Portrait of the model Serenity in Portland, OR

Serenity in Black and White

May 7, 2023

I recently created some new portraits with a Portland, OR model named Serenity. For these images, I wanted to create melancholic, pensive, independent, and romantic images that might look suitable for an imaginary perfume ad. We incorporated the…

Life coach posing with his dog in a kitchen

It's A Wonderful Life Coach

August 15, 2022

Dave Cesana is a life coach from Portland, OR, and he recently contacted me because he needed both a custom website and personal-branding photography for his business. In the past, I would have been able to just take care of the photography part, but…

Composite of many images with the Model Annika in industrial SE Portland, OR

The Sum Is Greater Than The Parts

September 19, 2021

This summer I’ve been working on my portfolio a lot, trying to push my work in a new direction. I’ve been coming up with shoot themes that are specifically designed to get me out of my comfort-zone. It’s just too easy to just go with what you know…

Model in looking into the distance with a pure blue sky in the background in Portland, OR

Sunshine Drama

July 17, 2021

Lately while shooting portraits I’ve been trying to come up with little challenges because it’s too easy to shoot the same way and go with what’s comfortable. Approaching photography (or anything) with a specific set of limitations/parameters is…

Model posing at Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, OR

People Again!

June 10, 2021

I have to say, it feels like a breath of fresh air to be able to do some ‘normal-life’ things again. Aside from a handful of professional headshot sessions where I was masked up and using a telephoto lens, I haven’t really been able to do many in…

Facetime portrait during the Covid-19 quarantine

FaceTime Photo Shoot: Tatiana

May 8, 2020

Here’s another recent FaceTime photo shoot with a model named Tatiana. We spent a couple hours creating photos in and around her home on a sunny spring day while in quarantine. I got a wide variety of images during this session and really enjoyed the…

Facetime portrait during the Covid-19 quarantine

FaceTime Photo Shoot: Madeline

May 1, 2020

Here’s some new work from my recent FaceTime photo shoot with my friend Madeline. In the last year, we’ve been collaborating on shoots every few months, so it was nice that quarantine didn’t stop us this time around. This was also my second shoot…

Facetime portraits of Emily during the Covid-19 quarantine

FaceTime Photo Shoot: Emily

April 21, 2020

I know photography certainly isn't a priority during the Covid-19 crisis, but creating is an effective way for me to keep a positive attitude during all this. I recently got inspired when I saw the photographer Allesio Albi collaborate with models by…

Grungy image of a girl guitar player

Make Believe It's the 90's

December 31, 2019

Remember when you used to play make believe as a kid? Cops and robbers was one of my favorites. And then there was, “the ground is hot lava.” Why did we stop pretending as adults? Lately, I’ve been trying get back into fiction by inventing narratives…

Portrait of a model sitting on a couch with old hollywood lighting style

Old Hollywood Glamour Portraits in 10 minutes

December 19, 2019

Recently I attended a photography event hosted by Let’s Collab PDX, a Portland, OR photography meetup. The theme of this meetup was old Hollywood glamour, which I was thrilled about because I absolutely love portraits of movie stars from the 40’s, 50…

Portrait of the artist Quinn Curnow

Psychedelic My Little Pony

October 14, 2019

This summer I created some artist portraits and product photography for my partner, Quinn. She’s an artist who has been making hand-made earrings for a while now, but recently wanted to put her jewelry creations on her website. She also wanted an…

Model posing with an umbrella in Portland, OR

Letting Go (Part 2): PDX Squared 2019 Photo Contest

June 5, 2019

There’s that umbrella again. This is from my other portrait session during the 2019 PDX Squared Photography Contest with a model named Annika. We collaborated on some portraits a number of months ago, so it was really cool to work together again. It…

Model walking at night with moody lighting

Letting Go: PDX Squared 2019 Photo Contest

May 31, 2019

I recently participated in a photography contest called PDX Squared in Portland, Oregon. 100 photographers were assigned to a random location in town and had 24 hours to shoot, edit, and submit their entries. There were a number of categories in the…

Model posing in front of a window

In a Modest House: Portraits of Tori

March 8, 2019

Here’s some new work from a portrait photography session I did at my house with a Portland model named Tori. She has a very active modeling career in the Portland area and beyond, and she was really great to work with. For this shoot I thought, how…

Model posing in front of graffiti in Portland, OR

Go Where you Know: Portraits of Alexandra

February 13, 2019

Here’s another recent shoot I did with a model named Alexandra. We met in industrial S.E. Portland, which is a location I keep returning to for portrait shoots. However, this part of town is changing fast. All the grungy industrial building facades…

Model posing in front of the Portland skyline

Portraits in the Pearl

February 7, 2019

Hello! It’s been a while… Here’s some new work from a portrait shoot I did in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon with a model named Aubrey. I’ve been doing quite a few sessions lately with local models, so I thought it would be fun to try…

Diptych of male and female professional headshots

Professional Headshots: What to Wear

September 27, 2018

The clothing you wear for your professional headshots can easily elevate or detract from your portrait. So, what to wear? “Should I wear my zebra-striped blazer, or should I wear my neon golf shirt with a popped collar?” Uh…….so glad you ran that one…

Senior portraits with Noah in S.E. Portland

Senior Portraits with Noah: S.E. Portland

September 18, 2018

Hi all, I want to share my first official senior portraits I did recently with a young man named Noah in S.E. Portland. My last blog post was about a senior portrait test shoot I did with my cousin to get all the details worked out. This time, it was…

Senior pictures of Kristeen at Peninsula Park in Portland, OR

Senior Pictures at Peninsula Park with Kristeen

September 11, 2018

It's that time of year...senior pictures! I want to share a recent session I did at Peninsula park in Portland, OR with my cousin Kristeen. This park is one of my favorite locations to shoot at in all of Portland. Even though it's well-known in the…

Professional headshot of Tony in Portland, OR

Headshot Session: Tony

June 27, 2018

I put a call out recently so I could test my headshot setup in the studio. I've mostly been doing on-location work outdoors, so this was a nice change of pace. Tony answered the call, and here are the results. After Tony arrived, we chatted a bit and…

Taking a selfie with a selfie stick

Never Trust a Photographer Who Won't Get in Front of the Camera

June 11, 2018

Last month, I did a bunch of headshot sessions for some folks in Portland. Photographing all these people made me realize I needed a profile pic update for myself as well. At the very least, it would be a good reminder what it's like to be on the…

Professional headshot of Preston in Portland, OR

Headshot Session: Preston

May 25, 2018

Here's a recent headshot session I did with Preston near Belmont St. in Portland, OR. He told me he wanted some new professional pics for his LinkedIn profile. We got these, and much more! Starting out on a variety of simple backgrounds: Let's…

Professional headshot of Hanna in Portland, OR

Headshot Session: Hanna

May 24, 2018

I recently did a headshot session with Hanna on Alberta St. in Portland, OR. This is one of the most photogenic places in town, if you ask me. There are amazing murals, graffiti, and all sorts of other street art. There's also a lot of clean…