Trillium Lake

The first time we attempted to visit Trillium Lake, it was apparently too early, and the road was closed.  The second time we attempted to visit Trillium Lake we were able to drive down to the southern spot that has the best vantage point to see Mt. Hood, only it was cloudy that day, and the mountain could not be seen.  This was the third attempt.  The skies were not as clear as usual due to some forest fires, but I think I’m satisfied enough with the way these came out to at least not have to make a fourth attempt.

- Josh

OHSU View | Taking the OHSU Aerial Tram

Melissa and I decided to take a ride on OHSU’s aerial tram to get some photos of the view from the top of Marquam Hill.  Obviously the view is pretty good, but there if there was a way to get up on the roof of some of those buildings I bet the view would be even better.  Unfortunately the best spots that were accessible to the general public still had a tall treeline blocking a complete view of the city.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get a return visit in soon with one of my OHSU contacts so I can get better access.  In the meantime, enjoy a few of the shots I was able to get from the easy vantage points.

- Josh

Ashley Forrette’s First Annual Portland Photographer Summer Family Barbeque Event | Peninsula Park

Photographers + barbeque = photograque? Generally I’m opposed to any made up words, unless of course I’ve made them up myself. The Portland wedding photography community has some really awesome members, so when Ashley Forette said she’d been lifting weights in preparation of having a really spectaluar muscle flexing barbeque, I knew it was a party we had to get in on. So a few photographers stepped away from our all day summer post processing festival to relax and partake in some universal summer traditions. I didn’t get a photo of everyone in attendance, sorry about that. Summer’s almost over people, maybe we should do it again before the clouds roll in? Look how much fun we had!

- Josh

Though a grill managed to arrive, none of us brought utensils.

Ashley’s secret guacamole recipe has been handed down for generations.  Hope she doesn’t get mad at me for photographing the secret.

I don’t think I’ve actually photographed Lincoln’s face yet, but that is his camera zeroing in on the coveted Cheez-Its.

Then totally out of nowhere, Yasmin arrived!

Then she started to pretend that she wasn’t actually an accomplished model, and hid behind her beloved hummus.

Yashley.

As I mentioned before, Ashley has been hitting the gym HARD.  Or perhaps I enhanced her a little with my awesome post processing.

Lauren on the left, Yasmin on the right!

Ryan in his normal state vs. Ryan viewed through a beer dimension portal.

Aaron proves that dads somehow tear pieces of bread better than anyone else.

High stakes lawn bowling.

Khajitchell.

A whole pound of pound of pound cake.

Aaron doesn’t have a photo site to link to, but he did get a kabob.

San Diego Comic-Con International 2011

The San Diego Comic-Con always draws a huge crowd from not just San Diego, but all over the country.  They say it’s the largest comic book convention in the world, although nationalities of attendees are hard to gauge when half of them are dressed up like Klingons.  I had been to the Comic-Con a couple of times in the late 90s before I moved away from San Diego with my friends Dan and Kiko.  Kiko actually went from attendee to exhibitor with his involvement with Penny Arcade, which is a different story in of itself.  One major thing has changed from my experience then to now- it’s more about media of all sorts than it is about comics anymore.  TV shows, movies, video games, toys, sculptures, you name it.  Everything kids used to be beat up and ostracized for thinking was cool, is now actually embraced by mainstream society.  Of course the general public doesn’t always do the comic world right, like the first Punisher movie for example, or that thing they are trying to pass off as G.I. Joe… but I digress.  It is indeed neat to see the things I was into as a kid brought to life.  It was Melissa’s (or MrsMelMitch as I’ve been calling her since the advent of her new Twitter account) first trip to the Con , and she had been wanting to check it out for the last couple of years.  Somehow a wedding always kept us away, but this year we made a point not to book anything on the weekend itself.  We walked around the floor for a few hours in the slow moving mass of people wishing we had a rope to tether us together to avoid separation.  It was definitely busy.  All in all I think it’s fun to just walk around for a day, but if you are contemplating attending multiple days you really need to be attending some of the panels and not just wandering.  It’s also a lot of people to contend with, so if you get claustrophobic you might want to reconsider.  People were all very courteous though, and everyone who dressed up loves to be photographed, which worked out well for me!

- Josh

Portland Headshots | Leslie

A few weeks ago I shot some portraits of my friend Leslie in SE Portland. She mainly wanted a good image to use as her Facebook profile photo so she could participate in our July Facebook contest. We shot for about an hour, and I think we ended up with lots of great images. Facebook is obviously a dynamic part of how we all interact on the web with one another, but I’m always a bit surprised at some of the photos of my friends that wind up on there. Personally I’m committed to raising the bar a little. I’m sure I tend to notice these things more since I’m in the business of imagery, but the images on your Facebook are often viewed by hundreds of people, friends, family, acquaintances, and sometimes even employers. My suggestion to everyone (friend and photographer alike) is to considering eliminating out of focus images, or those that are over or under exposed. If an image of you isn’t flattering don’t post it (or de-tag yourself)! Everyone gets caught in an unflattering photo from time to time, but why put it online? And if you can, schedule a portrait session! It’s a lot of fun, and you might be surprised how good it feels to see yourself looking your best!

- Josh