Baby Lauren

I got the chance recently to hang out with one of the sweetest baby's I know for an afternoon and take a few pictures along the way. Lauren is the newest addition to some of our closest friends, the Bhear's. I volunteered for the lofty task of taking their newborn photos. I was excited about this new challenge but knew that there was a bit of pressure to get good pictures. After a few days of research, and even some practice with Bryson's cabbage patch doll, I was ready.

 

There were a few things that we discussed ahead of time that you should always think about before a newborn photo shoot.

1 - Turn the heat up in the house to around 80. You want the baby to be comfortable enough while naked to keep sleeping.

2 - Keep the baby well fed and happy!

3 - Make sure that the parents have thought ahead of things to wear, diaper covers, headbands, ties, hats, etc.

4 - Have a multitude of props. We brought baskets, antique boxes, suitcases, wagons, blankets of all colors and textures, pillows, bean bags, books, blocks, old toys, etc. any other prop that might have meaning to you or your family.

5 - Know that there will be many throw out pictures but always be ready with the camera, some of the best pictures are not planned. Example: yawn, smile, etc.

Enough talk...lets get to the pictures!

Black & White

Color

Vintage Effect

After shooting pictures of Lauren for most of the morning, she deserved a break. It was the big kids' turn. We went outside for pictures of Jake and Emma. As luck would have it, the field across the street had not been mowed. We moved a bench over to the field and started snapping shots.

All-in-all, the day was a huge success. The kids rocked their first photo shoot, I had a great time taking the pictures, Emily was a great assistant and I learned alot about portrait photography. Thanks Bhear's for letting me use your kids for my first "real shoot"! Hopefully this was not the last!!!

 

Red Wagon Photography

 

Edited in Blogsy for iPad

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

I love this picture. We were walking back to the car from riding the merry-go-round at Waterfront Park in Salem. Along the way I spotted a cool old building that used to be a grain and seed plant. Emily put Bryson up by the old loading door, and was nervous the whole time, and I started snapping pics. Taking pictures of a 2 year old is not easy however. I had about 5 seconds to get a good one before he started playing balance beam! Luckily this one came out of that bunch!

Edited in Blogsy for iPad

REFLECTION

 

Well...reflection was the latest photo challenge and I'll have to say it was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. I really wanted to get into downtown Portland and get some good city shots but the weather and my schedule didn't cooperate. If you want to see some more good reflection photos, check out jsltd.blogspot.com, I'm sure he did some nice work.

 

The theme for next month will be...NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY. If you want to join in on the monthly theme challenges with us, leave me a message. Each month is a new theme chosen by us.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited in Blogsy for iPad

FORE!

Recently I got word that a buddy of mine, Kevin Simons, had earned his way into the Oregon Amateur Golf Championships. Not only had he earned a spot in the tournament, he did it by sinking a 25 foot birdie putt in an extra hole playoff! Luckily I was able to break away for a while, I am on summer break so it wasn't that hard, and walk the course with him. The tournament took place at Tualatin Country Club in Tualatin Oregon. The weather could have been a little better, but it was nothing an umbrella couldn't handle. When I got there Monday afternoon I was the only spectator in the group. About 9 holes later Kevin's Mom, Sister, Grandma and Grandpa came to show their support. They had just about missed a great finish to the front 9. Kevy was +2 at the turn and was sitting tied for 15th. He went on to have a few bogeys on the back but mostly pars. He ended up shooting a 76, a great score, especially considering the pressure that he had to be feeling.

Kevin was able to finish the first day ranked in the low 40's. The top 64 after two days move on to match play, he was sitting in a pretty good place.

Day 2 got off to a great start, besides not having a caddie for a few holes.

Starting in the par 5 eleventh hole, Kevy recorded a birdie and was -1 right out of the clubhouse. After a bogey he was able to keep it at even par for most of the front 9. After an unfortunate lost ball, which never came down from a tree, he was able to battle back and card a nice front 9 score. This momentum carried over to the back 9 and helped propel Kevin to a two day total of 151, 156 was the cut score. This put him ranked 27th and ready for match play.

Match play began on Wednesday and the players finally got a break in the weather. After the first few holes Kevin sat at all square with Matt Keyser of Lake Oswego. Keyser then jumped out to a 4 up lead before Kevy cut into it by winning the 9th hole. Kevin was 3 down going into the 13 hole, where he started his comeback, winning the 13th and 14th holes. The deficit was now 1 hole heading to 15. Kevin was about to bring the match back to all square when he caught a bad lie and lost the hole. Until this unfortunate break the momentum was undoubtedly swinging in Kevin's favor. A few holes later the match came to an end, with Keyser winning 3&2.

Overall, Kevin was happy with how he played and I'm sure it was nice to get his first championship tournament experience under his belt. In talking with Kevin he told me, "I'm happy, next hear I will win a couple of matches". So don't rest on Kevin Simons. If anybody can set their mind to something and accomplish it, it's him. I've seen him do it in many other aspects of his life. Way to go Kevy Kev and thanks for letting me come out and walk with you. Oh and...thanks for not going all Tiger on me while I was snapping pictures!!!

 

Empty Chair Project

I've had fun this month working on the first theme challenge with my brother-in-law, Jeff. Check out his pictures at jsltd.blogspot.com, they're great! It sounds like the next challenge is Reflection. Join in, in if your ready! Here are my favorites from this month:

DAY GAME

Today I got to go to a Portland Timbers Reserve game with 60 5th graders. The day was a complete success and we got to see the Timbers U23 team win 4-0. The kids had a great time, most of which had never been to a professional game of any kind, some had never even been to Portland!! These were a few shots from the day.

AROUND PORTLAND

 

I had to throw this picture in here!!  Saw him cruising down on the waterfront in Portland.