Kim D | Portland Maternity, Family Photographer

Kim asked me to photograph her with her family back-to-back with a maternity session, so we doubled up and got it all done on the same day!  These guys were awesome, especially 16-year-old Mariah, who is obviously up on her posing and helped me get some great shots of the younger kids.

Kim is due in late December with a baby boy, Oliver.  Another calm mama, she glowed through our session, projecting contentment and ease throughout. Her long, pretty blonde hair is so striking in these photographs!  Congrats to Kim & family and baby Oliver, arriving in about a week (right around Jonah’s 1st birthday!) 🙂

Rebekka H. | Portland Maternity Photographer

I did this in-studio session with Rebekka at 37 weeks, and she is one gracious and poised mama… not to mention stunnning!

I have always had the utmost respect for people who are kind and positive and remain that way through life’s most challenging moments.  Anyone who has given birth knows that being 8 1/2 months pregnant is not the most comfortable situation, however Rebekka is rosy and radiant and focused on the joys of creating new life, just so happy to be on the verge of giving birth to her daughter Josie.  Rebekka experienced the loss of a child in 2010 and started Hayden’s Helping Hands to assist other families who have experienced the birth of a stillborn baby.  I felt really moved by Rebekka’s story and since meeting her have tried to do more for others and find ways to help those experiencing difficult times or loss.  It gave me yet another reason to hug and kiss and squeeze my precious little boy.  Please consider donating to HHH.

I did this session in the studio using three Canon flashes on stands with various modifiers.  The modifier for the lacy photos is a Rogue Grid with a rose-colored gel.  I love how those turned out and plan to do some more experimenting with overlays and colored lights in the future. I also used a singular XL softbox with a strobe for some of the later shots.  Processed using Lightroom and Radlab/CS5.

Congratulations to Rebekka & family.  Beautiful Josie is almost here!

Family Portrait | Portland Family Photographer

Chelsea, James, & 1 1/2-year-old Jay came to the studio looking posh and fantastic for a holiday family portrait.

At 17 months, Jay is a little wild man and has given me another glimpse of what’s in store for me with Jonah in a few short months!  When photographing energetic toddlers, the best tactic is to find something that engages them and go with it rather than trying to get them to sit still because that is not likely to happen with these guys unless they’re asleep!  Could be ticking, peekaboo, or me acting, uh… zany (stupid) that does it, you just never know.  For this little guy, it was throwing things and/or keep-away!  For whatever reason, we got mega smiles every time I hid something from this cutie.

For these photos I used a singular XL softbox on the right and a huge reflector on the left, and I very much like the large, soft light from the softbox, especially on the portraits of James & Chelsea.  I just got a 430 EX II slave earlier today (at Best Buy, where there were 10 people already waiting for Black Friday savings… the thought occurs to me that waiting 2 days in the rain is maybe just a little excessive?!) to complement my 580 EX II, so I think I’m going to start using a lightweight wireless Speedlite setup in the studio more often as well as on location.  It’s so much more portable and flexible than the strobes, and it seems to have all the power I need in there, so I’m going to invest in some more flash modifiers (beauty dish, strip light, octobox, Rogue grid?) and do some test shooting over the next month or so. I already did a few test shots on Jeremy & Jonah, and I love them!  I have learned so much from this book, highly recommended for anyone looking to learn more about Speedliting.