Church, originally uploaded by YouLookNiceTodayPhotography.

This is the oldest church that is still in use in the state of Oregon.

Recently I was going though my photos and picking out some of my favorites when I noticed how little "professional" looking photos I had of my own little family (notice the quotes around professional because I would never put that title on myself...at least not until 50% of my income comes from my current hobby:).

So I decided that we needed to have a little picnic last Saturday where I could get at least a couple shots in of my little boy and beautiful wife. It was such a wonderful couple hours that I wish it could have lasted all day. We started by going out to a country store by our house (in between Lake Oswego and Tualatin) to pick up our favorite sandwiches: turkey, cranberry and creme cheese. We then went to a park nearby and had fun just eating and playing.




I think one of my favorite parts about shooting this day was that I was not stressed at all and really tried to let the shots come to me rather than forcing it. As a result I feel like I was able to get more fun and natural shots that express more emotion and personality.







And of course Tiff wanted me to get in front of the camera for once. I adjusted the settings for her and let her go to work. Although I'm not a fan of being in photos I have to say I was very happy with the results.




I needed to get in at least one senior picture pose before the day was through.

At last I got the opportunity to shoot a rock band! A good buddy's band came through on a tour and I jumped at the chance to use some of the ideas that had been swimming in my head for creative shots. This pop-punk band's name is "What Remains" from Juneau, Alaska. Which should answer your question if they have punk rock up in the AK. This was a fun change in subjects because some of the edgy effects and more daring poses don't work so well with new born babies. :-) So I looked at this as an opportunity to come up with some more artistic and creative photos.



Using more urban backdrops also was a blast and something that I had never had the chance to use. Working with the guys in the band was also fun which really contributed to giving personality to the various photos.
Saints

Sinners



Over all I'm happy with the results and would love the opportunity to do more band photo shoots. If you'd like to purchase any of the prints you can now do so on my website in the "order prints" section. I also highly recommend checking out their music on their myspace profile. Continue to check my flickr for more from the shoot as well as the two concerts that I attended.



Rock n' Roll.

I did it! After a month of contemplating and thinking about it, I finally made my mind up and created a website last night for my photography business. It's not perfect by any means but it's a nice start and gets my name out there. Eventually I'll be hiring someone to build a nicer one and put a little more time into articulating my approach to my photography business. But until then, here it is:

www.youlooknicetodayphotography.com

Enjoy!

I listen to a lot of podcasts. In fact, after not being able to update my iPhone after a week I had accumulated 50 that I hadn’t listened to. Some I like better than others but recently one of my favorite personalities on MacBreak Weekly has started a podcast called “You Look Nice Today. A journal of emotional hygiene”. It’s basically 3 guys that met on the micro-blogging website twitter, sitting around talking about random stuff. Like really random stuff. Like really really random stuff. They are amazing at feeding off each other’s weird and random ideas that it’s honestly one of the funniest podcasts/ shows I’ve ever heard.

As my wife will tell you, I sometimes like to make up things about which I have no clue. For instance, say we drive past a random town on the way some place remote. I’ll make up a long and drawn out story on the spot about the founders and how it got its name. This is a similar idea to what they do on this podcast which is why if I could ever create a podcast this would be it. Granted, I’m not as witty or funny as they are but the concept would still be the same.

I highly recommend giving it a listen and soon you’ll be as excited for the next one to come out as I am.

Post Script: As some of you know I am starting my own photography business and have decided to call it “You Look Nice Today Photography”. I didn’t want to use my name or something that sounds serious. I was looking for something whimsical and fun and felt it was a perfect match. And yes, I asked a member of the podcast for his blessing on the name, which he gave gladly.