We recently had the privilege of covering some of the events of the NetIP 2010 Conference which was held in Seattle. NetIP stands for “Network of Indian Professionals”, and it is an organization that brings together South Asian professionals and empowers them to explore their heritage yet move beyond their traditional boundaries. What a great and inspiring group of people! We joined them for the Friday night conference kick-off party at the Seattle Aquarium with our photo booth and also took some photos of all the fun. On Saturday night we stopped in again to cover a portion of their beautiful conference Gala held at the Grand Hyatt in Downtown Seattle. Here’s just a peek at some of the images we captured. Thanks for involving us NetIP!

Check out this little gem of a location in Sumner, Washington! It’s a beautiful property for wedding celebrations, and I had the privilege of touring it with a couple whose wedding we’ll be covering there in April 2011. This venue has such versatile spaces for all types of weddings. The house is charming and has several large rooms for getting ready and some for wedding festivities, as well as two beautiful outdoor arbors. I especially loved all the walkways and tucked away areas amidst all the green and lush foliage. A photographer’s dream! This venue has a definite elegance and practical appeal for brides. I can’t wait to shoot the wedding there next spring! For more info about Laurel Creek Manor, check out their website.

Hi friends! I was doing so well with staying on top of my blog posts, but these last two weeks have been super full of great stuff, and I’m a bit behind. Happens to the best of us, I guess!

I did want to share the highlights from Aja & Chris’ Salish Lodge Wedding from last month, and give proper credit to all the amazing professionals who made this event great. I love seeing how events come together as a fusion of each person’s unique talents, and I was really honored to be of Aja & Chris’ celebration. The wedding was coordinated by Ashley Mitchell of Events Extraordinaire, Flowers by Miki Maxey of Miki’s Flowers, Cake by Bart of Creme de la Creme, DJ by Danny of WASound, Ice Luge by Janson of Amazing Ice Sculptures, Hair/Makeup by Salon Maison, and the ceremony was officiated by Rev. Mary Calhoun. Thanks again Aja & Chris for trusting us with your memories!

Talk about a mountain of fun! Last night we had the privilege of photographing this concert held at Eastlake Church featuring the Kirkland cover band The Herding Cats. In all honesty, I hadn’t heard of them before Eastlake started advertising this benefit concert event, and I didn’t know what to expect, but this was one rockin’ event! The Herding Cats were simply amazing, and it was clear everyone was enjoying themselves very much! We are totally excited to be involved in this cause because 1) we really believe in Charity: Water’s mission, 2) Eastlake is an amazing church to be involved in, and 3) the generosity of everyone involved completely blows me away. The Herding Cats Benefit Concert campaign has already raised over $140,000 for clean-water wells around the world, and last I heard, they’re still counting! People continue to give generously to this important cause. Can you believe the original goal was to raise $25,000? Then $50,000? Silly goals! I’m amazed at the generosity! Check out the campaign page if you’d like to make a donation, and if you’d like to join us at Eastlake for a Sunday service, we’d love to have you!

Three weeks ago I had the privilege of photographing Aja & Chris’ wedding at Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie. Here is a sneak peek at their preliminary wedding album layout that tells the story of their wedding day festivities and details. Their full gallery of images will be available sometime next week, but until then, enjoy this pre-designed album! Chris & Aja will have an opportunity to make any requested changes before we finalize and personalize the design of each page and send it to our album supplier to be masterfully created.

Just wanted to share a few favorites from a recent session with this adorable family! It was a cool and foggy morning at Carkeek Park, but even with the absence of the sun, I think it was great! These energetic boys were delightful. It is fun to watch how brothers interact and alternate from playing together and picking on each other. As my youngest brother used to tell me years ago, “It’s a brother thing.” Cute!

Here’s a peek at a beautiful wedding location nestled away in Snohomish. Twin Willow Gardens is a terrific property that offers a lot of flexibility to design your event in a unique way. The gardens and grounds have been carefully planned and tended by passionate venue owners Richard & Jessica Likes, and their love for this venue shows! During our tour, we scoped out the different areas they typically set up ceremonies and there are quite a few options! As a wedding photographer, I certainly appreciate the great lengths they’ve gone to in order to make the whole venue picture perfect for every bride. If you’re interested in learning more about how to book Twin Willow Gardens for an event, visit their website! If you’re looking for other great Snohomish area wedding professionals, I also recommend checking out the Snohomish Wedding Guild as well!

You may have heard in our last email newsletter that we are now offering free downloads for all weddings and events we photograph. If you didn’t receive our last email newsletter, you can sign up to receive our next one in September!

We’ve received a few questions about this exciting new offer, so hopefully we can answer all your questions about them right here. If you have further questions or want to know more about our wedding photography prices and offerings, please connect with us!

Do you offer free downloads of all the images from an event or just a small selection of pictures? We offer free downloads of every image we deliver to our clients in their online wedding gallery. Every image is free and is optimized for use on the internet and includes our studio watermark.

Are there restrictions regarding how to use or display the freely downloaded images? First, you’re welcome to share the images wherever you like. Email them. Blog them. Put them on Facebook or any of your social networking sites! We do ask that you refrain from altering the image in any way including cropping out our studio watermark. It’s the honor system, but we sure appreciate those who follow the rules! We also ask that clients do not print the freely downloaded images. You can try, but the files are optimized for use online, not for printing, so you will probably not be pleased with the results!

If I purchase a high resolution image file, will it have the studio watermark on it? No, we do not watermark the high-res files and you’re welcome to reproduce the image any way you like.

Is it true that you are no longer offering paper prints for sale to wedding clients? Yes, this is true. We do gladly fulfill custom orders for large wall prints of archival quality for clients who request that of us, but to best serve you and offer you the best value for your money, we think its best for you to purchase the high-resolution download and make prints for yourself at your favorite photo lab.

Why have you made this change? We want to be as helpful to our wedding clients as possible, and what could be easier than sending your guests to your online wedding gallery to download all their favorite wedding pictures…for free! More people get to enjoy your professionally created wedding images, you don’t have to lift a finger, and no one has to pay astronomical prices for a single 5×7 print from your event. We also believe the industry is moving toward an attitude of image sharing, and we love sharing!

If you’ve ever wanted to make a difference in the world, here’s an opportunity that should not be missed. Charity: Water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. We are eager to support this cause, and encourage you to look into it also! Spend even a few minutes on Charity: Water’s website and you’ll understand how important and how urgent water needs are around the world.

This coming Friday, August 6, 2010, Eastlake Church is hosting a one-of-a-kind benefit concert featuring cover band The Herding Cats in support of Charity: Water. Check out Eastlake’s website for all the event details. We have donated large prints of the following images for a silent auction during the event, and we’d love for you to join the fun and bid on an item. 100% of the proceeds from the ticket sales and silent auction go directly to fund water projects in needy areas around the world.

Clear your schedule and make plans to be there. Invite your friends too! It will be the biggest party of the Summer!

What happens when you get a beautiful girl in a show-stopping dress…with flowers and an amazing bellevue location that will make you leap out of your chair? Well, see below!  I’m seriously so excited about the results from this photo shoot, which came about as a collaborative effort between quite a few Seattle area wedding professionals, all of whom made my job extremely easy.

Look at this girl! What a beauty! Her name is Stephanie, and you wouldn’t know it from looking, but she’s actually not a professional model–just a beautiful Hawaiian girl who agreed to be our bride for the day. The gown she’s wearing was loaned to us for the shoot by Victoria’s Bridal, and the amazing vintage jewelry she has on is from florist Victoria Graceson’s personal jewelry collection. Alysha of Makeup by Alysha completed Stephanie’s look with her usual awesomeness. We’ve worked together several times now, and I continue to be impressed by Alysha’s work and heart. Thanks for lending your talent, Alysha!

The credit for the concept and coordination of this shoot goes to Rebecca Bradley Grant of New Creations Weddings, and she’s also to be thanked for standing in as my assistant as well! Rebecca lived in Hawaii for many years, and specializes in Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino weddings, hence the tropical theme of this shoot.

As for these incredible floral arrangements, please, just pause for a second and be amazed! Vicky of Victoria Graceson Flowers designed these incredible pieces, and I could not have been more impressed and inspired while photographing these flowers. Thanks to everyone who made this happen!