Weddings, Elopements and Portraits for the Adventurous at Heart

Comeback Kid/Culture Abuse/To The Wind @ Real Art Tacoma – Tacoma Music Photographer

Sunday, April 24, 2016

I wasn’t able to catch the beginning of this show due to running late after work. The full lineup was Blunt Force, Erode, To The Wind, Culture Abuse and Comeback Kid.

This was a great show. Real Art is working to get larger tour packages to come through Tacoma. And with recent success with a sold out show featuring Red Fang, Sandrider and local supporters Ex-God, and a pretty solid crowd at the 4/20 show (the one featured here), I am almost certain we will start to see more and more awesome shows at Real Art in the near future.

As always it was awesome to see my pals in To The Wind play and I was blown away by Culture Abuse’s set. I think it’s been close to 10 years since I last saw Comeback Kid live. I was searching through my hard drives and my old prints to try and find a photo I took of them back in 2005 (I think). But alas, it was never found.

I shot this show with a mix of my two favorite prime lenses, the Sigma 35mm Art 1.4 and the Nikon 50mm 1.8D.

comeback-kid-culture-abuse-to-the-wind-real-art-tacoma-seattle-music-photographer-1-of-48(pp_w480_h320) Comeback Kid/Culture Abuse/To The Wind @ Real Art Tacoma - Tacoma Music Photographer Music

comeback-kid-culture-abuse-to-the-wind-real-art-tacoma-seattle-music-photographer-4-of-48(pp_w480_h320) Comeback Kid/Culture Abuse/To The Wind @ Real Art Tacoma - Tacoma Music Photographer Music

comeback-kid-culture-abuse-to-the-wind-real-art-tacoma-seattle-music-photographer-3-of-48(pp_w480_h320) Comeback Kid/Culture Abuse/To The Wind @ Real Art Tacoma - Tacoma Music Photographer Music

comeback-kid-culture-abuse-to-the-wind-real-art-tacoma-seattle-music-photographer-5-of-48(pp_w480_h320) Comeback Kid/Culture Abuse/To The Wind @ Real Art Tacoma - Tacoma Music Photographer Music

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Columbia Gorge Engagement Inspiration – Lauren + John

Friday, April 8, 2016

I love when a shoot comes together flawlessly. When you have a vision and then it becomes reality. I also love getting to explore new locations and having an excuse to make a day trip. Any reason to get out of the city and disconnect is always welcomed. Our destination was the Columbia River Gorge, specifically Angels Rest. Located roughly 40 minutes away from Portland, OR on the scenic highway that runs alongside the Columbia River. After a 2.3 mile climb and a 1500′ elevation gain we made it to the top and scouted our locations. We had time to kill but that was good since there was a significant amount of hikers in the area that I wanted to wait for them to clear out before we got to shooting.

This engagement session is probably a little over due since John and Lauren have been married for quite some time. But after meeting Lauren recently I knew that the two of them would be an awesome couple to work with. I could tell they had the energy I love to work with on my engagement and couples sessions. It can be quite hard to enjoy the moment with your significant other when there’s a camera pointed at your face, but some how these two managed to ignore me enough to show some true expression and give me the look I was hoping for.

Once we had the light I wanted we got to work. And like I said before, these two made this shoot easy. It’s not a simple task to be intimate and playful on top of a mountain with my camera lens pointing at you. If you can move past the distraction and get lost in the moment then we have struck gold.

I’m in love with this set and I’m very excited to share it with you, take a look and enjoy! Leave a comment, share with your friends or pin this post or your favorite shots to your Pinterest!

And thank you to my partner Alicia for always giving me a hand with gear and helping me out when I need it!

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Marshall – Downtown Tacoma Portrait Session

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

You know those people you “meet” online that seem to know a lot of people you know, go to places you frequent and almost seem like you’re acquainted with in the real world? (or meat space as I like to call it).

Marshall is one of those people. I’ve been following him on Instagram for quite some time and like his pics when they come up in my feed, maybe leave a comment if something strikes a chord with me. But we’ve never met. I wanted to change that and I reached out to him to schedule a lifestyle photoshoot. I had an idea in my head and I thought he would be a good fit.

Marshall and I met up in Downtown Tacoma late in the day on a gorgeous Friday afternoon. We had to shoot quickly because the sun drops below the big hill in Tacoma pretty early and casts downtown in shadow. I love this area of town because it has so much grit and texture. Tacoma is a very historic city so there are many old buildings with really interesting signs and old advertisements as well as an overall non-modernized look.

Take a look at what we came away with from this shoot!

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Cape Kiwanda and the Oregon Coast – Tacoma Travel Photographer

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

I’m a sucker for road trips. I love getting away from my usual grind for just a few days or even a single day. I think we are all somewhat nomadic by nature, we aren’t meant to stare at the same things every day. We all need time away from familiarity to reacquaint ourselves with the world we live in. It’s something that centers you. And it’s fun too of course!

The first weekend of the new year (2016) my good bud Jorgen and I made plans for travel. We drove down the coast to Manzanita, OR from Tacoma at night so we could camp in my car and get out and shoot early. When we arrived in Manzanita it was a clear night but it was damn cold, we relaxed a bit and unwound from the drive before crashing for the night so we could catch crucial Zzzz’s. I took a photo of the stars and used a flashlight to light up Jorg and our campsite before we went to bed.

We rose early, around 5am and got ready to hit the road and get down to Pacific City. The main purpose of this trip was to get to shoot around Cape Kiwanda. Neither of us had been before so we were pretty pumped to get to explore. After scoring some coffee at a local espresso shack in Manzanita we got on the highway and made our way down the coast. We passed through Tillamook and the Cheese Factory and got to see the beautiful countryside just a little ways inland from the Pacific Ocean. The light was gorgeous as the Sun was slowly waking up. We made a pit stop in a small town and caught some of the first light on the Coast. The sky and the reflections in the water slowly absorbing into the sand was pretty breath taking, blues and pink tones stretched across the beach and dissipating into the surf.

Upon arrival in Pacific City we quickly made our way atop the dunes and got to exploring. The sheer magnitude of the dunes around the Cape is staggering. The biggest dune has to be well over 100′ above sea level and it has trees growing on top of it. Once we got onto the more rocky areas of the Cape we got a panoramic view of the Ocean and the beach and the massive seastack emerging from the Ocean before us. The colors out here were unreal, vibrant desert tones clashing with brilliant blues from the water. We spent a few hours checking out the location before getting back in the car and heading back North with stops in Cannon Beach and Astoria.

I’ve been coming to the Oregon coast since I was just a kid and it’s always held a very special place in my heart. I’ll keep coming back and I’ll keep exploring all of it’s wonders.