The Portland White House Wedding Shoot
You have waited your entire life for this day …Your dreams are passionate, in vivid color, rich in every detail
…You have a vision that must be realized…A Glorious Wedding Day filled with Love.
Capturing that vision in a way that is uniquely Your own and immortalizing those images forever …
That’s my job!
I too have a vision that transcends the ordinary!
If you can dream it … I can capture it …
If you or someone you know is getting married would you please ask them to just take a few minutes to consider Colleen Cahill Studios for their wedding photography.
This more traditional Wedding shoot was inspired by Portland’s White House . Now a delightful B&B this beautiful structure was built as a summer home in 1911 by Robert Lytle, a wealthy lumber baron. The house was billed as the most expensive home built in the district for the period. This Greek Revival Mansion boasts a lifestyle of past years with 14 massive columns, five guest rooms in the main house & three in the Carriage House, formal dining room, Parlor, sweeping staircase, European Chandeliers, gilt gold ceilings, Trompe l’oiel & Grand ball room. The perfect location for an Elegant Wedding! Special thanks to the graciousness of Lanning for allowing us the run of the estate for our shoot.
Rob from Pro Photo Supply set me up with some great new gear to test out on the shoot.The image above was shot with a Canon EOS Mark III & a 50 mm 1.2 lens resulting in this beautiful shallow depth of field image. The gorgeous veil was designed by Austie Eckley. The flawless make up and hair throughout the shoot was created by Stylist Shannon Bolt.
The beautiful Bridal Bouquet was created by Lynda at City Flowers and the floor length lace dress was designed by Haunt Studio.
The Grooms great suit was provided by Duchess Clothier of Portland. All Images were shot with available light.
The interior of The White house is filled with beautiful antiques and works of art including an extensive collection of European and Continental Porcelains and 18th and 19th Century oil paintings.
All the above images were shot exclusively with existing light. The new Canon EOS 5D Mark III has an ISO range of 100-25600 with expansion capabilities of up to (H2) 102400 making shooting in low light situations possible without a tripod and long exposures.
An Elegant Wedding is not complete without a Rolls Royce and this beautiful vehicle was provided by John, owner of Classic Chauffeur.
This lovely floor length white lace dress and wrap were designed by Holly Stalder of Haunt Studios
I love this cake created by Emma Sofia: Cakes by Emma Flores. Trust me it tasted as good as it looks!
Vintage clothing was worn through out the shoot including this great mink wrap. Trying to stay with the era of the building we also used antique cloth suitcases and Great Grandma’s necklace and earnings.
This was my favorite part of the shoot (the kitchen), and traditionally this would have been the most technically challenging location given all of the different types of lighting converging in one area, but not today. With this new Canon EOS Mark III , I just adjusted my kelvin (color temperature) to the look I desired, jacked up my ISO to 12800, slapped on the 50 mm lens and the fun began. Images were shot at 1/128 @ f.5.7 I love the cross lighting, I think it gives the images a feel of realism instead of trying to adjust/balance the scene to white light (around 5000k)
The great grey lace dress was also created by designer Holly Stalder of Haunt Studio. I also wanted to thank Teresa Stewart, The White House Inn Keeper and Emma & Rajiv for playing our Bride and Groom.
Softball -Varsity First Baseman Senior Ashley Evans from Barlow High School
Softball- 9 athletic girls on the field and standing on first base is the blonde, blue eyed Ashley Evans. Ashley looks more like a model than an athlete. At 5’7 1/2 the statuesque beauty could definitely be a distraction…if you were a boy that is. Even on a field of women she is a stand out.
Ashley is passionate about softball and has been playing since the age of 3. She has a cage in her backyard where she playes catch with her father on almost a daily basis. Ashley is going into her 11th season of softball and made the varsity team at Sam Barlow HS as a Freshman. She plays year round club ball in the summer for the 18A Oregon Silver Bullets.
Talented on the field, smart and driven off the field. Ashley attends CAL to get a head start in the medical field. She would like to eventually become a nurse.
Good luck this season!
All images were shot with my Canon Mark III with the 70-200mm 2.8 lens. It was a bright day so when out in the open I kept the subject’s back to the sun and exposed for the shadow/front side of the image. To balance the light when possible a silver reflector was used on the subject. The action shots were done at ISO 1250 F6.4 @ 664 of a second. The dugout images were shot at ISO 800 5.6 @ 166 of a second. Some of the images were altered with Photoshop actions to adjust the actual color for effect.
Blonde Beauty – Brynna’s Senior Pictures on location at McMenamins Edgefield
People are continually commenting on how all the subjects that I shoot are so beautiful . You know I agree! Everyone is beautiful in their own unique way. My job is to find out what makes that person so beautiful, combine those qualities with my knowledge of photography and showcase that beauty in an image.
I know it sounds inconceivable, but I really can take a very attractive person and make them look bad. If I didn’t know what I was doing, if I was not a professional, my clients would/could look a lot less attractive. It took years to learn the techniques that I use to make my subjects look their best. It is a combination of experience in working with people and the conditions on that day at that moment. It is the mood, posing, styling, propping,emotion, location and the type of light that you choose to use that make the images a stand out. These things don’t happen on accident, they are purposeful!
I do admit, however, that it wasn’t very hard to make this 17 year old High School student stand out, Brynna has it all! She is 5’10, beautiful, smart, popular and one heck of a volleyball player. But if you ask Brynna she would tell you that she is just a regular gal who struggles in algebra2, loves cheering on her boyfriend at football games and just hanging out with friends.
Brynna loves everything sports but decided to focus on what she called the “Bohemian Look” for the first half of her Senior Pictures. We decided on McMenamins Edgefield located in Troutdale, it was the perfect location for this shoot. Look for the second half of Brynna’s shoot to post this summer.
All of the images were shot with my Canon Mark III with the 70-200mm 2.8 lens. These images were shot in controlled outdoor light using a reflector/diffusion panel on occasion to either redirect the light, change the quality of the light and or the color of the light.
Alexandra’s First Fashion Shoot with Mom
My daughter, Alexandra, was recently approached by a scout from Muse Modeling Agency while shopping in Downtown Portland at the Pioneer Courthouse Square. With 15 years under my belt shooting ad work, I knew what the next step was, photo shoot.
This was Alex’s first fashion photo session so I gave her total control over producing the shoot. She gathered ideas, put all her clothing and accessories together. I was very impressed. The weather was wet and rainy (go figure in Portland) so we were forced to shoot indoors at my Troutdale Studio. That’s OK, it gave me the opportunity to blow the dust off my strobes and play. Alex’s ideas were a little more grown up than I would have chosen, but this was her moment so I ran with it. Our next shoot will be geared more to the NW girl next door looks for sure.
So I know what you must be thinking…Mom this outfit is a little racy, but seriously, I am just glad she is wearing the jacket 
you should see this kid in a swim suit…oh la la! And you know what? she has some killer legs! Alex is a heck of an athlete and works hard to stay fit so this is the perfect platform to revel in her accomplishments!
Alex also did all of her own hair and make up for this shoot. I think she rocked it!
On the image above I went into the selective color in Photoshop and took all of the black out of the red channel. I love how peaches and cream it made her skin tone. I did pull back in a little of the red into her lips so they weren’t so nude looking.
All of the images were shot with my Canon MarkIII and the 70-200mm 2.8 lens. I used the Zeus 1250 strobe system on a white sweep. The black background was achieved by moving the subject away from the background and using the light to back light the subject not the background.
Beautiful Baby Girls
Babies and Children… Have you ever tried to photograph them? Everyone always comments on the images I do of children; how they all look so angelic, happy and beautiful. “You really have a way with kids” they say. I even shot the children’s division for Nike, so one could conclude that, yes, I have a way with children, but it is not that simple. Shooting Children can be challenging!
My secret… PATIENCE, lot’s of patience and PSYCHOLOGY. I know, who would have thought you needed a degree in psych to be a photographer? Being able to relate to, and on your subjects level, at any level, whether they are an infant or a CEO is key to a great photograph!
To tell you the truth… they cry a lot, CHILDREN that is. Sometimes they cry for hours, which often leaves me walking away feeling beaten. However, at the end of the day when you are reviewing your images, there they are, the PERFECT few shots that make you look and feel like a magician. Your clients are amazed, happy, thrilled and even in awe at your results, given the circumstances.
Oh yeah… did I forget to mention that you need to SHOOT lots and lots of film? There is always safety in numbers!
All images were shot with available light with my Canon Mark III and a 70-200mm f2.8 lens
American Idol contestant Madison Shanley from Portland Oregon heads to Hollywood
Madison Shanley scheduled an appointment for publicity photographs for the American Idol competition. She was headed to Hollywood after receiving the Golden ticket in the Portland Oregon auditions. Our initial plans were to shoot on the streets of downtown Portland, the weather had been unseasonably dry but on this day like a lot of Portland winter days it was raining buckets. Scheduling was tough and we had a tight deadline so we had to move the shoot indoors with no plan B. I am often put on the spot to come up with something great without any preplanning, well this was another one of those times.
I decided if I couldn’t go outside I would bring some of the outside in. We brought in part of my dog’s chain link kennel for a background. I had my strobes on, but didn’t fire them off, instead I pushed my ISO to 1600 and shot at a 30th of a second at f2.8 to pull in the cross lighting between the blue window light and the yellow modeling light bulbs from the strobes. The result was soft beautiful light.
We wanted a red carpet feel for the second shot. We had a great dress and the hair went up. I had a couple of blue plastic panels in the studio that I placed in a V shape for the background. I used one strobe shooting through the background toward the subject and one umbrella as the main light on her. I love the blue edge light and cast in her hair.
This funky and fun dress was shoved way back in Madison’s Mother’s closet. This never been worn before designer dress was purchased in NY some 25 years ago and was just the funky, fun look we needed to showcase Madi’s larger than life personality. This was a two light set up as well on white. One strobe back lighting the subject the other used as the main. I purposefully shot up into the backlight to create some glare rings in the image.
The fourth series was actually shot outside in the rain in a field down the road from my studio. Madison was a trooper, the whole team was! It was really cold, muddy and of course very wet. When the images are larger you can see the rain drops streaking downward.
This final image was shot on a white seamless with strobe. We decided that this particular outfit came across too sexy for a teen so we didn’t release these images to the public. However, I decided to have a little fun in Photoshop and combined an image of Madi with a graffiti wall that I shot in NY for this composite. All of the images were shot with my Canon Mark III and the 70-200 2.8 lens.
Madison recently sang the National Anthem at the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 24 in Florida in front of a sold out crowd of 100,000 fans, she also opened for the PBR Tour in Portland in January. This week Madi will be singing at a Hollywood Pre Grammy Party at the home of a music industry mogul that heard her performance at the Daytona 24.
The doors are opening for this young lady and you can follow Madison of course on the American Idol show as well as FB, Twitter and her website.
Styling for the photo shoot by Alexandra Kelsey.
Hair color and cut by Vicki Patrick Colour on Burnside
Salon: 503-233-6055 Cell: 503-317-8038
All promotional work done by UpStage Events Della Shanley 503-803-4966
***Did I mention that this beautiful and talented young lady just also happens to be my niece. The photo stylist is my daughter and the hairdresser is my older sister Vicki and Madison’s event director/promoter is my younger sister Della.
I think we make a pretty great team!
Colleen
Photograph from the American Idol website of Madison’s audition. The body guards were her Uncle Greg and Father Terry Shanley. Another great promotional idea from her biggest fan and Mother Della Shanley of UpStage Events.
A touching story about love,loss & family – A Bride, A Train, A Groom in Japan
*To bypass the intro and go straight to the love story scroll down to the bottom of page.
Being a photographer is a lot like being a hairdresser, everyone has a story. My job is to figure out what story they want me to tell through my images. Sometimes that is easy and well, sometimes it is not.
The Studio got a call in December from a return client who wanted me to shoot some bridal shots of her daughter in her wedding gown. She was to be married in Japan and wanted something creative done locally before moving.
On Dec. 16th, Mom, Dad and Rin showed up at the studio with only a dress and a pair of shoes in hand and absolutely no idea what they wanted photographically, just something different, something that would represent who Rin was.
Obstacle #1- I am primarily an available light photographer by choice and on this particular day we had ice fog, it was too frigid to go outside or so I thought and too dark to shoot inside.
Obstacle #2- When Rin showed up lets just say her attire was a touch alternative. Black skinny jeans, combat boots, hoody pulled over her head and a black leather coat. This was who she was… not like everyone else, she walked her own path. She was a budding musician who likes black and red, that was all I had to work with.
Obstacle #3- When she stepped out of the dressing room there had been a total transformation. Before me stood this soft, beautiful, frail young women. What now I asked myself, how do I blend the two.
Idea #1- I took Rin into my home where I have a black leather couch with a skylight directly overhead. I positioned her on the couch, lowered my chandelier down from the ceiling for some foreground interest. I got up on a 10 foot ladder with my Canon Mark III and a 24-70 f2.8 lens and shot these images below at IOS 1250 – 60th of a second @f2.8
By this time I was charged up and wanted to shoot something else. The week before I had noticed two abandoned train cars left on one of the tracks in Troutdale, I have never seen them do that before.
Idea #2- Take Rin down to the tracks and shoot some environmentals. Two totally opposing elements; a Bride in a gown on abandoned rail cars, right up my alley!
Obstacle #4- It was freezing outside and I wasn’t even sure if the rail cars would still be there but Rin was all for it.
I shot the follow images with my Canon 70-200 2.8 lens at 1/60 @f3.2-ISO 640
The next shot shows a frightened Rin as a train rushes by us on the secondary track. The whistle was deafening and the wind made the temperature even colder. Rin was amazing, she pulled herself together long enough for me to get some great images of the train streaking behind her.
What follows is a real life story written by Rin’s Mother. At the time she had no idea that I would attach it exactly as she wrote it. You see I had called her and left a message saying I would like to feature Rin in a blog and had a couple of questions, one was how Rin and her fiance’ met? What I got in return had the makings of a movie. PLEASE READ ON!
Hi Colleen,
Glad to get your call.
Your ideas for the blog sound terrific.
The way I heard it . . .
Rin took note of Shun on the Portland State University campus. He is very handsome and tall and geeky, just like she likes ‘em.
Rin claims she “didn’t stalk him.” Which of course means, that’s exactly what she did.
Anyway, Rin went up to Shun and told him that they needed to know each other. He was a little surprised, but as they say “the rest is history.”
They are living in Tokyo. He works in business and she is pursuing a music career (rock and roll; metal; alternative). Guitar and lead singer.
THE FAIRY TALE STORY
Rin’s fairy tale story is just that. Her single Mom died when Rin was 12. By age 15 she was on her own and eventually in that most dreaded of circumstances. Tom and I watched over her (unbeknown to DHS). In August 2011, we legally adopted her as our own.
You see, Lucas (our son) was her fiance (not her brother as Deb assumed). Luke passed away and left us and Rin in a world of hurt. We huddled together and came out of the grief a new family unit.
Her very scratchy and unusual life has produced a very independent and confident young woman. Helps that she’s also beautiful. See, I can say that since she’s my adopted daughter.
Rin doesn’t tell everybody about her childhood, but those close to her always seem to pick up that there’s something inside that’s very unlike most girls her age. She’s just 22 but she’s lived many, many life-years. Definitely not a typical girl from Lake Oswego!!
We are so glad that you took Lucas’ senior pictures. He choose you out of the dozens of mailings we received back in 2004. And now, you’ve shot the beautiful bridal photos of Rin.
So happy are we.
Thanks, Colleen.
Becky
THE DETAILS
Rin is marrying Shun Oka.
Their wedding will be April 1 (yes April fool’s Day; they think that will be funny!) in Yamaguchi, Japan.
Shun and many generations of the Oka family are from Yamaguchi. Our guide book say it is “in the hills of far South Japan where old-world atmosphere hangs over a modern city that is cut through by a narrow scenic river.”
The ceremony will be held at the temple garden of Joei-ji. Cherry blossoms should be in full bloom!!!! Flickr has some really pretty pictures of the temple garden.
I’m going to scan two of my favorite photos from my wedding. It was held in 1969!!!!! One is of me and my Dad, The other is of me and Tom’s (my husband) grandmother.
My dress was by Priscilla of Boston. I think it was the second dress I tried on. I had no big dream plan for my wedding or my dress. My Mom did the whole thing. Remember it was 1969!! And that’s the way Mom ran things. She was good!!
The dress was altered by Sandy at a boutique in Lake Oswego called Silkwood. The dress had been “preserved” after my wedding. However ketchup still remained as spots down the front of the dress. Silkwood used “harvested” lace and patched over the stains. You’d never know.
We found those awesome gloves Rin wore at ZenandCoffee.com.
Her equally awesome wedding ring is by “Chrome Hearts” and is called “Dagger.” Oh my.
So that’s more than you asked for, I got carried away.
Thanks Colleen.
Rin’s photos are really special.
How fortunate am I to be a photographer! We impact peoples lives in ways at times I don’t understand! We capture memories, moments in time that last forever. We make people happy and feel beautiful and important. How lucky am I that they choose me to do that, that they trust me enough to put themselves in my hands.
I am so Grateful and so Blessed!
Colleen
PBR Tour in Portland Oregon 1-22-2012
Eight seconds…that is all they have to stay on is eight seconds.
It sounds easy doesn’t it? Professional Bull Riding (PBR)
These Cowboys are both crazy and very brave. I have only seen this event on TV until yesterday and I can tell you I have a greater appreciation for the sport. Like all extreme sports the longevity that one can survive I can only imagine is very limited. The physical beating they take in a mere 8 seconds might possibly equal that of playing an entire professional football game without pads. It was nice to see at least some of the Cowboys wear helmets in the place of Cowboy hats. I am happy to report that no one was seriously injured and all of the contestants were able to walk out of the arena in one piece.
My niece Madison Shanley was invited to sing the National Anthem during the opening ceremony so I was able to get a media pass to attend the event and shoot some pictures. The conditions were tough for shooting though. There was not nearly enough available light to really be able to stop the action but I did what I could. These images were shot with my Cannon Mark III and a 70-200 2.8 lens. I pushed my ISO up to a grainy 3200 and shot at f3.2 @ 320 of a second. It was not nearly fast enough to get crisp images but I had a blast trying to track the action anyway.
Halsey
This is a guest post by Colleen’s assistant and friend from and for forever, Deb.
I mentioned to my daughter, Halsey, that we should run by the studio and take some shots for her Sam Barlow High School yearbook photo a few Sunday afternoons ago. Colleen happened to be taking family photos that day and I knew she would have a short break to help us out. The deadline for submission was looming and we had put it off because of her braces. She got the news that they will not be off until spring by Dr. Tod Hardin’s super orthodontic team. So we had to go for it! My girl had stayed up late the night before hanging out her new beau and had about ten minutes to throw something on and off we went.
Colleen has been taking amazing photos of Halsey since she was about 2. She and Colleen have a wonderful connection well beyond the camera however…Halsey adores her. They are ‘two peas in pod’ let’s just say. Colleen has a daughter 6 months younger than mine and they have practically been raised as siblings, playing together in the summers and after school as we worked in the studio.
Luckily, Alex was working for her Mom on the day we dropped by and she and Colleen helped her with her hair, makeup and clothing. We were able to get some photos of the girls together. It was rather breathtaking, not just how beautiful they have become as they have grown into young women and that Halsey could possibly be Senior in High School, but just how sweet and funny they are with each other after all of these years.
Thanks, Colleen, for again capturing my daughter in such a beautiful way. It has been so good for her self-esteem to know that with your camera you catch her beauty and make her feel so comfortable in her own skin.
Yoga in the Clover Field
… the light… the surroundings… the subject…is this ZEN? It is for me!
Magical, serene and divine…that is truly the experience when all the elements of a dream photo shoot come together and support the creation of images like these. The clover, in full bloom. The sun, a natural light photographer’s nirvana. The colors, a peaceful balance of nature. All just minutes from my Troutdale studio.
This is Lacey Graham from Divine Yoga , her new business. Lacey is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Her voice and warming presence will put you into an immediate state of calm. Lacey will come to you at home or to your business or you can go to her to “Awaken the light in you” My family has worked with her personally and I highly recommend her to anyone considering yoga. You can contact her for more information at divineyoga@rocketmail.com
Click here to see more images.
Exotic Beauty
I first met Darian Hall in 2006, she was 11 years old. She walked into the studio with her mother for a fashion photo shoot. She was striking…the kind of beautiful that takes your breath away.
The perfect balance from her African American and Caucasian heritage. Those crystal clear eyes and olive skin reminded me of the beautiful women of Polynesian Islands.
Peonies are my favorite flower and they were in full bloom when Darian showed up for the first part of her Senior Session. I had cut a big bouquet for the studio and a few and fallen on the floor…and the idea was born. Somehow I wanted to highlight these beautiful flowers with this stunning young lady. Visions of Polynesian beauties adorned with flowers rushed through my head, Darian + flowers + floor = the image below.
Darian has grown into a wonderful young lady and will be a Senior at Lakeridge High School this next year.
We continued her shoot outdoors with more flowers, Daisey’s in a wheat field for variety. I love the softness and innocence of these shots. If you would like to see more images from Darian’s shoot CLICK HERE.
Cheer and Flute highlighted in X Series
Lauren Williams will be a Senior next year at Union High School in Washington State, home of the Titans. Lauren has a passion for many things, but we chose to focus on her Cheer and Flute, she is very accomplished in both areas. Lauren is a member of the Union Cheer squad and the Titan marching band. CLICK HERE TO WATCH A U-TUBE clip of their “Battle of the Bands” 2009-10 entry. Lauren has a romantic, sophisticated look so I chose to light her with a 30′s movie star type of light. Soft yet with a hard edge. I think the combo worked really well with her old world beauty.
To see more from Laurens shoot CLICK HERE.
X Series – Some Girls still love PINK
Barbie…you know the one, that perfect little doll that we all got for Christmas, the one that set the bar for what all girls thought they should look like. Well, take one look at Noelle and that is what you may see. She is a knock out! As sweet as she is pretty, but don’t let all that pink and flowers fool you, Noelle is on the Clackamas High School Lacrosse team and can be tough as nails on the field!
Noelle decided not to highlight Lacrosse in her X Series shoot, but instead chose to showcase her passion for anything & everything tropical. Noelle’s family takes at least one trip a year to Hawaii & sometimes two. Her room is all tropical themed and you can often find her in a flowery print outfit with sea shell accessories.
To see more fun images from Noelle’s shoot CLICK HERE.
High School Senior Photographs Unleashed! – Xtreme Series
I love the diversity of shooting for this series. Every person I meet is so extraordinary & different in personality, looks and interests. I pride myself on trying to create and capture what makes each one of them unique. If I had to shoot the same thing over and over again I would go crazy!
It is really cool to have someone come to you with absolutely no idea about what they want to do in their photographs, but trust that you will come up with something great for them. Some of the ideas I come up with ahead of time and others I just fly by the seat of my pants.
Danielle Sprando from Gresham High School came with a hand full of clothes and a passion for dancing, the rest was up to me.
Danielle Sprando is a member of the Gresham High School’s Dance Team.
Drew Clements is a Senior at Clackamas High School and is a talented athlete in more than one area but we decided to focus on Lacrosse. We shot this at night and really had a lot of fun…well I did. Drew was a little worn out after an hour of jumping in the air, but he was a great sport and all of his tenacity paid off in the final images.
Alyssa McMannus will be a Senior at Clackamas High School this next year. Alyssa is an active member of the Clackamas Equestrian Team and will be competing in the State competition this weekend. This was a great location shoot both in the stalled area and the arena, the light was beautiful and so were the subjects. If you would like to see more images from this shoot CLICK HERE.
A Pro’s Perspective #2 – THE RED TULIP
I purposefully did not go to the Tulip Festival this year, because every time I went to my Facebook page someone new had posted a shoot that they had done of the Tulips or in the Tulips. Then, there was this morning… I was walking up to my front door after a morning run and there it was… THE RED TULIP. Just one, and a couple of buds, because the moles have eaten all 250 of my other tulip bulbs. I am sure they were fat and happy this winter napping under ground in my yard just waiting to pop up and destroy my grass again this spring 
Sorry, got a little side tracked.
I have passed by this Tulip for a few days now without temptation but today was different. Today we had SUNSHINE, not that flat, muddy, lifeless light that we have been experiencing all winter long. The sun was filtering through the trees barely skimming the flower, just enough to give it dimension and life. The light was so soft and beautiful that I couldn’t help myself. I ran in the house and grabbed my camera and became one of those hundreds of people who photograph the Tulips every spring and I am glad that I did!
I love these 3 simple yet beautiful images of the Tulip. How did I shoot them? I used my Cannon Mark III at ISO 400, shutter speed 1/332 at F4 with my 70-200 f2.8 lens. I pushed my lens to 200 and focused as close as I could. The longer your lens the greater the compression. The closer you are to your subject the shallower your depth of field. The smaller your F stop the less depth of field you have, ( the amount of the image that remains in focus) so I chose not to shoot wide open (at F2.8) to hold detail in all of the Tulip. Ultimately I wanted the Tulip to be in focus, but the background to be soft and out of focus, so it wouldn’t distract from the subject, the Tulip. You can use this principle in all areas of your shooting. The Tulips are still blooming!
Have fun!
~ Colleen
Sam Barlow High School 14th annual Doernbecher Fashion Show
I have been the Photographer for this charity event for Barlow High School for 14 years now. Kim Calcagno, the marketing teacher does a fabulous job directing the students who take on the year long planning for this event. From concept to fruition this event is completely orchestrated by the students. They do an amazing job! Not only do they plan the event, the clothing in each set is also designed by a student. Hair and make up is also the vision of the designer and applied with some helping hands from local industry professionals. Ask anyone who works on this charity and they will tell you that they are proud to be a part of this event which has raised over $75.000.00 since it began for the children at Doernbechers Hospital. For more information about how you can help CLICK HERE.
To see more images from the BHS Doernbecher Fashion Show CLICK HERE.
Xtreme Senior Photos
Here are some of my newest X Series images. These students/athletes will all be Sam Barlow High School Seniors next year. The graduating class of 2012. Congratulations on your achievements! To see more images CLICK HERE.
Travel
Do you dream of traveling the world? I do! Can you imagine traveling and doing what you love? Photography… that is my passion and in two years when my youngest goes off to college and God willing, I will combine my love of photography with my dream of travel to shoot stock work. Keep your fingers crossed, this is all just theoretical of course at this point, but one needs to dream right?
This is one of my favorite models, my oldest daughter Jaclyn. The backdrop is Cabo San Lucus, Mexico. To see some snapshots click here.
This stunning vista is Positano Italy nestled in the cliffs along the Mediterranean coast. I was fortunate enough to land a photography assignment there and I can’t wait to go back! If you have photography work anywhere in the country or abroad….my bags are already packed give me a call! To see more snapshots from the Amalfi Coast click here.
Vince and Lindsay’s Engagement Photoshoot
After weeks of waiting for the rain to lift we finally got the perfect day to shoot these amazing spring images. Vincent and Lindsay chose to shoot their engagement photographs on the north end of the Portland Waterfront Promenade under the beautiful blooming cherry trees. Vince and Lindsay will be getting married in September at the Oregon Golf Club. To see the entire gallery click here.
A Pro’s Perspective
I have been a photographer for….well, a long time. Besides taking hundreds of thousands of pictures (yep you are reading that correctly) I have also taught college photography courses, mentored and interned several students a year. So it is safe to say that I get asked a lot of photography related questions. The most recent was from Samantha via email below. So now that I have joined the blogging community I have decided to use my new blog to host a question and answer session on occasion. It would be great if you would subscribe to my blog, like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to send me your questions or comments.
Hey Colleen!
Hope everything is going well with you!
I am putting my high school senior project photography skills to use next week and wanted some advice. I am doing some pictures for a baseball event that I am putting on for a little girl who has a very rare disease. I will have a whole baseball team (yay hot boys!) and a field to use however I want. Any suggestions on some shots I should get or any “poses” I could do? Trying to make them a little better than basic.
Thanks so much!
Samantha
Hey Sam,
Are you shooting the whole team together? If so, use the bleachers or the field near home plate and pose each guy doing something different around the fence and or dug out. Use a flash to fill in shadows on a sunny day if needed. B&W is always cool or shoot it in color and desaturate some areas. You can make it even better in post production using Photoshop. Shoot separate images of a ball and glove, bat, the logo on the jersey to incorporate in the final. If you have any other questions let me know. I have attached some examples of things I have done recently for some ideas.
Good luck, this is a very nice thing for you to do!
Colleen
Barlow High School Volleyball Poster is a combination of B&W, color & over saturation. Images of girls, B&W, desaturated and full color.
