Capturing Life...

What to Wear Wednesday--Teen Girl

It's that time of year--senior portraits! One of the most common questions that gets asked is What Should I Wear? I love shopping and I especially love styling people for portrait sessions so preparing my What to Wear posts is always so much fun. I wish it were just as easy to buy it as it is to prepare the style sheets. :) This week's sheet is for teen girls and has been all selected from Buckle.com--a great resource. If you don't have one near you, try the website. Remember that one of the key things for dressing for portraits is to look for clothing that fits well--not too tight, not too loose. Fitted styles will be more flattering than baggy clothes. And prints are ok as long as they are paired with simple garments. Look for clothes that accentuate your best features or help to camouflage your weakest features. Keep these ideas in mind when you are shopping for your senior session. And don't forget to style head-to-toe--earrings, necklaces/scarves, good shoes, pedicure/manicure--it's tending to the details that make for the best portraits.

 

 

 

The Very Serious Boy Grows Up! | Portland Family Portraits

Two years ago, I photographed this darling young man. He was very serious then and not at all excited about being photographed, as you can see in some of these images: http://lisadillonphotography.typepad.com/lisa_dillon_photography/2008/11/a-very-serious-boy.html

And then last year we photographed him when his baby brother was born. He was a little more excited about portraits but still in a little bit of a quandary about this new interloper in the family.

This year, however, he was so much fun in the studio! He seemed to enjoy his time there and I gave him his own wireless trigger to make the strobes flash which brought many big smiles from him. This time it was little brother's turn to be very serious, though we did get a few great smiles from him, too. It's so fun to watch my clients as they grown from newborns to grown up 3 year olds--they change so much and so fast! Thanks for letting me document this time in your life, McLean family!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon to be a big sister... | Portland Maternity Portraits

...but not terribly excited about it. :) Well, maybe she was more excited than she let on. Perhaps it was just getting portraits taken that she wan't excited about. Preschoolers are not known for their patience. Despite that, however, we got some great family portraits and some beautiful maternity images for this mom of almost 2. What a darling family they are, too! Looking forward to meeting baby Jax in December.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What To Wear for Family Portraits | Portland Family Photographer

People ask me all the time what they should wear for family portraits. I usually tell them to wear clothes that are in the same tonal range and that coordinate but don't necessarily match. Earth tones are usually a good bet--browns, greens, tans. Ocean colors are nice, too--blues, aquas, khaki. For an urban family portrait, city colors are best. This family wins the prize for best dressed family for portraits. They are all wearing grey/black tones and their clothes go well together but there isn't a matchy-matchy feel to it. So next time someone asks how to dress their family for portraits, I'm going to send them to this blog post. Hurray for the Dixons!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holding On

Mom says "I believe in miracles." I'm praying for a miracle, Doris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seattle Senior | Seattle Portland Senior Portraits

I met this young man's mother more than a dozen years ago when we both belonged to a political forum on CompuServe. That was way back in the olden days of internet forums and services. People who know me probably wonder what in the world I was doing on a political forum but there I was--hanging out with an amazing group of women (and one token man) in a women's issues forum where we talked about a lot of things--politics included. Over the years we met up in person a few times but it has been many years since we'd seen each other. It was quite a treat, then, on Friday to meet up with Mary again and two of her three children. I'd met them many years before, as well, but they were both too young to remember the weekend spent in Ashland, OR watching Shakespearean plays. Now they are both taller than me and one is a senior in high school. Where did the time go? (And why am I starting to sound like my grandmother as I wax nostalgic about things that happened a decade more more ago?) Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Oswego Lovely Part 2 | Portland Senior Pictures

Exactly a week after part 1 of Christie's senior portrait session in the city, we did part two, which took place in the country. Champoeg Park, to be exact. Fresh from her college visit trip to Nashville, Christie was ready for action in front of my camera last Tuesday morning. It was a very hot day--even at 11am--but despite the heat and my dead battery, we perservered and captured some great images. Here's a sampling. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Family Affair | Lake Oswego Senior Photography

I had the pleasure of capturing some family and sibling images at Joseph's senior portrait session. His sister was one of my seniors a couple of years ago and it was nice to see her again. His mother and I were discussing the fact that Joseph bears a striking resemblance to Zachary Quinto--especially when Quinto played Spock in the latest Star Trek incarnation. See for yourself!

 
   
 
  

Lake Oswego Lovely | Portland Senior Pictures

This adventurous Lakeridge senior got into the fountain at Jamison Square Park in the Pearl at the end of her portrait session last week. Thankfully it was a warm afternoon so she wasn't freezing with her wet clothes on. It's always fun when people want to get wet during their portrait sessions--it brings a totally different dimension to the images. Of course, we did the water portion at the end of the session--there was lots to do before getting wet. Enjoy!

   

Better Late Than Never | Tigard Newborn Photography

Sometimes things don't go quite as planned so it was a very long time between the maternity session and the newborn session for this family. But this sweet baby girl got her moment in front of my camera in my studio and we even got a scant few minutes with her big brother as well. He's not one for pictures, that's for sure. So meet Miss Kenzie, the beloved little sister of Shelby and Paxton. :)