I have a funny little story to tell you guys. In Lincoln City, Oregon, we headed down to the beach after dinner at McMenamin's. It's kind of neat there, how people flock to the beach to watch the sunset. Matt and I were goofing around with the camera and the flash, when I noticed a couple close by. There was something peculiar about the way they were behaving, and I said to Matt, "either he just proposed or he's about to." I tried my very hardest not to stare at them.

Somehow we started talking to them later on and it was true--they were very freshly engaged. Since I had the camera set up already, I offered to take a portrait of them as a souvenir of their special day, with a gorgeous Oregon sunset on one of the state's many amazing beaches. We exchanged information and went on our way.

A few weeks later I arrived home and sent them their picture. Congratulations to Parker and Amanda. Wishing you a wonderful wedding, all the best in the future and all the beautiful things that a marriage should be!

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1:50 PM

What can I say? This shoot has a special place in my heart! 

There's quite a lot of rule breaking happening here. I spent endless hours being taught to systematically remove colour casts, and here I am throwing them in. Well, that's the thing about rules--you know them, you acknowledge them, you give them a nod and then you do what you want. 

I am particularly fond of this one. Marita reminds me of Kirsten Dunst and it seems like the kind of pose Kirsten Dunst would do. It makes me think of that Liebovitz shoot (wait...I swear there were horses in that shoot...where are the horses?) or Melancholia (but much less serious and on a much lower budget). So if I think Marita looks like Kirsten and I always thought I resembled Marita, does that make me look like Kirsten too? No, I guess it doesn't quite work that way. 

I love the vintage look of these.
Something tells me Oma would really like them. 

There is always a lot of prep to do before shoot--technical prep like charging batteries and cleaning lenses, getting everything together. Then there is the prep that the model has to do. But then there was this whole extra step of prepping Khomille, Marita's horse. Brushing her down, trimming her whiskers (or not), cleaning off her feet, toweling her off, putting her "pretty" harness on.

Animals are always a fun challenge to shoot. They're never too sure why we are making them do things, and more often than not, have plans of their own. The best thing though, is when they do something that makes their own personality assert itself--like when a horse sticks its tongue out at you, or gives its owner a little headbutt.

It's the eyes, right M?

Congrats on graduating Marita! I'm very proud of you little cuz!

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4:24 PM