This Saturday I got the opportunity to spend time with young Noah who was just 17 days old!   I went over to his parents house, Jenny and Steve in Issaquah where we took lots of photographs of the new arrival with him and his new parents.  It was a completely fun time and I think I managed to get some creative shots that his parents will enjoy looking through.  He was simply a dream to work with,  barely a cry for the whole time that I was there.   I just finished backing up the photographs to the server and couldn’t resist having a quick look before getting started with another project.  Here he is laid out, arms stretching above his head as he started to fall asleep. 

I will say after his session and the other projects that I was working on this weekend he wasn’t the only one that was tired after everything was done!

Isn’t this little guy so cute!  Introducing Charlotte the baby French Bulldog who was just rescued from a bad home and adopted by Ariel.    Ariel and Doctor Amy think that she is about 4 or 5 months old but they aren’t totally sure.  She has clearly had a rough life already in her young age, she was always looking for attention and a little nervous at first.

After allowing her to get a little comfortable and relaxed we moved her into the photography studio to make some of her first professional photographs.  She was most comfortable when she was with her Mum, but we did manage to get some on her own.  She is such a cute looking French Bulldog and has the potential to be quite the character.  All in all she had a busy and exciting first day in her new life with visits to the vets, Mum’s office and the doggie lounge to buy food and was soon fast asleep snoring on her Mum’s lap.   

On Friday I was out and about working photographing adorable twins.  During one of the break’s Iain picked up one of his guitars and started to play, much to the amusement of the dogs Lilly and Max who were glad to get some attention for a little while.  I’m still working my through the proof’s of the twins but I thought I would post this quickly of my good friend.   

Last week two young brothers visited the photography studio in Seattle for the first time.   They were completely adorable, but yet so different in terms of their behavior and attitude with respect to the camera and being photographed.   Thomas was excited to be there and very comfortable in front of the camera, constantly posing and being a complete ham.   Colin on the other hand was far from happy at being photographed and Mum had to bribe him with a new toy which is spent most of the time playing with.  It made working with them completely different and for the most part they preferred to be photographed separately. 

Here they are together entertaining Mum who was stood to my left. 

Where has the week gone I wonder!  

I have been busy getting ready for an upcoming photography show here in Seattle, preparing the various pieces for the exhibition.  More news on that in a little while.  In the meantime here is another print that I’m going to use for the mural that I want to make for the front of the studio.  Such a cute photograph of this lovely young lady.    

One of the many projects I have been working on lately is to create a mural of some of my favorite photographs that will go into the entrance way of the studio to greet folks when they visit.  The ideal is to group together photographs that show just the faces of children of various stages of their life to create something that truly celebrates the beauty and wonder of childhood.   I’m going to start posting a number of captures individually and then I’ll piece together the full mural to see the end result.  

First up is Veronica in a thoughtful moment. 

My friends Charlotte and Aaron have a regular event where they invite a bunch of good people over for dinner and a movie.  I’m a new guest at the events and getting to know everyone but so happy I got onto their invite list.  Charlotte is simply an amazing cook and the food is always incredible and everyone has lots of fun. 

Each event has a theme and they are always looking for ideas so I suggested that we try some goofy photography one evening.  I’ve have been wanting to try a ’silly faces’ project for a while ever since I read John’s write up here. The concept isn’t a new idea but John’s blog entry got me thinking about trying it but I obviously needed a bunch of subjects to work with and who better than this fun group of people. 

Charlotte had checked out the movie Pecker chosen due to the photography theme.  That in turn lead to the food which was wonderful beef sandwich’s who receipt comes from Baltimore as that was where the movie was shot.  More importantly that is where Seth is from - a fact that many of us didn’t know.  The surprise of the evening was the salad that had bacon hidden in it and best I can most things taste better with bacon!   Desert was a wonderful cheesecake that got just as much attention that was handmade by a professional cheesecake maker.  Just yummy food.    

And then came the photography project.  During the drinking and eating stage I would round up a few folks at a time and try to get them to look all silly with goofy faces and such.  Obviously everyone has their own viewpoint of what ’silly’ is and that was half the fun.  The resulting photographs were all very different.  Then yesterday I cropped a bunch of the photographs so that they were square and built this simple montage.  If you click on the photograph below it should launch a bigger version to check out all the silliness. 

All in all not a bad first attempt at this.  I wasn’t perfectly happy with the lighting as the space was limited and I should have chosen a different setup to get more even lighting.  With everyone moving around the right hand side often didn’t have enough light resulting in un-even light in the background.   Lessons learnt for next time!

All in all a lovely night and a cool little project.  Special guest George, the little black & white kitten was once again the star of the evening.

Last week I got to meet Ryan for the first time.  This bundle of pure energy is now 15 months old and a whole lot of fun.  When he first arrived he was a little shy and reserved but after a while he started to relax and be himself - it wasn’t long before he was moving around the studio laughing and playing.  He was such a happy young man and a total joy to work with.  

I just finished reviewing the proofs from the session and thought I would post a couple here that I thought captured his energy for his mum to see. 

At times the studio is all carefully setup with lights positioned just how we want them to create certain lighting styles, everything is all tidy and things are in their place.  And then there are the times that we have young children here and that just doesn’t make sense.  This is when the toys come out and the lighting is setup to capture movement as there is often lots of it as the kids run around and have fun. 

This shot from last week with the lensbaby.   

I was reading this New York Times article Will You Marry Me? Say Cheese! - New York Times a while ago and it got me thinking about this growing trend for couples who want to capture the complete wedding experience.  Obviously there is the wedding day itself and many couples also like to do ‘engagement’ photographs before, but these typically don’t capture that very special moment when someone actually proposes.  So I’ve just launched this new true engagement photography package designed for folks that want to capture the actual moment when you say “Will you marry me?” to your loved one.

No matter if this is something you’ve discussed before or a complete surprise, the moment that you ask the question has to be one of the most wonderfully romantic and intimate moments that you will ever have in your relationship together. 

So why let the moment slip by without capturing it on film so that you can have it forever? This is where I can come in. Depending on your plans, I can either arrange to be at your chosen spot or we can work together to select a perfect place that has meaning for you and is ideal for me to grab the action. And don’t worry – I won’t be in your space. I’ll be in stealth mode hiding behind people or setup a long way away using a very long lens. With careful planning, you won’t even know I’m there.  

Pricing starts at $300 and depends on your plans and how much setup and time will be required. Each Proposal Package includes your own Web gallery of photographs that will be posted approximately 24 hours after the event that you can send to your friends and family. 

If you are planning to pop the question, don’t delay. You can take pictures of your special someone anytime, but the emotion of that once-in-a-lifetime moment is something that you can’t recreate. Complete the form here and let’s start planning.