admit it, I'm a Deadhead, a tie-dyed in the wool fan of the good ol' Grateful Dead. I was enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning, playing one of my favorite concert tapes as I checked my email, FaceBook, Twitter, etc. (social media is taking over my life, oh my!) and found the following quote from Nelson Mandela in an email sent to me by a Very Good Friend. As I was reading it, the Dead were singing, "...turn on your love light, let it shine!" and I relished the very serendipitous moment.

Enjoy your Sunday and may it be the start of a fabulous week of letting your love light shine!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be - brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Nelson Mandela

Twilight Time...

Joel was one of my first seniors of the summer and I wanted to do something special just for him. I learned that he is a bigtime "Twilight" fan, so first we shot in some cool locations - then I came up with this special image processing to give some of his portraits an other-worldly feel to them...he loved it!

August is shaping up to be prime time for the Class of 2010 to have their senior portraits created! If you've been thinking about it, do yourself a favor and call to make YOUR appointment as soon as possible - available time is filling up fast! As hard as it may seem to believe right now, that yearbook deadline will be here before you know it!

On Location Senior Portraits Are Great Fun!

Oh my goodness, I had SO MUCH FUN working with 2010 Senior Super Model Ely this Monday just passed! I've been wanting to photograph a gal in a long dress in the water at Horsetail Falls for like EVAH and Ely is helping me make my dream come true...while it was too cold that morning (hard to believe we were roasting in 100+ heat not all that long ago!) for her to actually lay down in the waterfall's pool, she did bravely wade in and splash around in the icy water - what a pro! We create WONDERFUL images that I cannot wait to finish working up - here's a couple of my favorites of Ely in her simple yet elegant white gown...

BTW, if you're reading this and you are a member of the Class of 2010, let me ask you: have YOU booked your senion portrait session yet? Might be a good idea to get on that right away, while you still have a choice of photographer - otherwise you might just have to settle for much less than you deserve! If you're interested, MY phone number is 541-436-2755...

"GQ" Julian

I'm doing a bit of computer "house cleaning" this Sunday, working on non-client images, archiving older files...this is actually a LOT more fun than it sounds 'cuz every once in awhile I come across a real gem I missed in my inital review! Like this grab shot of my friend (and Hood River photographer) Julian Hamilton - the man has style, don't you agree?!!