Congrats to Jonathan and Samantha! You may have seen some of their engagement photos a while back. They got married at a newer vineyard that I had not had the opportunity to shoot at yet. It had a great view! I also really loved the little apple orchard. Seems odd for a vineyard but it was a beautiful spot to take photos. The wedding day weather was perfect for us. Despite a little wind we could not have asked for better shooting weather. A few clouds in the sky make for better light as well as the guests appreciate that it is not too hot. Dan and I had a great time working with Jonathan and Samantha and I am really looking forward to designing their album! Thanks for letting us be a part of your day...Enjoy your sneak peak and I will see you both soon!

Senior season is here. Back to school and soon we will have a beautiful fall. Courtney drove down from Washington for her senior session. The crazy August weather has made me re-schedule too many of my clients. The weather changing every two seconds is making me think it is spring time. We had booked her session for Sunday and got rained out. So Monday the weather really couldn't make up its mind so we decided to go for it and see what would happen. It rained right up until Courtney and her Mom arrived (they were stuck by a train. As soon as we got ready to shoot the rain lifted and we had the most perfect weather for shooting. I was feeling jinxed as we sat and watched the rain that I had decided I wanted to do an umbrella shot with Courtney. We had an umbrella in the car and I figured I would shoot some black and whites. Little did I know they had a RED umbrella in their car that was waiting for me! That combined with Courtney's killer outfit (yes...I NEED her red shoes!) made for a great shot. We took most of her session near OMSI and then we headed to the Pearl District for a few final images. Here are just a few of my many favorites. Thanks to Courtney and her mom, Debbie, for coming to see us. Dan and I had a blast with the session....Dinner and mini cooper talk was just as fun! You guys are awesome! Enjoy.....

Its official.....We have launched our new website for photographers www.blissworkshops.com
Dan and I will begin teaching Oct. 4, 2008 and have many classes listed on our website. Classes will be limited to a smaller number as these will be hands on workshops not a seminar. If you have any questions please feel free to call or email. Details are all listed on the website. Hope to see some of you sign up!

I am so excited to see all the entries that are coming in. I wanted to share a couple so you guys could see what people are entering. The contest is rapidly coming to an end. Please email me your entries to pancake@blissstudio.net as soon as you can. Deadline is midnight on Aug. 31. I can't wait to see what else you guys come up with. Thanks to the McKemy girls for sending in the "Tea Party" and thanks to little Yara for her wonderful Art Work on Patty.

Sophia is the daughter of Zeke and Laura. I met Zeke at a wedding a little over a year ago. Zeke was the DJ of the event. A few weeks back we shot a wedding at Mt Hood Bed and Breakfast and Zeke was of course the DJ. He let us know he had a new baby girl. I was very excited to meet Sophia and her mom Laura. Sophia was not in the best of moods for the session as she had shots the day before. But all in all we were able to get the shots we needed. Thanks to the family for coming to see me. I am looking forward to working with you guys over the next year!

Dan and I are members of Professional Photographers of Oregon (PPO). If you dont know what PPO is... it is a state organization where photographers can attend seminars, enter competition, network and learn from each other. Dan and I joined this last year and are looking forward to the positive changes that PPO is experiencing. One exciting thing happening is Dan and I are going to be speaking at the next seminar! We will be teaching our fellow photographers about Album Design which is something I love to do. I have included a couple album layouts to share with you guys. You can also see samples of albums in the featured sections of each of our websites. I hope to see many of my fellow photographers attend this one day seminar! This is a kick off for our Bliss Workshops which will be announced soon!

I love shooting maternity sessions....I know I have said it before but it gets me excited for the new little one that will soon be arriving. Dawn and I are designing a storybook album for her little boy. He is her 3rd child and as well all know that child does not always get as spoiled in the picture department as the first child would. So to make it special for the little guy we are going to make him an awesome album. So to start us off we shots some maternity photos. I love the shots we captured. The black and white textured background shots are some of my favorites. I also love the blue background with the brown wrap. We are going to do a blue and brown theme for the book so I thought we would get started on that theme from the very beginning.

I am in LOVE! Isnt little Miss Chloe a doll? She is too perfect with that fair skin and beautiful blue eyes. She made my job easy as she sat there and looked cute and I got to lap it up! Chloe couldnt quite crawl away which was perfect for me...I didnt have to chase her around. Instead she was a perfect Angel as she sat for me and let me capture her. Chloe's mom and dad are Kent & Peggy who we shot their wedding back in 2004. The new family drove up from you Eugene to see me and I was so excited to meet their new addition! I always love it when my Bliss Couples turn into Bliss Families and they come to visit! Much fun for me! Thanks to the Falk's for making the drive up....I enjoyed seeing you guys again and am so excited with Chloe's photos. Enjoy your sneak peak and I will see you guys this weekend for your viewing!

We shot this wedding in Bend, Oregon. The beautiful park setting was awesome. I was also in love with the Barns! I wanted you guys to take note of a couple things. One detail that often time gets missed is the bridal "room" where the bride is to get ready. This was one of the best rooms we have ever had with the perfect natural light streaming through and a very picked up room. It helps that the room was HUGE! But still rooms that are clean (or at least semi organized) with natural light pouring in is the best situation a photographer could ask for. Its a detail that we love to start the day off with. Another thing we love is "Golden Hour". This happens right as the sun is dropping for about 15 minutes. This is where we like to whisk our couples away for a couple final shots. You can see the light in the last image. Weddings that are held in the evening are best as we are able to take advantage of golden hour before we leave the wedding. Back to the couple.....Brian and Katie were a joy to work with! The wedding was very laid back and Dan and I had shot several couples weddings that were there (photo is below under bliss couples). Having a group of people we know at a wedding makes it more of a day with "friends". A couple of thank you's...Thanks to both Keith & Stacy and Andy & Katherine for sending Brian & Katie our way. Its always a pleasure to visit with all of you. Also thanks to Keith and Andy for your beautiful set up of the bench shot. Isnt it as perfect as you imagined? We also appreciate the entertainment as you guys "found" the oh so perfect spot! You guys rock! And of course a HUGE thank you to my wonderful bride and groom Brian and Katie. Your day was fabulous! Thank you for the honor of sharing it with you guys! See you ALL in September at Greg and Haley's wedding!

Wedding season is in full force now. I have several weddings I am trying to get posted for you guys but I am still editing so keep checking back. This is Matthew & Brooke's wedding that was shot at Mt Hood Bed and Breakfast. What a beautiful location to shoot at. We had shot a wedding there last year for the first time and were very much looking forward to going back. The setting is beautiful and there are all kinds of spots to shoot. Matthew and Brooke were awesome to work with and I really enjoyed capturing the love the two of them share. One of the best things was the Mexican food! Yes...mexican food! Yummy. They had a mexican restaurant cater their reception and blue margaritas were served. It was different and delicious. Thank you to Matthew and Brooke for letting us share your special day with you. We enjoyed spending time with you guys and meeting your friends and family. Here are just a few of my favorites from the day...

If you have not seen any of our Press Printed Cards be sure to ask next time you are in the studio. I design custom cards that can be used for anything! Christmas Cards, Baby Announcements, Grad Announcements, Bday Invites, Party Invites, Thank You cards, Just becuase...or anything you can come up with. The Gray's decided to get cards instead of ordering wallets. Very fun! Friends and family love to get these cards and I have even seen clients frame them. If you have any ideas about cards that you could use feel free to contact me. Christmas is coming so plan ahead. Here is a sample card that I made for the Grays....(they are front and back)

My cute little "nieces". Or I could say my Blue Eyed Girls! Little Avery's eyes are still BLUE! Love them! Jamie brought her girls up to Portland to visit and we did Avery's 3 month session and Kylee's 3 year old session. They are both growing so fast....I still can't believe that Kylee is 3! Not too long ago I was there waiting for her to be born. Thanks Jamie for coming to see me! Enjoy the girls photos and I will see you tomorrow! Here are my favorites...

"You can learn many things from Children. How much patience you have, for instance."
-Franklin P. Jones

Came to see me all the way from Virginia! We are working on a storybook album for her and in the middle of her first year the Waddle family had to move away. I was very sad...Until they said would be back to see me...OR fly me to see them! YEAH! I love seeing my little Bliss Kids grow. It makes me very Happy! Little Emma is so big since the last time we took photos (newborn). Sitting up and crawling away which is always fun for photos. Danielle loves accessories and brought the cutest necklace's, bracelets and shoes for little Emma to play with. Plus clothes galore that I loved and had to use all of them :) Emma did great for the shoot! Thanks to Danielle and Dustin for coming to see me! I had a blast. Here are a few of my favorites...

Dan and I just finished shooting a wedding in Bend Oregon. At this wedding we had three couples that we have worked with in the past. It was awesome to have so many past couples at one wedding. Entertaining is probably a better word :) It was like having a group of old friends together. We have one more wedding this year where we will have four couples...I will post a shot from that wedding in September. I will post shots from Brian & Katie's wedding soon but for now....Here is the photo Dan took of me and my "Bliss Family"......Brian & Katie Vernon, Andy & Katherine Rice with new baby Rylee, Keith & Stacey Clark.