So Many Moments Blog

When we found out we’re expecting a little 1/2 Sam + 1/2 Matthew baby to join us later this year, it was just a couple weeks before a trip to Florida. We decided to keep the big news to ourselves so we could tell our families in person. And what kind of photographers would we be if we didn’t take a photo of the moment?

We got landed about midnight, so Matt waited until the next morning before he asked my mom and brother to pose with me for a quick family photo. “1…2…3…CHEESE!” *click* “1…2…3…Sam is PREGNANT!” *click*

I love that we have my mother’s priceless jaw-dropped expression captured forever more! I tried to recreate the same magic when we crossed the the other coast to visit with Matt’s family, but Matt’s mom immediately rushed over to give me a big hug! It’s difficult to take photos of things occurring behind the camera. After drying some tears, we composed ourselves to take a funny little portrait all together to commemorate the occasion.

We couldn’t be more excited to embark on this next ERA of our lives together and to begin to grow our family.

And to my fabulous clients, this was carefully planned with you in mind. I wanted to be pregnant, but not TOO pregnant or too FRESHLY pregnant during the height of wedding season. This way, we’ll have our newborn during the slow winter months, and our little bundle will be ready to travel for our destination 2013 dates. Excited grandmothers have already volunteered babysitting help while we’re off shooting our weddings!

When we tell the visual story of a wedding day, we like the tell it from the perspective of the couple. Some photographers run around a lot trying to capture all the action of the guests and families, but I like to stay in close to my brides and grooms, to tell the story the way they experienced it. There’s an inherent intimacy in being so close, and documenting so much, of someone’s special day. It’s easy to see how the lines between ‘client’ and ‘friend’ can blur, and for me, it seems they always do.

I get so attached to my couples because I love being the person they trust to document their celebration. I like to know what DIY projects they’re planning, who their best friend is, what their grandmother’s name is, because on the day of the wedding I’m that much more in touch with their experience.

This season, it seems some of our closest friends are slipping on engagement rings and coming to us to be their photographers. Monday, my amazing friend Lesley came into the office to sign her contract and before I knew it, we had moved the coffee table the see if we still had the skills to somersault. Somersaults turned into lunch, and lunch turned into an afternoon at her place cutting paper hearts out of construction paper, and singing show-tunes to her dog. Of course, I couldn’t be more excited to photograph Lesley’s wedding. But, what I realized is I feel this excitement for every one of my weddings.

They’re all so different, but the intimacy is the same. I’m being chosen, from all of the photographers in the world, as the artist that MY couple’s want to be there on that day. And for me, there’s not greater honor in the world. To say I love my job just seems such a vast understatement.

Happy Halloween! Over the weekend, Matthew and I went to celebrate at a friend’s KILLER party “Dance ‘Till You’re Dead” and brought the So Many Moments photo booth along for the ride! We got to see so many fabulous costumes and dance our little hearts out when DJ Gray Matter hit the tables! Here are just a few funny stills from different strips, but you can see HUNDREDS more on the website or the facebook page. If you check out the gallery on SoManyMoments.com (under tab Halloween!) you can even order your favorite stills enlarged and printed up on fancy metallic paper!

Please remember our booth is available for rental, do I smell some extra fun at an upcoming holiday party? Check out how many Muppets fit into this one shot! I think they set a new record, even with those extra large heads!

The new So Many Moments Photo Booth is getting pumped up for an extravagant halloween party in a few weeks! To prepare, we gave the big booth a test run at NW ActivSpaces Courtyard 1st Thursday event last night. Everyone who came on in to take some photos had such great big smiles and fantastic attitudes! The new props were a hit too so, making it SO much fun to run!

Up top is my husband/2nd shooter extraordinaire Matthew with a few of his techs from Wired iRepair and down below I’m hanging out with the talented Krystle from Sugar Krystles Cupcakes *YUM*. And last but not least, a few of the lovely ladies from ActivSpaces: Shannon from Gigantic Gallery, Andrea from Little Things, and Maggie from Modern Love. We love the NW Portland ActivSpace community!

One of the absolute COOLEST parts of being a photographer is when you get to see your photographs actually being used. We found a lovely surprise in the mailbox today, a thank you card from a previous client who used one of our photos as the cover of the card. Super duper radtastic. Thanks again for having Matt and I take your wedding photos Amanda and John! *high five*

When we decided to leave Florida, we did a lot of research on the quality of life in different cities all over the country. We choose Portland for a huge number of reasons, but one that you can’t find in a statistics report for is the quality of the people. We’ve made so many lovely friends!

Also, we’ve really enjoyed the sense of community in our neighborhood, especially since Matt opened his iPhone repair store here. But, we never would have expected the surprise gift from our favorite bank branch! When Washington Mutual became Chase, and then wanted to start charging us for our account, we started hunting for a new place to store our shiny pennies and I’m so glad we did. Umpqua Bank has been the promised land of banking ever since!

We’ve been pretty pumped since we switched, and encouraged a few other friends in the hood to do the same. The staff is incredibly friendly and knows our names/businesses. Best of all, it doesn’t feel like a bank in there, they play cool music and give you chocolates! It’s made stopping in the bank an enjoyable experience. But, we never would have expected what showed up at the door this week.

Our bank SENT US FLOWERS! We found this beautiful arrangement (from local Sammy’s Flowers) with a very nice note congratulating us on our marriage, signed by all our favorites from the NW 23rd branch. Amazing! Now I just need to decide where to put them: the bedroom, or the living room? Decisions decisions….

Matthew & I are now officially a HUSBAND & WIFE team of wedding photographers!!! We are so excited! The experience of finally getting married ourselves has really given us a fresh perspective on the whole thing, and I feel so much more connected to what my brides are going through. We couldn’t be happier and our big day was absolutely a dream come true. Here’s our first photo from our talented friend and photographer Chris Martin. A big thanks to all of our friends, family, and other rad vendors (The Miller Farms Retreat & 10 Bridges Video especially!) who made our celebration possible! And now off to pack for a HONEYMOON! WOO!

I haven’t made one of these lists in a while, and seeing as May is such a super spectacular time of year, I figured I should share some of the things that I’ve loved about it thus far!

1.) The view of Portland from Pittock

2.) Using a Mercury Project stamp to mail my random pen pal

3.) Small dogs that like to hike large mountains

4.) Having enough quarters to do two loads of laundry

5.) Bluebird day snowboarding with friends

6.) Piggy Banks

7.) Being reminded of what’s important in the mornings

8.) Cherry blossom trees blooming EVERYWHERE!

9.) So Many Moment’s new custom DVD cases

10.) My adorable fiancé in the iPhone costume I made for Wired