There is this running joke that I have going with my friends and husband about how gorgeous all of my clients always are. It really is uncanny. Virginia and Peter are no exception. In fact, after I first met with them, I ran into a friend in the parking lot that asked, "Oh, you're meeting with clients? Are they really, really, ridiculously good looking?" The answer is, always, yes. For the most part, I don't display any other signs of the "luck of the Irish," unlike my brother, who is notoriously lucky. He can walk past a Coke machine and press a button and one will inevitably fall out. However, when it comes to clients, I ALWAYS get lucky.
We had fabulous light for this shoot.
For those of you not in the area, this is the Nunan Estate. They are going to be getting married on the steps, and it is going to be one GORGEOUS wedding. On a side note for the brides, Nunan is pretty well known to have the best wedding cakes around...
Surprisingly, this is the first shoot where a couple asked if they could bring their dog, I was so excited that they did - Bear made a great addition. I was going to say prop, but that would make me sound like a bit like a robotic, heartless photographer.
So, I was planning on telling you how bitingly funny these two are, the only people in fact, that have made Laser Cats references to me, aside from my husband. I figured it might just bum you out though, that there are people in the world that can be so good looking AND intelligent AND funny.
When I saw that the awesome, yet mostly creepy, traveling fair was back in town, I just knew that I would have to talk a couple into going there. David and Kate were happy to oblige me, and boy oh boy am I glad that they did.
Not only did we have a great time and get great shots, but I proved to myself that I can indeed take pictures while being propelled into nauseating circles.
Kate won.
The nauseating ride was totally worth it for this:
Doesn't Kate have the BEST smile?
Thanks for the great time, guys! Can't wait for the wedding.
This is David & Kate. They are my two new favorite people.
The first time that I talked to David, he said something about crossing gig paths with Radio Dept. The fact that I had met someone that had actually heard of Radio Dept. in Oregon made me instantly like him. After I listened to some of his work, he took up permanent residency in my personal Hall of Awesome.
I knew that anyone marrying him had to be of equal of greater value in awesome, and Kate IS. I mean for starters, her name is Kate, and anyone that has some sort of variation of my mother and grandmother's name gets the initial good first impression. The thing about Kate that I liked the most though is that she is so pretty. I don't mean just the superficial aspect, which, obviously, yes, she is but by pretty I really mean that her whole disposition is just very pretty. Like a Disney princess, but without the singing and talking to forest animals, no WAIT, she does do that.
They had the great idea of starting the shoot in their kitchen making lunch. I really love it when couples "do" something, especially if it is something that they usually do.
Lovely.
Given that there were too many good pics to choose from, coupled with the whole blog challenge that I've forced onto myself, I've decided to continue with part two of the shoot tomorrow. If you consider this cheating, then I will direct you to my grandaddy's favorite quote: "This is my ranch, and I'll do as I please."
So, I harbor these constant fantasies of someday being a cool, calm, domestic goddess. For the most part, it is a good fantasy to have, as far as fantasies go. It keeps me out of trouble and allows me to live in a lane where things like mastering the perfect chicken korma recipe matter, as opposed to say, death or taxes.
Subsequently, these fantasies can lead to near break downs after nine hours of cake and party food making. The break down only happening because I realize things like, I am quite far from a domestic goddess, don't really like standing on my feet for an eternity in the kitchen and I'd really rather be listening to TOOL and taking pictures of flowers (attributes that are more like a teenager than a cool and calm thirty something).
Which brings me to THE cake. This cake was truly perfect in my mind. In fact I even stayed awake a few nights thinking about how awesome it was going to be and how fabulous of a person it would make me for even conceptualizing it. On hour 4.5, after running out of icing, and during the part where I was rolling out the little ropes, I realized that the idea of perfection was out the window and I simply did not care anymore. I thought the whole task would be much easier than it ended up proving itself to be. I can make pretty great things out of Fimo and after watching a few of those cake tournaments on the Food Network I assumed that fondant was similar in make-up. What they don't tell you is that you have to work pretty quick with it, which isn't so easy to do after you have sliced and placed over 50 little tiny squares.
My point is this: Making cakes is crazy hard, and if you are in the process of buying one for a wedding don't question the cost. Those people deserve it.
All in all, it was well received because three year olds just aren't the most critical judges in the world. "Rookie" sat atop the cake in all his glory and that is all that really mattered.
So, as most of you know I'm a huge proponent of Photoshop. I mean, most photographers are, but for me it is half of the process. Every single picture I take, I know what I'll do to process it before I press the shutter. It isn't just a "fix-it" function for me, but a further expression of the moment and the subject. If you've ever had a meeting with me, I've probably told you that every single picture that I take is Photoshopped before you've ever seen it. When I tell other photographers that they are more than astounded (and a little angry) because of how time consuming it is to process a batch of wedding photos, one by one. But I mean, come on, how can anyone feel comfortable showing or giving a client half of a product?
Having said that, being a photographer that can't stand posing people has its disadvantages. To catch that "moment" there is little that you can do about, say, a chair in the way, or a hair out of place. That's when the "fix-its" really come into play. Photoshop allows me to capture that moment without having to disrupt it by saying, "Hey, can you turn your head down and to the left?" or, "Wait, kiss, while facing the side."
This photo is a great example of all those things that come into play. These two sat down and posed themselves like this and it was so perfect and natural. He's facing a window, she's not, there's a chair that disrupts the line of the couch, and the whole thing is a bit askew. A lot of negatives as far as the perfect photo goes. I knew that none of that would matter because what I saw when I took the photo was the after.
So, I've been putting off this rather uncomfortable post. It is uncomfortable for two reasons. The first Is that I really find nothing more boring and downright annoying than reading peoples' blog posts that start with things like, "I've been soooo busy, sorry I haven't posted in a while." Honestly, why post that at all? Coming up with some sort of apology that won't bore you to tears isn't quite as hard as the act of just doing it. It is sort of like when you know that you have put off calling your grandma for way too long, and the idea of saying sorry doesn't seem hard so much as the knowing that you will just feel a bit crap while doing so. That, and no excuse is really good enough for not calling your grandma for two months.
But as far as excuses go, boy do I have them, and they are goooood excuses.
First of all, we've moved!
Okay, so maybe that is the only good excuse that I have. We were sick for a few days. Does that count? No? Well, then, moving is all I've got.
Having gotten the uncomfortable bit done with, I'll move on to good news. I am a firm believer that sorries always go better when you come armed with presents. So, I've decided to do a 30-day run of blog posts. Yes, every day, rain or shine, I will post something. I can't promise that they will all be even remotely interesting, but they'll happen. And if I renege...I'll give away a free photo shoot to the first person that comments after midnight.
This may not seem like a huge deal, but considering that wedding and portrait season is in full swing (not to mention house renovations and unpacking) it will be a challenge for me. I'm feeling up to it, however.
And to not leave you pictureless, I'll sign off with the most gorgeous blue eyes I've seen in quite some time.
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