portraits

Katie over cancer

Katie is a young friend of mine that is battling breast cancer. You may have seen some of my recent posts about Katie. She has been down a tough road of 15 rounds of chemo. Her next step is a double mastectomy and radiation treatments. Today I took a little time off from the business of photography to do a little something special for my friend.  Take a minute to see the beautiful strength in her eyes.

Katie, I love your new hair and I hope you love these images.

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Take a minute to read Katie’s blog. It will inspire you.

Oskar’s big day

I have had this photo session on the books for a few weeks now and each time we tried, the weather just didn’t cooperate.  Yesterday was different. All systems were go!  We shot for about 35 minutes and towards the end something very special happened.

Oskar has been pulling himself up lately and had found some poles in the ground to hold on to.  He was looking pretty determined and focused, so I sat down in the grass to grab some images of him at his own level… then he proceeded to take his first steps!  It was amazing.  He let go of the pole, he bobbed, he weaved, he looked like a surfer without a board and then took some steps.  He repeated this several times to the cheers and joyous shouts of his parental units.  It was awesome!

Oskar ‘the great’,  it was a big day!

Oskar is our next door neighbor… along with his parents Chuck and Emily Raymond.  We love Oskie!   Enjoy!

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rainy day love

Rainy Day Love, sometimes you can’t fight it.  This was the second day that I had scheduled portraits with this wonderful couple. The first day was so rained out and cold that even I didn’t what to go out. So we called it off and rescheduled.  Yesterday was set and we stuck to it.  The umbrella’s came out of the trunk, pulled the rain cover over the top of my camera bag and off we went.  There was no staying dry so we lost the umbrellas and just went with it… and I am so glad we did.

Kate and Mike are marrying this September at the Wildflower Gardens in Red Lodge.   I am fairly sure it will be a sunny wedding day!!!

At the end of the session we were all wet and cold, but the photos were quite WARM and filled with ‘rainy day love’  Enjoy!

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Springtime in the Rockies – Montana weddings

I love springtime in the Rockies, especially the mountains in my own back yard!  Yesterday afternoon I photographed with Audrey and Micah.  Oh God these two are smitten!  Their wedding will be right here in the Paradise Valley in the foothills above.  How sweet it is!

The doggie companions are a dad and daughter pair.  The puppy keeps the old guy on his toes as you will see. It was a great hour of shooting. I am so ready for my summer weddings to begin.

Enjoy the photos…

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Moments matter – family wedding

On Saturday I photographed with one my wedding couples and ‘THE BOYS’.  Oh man this was a roll! When I am shooting with boys ‘moments matter’. I loved every minute of it! It was a beautiful blustery afternoon on the Yellowstone.  Megan and John will be married in a big way this August 20th.  The boys Cash and Cruz will have their own vows to give in this authentic celebration of marriage as they form a new family together.  It’s going to be a family wedding for sure.  Enjoy the images!

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Life Authentic – being present

Images keep appearing from the gallery of my latest photo session with Katie. Just to recap for those that are seeing this for the first time.

POSTED February 15th, 2016

“For some time now, I have been contemplating the value of authenticity in my life and in my passion of image making. Living this great gift of life with cognizance, and the motivation to sort out what is real, what is meaningful; and on the other hand, what is unreal, not authentic and can be dispensed with. Seeking Life Authentic.

Well… I got a message from a client of mine from 2007, asking me if I was interested in a project and she said that “time was of the essence”. The next day we were able to connect. I asked what was going on that was so timely and what is this project. Katie was reaching out for some imaging of her and her sweet family as she is facing the life shaking diagnosis of breast cancer. Katie is 34, married to a fine man and they have two beautiful young daughters.

It’s then, it’s what she told me next that totally turned me on a dime.

She said that this shocking reality of going headlong into treatment and surgery had changed her life and that all of a sudden everything in her life that was not authentic was falling away! I knew from her words that I had found a very important and meaningful task. Time to give!

Here in lies the beginning of a journey in life. A journey that many women face these days and one that I am honored to capture and share, for Katie and her family as well as others that might find beauty, strength and inspiration. Here’s to the VICTORY of Katie over this disease.”

Spending time photographing with Katie last week was full of telling moments, moments of conversation and moments of just seeing and capturing. Katie told me candidly and with her ‘matter of fact’ attitude, “I have never felt so alive!”.  It shocked me initially but as I look over these images I get it.  Facing such a life threatening experience forces you to live in the present.  The present is alive.  Not the past, not the future… but NOW.

Here are a few more images, images of Life Authentic – being present!

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