A hint of color from Friday night's Aurora

Just a hint of color from Friday night's Aurora.  It was a gorgeous day, but the clouds crept in front blocking the beautiful color.  Aurora chasing is a hit and miss, but I still enjoy trying.  The train runs along the waterfront and a tall unavoidable street light camera right, but I made the most of this image despite the inconveniences.

Reflections | February 2015 Roundup

Here are some of the random images for February's roundup.  Enjoy :)

So I've been working with this young one, getting him used to the camera's shutter clicks.  He is so tentative, as he should be and also why his expression is so cute.

As I was trying to get him comfortable with me, he did move in closer.  In this image he is 18" away from me and no glass between us.  Take a look at what I saw in the viewfinder coming up in the background.  Now that was exciting!

Look at him sneaking up on the younger male.  They are the same height, but when you really look at their faces, it's like looking at Simba and Mufasa, they are very different--baby to mature adult.

I have photographed so many sunsets over the water and came across this sunset in the agricultural area of Woodinville one evening on my way home. I had to stop and take a few images.

I took this image from West Seattle this past weekend.  It was a beautiful day for the last day of February.

Super Moon | Bellevue Photographer

I was able to catch all three stages of the super moon last night.  Rising over the horizon, almost up and fully in view above the horizon.  It was as always, gorgeous!  If you missed the opportunity to see it last night, there will be another super moon next month.

They've arrived... and it's triplets!

Several people have been asking me about the pregnant deer I posted back in late April.  Click here to see that post.  I told everyone then that I should see one or possibly twins by late May or early June, but never did I think I would see triplets!  She was pretty big, but I didn't expect three!

I was thrilled to see three healthy strong fawns this morning.  They were on the move (they don't stop and pose for me.)  They are so cute and I hope to see more of them over the coming months as they pass through the property.

My Property | Relaxed Photo Sessions

Lately I've been photographing clients on my property in Redmond, WA.  It offers the ability to shoot sessions without worrying about the weather on these rainy/sunny combination days, because I can invite clients inside to wait out a quick shower and warm up with a cup of hot chocolate.

What both my clients and I like the most about shooting sessions here is the privacy.  We don't have to worry about people watching, which leads to a more relaxed session with no interruptions.

In the examples below, it was snowing off and on this day and we took several breaks and were able to finish our session without rescheduling.

The images on the left were not taken on the same day as the session images on the right, but they show the beautiful end result.

If you are interested in scheduling a summer session, please contact me here.

Personal Project | Refractographs

I've been away the past few weeks working on a personal project.  I came across the work of Australian Photographer and Visual Artist, Rob Turney and the gorgeous refractographs he created.  Rob had also produced the only informative tutorial I could find on the Internet, so I decided to give it a try.

I had to work in a completely dark space with no stray light and in my case, this required working well into the late night hours.  I found this project to be incredibly challenging, since these are shot without a lens on the camera.  My biggest hurdle was positioning the piece I wanted to refract to my liking.  No post production (editing) has been done to these images, they are straight out of camera.

Please feel free to check back, as I will be adding more and trying different techniques.

(Click on image to see gallery)

February 2014 | Photo of the Month

February has brought high winds, snow, lots of rain and even a sunset like this one, but Spring is right around the corner...

Owl late afternoon | Bellevue Photographer

Saw this guy and a few of his friends up in the trees in the late afternoon.  When they take flight, they are majestic.

Photo of the Month - October 2013

You may recall I posted a photograph of Snoqualmie Falls last winter when the walls along side of the falls were frozen.  This is a similar image, only it was taken a couple weeks ago around sunset.  It's interesting to see the same image taken throughout the seasons, you can see the warmth in this image below as compared to this frozen view taken back in January.

Every now and then I enjoy getting out and shooting personal work and one of the things I enjoy are shooting the same location throughout the four seasons.  Shooting personal work in between client's photography sessions gets me out into nature and I'm always location scouting, especially this time of year with the Fall colors.

The Rut | Elk

These two bulls were sparring with each other.  They would stop for a bit, all the cows and calves would come running toward these two bulls and they'd start up again. What I found so interesting is that they both keep their eyes open, even on approach.  I suppose they need to see what they are doing, but gosh, it just seems risky to have their eyes wide open when they join with such fierce momentum.    

Fall Family Fun | Bellevue Portrait Photographer

Some sibling fun...

Miss M can hold her own with her brothers.  We had a great time taking these images on one of the last days of summer.  I cannot believe how much they've gown!  I've been taking their family pictures since the kids were babies and now the eldest son is driving!

They hold a very special place in my heart.  Love you guys!

Backyard Wildlife | Lost Fawn

This little one got separated from mom and it's twin.  It was looking all over for them.  Mom and the twin appeared about a minute later and all were reunited.

Bellevue Portrait Photographer | Meet Leo

Meet Leo

He's such a curious little guy and comes to his new family who recently lost their cat of 20-years.  He's a mischievous little joy!  

If you are interested in having family portrait with your pet, please contact me here.

Snoqualmie Falls | Bellevue Photographer

The other day while on my winter photo stroll, I went up to the falls since I was in the area.  Everything within view was frozen.  All the leaves and trees around me were coated with a thick layer of ice.  You could  peel the half inch of ice coating the leaves if you are careful and hold in your hand nature's ice sculpture of the leaf impression.  Pretty amazing!

I normally don't hold photo sessions in the rain, unless it's a session I've conceptualized with the client, or from a "Day in the Life" photo session and it's been a while since I got so wet photographing.  The splash back from the falls left my down jacket soaked and caused my lens to hunt for focus.  I was able to capture one wide angle image, which shows the rock wall to the left covered in ice from the spray.

Bellevue Senior Photographer | Ocean Session

Well this was a tricky session, strong winds, wrangling a reflector while maintaining camera focus, but it was a joy too.  Miss E. and I collaborated on ideas before the session and she was flexible and open to trying new things, including getting down in the trenches in sandy and windy conditions.  She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside!

Don't forget to nominate a deserving high-school senior in the Bellevue, WA area for a complimentary photo session for senior pictures, there is only one week left to get your nomination in!  Click here for details.

Bellevue High-School Senior Photographer | 2013 Seniors

Two weeks left to schedule your senior portrait session.  Book your session before July 15th, you can save $50.00 and you will have until September 30th to complete your session.  High School Senior Portrait Collections may be viewed here.  Contact me via email, or through my Facebook page to schedule.

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Bellevue Photographer | Wildlife abounds this week!

This is a great horned owl that was sitting on a limb in my neighbors tree.  My neighbors know that I shot nature and wildlife for years before starting my lifestyle portraiture business in 2007 and that I missed him when he was in my yard and visible a few months back.  They were kind enough to call me this morning and let me know the owl was back.  I promptly grabbed my camera, threw on my rubber boots and headed outside in my jammies to get this shot.
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Bellevue Photographer | Fawn

I am so blessed....  When I see something like this little one come past my window, I really want for nothing more in life, truly.  It's so exciting and makes my day and I don't ever take it for granted how lucky I am to live in a place where wildlife passes by my office window on a regular basis.  It's a photographers dream...

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Bellevue Photographer | I haven't seen this guy since April 2008!

I haven't seen this guy since April 2008 when his antlers were just tiny little velvety bumps on the top of his head.  He came through yesterday and he sure has grown into a majestic looking buck.  Initially, I missed the shot of him walking past my office window and honestly, I was so struck by seeing him that I just followed him around watching, no camera in hand.  I was just blown away by how big he is and then Finn wanted me to open the bathroom window so he could get a better look and it was then that I thought if I don't grab my camera and document this, I may never see him again!  

The first shot was through the bathroom screen.  Actually, the sound Finn made caused the buck to look right at me.  I then decided to head outside and see if I could get a better picture and the next two are the resulting images, and then I caught Finn watching the whole thing.

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Bellevue Photographer | May 2012 Photo of the Month

I was on my way home tonight and on Highway 202, (Redmond-Fall City Road) and thankfully I was able to pull off the road at just the right spot, this mama and her nine ducklings were trying to cross and one little guy was having trouble jumping up on the middle barrier--thankfully, he finally was able to jump up on the barrier and join his family.  Whew!  It was tough trying to get people on the other side of the highway to stop.  My weekend would have been ruined had there been anything less than a perfect outcome--and there was, they all made it across safely.

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