Here’s what we’ve been up to…

Wunderland Arcade!

gokart arcade Portland

One of the most fun shoots I’ve done in a long while: photographing all the fun stuff to do at Portland’s Wunderland Arcade!  With over 30 models, and a great crew, we shot all day long and just had a blast.  And after the shoot, the crew spent half an hour on the gokarts ourselves, which was the perfect end to a high energy day.  (And that was the best gokart track I’ve ever been on.)

Helping Salem Health Hire

Everyone is familiar with staffing shortages by now, especially in healthcare.  Salem Health recently hired us, along with Skyline Video Productions, to create assets for their HR department to aid in attracting talent to their facilities.  We spent several days photographing everyone from security guards to nurses, physical therapists to baristas.  So much variety, so many beautiful images!

Healthcare PT Photography

Warm Springs WIC

We traveled to Warm Springs and Madras, Oregon to help the Warm Springs Tribe encourage more families to sign up for WIC.  Working with the local social services department, we spent 3 days photographing at different locations in Central Oregon: grocery stores, farmer’s markets, parks, and homes, illustrating all the different ways WIC helps encourage families to eat healthy and stay active.   We love working on location, enjoy the accompanying challenges, and are always happy with the images that come out of it.  Bonus: it always feels good to create images that help people thrive.

Baby Buddha

 

Sometimes I get the most surprisingly interesting assignments. Like photographing the world-record-holder for donated breastmilk, Elisabeth Anderson Sierra.  That’s right: 54,091.94 US fl oz of breastmilk donated.  Incredible.

Elisabeth has a rare hyperlactation syndrome.  Due to this syndrome she produces around 1.76 US gallons of breast milk a day–8 to 10 times the average mother.  Which makes her the perfect spokeswoman for a startup who makes a revolutionary breast pump system that is small, light, and smart.

We had a lot of fun photographing her and her beautiful family, creating images for Baby Buddha’s website, blog, and social media.  Here are a few favorites:

 

Adventist’s Nurse Midwives

When Adventist Health Portland wanted to promote their updated Nurse Midwife program, they called us to create a video and stills for them.  What a treat to get to work with such a warm and caring team, showcasing the natural birth options Adventist provides.  The best part: for the last few scenes, we were able to work with a newborn who was just a couple of hours old.

We created both still photograph, and also a 4 minute video showing the process of birth when working with a midwife.  It features all the different options available to a mom in Adventist’s new midwife suites.   You can view it here.

Adventist Nurse Midwife Photo

 

 

The Crystal Angel Award

When the pandemic hit, where did Adventist Health Portland turn for leadership amidst the chaos and fear? They turned to their very own Dennis Lippert, MD, who proved to be a tireless, compassionate, and wise leader. We were so honored to create this video for his receipt of the Crystal Angel Award. I was moved to tears as I listened to his colleagues speak of their respect for this humble, hardworking man.

Brad Boynton for Music Inc Magazine

Some years ago I had the privilege of photographing Brad Boynton for the cover of Music Inc magazine. Recently they called me up and asked me to shoot him again, and man, this guy is fun! A successful business owner of Rhythm Traders (the Northwest’s largest drum shop), he’s also a realtor, investor, and serial entrepreneur. Never a dull moment while photographing and talking with this fascinating dude!

Photographing the First Covid Vaccinations

I was holding back tears in December while photographing the first Covid vaccinations in Oregon. Whatever your views on vaccines, it was still a watershed moment, and I was honored to be part of it.  OHSU hired me to be part of this live-stream telecast, celebrating the arrival of the vaccines to our state and its beleaguered healthcare staff.

Speaking of vaccines and Covid, many of my photography clients are still hesitant to schedule photo shoots during the pandemic. While I understand (and share) the caution, there are also very good protocols for creating safe photo shoots. Whether you need images for a new ad, or portraits of your team, or a story told for your publication, we remain ready to create a safe and enjoyable experience for you.

 

Keeping a Culture Alive

Just two weeks before the pandemic hit, I was photographing the Tibetan New Year festival in NE Portland.

I met Tsering Choephel through The Immigrant Story, a volunteer organization telling the stories of American immigrants. They were writing about her amazing life: she fled Tibet on foot, walking the mountain passes into Nepal just as the Chinese army was taking over her village.

After growing up in the mountains of Nepal, she emigrated to the US in 1976, and has built a life and family here. In Texas she promoted Tibetan culture via a food cart serving her special hot sauce and dumplings. She went back to school in her fifties to get a degree in Childhood Education. Today she continues to promote Tibetan culture through her work at Portland’s Tibetan Cultural Center, caring for her community of Tibetans living in exile.

She’s also coordinated three visits to Portland by the Dalai Lama.

“We never thought we would be in exile for so long. It has been 61 years,” says Choephel. “But we have survived as Tibetans and our language and culture are very precious to keep alive.”

“This is my duty. If I keep our culture alive, then my grandchildren will know what they need to know. If we keep our beliefs and customs, we will prevail in the end and be able to return to live in our traditional way again.”

The above image is included in the current exhibit Our Diversity is Our Strength, on display at Blue Sky Gallery in Portland.

 

Photographing for Oregon…Even in Arkansas

Loggers

I have a chainsaw that I use on my property, and while it’s made by Greenworks, the bar has the Oregon logo on it.  So I was familiar with their product when Jason, from Oregon, contacted me about doing a shoot for them.

Oregon is an Oregon-based company that produces blades, bars, and chains for chainsaws, mowers, harvesters, and other outdoor equipment.  Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve been familiar with their products for years.  But it wasn’t until I met with Jason that I understood much about this international company.

We scheduled two photo shoots, working with real loggers on-site in Washington and Arkansas.  In SW Washington, we worked with a logging crew on a huge site.  While we usually think of loggers tromping around with chainsaws, the reality is that most work is done inside of huge, powerful machines.  I felt like I was photographing in a Transformers movie.

Arkansas?  Yep, they log in Arkansas.  More than half the state is forested, with primarily hardwood forests, but also pine.  So logging is big business there.  We spent a couple of days south of Little Rock, working with a local logging outfit, and a local supplier.  In spite of the rain (or perhaps because of it), we were able to capture these guys hard at work.  It was an enjoyable assignment, made all the better by the experience of southern hospitality, barbecue, and some beautiful scenery.