Anyway, this gorgeous album came in last week and I can’t wait to send it out to Caitlin and Todd. This couple opted for one of our flush mount albums of their engagement session and it is simply stunning. I say this a lot, but looking at an album is a totally different experience than looking at photos on the computer. Caitlin and Todd chose a brown leather to surround their album with a gorgeous cover where the photo is printed on a piece of metal. Inside the prints are mounted all the way to the edge of the page. No one will be disappointed in this keepsake!

Like most 16 year old girls, Anuhea is just starting to grow into her beauty; and the interesting thing is that she doesn’t even get the concept of exactly how stunning she truly is to the eye (and the camera)! She braved a really cold and early morning (in a swimsuit no less!!) to do this session. I really felt like this photo, in particular, really captured something special. Believe it or not, this was a ‘test’ shot. I just had her in position and was doing my thing during the test runs. It really captures her, totally natural, and totally at ease.

About 2 weeks ago I tried something I had never done before. I traveled with 2 children, all by myself, on a plane.

It’s not that I hide this fact, but I’ve lived in Washington for so long now, people assume that I’m originally from here. I’m not. I’m actually from New Mexico – born in Truth or Consequences (yes it is a real place) and partially raised in Silver City, New Mexico. In fact, I feel so at home in Silver City that I list it as my hometown as that is pretty much the most familiar place to me – plus the majority of my family lives there/grew up there. I try to get down there once a year, although some years it’s harder to go than others.

But the reason I’m so proud of the fact that I was able to travel with 2 little kids alone is that it is a journey to get from Seattle to the very rural out-of-the-way old-west town of Silver City. First you have the two and a half hour flight to Tucson. Then a three and a half hour drive to Silver City. With travel time, airport time, rental car time, it takes approximately 11 hours to get there – and that is pretty direct. But with 2 small children, and all by myself, it seems like every minute is just that longer!

Life down there has a totally different pace than here in Seattle. Everything is about 5 minutes away and there really is no hurry and no stress about anything. Over the years the town has changed significantly though. When I was a kid the downtown area was just about diserted and the population of the town was primarily ranchers/cowboys, miners with a significant hispanic population. Now days, the art scene has moved out of Sante Fe and Taos and moved south to Silver City and you have a very artsy-hippie kind of scene. The downtown area has become very vibrant with art galleries and shops, organic food markets, and original types of shops. While you still have the original population in the town, these new vibe has created a whole new dynamic in the town. It’s been very interesting to watch this morph over the years.

I enjoy going – and I enjoy coming home afterwards as well. As much as I say that I’m from New Mexico… when I get down there I find myself in this odd-dimension where I don’t quite fit in.

I will say this… I love love love the warm light that they have down there. I get tired of the clouds and blue-colored light we get here in Seattle, so having something different to work with is the best!! Here are a few snapshots from our trip!

I seriously think this is one of the BEST coffee houses I’ve ever been to – anywhere. It’s called Javalina and not only do they make an outstanding cup of coffee there, the place is just absolutely awesome. They have all these toys and books for kids, which makes going and chatting with my family that much better, free wi-fi (about the only place in town with wi-fi to begin with!), and the atmosphere is to die-for. I could spend hours just hanging out there… as it was I hit it up every single day.

Of course, since the light is so yummy, I blackmailed my three year old into a session together. She didn’t want to take a nap… so I told her that if she didn’t want to nap, she had to take pictures with mommy. She is just starting to now mug for the camera, and she was more than happy to take advantage of the “no-nap” opportunity, so I went outside and she gave me about 40 minutes worth of awesome shots. I have so many great ones I have no idea how to choose. But I love this one – she’s kind of a serious and mischievous kid, and I just feel like the look on her face just captures HER.

This is the sunset as we were driving from Lordsburg to Silver City. It really does show the remoteness of the locale when you look and see nothing for hundreds of miles!

I did a senior high-school session with my cousin while there. I captured one of my most favorite photos EVER with her – so I’m excited to share that once Steve processes her photos! So stay tuned for that in the near future!

To add to the fun, I contacted my good friend Corine Tran, who is a wedding photographer in New Orleans, and asked her if she’d hook me up with some awesome Mardi Gras props. She filled a box (and when I say filled, I mean 22 pounds of stuff!) and shipped it off to me this week. When it arrived, it was purple, gold and green everywhere!! But boy did these props add to the fun. Everyone had a really fun time playing with the pictures! It just added so much fun to the reception!

My assistant, Rebecca, and my new second shooter Josie both took turns manning the camera and coaxing guests into their crazy natures! I’m so happy with how this turned out, I’m now going to offer this service inclusive of all my 2010 packages! If you are a bride who already has a contract with me, you get it. If you are a bride thinking about hiring me, you also get this service… free. Whoo hoo! Who doesn’t like free, right?

So I found… it’s not hard to get people to be wild and crazy!

The bride’s family, as a surprise to the couple, hired Blitz the Seahawks mascot, to come entertain at the wedding!

Every once in a while, someone in the community donates a house or a building for what is called a Practice Burn. This allows the firefighters to do controlled training in a real life scenario kind of way. Essentially at the end of the day, though, the building is burned to the ground. If you’ve ever seen a true ripping fire, the power and the intensity is something to be feared, but is also so hypnotizing. You can be standing a block away, yet feel this intense heat and pressure all around you, but something about the fire just beckons your eyes and mind. It’s just amazing to witness. And watching these guys run in and out of a burning building is just a really wild experience.

My husband was kind enough to put in for photography access to this particular burn yesterday, which was approved by the Chief, and I went out to photograph some of the details of the burn. I had a lot of fun, I just wish I could have stayed until it was all in ashes (but it take hours and sometimes days for it to completely burn down all the way, so that wasn’t necessarily an option), but real life, work and kids called me away in the mid-afternoon. My mom even came out with the girls thinking that Maggie would enjoy watching the fire and watching daddy at work. Nothing could have been further from the truth as Maggie was terrified. Poor little thing… so my mom took her back to the car and they were entertained by throwing rocks in a mud puddle.

This was the first time that Maggie had ever seen Jason in his bunker gear. She’s seen him in uniform tons, but never full decked out with airpacks and everything. Even I have only seen it a few times in our marriage. So it was totally fun to see him working and doing what he does best! But at one point, Jason asked Maggie to hold his helmet.

So here are some details of the day… I’ll let the images speak for themselves and save you the narration.

But it’s worth the struggle for the times she is happy! Smiles only come around once in while, but when they do, they light up her entire face.

While my photography doesn’t require photoshop to look good or fix mistakes, it does require photoshop to produce a final finished product that is worth blowing up to a 20×40 size or to lay into a gorgeous album. Additionally, photoshop gives our images this certain amount of flare that stylistically sets us apart from the rest.

I’ve made mention of it before, but I’ll say it again, I don’t like photoshopping myself. In fact, I don’t do it. Steve has spent his entire career learning and perfecting his skills in photoshop. I remember him asking Dad at around 12 years old for the first generation of photoshop (which was an insane request at that age!!). He has always been driven and known exactly what he wanted to do and knew the steps he needed to make to get there. But he has spent years perfecting his skills and techniques. And this is what he does. I couldn’t be more proud to have him be a driving force behind our company.

Most photographers don’t have the luxury of a full-time graphic artist. This is something unique and different that we are able to give to our clients. And because of this, we are able to create a distinct product that gives clients the utmost in service, skill and quality.

As you can see from the example below, the straight out of camera file offers a great product. It’s clean and a great image for any photographer to grab. But look at the final edits done in photoshop. There is a style and flare that distinguishes that marks this photo as a Whimsical branded image.

And here is another family photo. While the original file is great, the photoshopped version just polishes up an already clean file.

When you are out looking for a photographer to fulfill your needs, ask yourself about the product that photographer is producing. Is it clean? Are they using photoshop to cover mistakes? Or are they using it to stylistically enhance an already nice image?

Investment in custom photography is expensive. No bones about it. For every wedding client that hires us, we put in approximately 100 hours of back-end work on their account. For every family client that hires us, we put in approximately 25-30 hours of back-end work on their account. Lots of hours go into making our product the best it possibly can be! But we also know that our customers are receiving the best quality in terms of a final product out there.

Jake recently posted a picture on his Facebook, as his assignment for his photography class was to “Paint With Light.” I’m familiar with the concept and employ it frequently in my off-camera lighting set ups, but he got a comment on this particular photo that was interesting. Someone wrote “You did this in photoshop, right?”

I get this comment a lot – both from my clients and from other photographers. A lot of people assume that most of what I do is done in photoshop rather in inside the camera.

I have a great deal of respect for the job Steve performs for me as a graphic artist and album designer. His style, creative vision and skill is a directional force and a major contributing factor to the look and feel of my images. He is one of the best in the graphic arts business and I’m totally proud of him and happy to have him driving us forward; constantly challenging me and making me strive towards something better.

But we both know this little fact… It’s not all photoshop.

While I was setting up at the Tacoma Bridal Expo a few weeks ago, I had a couple of photographers stop by and introduce themselves and chat a bit. This is typical vendor stuff at these shows as we use them to network with each other in the industry! But as they were perusing through my portfolio and looking at some of my images, one image in particular stood out. It’s a signature image in my portfolio, one that has come to define a certain amount of my business.

The one question that rang out again and again is “You mean that isn’t photoshop? How did you do that?”

I had established professionals, that are working in the industry, who could not figure that this particular image not only wasn’t photoshopped that way, but it was pretty much taken in camera exactly how you see it here. Brides and grooms are floored to know that we as a team only spent approximately 5 minutes on this image and it was done around 5:00 pm in the afternoon; on the summer solstice.

While photoshop is a major player in what we do, I have to admit that it makes me feel bad to hear people always ask me if we’ve photoshopped something. I’ve taken a lot of time and energy, knowledge and talent, poured it all into my craft in order to obtain and develop skills that set me apart from other photographers. I believe in getting the image right there in the camera as I take it and see it at the moment. I don’t wait for Steve to put something in that image that wasn’t already there. So I keep my images clean, my lighting perfected and posing natural and beautiful.

I like the fact that we’ve developed this romantic styling to our portraits, kind of a fanciful look where the veiwer isn’t quite sure if it’s real or fake. But I assure you… it’s all real.

So next time you see an incredible photograph, don’t automatically assume that it was all done in photoshop or because someone has a fancy camera. While these are powerful tools, ultimately the skill of the photographer is what makes the photo!

Today, I was making lunch when it was eerily quiet in the house. Julie was in her swing taking a nap, but Maggie was no where to be found. A quick shout down the hall produced no results and I knew she was up to no good. As I walked into my bedroom, all of a sudden she came darting out of the bathroom and ran as fast as she could to her bedroom. She totally knew she was causing trouble and that she was caught.

Little Maggie had gone into my make up drawer, taken out all the expensive eye shadows (left the cheap ones of course) and lined the window sill. Further more, she had taken my expensive make up brushes and was currently using the wall as her canvas. I now am the proud owner of a lovely painting done in the elusive eye shadow medium.

Little girls playing with mommy’s make-up. It’s a right of passage. So I laughed it off and made sure I grabbed a picture to remember the moment.

That’s kind of who I am though.

Most people who know me would say that I’m kind of high-strung. I am. I like things the way that I like them, I’m opinionated, and I am super-insane-crazy about timings and being on time. But all of those things are well within my control.

There is a ying to my yang though and when it comes to things I can’t control (like a 3 year old) I often times will just sit back and relax. Instead of fixating on the problem, I try to fixate on a solution, an alternative to the original plan, to get me back on track as soon as possible. I take the problems that come in stride and make the solution easy.

Often times my brides say that my presence is pretty chill on their wedding day. And I really strive to make that happen for them. There are so many variables and so many little things going on that there really isn’t a good reason for them to be worried or upset. The number one priority on their day is to get married to the man they love. Period. All the rest is just (excuse the pun) icing on the cake. And I believe if a bride hires good people around her that the person hired should take care of any issue that arises. So I do. And I make sure that I do my job to the absolute best of my ability because that is part of why people pay me to do what I do. Plus, when I’m chill, everyone else relaxes… which gives me better images in the long run!

So when my Maggie has destroyed the house playing with her toys, I just relax. At some point in my life I won’t be stepping on blocks anymore and I’ll miss the times that I did. And if my house is a disaster, I take comfort that at least once a day (at bedtime) the house gets picked up.