The Reversed Lens

Sara & Brian’s Wedding in the beautiful Yakima Valley

Emma — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 05:55:57 +0000

Sara and Brian found us through the magic of the internet last fall and I am so incredibly grateful that they did! They live in Seattle and we got to meet them a few times throughout the ensuing months, and they were so lovely that we were really excited when it came time to finally photograph their wedding. Sara grew up in Yakima, Washington, most well-known for its abundant fruit growers. Her family– grandparents, parents, and two aunts and uncles– share property and she chose to marry there, on the land where she was raised. The spot lent a sense of intimacy to the proceedings and the friends that came from all over to share in the joining of their lives added crazy amounts of revelry. Sara had put an incredible amount of effort into planning and everything, including her blue and orange color scheme throughout, were perfect down to the last detail. And then, all was left was to party and celebrate the lives of two friends who are making a life as one.

Sara wore an absolutely stunning cream-colored lace linen dress by Priscilla of London.

Her grandmother made this linen handkerchief, and then she gave her bridesmaids all vintage kerchiefs.

Their first look was in a pergola behind her childhood home.

We like to call these “un-formals” because we really try and have fun. And their party was fabulous!

The mariachi band started playing during the first kiss and then led the guests over to the cocktail hour.

Sara’s grandma made an amazingly tasty cake– and after they cut it together he had to have some more!

Family pictures at Cannon Beach

Emma — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:11:54 +0000

Things are crazy around here and needless to say we’re not blogging much! But we had so much fun at the beach last weekend photographing Eric and Anna and their adorable kids. We’ve been photographing their family for three years now and I love watching their kids grow. And today, when I was working on their Rosh Hashanah holiday cards I found this gem:

Perri and Corey at the Crown Ballroom • Portland Oregon Weddings

Emma — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:20:07 +0000

Perri and Corey have one of those stories that make me kind of believe in fate: they met in Mexico, on vacation, while they were each with their individual families. They had an instant connection and spent the rest of the time inseparable. But Perri is from Toronto and Corey is from Portland and you’d think that the story would end there. But they had had such an amazing time together that they found ways, over the next year, to rendezvous; by the time Corey proposed, it was a foregone conclusion that they would spend the rest of their lives together. And so their wedding was this amazing celebration of a love that could bring two people together, after chance or fate or something conspired to get them in the right place at the right time. Their families– and friends– were thrilled to be joining with one another and Perri’s dad gave one of the sweetest toasts I think I’ve ever heard. And their wedding itself was beautiful. Perri was absolutely stunning, thanks in part to genetics but also to the always amazing Jennifer of Face Body Beauty. Katie of Fleur Bliss created the most lovely bouquets (and other flower adornments that decked out the ballroom) out of a myriad of purples that were just to die for, and with all of that love behind them, there was just this feeling that the day was blessed. I’m so thrilled for them. Congratulations guys!

This is one of my favorite moments: when the groom sees his bride for the first time.

Their little flower girl needed some diversion during the ceremony, in the form of saltines.

I loved her exquisite dress but I think that I loved her shoes even more!

OK, seriously, how cool is this? The new son and father-in-law doing the chicken dance together!

They literally danced their shoes off that night!

Jason, Angela, Lucy & Lillian • Portland Oregon Portraits

Emma — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:56:19 +0000

I know that this commentary has the capability to sound just a little bit redundant but I just have to say it again: the world is SO SMALL when you’ve lived in one town your entire life. Case in point: last fall, I was perusing the wares at our daughter’s school auction when I saw this guy who looked really familiar. We did the “where did you…” game until we realized that we’d actually worked together the inaugural year of The Bus Project. And then his wife said, “Oh, how crazy! We [as in she and Jason] met on the Bus!” Then we realized that our daughters were in the same preschool class and that we’d already been hearing about each other.

The other notable thing about that night was that Angela was nearly due with their second little girl, and we made plans to take pictures of their new addition when she arrived. But sometimes life has other plans. The first three months of Lillian’s life were pretty complicated, not by anything horribly dramatic but just a series of things that made fitting in a photo session fairly low on the priority totem pole. We’d see each other at pick-up and say, “Maybe in a few weeks?” Thankfully, the time arrived right around Lillian’s three-month birthday and just as Lucy was turning three. It was perfect! We spent the morning with them in their NE Portland home playing and documenting their life as a family. I love these relaxed sessions when we are able to capture a really intimate side of family life. Here are just a few of my favorites…

2011 Senior Portrait GIVEAWAY (aka win a free iPod Touch!)

Emma — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:28:19 +0000

It’s hard to believe that back to school time is almost here. I remember my mom telling me when I was a little girl how time seems to speed up as you get older. I used to think, “Yeah, right, it’s taking me forever just to grow tall enough to go on all those cool rides at the carnival!” But now I realize that my mom was right. And few things remind me of that more than the senior portrait sessions that fill up our life at this time of year. They’re lives are going by so fast and they have so much ahead of them, it’s almost mind boggling.

So if you are a senior (or you know a senior who needs the reminder!), take note: before you blink your eyes and find that another month has gone by, contact us to schedule your senior portrait session. Our fun, free-flowing sessions are the perfect way to capture the essence of who you are now. And as a reward to those of you who don’t procrastinate, we’re entering the names of all seniors who complete a portrait session before August 31st into a drawing for a free iPod Touch!! Five runners up will also win a $25 iTunes gift card. Our calendar is filling up fast to be sure to contact the studio today!

Brigitte & Eric and the bridges of Portland • Portland Engagement Sessions

Emma — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:14:53 +0000

Over the last several months we’ve been thinking about weddings here at RLPStudios. (Full disclosure: I’ve been subscribing to Martha Stewart Weddings since the inaugural issue. But I digress). We photographed a lot of weddings last season and had an amazing time. We noticed something, though, along the way: with our portrait clients, we’re able to take the time to really tailor their sessions and experiences, and then the collections that they choose for their homes, to really fit them. When we’re photographing two or three weddings in a weekend that personal interaction and experience becomes more difficult. So we made a very difficult decision: to take fewer wedding commissions, but in turn, to devote the same attention to detail and inspiration to each one. The couples that we have and will photograph are each so lovely. I’m starting to feel like what one of my mentors said about parenting: you don’t love one child more, you just love them each for different reasons.

Brigitte and Eric are going to be wed later this summer at The Madeleine Church and then fete at a reception at the Oregon Historical Society. They are planning so many fabulous touches that the more I hear, the more that I just want to dance with excitement. But the thing that excites me the most is, well, just Brigitte and Eric. We went out last month for their engagement session along the Eastbank Esplanade and into the industrial district near our studio and spent the entire time giggling. Literally. They are so playful with each other and so affectionate. It’s just adorable. I could go on and on but I think I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves…

This was Eric’s idea, and it took a lot of convincing from him, but I think that the end result was hysterical!

Pat, Laurie and Emma • Portland Family Portraits

Emma — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:32:09 +0000

We photographed Pat, Laurie and Emma for the first time about a year and a half ago. Emma was, then, an adorably chubby cheeked baby who I literally couldn’t stop kissing for the entire session. She was just that sweet. We photographed her at home, in her bedroom, and in their backyard in the grass and by their shed and under their gigantic oak tree and… I just loved that session. I especially loved the photograph that ended up being their family Christmas card that year: Pat and Laurie on their front porch, with Emma on their laps, kissing her fat little cheeks as she giggled uproariously.

Well, a few weeks ago Laurie called and asked if I would come photograph them again and I was overjoyed. I LOVE the clients who return to us, year after year. I love sharing in the joy that comes from watching a family grow. And I love being able to record those moments into heirloom-quality art. It means that people trust us on a really personal level. And this session did not disappoint. They’ve since moved to a new home, and Emma is a bundle of energy that needed to be OUT, and so instead of staying inside we moved nearby to their favorite park. I chased her all over the playground (and had so many shots of her that I loved that thinning them down for this post was SO difficult), and then played in the grass with them. We even replicated that first, beloved photo, with similarly amazing results. I just love this family. And I can’t wait to watch them grow and grow and grow!

As close to home as it gets

Emma — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:42:21 +0000

We’ve been doing a lot of rearranging things in our life lately and that’s included our home. Our little girl is now four and was determined to get a “girly room” instead of the childhood hodgepodge that it had become. I did my best to scour the shops and somehow found a combination of purple and pink bedding designs (those colors are never together so I got to get my creative on) that met with her specifications. We’re now onto the decoration phase and so I’m printing these photographs to go above her bureau. They were taken during trips to our neighborhood park, which is one of our favorite ways to spend a little downtime as a family, and they were too cute not to share. Now I just have to wait to get them back and into the frames…

The many sides of senior portraiture • Portland Oregon Photographers

Emma — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:16:21 +0000

One of the things that I love about being a photographer in the Pacific Northwest is the prolific variety of backgrounds that we have to use for our clients. Within literally minutes of the downtown, urban Portland metropolitan area there are fields and forests, and past that is the Oregon Coast and the Cascade Mountains and on and on. It makes it really fun to plan lots of varied looks for whatever they’re searching for. And that’s especially true for our senior high school picture sessions. We discuss in-depth during our pre-portrait consultations what it is that they are wanting to say about themselves with their pictures, and then we find a location (or a few different locations, if they really want to get creative) that can reflect that. The time of year that a session is done can say a lot too– we love summer for all of the gorgeous plants that are blooming and green, but we also love the fall for the foliage. It’s completely up to our clients when the best time for THEM will be.

Last year we did a session in the fall with Haley, one of our seniors from Oregon Episcopal School. We’d known Haley for some time at that point because we’re quite involved with the school and we knew that she’s classic, very artistic, and really, really fun. So we took her out into the fields and orchards in one of our favorite areas, and then back to the studio for a mini in-studio session to cap things off. In all of the fall craziness she made it onto Facebook but never onto the blog, and she’s way to gorgeous to not have been featured. So here’s a little preview of what fall senior sessions can be!

It’s good to be back in the blogging game

Emma — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:04:55 +0000

Things have been, well, a bit in flux here at RLP Studios. We started three years ago as two photographers with a dream: to bring a more whimsical expression to life. Then we opened our studio on Grand Avenue, in one of our more brilliant moves (literal and figurative), sharing a block with Rejuvenation Hardware and The Paper Zone. And then we grew, and grew, and grew. But with that growth came the need to grow in some different areas. So in the last few months we’ve been making a lot of changes. We now have an amazing and wonderful office manager, Marie, who is so fabulous that we still don’t know how we lived without her. We’re also in the middle of bringing some new partners into the studio. The biggest change, by far, is happening on personal note: sometime in the early spring of 2011, we’ll be welcoming a new, very tiny member to our own little corner of the world.

Somewhere in the midst of all of those changes our blog fell into the background. But we have had so much to share that it’s becoming almost ridiculous that we’re not sharing it! So in the next few weeks we’ll be rolling out so many sessions that I have a feeling you’ll wonder how we’ve kept it all under wraps.