I was so excited when I heard that the girls from the Dress of the Month club were planning a new dress — and that they wanted me to photograph it! Even cooler, their model this month is Eliza Sohn, a fellow photographer who sometimes photographs the girls’ monthly dress too. Check out the color oozing out of this spring-inspired shoot on a sunny beautiful Northwest day!

I was so excited when I showed up this glorious morning to see bright colored flowers and an amazing white frock perfect for springtime.

A collection of Eliza’s vintage cameras were just the icing on the cake.

I love her hair — the styling was done by Brianna at Wallflower Salon, who always rocks.

If this shoot doesn’t make you want to go frolic in a field of flowers, then I don’t know what to tell you. This is as springy as it gets.

Thanks, Dress of the Month ladies, for being so much fun to work with! I can’t wait to see what you come up with in April.

I never could make jewelry. I’m not very coordinated with the fine motor skills, and everything ended up a little bit marred by the end. But my friend Arwa is an inspiration, because she not only makes gorgeous handcrafted jewelry, she sells and markets it too. She’s the mastermind behind GemKitty, where you can design your own jewelry and she gets to do all the hard work.

Arwa is a little shy when it comes to the camera, but she was a great sport when I told her she’d have to be photographed to be on the blog. Isn’t she cute?

Not just cute, but stylish and super smart. Her business savvy is amazing, and she really gets what women want when it comes to jewelry. GemKitty is basically the perfect solution to the age-old question of what to get for bridesmaids. You can order from tons of raw materials and several different styles so that they all match a little, but each gives each bridesmaid her own individuality. Go to the site and check it out!

Thanks, Arwa, for being so cool and for posing patiently for me. I can’t wait until I get to photograph my first GemKitty bridal party!

Allison and Juan are the real deal. They’re nice, they’re successful and they both have really nice teeth. I met this fabulous Portland power couple a few weeks ago, and it was so fun to snag some photos of them together.

When you see her, you think he scored. When you see him, you think the opposite. I think they’ve both done pretty well for themselves.

These photos were taken on the roof of the new Indigo building in downtown Portland. It’s got a great view and a cool rooftop terrace that just happened to be rain-free on the day we were there.

Thanks, Allison and Juan, for being such fun to photograph and work with! And thanks to my dear friend Hannah, who introduced me to them.

I love hanging with girls. There’s a certain vibe in a room full of girls, and it’s loads of fun.

Although I’m a wedding photographer, I get to photograph some amazing projects from time to time that are non-wedding related and I usually really enjoy these projects. Last month, I had the opportunity to photograph a bunch of the fun girls from the Northwest Girlchoir in Seattle, and it was seriously so much fun.

The Northwest Girlchoir is a really cool group with more than 200 members, ranging from age four to eighteen. We got together with about 40 of these high-energy girls at the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park and had tons of fun, even though it was raining! All the girls brought bright-colored umbrellas, which was super fun for everyone.

My connection with the Northwest Girlchoir is Kristi, the sister of one of my brides from last summer. She and I worked on putting together a set of photos that would really set this group apart in the choir world. I’m really happy with how they came out — I feel like they really capture the energy and vibrance of this fun group.

The girls were having so much fun that soon, they were actually dancing in the rain.

Thanks, ladies, for being so much fun to photograph! I can’t wait to see you all sing one of these days!

Ahhh, Hannah and Matt. They’re our friends that we met in a bar, and some of our fave people to hang out with. They braved the cold a few weeks ago for some fun pictures in their neighborhood, in the SE Hawthorne district.

I love all the colorful things you can find in a walking-distance radius in just one neighborhood. Portland’s great for that.

Hannah and Matt are sweet and silly — I think that’s why I like them so much.

The above photo (on the right) was taken in the mirror of a vintage dresser just outside a vintage furniture store.

Thanks, Hannah and Matt, for the frozen yogurt and the fun! You guys are the best.

My new friend Elizabeth rocks. We met recently at an alumni event for our high school, and it’s crazy that we didn’t know each other before, because she and I totally click. Elizabeth has her own wedding coordination business, Elizabeth Ann Events. I talked with her recently for her two cents on wedding coordination and what she loves about her job.

“I loved planning my own wedding and I think weddings are such beautiful, mysterious events,” she told me. That’s what led her to wedding coordination, and she loves that they’re happy events with time-tested traditions and lots of excitement.

We met up at one of my new favorite Portland haunts, Lovejoy Bakers — I couldn’t help myself in there with all that yummy light. We had lots of fun.

Elizabeth’s advice on whether to hire a wedding coordinator is this: they can save you money and a whole lot of stress. “I can help brides find good vendors in a certain price range, as well as saving guests, the wedding party and parents a lot of heartache.”

Elizabeth wore these red shoes when we met — and on her own wedding day a couple of years ago! I knew we must have been kindred spirits, since I wore red shoes (reminiscent of Dorothy’s from The Wizard of Oz) on my own wedding day.

Elizabeth offers day-of wedding planning (the most popular choice), consultation plans and full-service wedding coordination. If you’re interested in working with someone I trust, feel free to get ahold of her through her Web site (click here). Thanks, Elizabeth, for being so classy and fun to photograph!

Alright, she’s lived here for awhile now, but it seemed fitting. My friend Andrea was my boss back in college — that’s how we met. She is a news producer now and recently moved to Portland. It’s been so fun getting to hang out again.

This week when we hung out, Andrea let me take her picture. She fed me this line like, “Oh well, I’m not very photogenic, but we’ll see!” which turned out to be nonsense, obviously.

This was a new place for me to shoot and I think I’ll use it in the future for some portrait sessions — but I’m not sharing! New places are hard to come by, and every photographer needs her secret spots.

I like that one because it’s Andrea with the Portland Streetcar behind her — Andrea meets the city of Portland!

This pink coat was a rescue, saved from a pile of donated clothes. I have to agree with Andrea — why would anyone want to get rid of it?

Thanks Andrea, for being such a fun friend! I had a blast on that windy, windy day with you. Not photogenic? Psssh.

When you work at weddings, you meet other people who work at weddings. That’s been a really fun part of this job. Way back in July, I met Annie after Stefanie and Marc’s wedding. We got together a couple of weeks ago to get some new photos for her, and they’re so fun!

Annie Chen is a floral designer and she owns her own company, called Floral Sunshine. She prides herself on being a versatile floral designer with really clean, modern designs. They’re unique, but they’re not too out there, she said, she loves working with challenging flowers like calla lilies as well as classic choices, like roses.

One of Annie’s favorite things is when brides let her decide about which flowers to use. “It’s less restrictive, and it gives me the opportunity to use fresher flowers.” However, she said she’s very good at tracking down specific flowers if a bride knows what she wants.

One of the benefits she sees to using an independent floral designer versus a retail floral shop is that brides know exactly who is making their bouquets and centerpieces. “When you use a floral designer, you pay for the benefit of a designer’s touch,” she said. “But with me, the difference is that they’re not paying as much.”

Annie is looking forward to another wedding season on the horizon, and said she can’t wait to hear from couples getting married in 2010. To contact Annie, visit her Web site or call her at 503.706.6286.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my baby sister. This week we had some fun on one of those beautiful, crisp (alright, it was freezing cold) days taking a few new photos for her.

That’s my yellow hat, and maybe my favorite thing I own right now. It keeps my ears warm.

Thanks Em, as usual, for being the best guinea pig ever.

Alright, truth be told, she’s not a bride at all. But she might be one of these days. Kelly is a fellow photographer and she put on her indie-bride best for a fun shoot.

Look at that saucy red hair!

Kelly is actually just as fun in person as she looks in these pictures. Maybe even more fun.

Thanks Kelly, for being such a great sport and for putting on the charm!