Seniors Seniors.....more Seniors

Megan

 Megan is a senior at Winlock High School and she has actually become a pretty good friend of our family. I was honored to work on Megan's ssenior photos late this summer.  Not only is she a good student, but she participated in Volleyball, basketball and track during her junior year.

Admittedly,  I have a relatively unique way of doing senior photos.  I don't believe that you can capture a person is in one shoot, and I have found high school students to have a short attention span for a photographer like me.  To keep creativity high and fatigue low, my pricing structure includes the possibility of up to three different shoots over a span of time.  It also gives the seniors a chance to change their hair and other looks to present a different part of them.  Some might call it customer service, but it is what I do.

Megan's first shoot took place at her house.  She had a beautiful new home with a porch looking toward the Cascade Mountains to the east.  After leaving the porch, she had a grove of trees in her back yard the loaned themselves to a lot of traditional possibilities. The viewer can see that it is Megan that makes these images.

 

 Megan has also requested her second shoot on a swinging tire from an old big leaf maple.  Well she wasn't that specific, but the photographer can see what she is thinking.  So far, no luck in finding such a scene.

Megan has requested that at least one of her shoots be in the autumn leaves so her final shoot may not occur until late-October.  If you are thinking about someone to do your senior portraits, take a look at the collection at GAP Photography.  Heed this warning, I will ask you what you want and expect an answer.  We work as a creative team!

It is Time for those Senior Photos!

Sadie is the first of the 2012 High School Seniors to find their way in front of my camera.  She will have a total of three shoots in the coming weeks.  Sadie is a senior at Winlock High School.

Our first shoot was completed in a beautiful wheat field outside of Winlock.  It was very hot on the evening of our shoot.  This made for a great contrast in Sadie's rather uptown style and agricultural traditions of the area.

Next we moved into a grove of trees to take advantage of the cool shade and the resulting light.

Next we went back out into the hard light and heat to take advantage of another agricultural prop. 

As a practice, we typically like to compile up to three shoots for a senior.  This allows them to show and dress for a different part of their personality.  GAP Photo will create images for seniors anywhere in Western in Central Washington.  Help us put pins in our map for all of the different schools we will cover between August and June!

One More from Tom and Tishia

I started playing around with a collage for Tom and Tishia.  These can be so much fun when there are good images to choose from!

Routine Wedding? Not a Chance!

Tom and Tichia

I have really come to love creating images at weddings.  Let's face it, a wedding is an event.  Each one is designed lovingly to be beautiful in its own way.  There are traditional and personal ceremonies included.  Sometimes they are hidden for a photographer to discover, sometimes they are predictable. Regardless, the emotion of the moment must be captured.

Sure, there were moments of tradition, but this wedding was a combination of traditional elements and those from the Cowlitz people.  The wedding was held at St. Mary's Chapel, the headquarters of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe just down the road from Toledo, Washington.



The couple was wrapped in a blanket as part of the Cowlitz tradtion.


The chapel was the darkest wedding venue you could imagine so we had to invoke a rule never before used;  We employed the use of a flash.  It was severely limiting, but the couple was wise to have a photographer to document such a special ceremony.



All of the wedding participants, guest and the photographer were "blessed" in a traditional manner.



At GAP Photo, we admit that we don't yet produce the amazing images that some of our more urban counterparts do but we don't charges thousands of dollars either. We do provide an important service for couples with a limit budget. For a few hundred dollars, we can make sure that your wedding is beautifully and artfully documented. Whether you ever choose to create additional products from the photos is up to you, but at least you will have professional images!

Got a wedding coming up but a limited budget?  Contact GAP Photo at 360-508-7507.  We would love to hear from you!

Photos for Social Media

Chris contacted us about images that he could use for social media sites.  With GAP Photo, we make it a simple and very inexpensive process.  Sure, we always hope you buy prints or refer us to your friends, but one client, one set of images is our most immediate concern and frankly, we love flipping around Facebook (really don't have time for others) and seeing our photos being presented with pride and it is a very subtle bit of marketing.

We met Chris on a Sunday morning at Tolmie State Park near Olympia because he lives near Fort Lewis and has very restrictive times to get off base. 

I would love to tell the whole story about these images, but Chris's privacy is important.  You know, client-photographer confidentially.  As you note, Chris is a pretty good-lookin' kid and one tall glass of fresh water.  The challenge was presenting the height.

Chris, we wish you well in your endeavours and hope that these images do what you wanted!  We just know we made you look pretty damn good!

If you would like a social media shoot, please contact us and let's put our heads together to make you look your best!

Speaking of Taking Pride

One of my favorite things to do is shoot bands and musicians playing live music.  One local band that has been raising the roof of the region has been the "Backfire Band" with its roots right here in Winlock.  If you have not seen my shoot of them opening up for Travis Tritt at the Napavine Ampitheater last summer, I encourage you to follow this link now!

In preparation for the 2011 Egg Days Celebration, the band asked me to come and take a publicity shot as long time guitar player Ron McGinnis retired and now the group features a new face in Jeff Anderson playing "country-rock" before dancing crowds all over Western Washington.

The image is now all over the community and I can't help be feel a bit of pride in being associated with the Backfire Band!

2011 Egg Days Parade

Taking in the Egg Days Parade

For a community of a few thousand people, they take their "Egg Days" pretty seriously.  At one point in history, Winlock was of of the largest egg producing communities in the United States.  Now it is not much more than another fond look towards the past when its late-June celebration turns into a three party.

By far, the Egg Days Parade is the largest visual expression of a community celebration in this small Lewis County town now with several annual events.

Visitors come from all over Western Washington to watch the parade which many think is the second most watched in the region; It trails only the Morton Jubilee in terms of numbers of bodies lining the streets to take in the spectacle.

I now take pride in shooting the Egg Days Parade, as I do Cheese Days, Vader May Day, Napavine Funtime Festival, and now the Castle Rock Fair.  As a photographer for a local publication, I take pride in that it is my "fifth year" of shooting the parade for the Town CRier.

Perhaps it is piling on, because when you are a part of something and expected to be there, you feel like a part of the community yourself!

Good show Winlock!