Downtown Seattle elopement: Haley + Ben

I had the honor of shooting my friend Haley's elopement to her fiancee Ben earlier this month, with several hours and locations scheduled for us to visit before the courthouse proper. It was an absolutely perfect afternoon -- we started out with a first look at the garage adjacent to the Alexa (I set them up so that they'd have a few moments to themselves before the chaos of the day kicked in), went down to the Market for flowers, took a stroll to Le Pichet for a quick toast, and then Ubered over to City Hall for the ceremony before wrapping up with dinner at Cuoco. It was one of those days early in September when the haze was not only holding the temperature down, but also creating this weird filtered light that really lent itself to some great setups.

If I had to get some language around it, I guess I would call this a loosely curated, elopement slash day-of documentarian-esque shoot? and after having had the day that we did, I seriously want to do this like, every week for the rest of the foreseeable future. Weddings are always incredible and an absolute privilege to capture for clients, but when the client is also a buddy you've known for close to a decade who's got a killer sense of humor + the willingness to spend time trying out ideas -- well, it just works. Not only did we get amazing footage out of it, we had an absolute blast from start to finish -- with some help from cranky Uber drivers, the guy getting released from the courthouse (who lit up a cigarette and barked out a sarcastic 'good luck' as we walked up the steps), and like, five other hilarious strangers we met over the course of our travels. Layer in excited family members and adorable kids who created a vibe that was just so positive and so fun from the instant we arrived.

I wound up delivering a solid 200+ images -- here's a quick tour of how it all looked and felt: 

Haley's father's speech left me in tears and I floated home on a cloud at the end of the night, exhausted and thrilled, knowing that I'd done good work and so, so excited to get to the edits. Infinity hugs and congratulations to these two. And ps, Dear Universe: please send me more experiences like this!

Pacific Science Center stock photoshoot

I recently had the good fortune to connect with the wonderful people at the Pacific Science Center, who were looking for someone to shoot some new stock photography for their art department. The first of two setups, this day was structured around adults enjoying the Center, with and without the accompaniment of kids. The models and I generated a ton of great images -- here are just a few of my favorites!

Evie's first birthday!

Gosh, this little one is growing fast!! I was looking back at Evie's nine-month photoshoot and she's already noticeably bigger than she was then. 

Here are a few of my favorite shots from her picture-perfect first birthday party last weekend -- as Jana said, you only have a first birthday once! Lots of kids, lots of presents, lots of pretty touches and lots of smiles.

Personal: hometown tourism

What do you do when your father-in-law comes to visit? You take lots of long drives, eat sushi (twice), cross your fingers for nice weather + a ferry ride -- preferably both in the same day -- and conquer at least one museum. 

It's always nice when guests come in from out of town, suddenly time slows down a little bit and a cruise up Whidbey Island seems like the best idea ever. We did all of the above, had warm chats by the fire, went out to breakfast every morning, and soaked up the good company that only family can bring.

I wasn't around for the airport send-off, but suffice it to say that Richard got back to Wyoming safe and sound. Looking forward to seeing him + the rest of the family this summer for a wedding -- Idaho, here we come!

Artist at home: Colin Curry

Barry and I had the good fortune to spend a few hours at our friend Colin's studio recently, on a gentle, dreary Sunday afternoon that had no particular agenda attached. I'd realized about a month prior that it had been quite some time since I'd done a full shoot just for fun: aside from the odd photo I'd grab here and there, every full-blown assignment I've done lately has been for an Actual Job.

What I found out at this self-assigned shoot was surprising: I was infinitely more relaxed, looking for images instead of trying to keep up with them; I shot *way* less (I probably came home with about 1/4 of the captures that I usually do), and as we discussed during our time together, that the intersection of accident and incident is a very important place to cultivate for when it decides to visit. Funny that this place I found was the place I used to live in, and that it's the place I wound up needing to remember and go looking for -- part of me didn't even realize that I'd wandered away.

Colin is an amazing artist, and it was fulfilling in ways I can't describe to be in the presence of someone who is living, eating and breathing their calling. To wake up every day surrounded by, and immersed in, an ongoing, shape-shifting body of work is a place I long for, a place I hope I can align myself with someday.

As I read once, moving towards your Higher Self is kind of like being in-between vehicles: you've left your old car behind, a burning and explosive blaze far behind you, and you have yet to reach your new one. Discouraging, painful and tedious as it may be, the only important thing is that you keep walking toward it, not giving up, not turning back, and not losing hope.

A toast to that walk, be it a skip or a trudge, as 2017 knocks and beckons.