In the week leading up to our shoot, I was watching the weather to see what kind of conditions we might have. The forecast was for mostly sunny skies with a small chance of snow later in the day. Whether we had sun or snow flurries, I knew we would have a fun time. I showed up early with sunny skies and scoped out some possible locations and noted the lighting conditions. By the time Kim and Scott arrived, the sky had become completely grey and snow was beginning to fall. The downside was that all of the beautiful late-day golden winter light was gone. The upside was that the cloud cover creates a nice soft light that is both flattering and potentially easier to work with, and besides I like snow. We started off slowly and by the end of the session Kim and Scott were having fun and smiling more spontaneously and maybe even forgetting, even if  just for a moment, that I was there with a camera.

Although I have a wide range of photographic skills and interests, shooting these properties has been a great new challenge for me to really hone my skills in this area. It is very rewarding to finish one of these shoots and to see how the photos can highlight the features of a given property. Of course, I am also very fortunate to have been able to photograph some amazing properties. I am happy to say that the first property I shot (which had been on the market for two years previously with another agent) had an offer within 11 days of listing. With a prime location on Camas Meadows and a view from the deck like this, who would not want to live there?

My second property was this home on Icicle Road, which had multiple offers in just over a month. The house sold for the full asking price ($799,000) and was the second highest selling property to date in Leavenworth in 2011.

While I cannot take all of the credit, Geordie works very hard and is good at what he does, the importance of compelling images is clear because good images, even of a less spectacular properties, will draw more interest from potential clients and will result in more showings and more potential buyers for a home. My most recent work included two more amazing homes, one on highway 2 near Lake Wenatchee and Stevens Pass and another home on Icicle Road with prime riverfront property on Icicle Creek. If I had the money I would buy both. The Stevens Pass timber frame home for its land, waterfall views and close proximity to skiing at Stevens Pass

and the Icicle Road property for the river setting and close proximity to hiking in the Enchantments and rock climbing in the Icicle Canyon. Which one would you buy?

Ironically, one of the more challenging homes to photograph was this nice little cabin in the Ponderosa Estates neighborhood.

Smaller spaces and the lack of majestic architecture don’t make my job easier. However, I was really proud of the results because I feel like I was able to capture the simple functionality and charm of a smaller cabin. Full listings for the properties can be seen by following the above links. A random assortment of some of my other favorites may be found below.

I had a lot of fun capturing photos of the bands in action. Concert photography can be challenging when working in low light conditions, with dynamic movements and ever-changing lighting. Of all of the types of photography I’ve done, I think I have the lowest percentage of “keepers” when photographing concerts. It is all worth it though when you get those shots that capture the essence of an individual performer or the band as a whole. Some of my personal favorite photos from the night are included below.

• Available with luxurious leather or linen covers- Leather albums are more durable with hard pages and premium-quality full-grain leather covers. Linen books are lighter with more flexible pages.
• Pages are archival quality with true photographic printing on Fuji Crystal Archive photo paper. Less expensive, lower quality albums are press printed like books.
• Photos can be printed all the way to the edge of the page, including full 2-page spreads.
• Lay flat bindings with no cut at the seam allow for large, uninterrupted spreads with no gutter like on traditionally-bound albums.
• Continuous, accordion binding design won’t crack or come apart like glued or sewn bindings.
• Included cloth dust covers shield and protect your keepsake albums.
• Available in 4 sizes – 4×4″, 8×8″, 10×10″, 12×12″ – and 7 colors

These wedding albums are heirloom-quality, built with only the finest quality materials and construction, and will last for generations to come. Personally designed albums are included in all of my full-day wedding packages. As a wedding photographer, putting these albums together and telling the story of a couple’s wedding day, is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. I can’t think of a better way for a couple to document and share their wedding memories.

The sample album photos below are from two weddings I photographed in 2010. The black 12×12 linen album is from a wedding on the coast of Maine. The informal outdoor ceremony overlooked the town and harbor of Camden from the summit of nearby Mount Battie in the Camden Hills State Park. The 10×10 white leather album is from a wedding at the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth, Washington, one of my favorite local central Washington wedding locations. Both sample albums have about 10-12 spreads (each spread is 2 pages). Albums can be designed with a maximum of 40 spreads (80 pages), which makes for a seriously solid book if you get one of these in leather! The black and white fabric seen in some of the photos is one of the included dust covers. Contact me if you’d like to have a look at my samples. I love to show them off.

We recently welcomed our first child into the world, a boy named Cedar. I will spare you the birth photos but will not hold back on some newborn baby photos. The following were taken at 6 days old. He is quite handsome if I do say so myself.

After returning to my car I spent the rest of the day doing short hikes in the park. My last stop was at Paradise, the main tourist center on the south side of the mountain. A network of paved trails leave the parking lot and then turn to gravel as they head up towards the Muir Snowfield and the main climbing route up the mountain. I took one of the less traveled trails and had a surprising amount of solitude on my hike up to Panorama Point. I was not inspired to take many photos until, ironically, I was nearly back to the car. I turned around and took a number of photos not more than 50 feet from the parking lot and, as a result, captured a scene that countless millions of tourists before me have captured as well. There is really nothing remarkable about this composition but it has meaning to me since it was such a “picture perfect” day and the colors were truly brilliant.