It seems like I show a lot more girls on my blog than boys so I need to rectify that. Meet Greg--he just graduated with the class of 2009. His session was such a pleasure--both he and his mother were delightful. Greg brought his beloved guitar which is one of my favorite things to photograph. Many teenage girls have told me he's a total hottie--see for yourself. :)
Meet the lovely Leah and her husband Travis. Soon they will welcome their first child into their loving arms. Maternity portraits are such a wonderful celebration of love and new life--that's probably why they are one of my favorite kinds of sessions to photograph. The anticipation, the excitement, the joy, the love--it's all in there. I can't wait to meet your new little one, Leah.
Oh man, did I have fun doing my virtual shopping for this week's What To Wear Wednesday! It's so much fun to pull together outfits for this regular feature. One thing to consider when you are choosing your outfits is to think of color harmony. That means that all the colors coordinate well and don't fight with each other. You don't want to put a cool toned top with a warm toned bottom. That doesn't mean you can't have a pop of color somewhere--I love it when you have a very coordinated outfit with a colored shoe that really makes the outfit sing. Think in terms of complementary colors, though. If you've ever seen a color wheel, you'll see that complementary colors are the ones that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Triad colors are the ones that are evenly spaced from each other. An example of 3 triad colors are green, purple and orange. I wouldn't use all three in an outfit, but two of the three would be great. Don't forget your accessories--chunky bracelets, coordinating scarves, headbands, necklaces, earrings, handbags. These are all the little things that say you took care when putting your outfit together--the frosting on the cake, as it were. Also, think about layering--you can get more looks out of an outfit if you layer it and then either add/remove the layers to change the outfit without completely changing your clothes again.
These outfits all came from Buckle.com but if you'd like to go to an actual Buckle store, there is one at Clackamas Town Center. It's one of my favorite stores/websites because there is such a great variety of clothing to mix and match.
Enjoy!
Meet the lovely Cynthia. She will be graduating from high school on Sunday. I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with her and her two younger sisters when they came to Sherwood for Cynthia's senior portraits. It was a gorgeous sunny day and she was an absolute dream to photograph. Can you believe that when she called she told me she wasn't photogenic? I think she needs to look at herself again!
Since I focused on girl clothes last time, I decided to do something for the boys this time. The looks on this page were selected from Buckle.com and Aeropostale.com. If you're a fan of the graphic T, these are two great places to look. One thing to keep in mind for portraits is to choose a graphic T with a low-contrast image on it. I wouldn't recommend a black Tshirt with a large white element, or vice versa. Choose medium toned Tshirts with black or white graphic elements or if you want a white T, choose one with grey or medium-tone colored graphics. These outfits below should help you to make good selections. Don't forget things like belts, bracelets and necklaces--they make an outfit look complete and pulled together.
Happy shopping!
One of the most common questions I get is "what should I wear?" so I decided that I'd commit one day a week to answering this question. Today, it's all about the girls. So ladies, here are a few outfits from Forever 21. Each outfit is under about $150 and will photograph well. You don't have to have these exact outfits but it gives you an idea of what will photograph well and look good in your senior portraits. Enjoy!
I've been photographing a lot of my class of 2010 models over the past few weeks and I have to say--I've got some great kids to work with! We've been testing out some new locations and I absolutely LOVE my new makeup artist Melinda and hair stylist Leo. They are so awesome! And they make my models look FABULOUS for our sessions.
This past week I photographed Caitlin from Salem. She is very talented--she sings opera and is very involved with local theatre. And she's so cute! It's always fun to work with subjects who have acting/dancing/modeling/cheerleading experience because they are usually very comfortable in front of the camera, take direction very well and pose well on their own. Caitlin was no exception--an absolute dream to work with. Here are a few of my most favorite images from the session.
This is Angie--we took her senior portraits in the Pearl District yesterday and she had the biggest entourage of any senior client. She brought her best friend, mom and dad and I had my assistant so as we were walking from location to location, we looked like a parade! But it was really fun and Angie was just a delight to work with. :)
If all one year olds were like this sweet young man, I'd be happy to photograph only this age. But more often than not, one year olds are not interested in being photographed at all and want to cling very tightly to mom. That's ok--we always end up friends by the end of the session but it can be slow going for many. But not this guy--he came in all smiles and was very happy to be photographed and share is beautiful smile with me.
Here he was a year ago--Newborn
Here he is at age 1.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Sammy and his family. We took pictures at OHSU hospital in a lovely sitting area near the tram. In some of the pictures, you can see beautiful downtown Portland in the background. This was such a great place for pictures--I'm going to remember it next time I have to do another session at the hospital or at Doernbecher.
At the Professional Photographers of Oregon convention this past weekend, I was honored to receive the award for Best Portrait of a Teenage Boy. It was so exciting to walk up and receive my trophy! This is my second year winning a trophy in print competition for my senior portraits. Since I love doing senior portraits so much, it is particularly gratifying to be rewarded for them. Here's the prize winning image:
No Better Place in the World
Lisa Dillon Photography is participating in the National Charity Model Search to select “America’s Cutest Kid” and to raise funds for charity. We’re looking for cute children ages 18 months to 14 years old to model for a portrait to be entered into the contest.
$50 entrance fee, which includes a 20 minute model session, one 5x7 portrait and one image submitted to the national gallery.
Finalists will be determined by online votes. Anyone may vote. Each vote is $1, and all proceeds from votes benefit the non-profit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. (NILMDTS.org)
Grand prize national winner will be determined from the 50 city finalists. Winners selected by photography and modeling industry experts.
If your child is selected the national winner, you’ll receive many prizes, including a $5,000 US Savings Bond and a Canon PowerShot G10 digital camera.
If you’re interested in entering your child(ren), please call the studio at 503-730-5305. For more information about the contest, go online to www.sandypucmodels.com.
This lovely young woman goes to LaSalle high school and she's very far from her original home of Hong Kong but she's making the best of it. She has big plans for her future and from what I've learned about her, I think she'll go very far.
I love the simplicity of this storyboard--just a few images that really reveal this girl's personality and love of books. The images were taken at the Multnomah County Central Library and it was so much fun to shoot in and amongst all those wonderful volumes!
I've lived in the Portland area for 18.5 years and I've heard about the Rhodendron Garden near Reed College for a long time but I've never visited the place. Recently, I had a senior request her session at the Rhododendron Garden and I was unsure about the location because I'd never been there however I was VERY pleasantly surprised when we walked through the gate into this most beautiful place. There were ponds and a waterfall and a stream and more ponds and ducks and bridges and walkways and benches and beautiful plants and trees and vistas across the water. It was just beautiful! I can't wait to shoot there again--it was just so much fun! So thanks, Hannah, for the suggestion and the great afternoon of shooting! I hope you enjoy your images. :)
This fiery beauty is one of my senior models from Lake Oswego High School. At her full session, she brought a whole suitcase full of clothes and accessories to change into. It made for great variety and fun. We did some of her images at the top of the tram that goes to OHSU and then the rest we did down at Riverplace along the Willamette river. I haven't had a lot of sessions there so we were exploring as we went along. This is a great location so I think I'd like to go back there again! Meet Melissa. :)
This little one is due just days before Christmas--could be quite an interesting holiday for this family. Mom is hoping for a slighly early arrival but babies seem to have a mind of their own so they may be getting something else in their Christmas stocking this year. :)
Most of the time when I photograph a newborn, I don't recognize them when they come in for their one year pictures. Not so with Mason. I would have recognized him anywhere! He looks just like his newborn pictures. But then, he was a very distinctive newborn--lots of hair and looking like a little man. He also had the cutest little furrowed brow as a newborn--and guess what? He still has it. Just for giggles, I thought I'd show you a newborn pictures with his one-year-old pictures so you can see the comparison. Meet Mason!
This little guy was a great sleeper--I love working with great sleepers. His grandmother made that darling hat he is wearing and I totally love it! Meet the darling little Jesse and his doting mom . You may recognize her from her maternity session--she's the one I posed next to the BUMP sign. :)
I love when I get to highlight my senior models. I've known some of my models for many years--I think I first met Ashley when she was 8 years old. I've always been captivated by her beautful eyes. She goes to Sherwood High School and is a member of the dance team there. Meet Ashley.
It was a little on the cold side but dry when we did this session and in the Fall in Portland, any day that doesn't rain is a good day. :) Fortunately, with his short hair, wedidn't have to worry about wind--sometimes the Pearl District can turn into a wind tunnel! We did this session with Ryan's friend (and Senior Model Joey) and had lots of fun. Enjoy!
Meet Nico. We had a beautiful morning for our session--sunny, blue skies, warm weather--and we were at my favorite park. If I could write a recipe for a great senior portrait session, these would be the ingredients. Here are some of my favorite images from the session--enjoy!
Mom wanted to capture a few images of her boys when I did her eldest son's senior pictures. I don't usually like to mix session types together but since the boys were older I knew it would be ok to spend a few minutes at the beginning of the session to get a shot of the 3 brothers. It was an absolutely beautiful day at George Rogers Park in Lake Oswego. Unseasonably warm and sunny--perfect conditions. Meet Karl and his brothers. :)
Meet Logan--he brought the best t-shirts to his senior portrait session. I loved them! I think I'd like to have a few like them--I'm going to have to find out where he gets them. He brought his own hairdresser, too. Ok, it was his mom, but she really is his hairdresser. :) Enjoy!
Miss Rosalie loves books. As a fellow book lover myself, I could completely appreciate her interest in having her portraits taken at the Multnomah County Library. First, it's a beautiful building with wonderful architectural details but more importantly, it's filled with lots and lots and lots of BOOKS! See for yourself.
One gorgeous afternoon in October, I got to photograph this strapping young football player at Champoeg park. It was sunny and warm and so out of the ordinary for mid-October. This is one of the reasons I love what I do--I get to hang out with awesome young people and usually one of their parents or friends and wander around beautiful parks or around downtown Portland or even my own little town of Sherwood. It doesn't get any better than this!
Well, our Food Drive portrait event went very well on Friday. We had a great turnout and collected lots of food for our local food bank. The whole thing was just great--it felt very festive and exciting. Here are a few highlights from the evening...
She may not have a career as a model but she certainly photographs like one! Meet Jorie--a lovely young woman from the Portland Metro area who was an absolute dream to photograph. She moved and posed like she'd been doing this for years. Jorie came to my studio for a consultation before our session which I always recommend because it's such a great way to plan out our time together. About 2 days after we met at the studio, I ran into her at the Rose Garden before a concert--it was quite a random coincidence. I guess we have similar tastes! :)
It's time for our annual Halloween Food Drive. Bring a non-perishable food donation to the studio (located at 15717 SW 1st Street in Sherwood) between 3pm and 6pm on Halloween and receive a 5x7 portrait of your little pirate or princess or witch or superhero. It's a fun way to kick off your evening of trick or treating and a great way to remember how adorable your little munchkin looks all dressed up and ready to hit the streets! I hope to see all of you there. Just to whet your appetite, here are a few images from last year's event. It was a blast! Look, even the Lisa Dillon Photography Team got into the act.
Call 503-730-5305 if you have questions or need directions to the studio. See you there!
On this cold October day, Tessa seemed very comfortable in short sleeves and even in the water! I, on the other hand, kept pretty warm in a fleece jacket. She was so much fun--full of vitality and personality and sass. I like that in a person. :) Enjoy!
