I have moved...

Yes, it's true. I have a new blog address and brand new blog. This blog will remain here with all these past posts, but from now on, visit me at:

www.wjcphoto.com/blog/


Don't forget to bookmark the new site! Here's a sneak peak of what you'll see on the new blog.

Happy Mother's Day!

Click the picture to make it bigger.

A maternity shoot

Happy Friday to you all! If you follow this blog, you will probably recognize this beautiful lady. We have been friends since we were still girls. We backpacked through Europe together as young women. She is one of those people who has crossed the line from friendship to family. She is my sister now. I am so lucky to have had her in front of my lens for many important moments in her life. The last photo is a film scan of her at 16. Then you may remember her wedding in this post. And now, any day now in fact, her first baby will be born. She flew up from San Francisco to visit and to have me do a little maternity shoot. I can't wait to meet this little boy who will no doubt be as radiant and lovely as his Mama. Congratulations Mark and Danielle!

My little Easter Lily

When I was a little girl, I remember going through a phase of wanting an "Easter dress." I believe it came from reading one of "Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories" in which a little girl got a lovely new Easter frock in a pretty pastel color. A new dress for Easter was not a tradition in my family, but when I was about ten we had a wedding to go to at the Wayfarers Chapel, a cathedral of glass in Palos Verdes, CA. The wedding was right around Easter so that year, I got my wish. My mom took me shopping for a special dress. We got a pale pink dropped-waist dress with puffed sleeves and a little white collar. Oh how I loved that dress! I may very well have worn it out before outgrowing it.

Now that I have a daughter, I want to start a tradition of getting her something special to wear for Easter. I am not very girly, but having a girl brings out a little more of this side in me.

This year, I had bought her a sweet little sundress, brown with bright flowers. However, the weather these days is more scarves and gloves, less sundress.

On Thursday my dear, dear friend Laura came by with her darling J and a box of her outgrown clothes for Lily. As I went through the box, I was literally in tears. I remember J wearing some of these outfits when she was small, and they were just so beautiful. In there I found this. And needless to say, it will be Lily's special Easter outfit for this year. I cannot imagine anything more perfect for her to wear on this holiday than a gift of love.

Thank you Laura! I don't need to tell you how special you and your family are to me. You already know...

Headshots, Violin, and Luminous light

Hello and Happy Spring! I have been a blog slacker lately, but only because I've been quite busy developing products and materials for my business. It's exciting getting all my marketing stuff together in a cohesive and beautiful way. On to the photos...Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph the lovely Casey B. She is a violinist for the Oregon Ballet as well as the violin instructor for Oregon Music Academy. We went out on a cold (and partially rainy) day looking for a good spot and good light. It seemed grim, but I was hopeful. We found this green wall in the unlikeliest of places. It had a bit of a glow about it and as soon as she stepped in there I noticed the glorious light: soft and subtle...like good studio lighting only better because it was natural. So you see, my Quest for Light never seems to be in vain. We had a wonderful shoot, lovely images, and best of all, I got to enjoy her musical talent. I kept having to pretend I was still shooting just so that she would continue playing. :) Thank you Casey for an awesome time. Oh and this shoot took literally almost ZERO editing. Yes, her skin truly is that luminous and perfect.

California Beach Session

Hello! I've been messing around with this blog a little while I wait for my new blog to be ready. Hope you like it.

I've been meaning to blog this shoot for a while now and finally had the time to do it. Oh to live in California where you can get weather like this the day after Christmas! I did this shoot of my beautiful cousin and her super awesome family at one of my favorite little beaches close to where I grew up. We had about 30 minutes of glorious light and it was just enough to capture the love that flows so easily between them. I live for those simple, loving moments that families share. Catching them on camera is really the reason why I photograph. I love that this sweet little boy will grow up to see these pictures and have no doubt in his mind that he has been loved his whole life. My cousin's name means "soul" and she truly lives up to it. I am so blessed to have her in my life. She is turning out to be the sister I didn't get to have. If only we lived closer!

(Click on the images to view them larger)

Christmas in Southern California

Happy New Decade, friends! We are back from our wonderful trip to my hometown where we spent Christmas in the house where I grew up. I thoroughly enjoyed a respite from the Oregon winter and made the most of it by taking the kids to the park, the beach, and just plain hanging out outside. It was lovely short sleeve weather, blue skies, warm sunshine, and best of all: family. I walked around on the morning of Christmas eve and put together this little photo collage of images that represent Christmas in So Cali. All but the family picture in the top left were photos I took. That family picture was snapped (with my camera) by my lovely cousin Alma. More of her and her beautiful family in an upcoming post.

However cold and dreary it may be where you are, remember that eternal spring is just a plane ride away...May these images warm you a bit. And may the upcoming year be a productive and happy one for us all!