I'm back...

I cannot believe it has been almost 6 weeks since my last post! I can list excuses all day but the main thing is holiday time is always super busy in every way and the other thing is I have been laid up with "morning" sickness, which in my case seems to last all day...The good news is, come June, I will be hopefully posting lots of cute newborn pictures :). Speaking of newborns...I will be doing a shoot with beautiful preemie twins next week that I am totally excited about. I've never photographed twins before but I have loads of ideas. I love photographing tiny little newborns. Anyway, without much further ado, I have some catching up to do so here are some pictures from Thanksgiving (yes, I know, ages ago...) when my parents were up visiting. We went downtown one cold, cold evening and Kian got to ride the MAX for the first time. He loved it! The last picture is Kian looking out the window at the snow we got a couple of weeks ago. He is wearing a scarf and hat that my cousin made for him in Guatemala. I will try to post some more pictures in the next week or so. And I promise not to go MIA for so long again. :)
Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday craze. To all you wonderful folks, I wish you love and peace.

Happy Halloween

Fall leaves! Family portraits

This session was so much fun! It was kind of spur of the moment. A ridiculously good-looking family with such a great vibe, awesome weather, fall colors, insane light, and loads of energy made this session one of my favorite family sessions ever. I could post all night, but here is just a little teaser for you guys. Had to throw a black and white in there too. You guys know I love my backlight...it's like, trademark Wendy J. Collins light, ha ha!

Cutie sibling portraits

This post is for Diane. Just a quick peek of a couple of pictures of these two siblings and one of just Miss "N". She has such a sweet smile and a very loving big brother. I have more to share but this will do for tonight. I still have lots to do...like clean the house. Yippee!!!!

Farm sessions

It's been pretty busy around here. I really need to streamline my workflow. My photo lab has been moving into a new location so I've been backed up a little as far as orders go. Couple that with the aftermath of our own move and you have a recipe for non-blogging. Hopefully that streak will be broken soon. I have lots to share but I have to get through the post processing. For now, here are a couple at the local farm. I just love the bright orange pumpkins. I used to only be into black and white but this year has been all about color for me.
Ok all you blog stalkers, how about posting some comments. Otherwise, I feel like I'm writing for the air. Good night, I'm beat.

Pumpkin patch sessions part 1

I've been in denial but Autumn is here. I think perhaps it's better to embrace it. There isn't a better way to do that than to play amongst the pumpkins. There's something about a vast field covered in bright orange orbs that makes me happy. This little cutie had tons of fun running around on the farm. I love her little leopard shoes. She has loads of personality and her mom is totally awesome. I think you'll be seeing more of her cute little face on this blog in the future.

Our "new" house and its residents and some farm portraits

I found my camera cable!!! Yippee!!! I've been going trough blog posting withdrawal. :)

Anyways, our "new" house is on half an acre, It was built in 1977, has been vacant for 10 months, and is totally overrun by spiders. I don't know anyone who likes spiders (except maybe my dad, who is gentle with them, places them on a little paper or a cup and takes them outside) but I loathe them. Last night I was brushing my teeth when I caught some movement behind me in the mirror. I froze as I focused on the beastlike form (not unlike the one I captured in the garden earlier today). Hairy, and stealthy it challenged me to do something. I was bare- footed and therefore totally vulnerable and without a suitable weapon. I tried and failed to kill it with a lotion bottle and it escaped into the heating vent on the floor. I was sure it was going to wait until I was sound asleep to come and walk on my face. ARRGHhhh...ughghghghg.

On a happier note, here are a few from the farm yesterday. A few posts ago I mentioned that I had been working with some texture overlays in photoshop and had promised to post some. These two were overlayed with some textures. I love the effect with the strong color. They remind me of the past.

Back from the dark, Pumpkin Patch sessions and more

Wow! We moved. I think that says it all. The computer wasn't hooked up and we had no Internet service. We still technically don't, but when I hooked up the computer tonight, to my lovely surprise, I found a network that just happened to be floating around. Our fiber optic stuff is getting hooked up next week. Until then, I think I'll just poach on this sweet little network. Thank You :) Now if I could just find my cable to upload photos...

So, the pumpkin patch sessions: It's that time of year again. I will be offering "mini sessions" at Baggenstos Farms every Sunday in October from 3-6 pm. These mini sessions will be approximately 30 mintues during which time I will capture beautiful portraits of your children in the pumpkin patch and by the old barn. There are also some fantastic rusted out tractors and trucks that make great backdrops. Mini sessions are $50 and include 1 5x7 print.

Models needed: I will be putting up some large photo displays at the farm store and need a couple of child models for this. If you are interested in having your child model for me, please send me an email to info@wjcphoto.com, or post a comment below. In exchange for a signed model release, you will get an 8x10 keepsake print of your child at the pumpkin patch. I will post photos soon.

In love

My cousin Mike and his awesome wife Selena visited from Hawaii recently. They've been married a little less than a year. We went to a park for a little BBQ and I managed to catch them in this little moment. Aren't they cute? Working my backlight as usual :) Also, I've been messing around with some Photoshop actions I got from Nichole Van. In these I used the essential color pop action but then toned it down. For some reason, blogger makes the color look a little funky. Post me a comment if you think the color looks weird and I'll see if I can fix it.

More portraits of my new nephew

Here are a few more of my nephew. Isn't he so cute? Just three weeks old. Also, I've been playing around with some new texture stuff, overlaying them on prints. It's nothing novel, just kind of fun. I'll post some of that stuff in the next day or two. I think the last one is sweet with my brother giving his little boy a kiss. Totally spontaneous photo. I love doing family portraits, but they mean even more when it's my family.

ROAD TRIP!

We survived our first road trip with Kian. We dusted off the old "Chalet," our home on wheels, hitched it up to the Subaru and headed off on a prayer. He was a rockstar in the car. Only on the last day (4 hrs from home) did he finally melt down and decide he'd had it. We drove to the beautiful Napa Valley to visit my brother and his wife and their brand new sweet little baby. I got tons of great images but I am worked. Here are a few sweet ones I thought I'd share. More to come as I recover from staying up too late. I love the sweet moments I captured between Amy and her baby. She has the glowing, adoring look of a new mom. I can't wait to share more later. The first ones are from a little place we camped on the way down. Killer lighting! You all know I love my backlight...Oh and those last two are totally unposed. The black and white one was taken on a boat on Lake Berryessa. I walked in to find Amy snuggling the little sleeping angel. Needless to say, I had the camera out and ready. Such a great image. For you Ames.

Simpsonized!

Taking a page from the brilliant Nate Kaiser of The Image is Found Photography, I decided to "Simpsonize" my little family. Here we are, Brad, Kian, and me--Simpson style. Fun stuff.
Simpsonize yourself here.

Newberg High Class of 2008: Portrait of a senior

As promised, here is the stylish and handsome "C". He was a lot of fun to shoot, easy in front of the camera, great eye contact, great conversation. Did I mention that I love my job??? Not only is this guy cool, he is super smart, athletic, AND he sings. Ok, "C" you can stop being embarrassed now :). Anyways, I got a ton of great images from this shoot. The hard part was picking which ones to blog. So I chose at random. Here you go Cardwell Fam, your sneak peak. I have lots to post later in the week. Check it out...or miss out. Also coming soon: The Paparazzi Party debut. Leave me a message or email me if you want to know what it's all about. If not, keep checking the blog to be the first to find out.

Out on the P-town

My dear friend Danielle came up to visit this weekend from San Francisco. I've known her since I was 14 (She is one year and one day younger than me.) We had a great time catching up and relaxing. Although she works as an occupational therapist, she is an amazing artist and photographer. I was lucky to have her do a couple of family portraits with my camera. It was weird being on the other side of the lens for once. We went out Sat. night and ran into my cousin Tony who drives a Pedi-Cab. He gave us a little spin around the block. Total blast. Here are a couple pics shot with Danielle's little point and shoot as well as one of me and Kian in downtown Tigard that Danielle shot with my Nikon. I loved that funky wall. I have another senior session to post tomorrow. Check back and scope out the handsome and very stylish guy I got to shoot. Ok, later.

Portraits of friendship

Last week Kian and I met our friend Laura and her baby "J" at the park. Our kids were born just two days apart and we've known each other since they were 5 weeks old. I love photographing "J" because she has the sweetest little face and such soulful eyes. My friend Laura is one of the most genuine people I've ever met. She really fits the saying "beautiful inside and outside." Right now she is expecting twins and I'm so excited to photograph them when they arrive. I've been playing with different processing options in PS and love the look of old school film grain on the one of Miss "J" on the slide. I also love the retro look of the one of Laura laying on the ground.
I'm so thankful for friends like these and so happy that Kian will have a lifelong buddy to grow up with.

More senior portraits

This shoot was so much fun. It was super hot and muggy, but mostly overcast. Some of the interesting things we came across on the shoot: Mites (Me: "What are all these tiny little beasts on my arm???" "M's" response: "Mites, I think." Me: "Do they bite?" "M": "They might." Ha ha ha. I set him up for that one. Let's see, then we went hiking through a killer bee/poison oak infested forest with no trail. Me: "Hey M, I think we just went in a big circle." M: "We did, there's that little clearing again but the way out has got to be around here somewhere..." Fun times. I will say that it was a fun little adventure and a nice change of pace from more static shoots. This guy was up for anything. And I think we got some killer pictures. Check out those eyes! Here you go guys, there are tons more good ones but this should do for now. I gotta get back to reading Harry Potter. I left off at a very exciting part.