Two lumberjacks go into the woods to determine who can axe trees down faster.  One lumberjack is big and muscular.  The other is of rather small height and build.  They begin swinging their axes and the big dude smiles with pride, confident that he will win by his strength.  He laughs out loud when as he watches the other lumberjack walk away from the tree several times.  He is baffled to see the small lumberjack’s tree come down while he still has a significant amount of cutting to do.  

“How did your tree fall so quickly?  I watched you take several breaks to rest!?” he asked his small competitor.

“I wasn’t resting…I was sharpening the axe.”

This week I had a chance to sharpen the old axe.  I was fortunate to be able to attend Zack Arias’ “OneLight” Workshop and David Beckstead’s “Shoot with Beckstead” workshop.  Great learning experience and wonderful chance to meet some other great photographers.  Special thanks to Dan and Caroline of Tinywater Photography in Sac-town for driving us around town all week.  Here are some of the fun images I shot.

Senior portraits present a perfect opportunity for seniors to express their passions and personalities.  This young lady is bright, beautiful, and talented.  Her passion is in the performing arts.  Her friend was able to hook us up and give us access to the theater at Columbia Basin College.

We took one second to grab some shots in front of the performing arts building, which has an awesome ivy-covered wall.

She’s already totally comfortable on stage.

I love naturally lit shots, but when you’re in a theater or some other indoor location, you’ve got to make your own light.  This is a two light setup…one gelled light for background separation and one at camera right to light the subject.

This one better get used to being under the lights.  I already told her that when she becomes famous, I’m going to be able to sell copies of her senior portraits for big bucks!!!

Like I said, this girl has talent…

…and good looks.

Thanks for a fun session.  Blessings to you and I know that there won’t be any stopping you!  Just remember to remember the little people, especially your senior portrait photographer. ; )

So, the blessed news is that our babiest girl, Elise, is growing and staying healthy.  The tough news is that I struggle to find time to blog all the cool things that have happened in the past few weeks.  I’ve done some VERY cool senior portrait sessions, so please hang in there with me!  I’ll post some portraits soon.  My awesome wife is SO considerate that she usually lets me sleep through the night in spite of Elise’s two hour eating schedule.  Yes, she actually wakes up about every two hours to eat.  Still, I average about 6.5 hours of sleep and that is interrupted at least twice by one of our other kids.  So, my blog has suffered.  BUT, I’m starting to see the light, and I hope to pick things up on a more consistent basis again very soon.  Did I mention that my wife is wonderful?!

Blog Enemy Number 1…

Our babiest girl arrived to open, loving arms.  Yolanda spent the evening of Labor Day laboring!  She had been having “mild” contractions on Monday night and by Tuesday morning at about 2:45 am, her contractions were severe enough that she couldn’t sleep.  We headed to the hospital and by about 7:45 am, she was complete…ready to push. 

The “new” practice at our hospital is to allow the mom to reach down and bring the baby to her body immediately after entering the world.  Here, Elise is just seconds old.

A few hours later, the nurses and doctors do their thing.  Elise was too tired to object.

Baby. Foot.

Big brother and big sis welcomed their babiest sister with hugs, kisses, and head pats.  They were so sad when we had to take Elise away from them that Emma cried.  

Two of my three beautiful ladies.

Now, Allan need sleee…eep.

I love my job.  This weekend, I got to hang with a fantastic couple.  They were not only open to fun, edgy portraits, but they asked for them by name!  A photographer’s dream, really.  And, they have the sweetest personality.  We had a blast!  Check them out below.

Super.  Models.

You guys were terrific and I can’t wait to hang with you again!  Thanks for making the trip over from Seattle.

One of the joys of being a daddy is watching your kids grow and do things they didn’t believe they could do.  This summer we took our three year old to swim lessons.  He spent the entire first lesson crying in the water.  By the last class he was going under water.

Ready…Set…

Go!!!

Proud.

I love being Daddy.  Much thanks to his teacher, Sarah.

I had the pleasure of photographing this wonderful family the other day.  It was blazing hot (100+ deg F) but we had a good time anyway.  One of the cool things about my portrait sessions is that within reason, you can use your time however you please.  This family wanted to get some senior portraits of the twins and some family portraits during whatever time was left over.  Your wish is my command…

This location looked pretty cool, but the smell was less than pleasant.  Everyone was extremely gracious and did what it took to get the photo.  True models…

Wowza.  Great looking kid, huh?

Good looks must run in the family.  The twins were a crack up to work with.  Whenever I was photographing one of them, the other one was behind me cracking jokes and making funny faces.

Ahh…now we know where the twins get their good looks.

We were just about to wrap up when we noticed the enchanting moon.  Squeeze off a quick photo FTW.

Hot night, but very cool family.  Thanks for enduring the heat with me!

Blessings to all.

I’m not sure if you heard about the Spanish ad featuring the Spanish basketball team for the 2008 Olympics, where members each pulled the corners of their eyes to make them look “slant-eyed.” If not, check out this article and blog post, or else Google the issue.  I’m not too worked up over it, but I do think that it was insensitive and ignorant.  What really makes the situation worse, in my mind, is the reluctance of the team to acknowledge the stupidity of the gesture and apologize.  Instead, the team members and official reps merely state that the whole thing was not intended to offend and that it was only a affectionate “nod” or “wink” to their participation in Beijing.  Um…okay.  Anyway, I think the official response by the Chinese is pretty admirable.  But, it does make it easier to be gracious given their overall success at the games.

’nuff said.

What are your thoughts?  Express yourself in the comments.

Not too long ago, I had an opportunity to second shoot for one of my favorite local photographers, Ali Walker.  I was in Seattle, when I got the call, so I jammed back to the Tri-Cities, grabbed my camera gear and then headed to St. Joseph’s Church in Kennewick.  I only wish that I could have made it back sooner so that I could work the wedding ceremony.  Here are some photos from the reception.  You can check out more photos from Ali’s Blog.

I like to call this first one “Before and After.”  The photo in the background is one taken by Ali during the couple’s engagement session.

Yes, he has her lip…with his teeth.  Grrr, baby.

The night was full of dancing.

This tradition is a hoot.  The guests form a long line and run frantically around the bride and groom, who are standing on separate chairs.  The guests try to knock the bride and groom off of their chairs.

Shake your money maker!

The other day, I had the honor of photographing a very special and famous little girl.  Her name is Liz Evett and she’s famous for being brave and for accomplishing more in her young life than many (check here, here, and here).  She recently created a bucket list, which contains things she wants to do before she kicks the bucket, and although a senior portrait session wasn’t a specific item on her list, I heard it was something that she wanted.  So, through the local Soroptomist group, we made it happen.  She’s the sweetest thing ever.  Oh, and she happens to love all things Asian.  Liz, did I happen to mention that I’m Chinese?

Liz is part of the Hanford High School Class of 2009!

Liz’s proud mom…

Liz with me, her mom, and her dad.  She’s holding a scroll from China on which is written the Bible passage, 2Peter 1:5-7.  The passage encourages us to have faith and to supplement that faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and LOVE.  Liz is a great example for us.

God bless you, Liz.  I had a great time and you look mah-velous.  You’re a real natural!