Natural Beauty & Authentic Moments

My brand promise is all about capturing natural beauty and authentic moments.  For fine art landscape photography, that's pretty easy to understand, but it's a lot more subtle when it comes to my portrait work.  In this post, I want to share a bit about my philosophy and approach to capturing beautiful, authentic portraits.

It starts with putting the client at ease and building a connection that allows me to interact with them throughout the portrait session.  I look for shared interests, people we may know in common, and other ways to build a meaningful relationship and start a dialog with them.

The best moments happen when people relax, laugh, and let their guards down, so I ask my clients to talk about their friends and interests, and tell me stories that evoke emotions and natural expressions.  As we're talking, I look for the "in between" moments and snap candid shots.  I remind them that they don't need to model and ask them to be playful, expressive and relaxed -- knowing that there is nothing they can do that's "wrong".  I also try to maintain energy and enthusiasm by affirming how well things are going, and giving them lots of feedback.

Light and location are key, and I look for outdoor locations that provide great natural light and neutral, interesting backgrounds that hopefully have significance to the client and provide a meaningful context for the portraits.

For this session, we went to a park where the subject frequently walks her dog with her best friend, and to the waterfront along the Columbia River where the late evening light (about 45 minutes before sunset) would provide a warm glow and a great catch light in the eyes.

To book a portrait session, contact me by phone or email.  I'd love to plan your portrait session and create lasting memories for your family.