Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.

This has been an amazing year for me, and I thank each and every one of you who have been a part of that.

Special thoughts today go out to:

Holly—my loving, brilliant, charming, kind (and yes, a little crazy) girlfriend. One year ago, I only hoped someone like you existed. Now I know that not only do you exist, but you were praying to find me as much as I was praying to find you.

Brenda—my world would be a different place without you and your family in it, and it would be a world that I didn’t want to be in. I am so incredibly thankful for your friendship, support, caring, understanding, humor, children, husband, thoughts and laugh. You wake up every day and try so hard to do the very best you can do, and that inspires me more than you’ll ever know.

Jonathon—I love you, you little lesbian.

And, perhaps most importantly, Harper Hanson—Puppyman, I had no idea that I was a dog person until I met you. You have taught me patience, compassion, the art of counting to 10, the importance of peanut butter, a deep appreciation for riding in cars, the occasional need to unload my anxiety on hapless strangers who knock on the door and a deep fondness for being smothered in sloppy, wet kisses. Thanks for making my year so fun and puppyful. Mama Molly LOVES YOU!

Happy/Merry [Whatever], everyone.

One of my favorite things about having a relaxed style of portraiture is that I get these moments that, for a lot of photographers, would be “outtakes” and yet for me are the real and beautiful moments that make a person who they are. Good portraits don’t require the subject to be looking at the camera, or even to be in focus. Sometimes those elements are important, but I love the split second that someone lets their guard down because it often speaks more to who they are:

Favorite!

This girl is UP TO SOMETHING.

Redmond, WA: Last weekend, I did some headshots of Christine Allard, a branding and marketing expert in Seattle, for her upcoming speaking and teaching engagements. I replied to her posting on Craigslist, looking for a photographer. When she let me know that I made her “short list,” I went to check out her website and KNEW we would get along. She’s done work for some amazing companies and organizations, including the National Organization for Women (NOW). Ballsy, bright and bubbly, I knew immediately that Christine was a woman I wanted to know.

For Christine’s portraits, I followed my typical approach to studio photos. I keep my studio set ups simple because my goal is to capture the person’s personality instead of just a record of how they looked on the day we took photos. I like to think of this as a “character” approach to photography, since I’m trying to capture more than their physical details; I’m trying to capture the essence of the person in front of me.

To enhance these character studies, I’ve been experimenting more with my post-processing lately and achieving some kinda funky effects. One of the things I’m enjoying is being able to totally change the mood of an image with a few key strokes and mouse clicks. Especially with my portraiture, which I tend to keep fairly simple in terms of studio set up and lighting, I like how much I can change an image in post to create very different images even when the photos were taken only seconds apart from each other.

Some critics of involved post-processing argue that too much Photoshop work is just masking bad photography. While I think that is sometimes (perhaps even OFTEN) the case, I also think it can be used creatively to help tell a story or change the mood or just to experiment and learn. I’m still figuring out what I like and what I don’t like about the new things I am learning how to do…what do you think? What’s working for you? What isn’t?

Christine, it was wonderful working with you! If any of you blog-stalkers noticed Christine’s amazing make-up, check the blog soon for some exciting announcements about package upgrades I have in store for 2008…

My backyard declared a statewide emergency!

Okay, so it’s not my backyard in the strictest sense, but Woodinville is not even 10 miles from our house. Holly works in Woodinville, and had to leave the office around noon yesterday because firemen came and evacuated them from the building.

This is a view from that building yesterday, taken with Holly’s camera phone:

And this was the view from my old office in that building last August, taken with my iPhone:

We’re fine, the pets are fine, no problems here so far. We live midway up a hill—and Redmond in general has been pretty un-touched so far—so we’re not too worried about flooding. Lots of people haven’t been so lucky, though. If you’re inclined and able, please consider a donation to the Seattle Red Cross to help support the work they’re doing to help flood victims.

As an aside, if you’re wondering how the iPhone photo quality compares to that of regular camera phones, this is a pretty darn good example!

Gotta love that slow shutter speed!

Up, up and away!

Can you tell it was a windy day at Greenlake?

I’ve been really loving the opportunities I’ve had lately to photograph families (and people) with their pets! I really hope more of my clients decide to include pets in their photos! (Hint, hint!) Shaq certainly enjoyed himself…

This was my first time photographing a family at Greenlake, and I’m SO glad that Leslie suggested the location. There were lots of little picturesque spots to take photos; I’ll definitely be keeping this one in mine for future photos. I’d stayed away from it in the past because it’s often so crowded, but once you move off the trail it’s very open.

This girl should go into modeling. Seriously! Talk about adorable.

Okay, let’s be honest…this whole FAMILY should go into modeling!

Favorite!

No, wait, maybe this is my favorite…

No, this one! This one is definitely my favorite…

Alright, fine, they’re all my favorites. How on earth am I supposed to pick ONE?

Seattle, WA: Leslie is one of my girlfriend’s co-workers, and immediately thought of me when it was time for their family photos this year. She really wanted some photos with the family dog (Shaq), because he’s getting up there in dog years…though from his energy, you would never guess it! Shaq kept us on our toes all afternoon. Leslie suggested Greenlake Park, and I’ll admit—I was a little nervous about the location at first because Greenlake is usually SO busy. It was a pretty chilly day when we were there, though, so we lucked out! Leslie, Lamar and Linai were an incredibly fun family to photograph, coming up with ideas like climbing trees for their pictures! How much fun is that? The whole family is very active; Linai (the daughter) just finished her first 5K walk last weekend. Talk about impressive! Shaq wasn’t the only one keeping ME on my toes.

Leslie, Lamar and Linai—thanks for such a fun afternoon!

Click here for the slideshow

Click here for the online proofing/ordering gallery

I try to avoid making posts that are strictly personal…but I couldn’t resist. Which season do you think Harper likes better?

Fall…

…or Winter?

Hmm, tough call! Talk about appropriate weather for the first day of December. I think Harper is less excited about it than I am.