Update on Asia: Bangkok Airport Shut Down

It's been an interesting week of preparations for my work in Thailand and Cambodia. The most recent news: the airports in Bangkok are entirely shut down, having been overtaken by protesters on Tuesday. Read about it on CNN. We are scheduled to leave this coming Tuesday. So if you're the praying type, this would be a good time to be in prayer for us and this trip.

Ileana and Liliana in the Studio

I had some extra-fun models to work with recently for headshots and updated modeling portfolio photographs. Add in a ringlight to the mix, and we produced some pretty cool photos.

This was my first time working with 8-year old Liliana. She was squirmy and lovely at the same time, as 8-year olds tend to be. But who's complaining, with output like this?

You can also see this work on my new website portfolio of photography for Portland models and actors.





This was my third or fourth time working with Liliana, a local actress and model. She moved to Portland a couple years ago, and has been acting in the Portland area ever since.

I love working with redheads.

New Wedding and Portrait Website!

A couple months ago, one of my brides mentioned offhand, "You know, your website doesn't do your photography justice." And, I had to admit, she was right. My site is basically the same layout I've had, with various updates, for 7 years.

After a few months of consideration, and several days of work, I'm pleased to be able to introduce my new wedding and portrait photography website! It's flash, but there's also an html mirror site, accessible from the index page of my old wedding and portrait photography site.

The new site is prettier, cleaner, and easier to navigate. I have added a whole host of new portrait photographs, and included a new gallery for Portland area models and actors looking for headshots and expanded portfolio photographs and comp cards. Soon I'll be adding a link to a new page listing many of the beautiful locations at which I've photographed, to help brides with their wedding planning. And more!

It feels great to have a new site that better showcases my ever-evolving work.

Enjoy!

International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers

I'm pleased to announce I was recently accepted into the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers. This exclusive association accepts only the finest wedding photographers from the world over. You can see my listing at the ISPWP site.

And visit our Portland Wedding Photographers site here!

Dave and Holly's Wedding with Gale Force Winds

If you keep up with dance, ballet, and culture in Portland, you may know Holly Tolbert. She is a dancer with Oregon Ballet Theater, and it's not uncommon to find her lovely figure in the paper or on a poster.

I had the privilege of being the wedding photographer at Dave and Holly's Cannon Beach wedding this past year.

(A side note: did you know that Oregon's Cannon Beach is famous the world over? While traveling in Europe this past year, it was not uncommon to see photos of Haystack Rock on the slideshows that run on video screens in airplanes....)

But back to the wedding photography. It was July, one of the most beautiful months in Oregon. The wedding was at the beach. Perfect. My kind of wedding: outdoors, summer, enjoying the awe-inspiring scenery Oregon has to offer.

But wouldn't you know it, as they set up the ceremony site, the winds just got stronger and stronger. And stronger. And stronger. After much debate, they made the decision to have the wedding on the beach in spite of the winds (which I respected; why have a beach wedding, and then not take what the beach gives you?). And it was quite a sight.

After they tied the windy knot, we all headed for Haystack Gardens for the reception. Even there, Dave and Holly were willing to brave a little misty rain for some portrait photographs.

I have to give them this: in spite of everything the day threw at them, they still had a beautiful wedding, and they still got married. And a memorable wedding day it was.

Lydia II

I did another Portland model test shoot this week with Lydia, a local model and actress. She's a lot of fun to work with, and we were quite pleased with the results. Photographed on location in the Pearl District.

Transitions, Asia, and Sex Traffic

I'm preparing at the moment for an upcoming trip to Thailand and Cambodia. I'll be shooting photo and video for several organizations that work to end child sex slavery and human trafficking both locally and abroad.

One of these organizations, Transitions Global (also known as Transitions Cambodia), is in the Willamette Week paper this week. (The photo of James Pond is mine.) You can read the article online here. If you think child sex slavery/prostitution doesn't happen here in Portland, visit this video from today, on KGW. It includes an interview with James. I'll be working with Transitions, here and in Cambodia, to tell the story of the girls they're working to rescue.

I've also been working with Love146. (An image on their home page is mine.) Our church supports this excellent organization, and I'll be photographing some assignments for them while in Asia. They do great work.

My travel partner on this trip will be Seth Johnson, of For Their Rescue. Seth is a big-hearted, passionate guy, and it's been a real pleasure to plan this trip together. We'll be working on a documentary video for his new organization, as well as images for his presentations on the subject.

Keep your eye out for future posts and updates. And if you're not familiar with the issues of human trafficking and child sex slavery, please do check out all of these links. This happens not just in foreign countries, but in your own neighborhood. There are approximately 27 million people in slavery in the world at the moment, and the sale of human lives is one of the top 3 grossing industries in the world (up there, I believe, with the drug trade and weapons sales). You can play a very real part in ending this terrible holocaust.

View more of my editorial and humanitarian photography on the website.