Seattle Wedding Photographer

Brittney + Kenny | Engagement

Kip — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:40:09 +0000

Yesterday I had the pleasure of heading out to the Olympic Peninsula with Kristen Tourtillotte on the most amazing, bluebird winter/spring day for an engagement session with her clients Brittney and Kenny. The ferry ride was nothing short of beautiful and we immediately traveled to the quaint historic town of Port Gamble.

For the most part I watched Kristen work her magic, but did manage to get a few frames worth showing. You are going to DIE when you see the frames she made of Brittney in a friends perfectly restored Bel Air. Thank you so much for letting me tag along.

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Kramer | Senior Portraits

Kip — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:13:24 +0000

We spent some time at the Olympic Sculpture Park and in the Cascade neighborhood of Seattle. Kramer is the coolest, most chill and dang handsome guy out there, no?

CONTEST!! If Kramer can get 30 unique comments on this blog post, he and his family will get a FREE 11×14 mounted print of their choice! Help ‘em out and show your love by dropping off a comment

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Natalie + Robert | Wedding

Kip — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:35:06 +0000

I was blessed to get to spend the day with Natalie, Robert and their loving friends and family. And we were très fortunate to have avoided the rain for the ceremony!

Getting Ready: Alexis Hotel

Ceremony: Anchor/Luna Park

Reception: Alki Bathhouse

Bridal Boutique: I Do Bridal

Dress: Sandrina by Maggie Sottero

Shoes: Nina

Hair Stylist: Kellianne for Vain Salon

Make-Up Artist: Belinda for Vain Salon

Floral Designer: Natalie’s Mom! Helena Snyder and family friend Leslie Moore

Cake Artist: Trophy Cupcakes

Music: Raul Sedano

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My Muse

Kip — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:30:36 +0000

It was because of this little girl that I picked up a camera a little over four years ago. Here’s to the great loves of my life…

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Sean Flanigan Workshop

Kip — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:55:56 +0000

On 2/23/10 I had the opportunity to be one of the attendees for the inaugural Sean Flanigan Workshop, a.k.a The Flanishop, in Sean’s hometown of Tacoma, WA. Joining me were about 20 other seriously talented photographers and truly wonderful people from all over the country and various parts of Canada.

The workshop kicked-off in a familiar fashion with a meet and greet dinner the night before where we could start to get to know some of the new faces and stories while connecting with those that were already familiar. Right from the get go there was something unique about this group of people, our host, this particular workshop and the short time we’d be spending together. What a group, what an experience!

On the day of the actual workshop Sean welcomed us, directed us to the coffee, pastries and fruit before getting us to share a bit about ourselves, our personal journeys that brought us to photography, where we were at in our careers and where wanted to go. There were some heartfelt and amazing stories.

As this was the maiden voyage of the Flanishop, it didn’t feel like a polished program or often repeated spiel… It was very organic and tailored to us as a group from a series of questions that were presented to each attendee shortly after registering. Some topics covered in the early part of the day were a general description of Sean’s approach to building a strong relationship with his clients, how to attract the right clients for you, the importance of clear communication for absolute success when working with your clients, branding, a rundown of his pricing and business practices and then a deeper look at what he perceives his purpose of being a wedding photographer to be.

He admitted to us that business was not a primary focus in his career or for the workshop. As such, this probably wouldn’t be the workshop for you if you’re looking to sell $100K worth of canvas per year with sales of photo mugs, mousepads and every conceivable product you can ram down the throat of your clients with an image on it. His focus as a photographer is to make impactful and amazing images while giving everything he’s got to his clients. And it was at about this point that he begins discussing the gift… The gift we can give and why it matters so much. Things were resonating pretty fierce at this point.

And then in steps Heather Gilson of One Love Photo. Heather was invited to speak to us as a person that is doing her own thing and standing tall in a saturated sea of wedding photographers. Whether through the use of homemade lenses, medium format film cameras, or unique photo presentations on wooden boxes coated in beeswax, Heather’s business offers something uniquely different than 99% of the other wedding photographers out there. She is truly inspiring and has an impossibly infectious personality… Definitely one of my favorite photographers and someone you need to check out.

After Heather’s presentation and a quick lunch, we piled into a granny-driving school bus and cruised around T-Town with a model couple. Our female model was none other than the talented photographer Julie Harmsen and her beau Andy Fitts of the band The Banyons. Sean showed some Julie + Andy on his blog previously and they are quite the fetching couple.

As this was not the kind of workshop where Sean lined up the pretty people for the group to shoot them down firing squad-style, I only snapped a few frames from the whole day. My objective was to watch how he worked with the couple, what direction he provided, how he set them up and so forth. The shoot was telling, enlightening and didn’t result in 20 photographers having the same couple at the front of their portfolios. Those are all good things.

We worked through a couple of locations before heading back to the loft and a jump straight into workflow and post-processing. While workflow is very subjective and I’m firm on my own, the secrets to Sean’s processing was what I was DYING to know. I love his black & whites, but his color is something I would give a limb to know how to achieve. And now I do… The post-processing portion of the day was a no-holds barred look at basically every technique he uses for his signature looks and each step necessary to achieve them. Seriously… he showed us the Colonel’s recipe and gave the keys to the kingdom.

The workshop wrapped up with a little more inspirational talk and some anecdotes about situations he’s found himself in over the years. It was a long and action-packed day that culminated in a beautiful meal at Tacoma’s Indochine where conversations continued, info between photographers was exchanged, bonds were built and friendships were founded. Highly recommended.

Check out some of Sean’s frames from the day: http://seanflanigan.net/blog/?p=5046

Attendee posts: Jeramie Shoda, Micah Cordes 1 and Micah Cordes 2, Ali Walker, Chris Kirby, Morgaine Owens

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Natalie + Robert | Coming Soon

Kip — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:13:39 +0000

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Courtney + Brian | Wedding

Kip — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:41:18 +0000

What’s not to love about the union of a Cougar girl and a Husky boy. You two are beautiful and I’m honored to have been there. Have fun in the Cook Islands guys!

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52 Weeks

Kip — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:13:50 +0000

From 2008-2009 I made a frame each and everyday of my daughter Ella. A 365 if you will, except I had to go ahead and choose to do it during a leap year resulting in this 366 book of Ella. After a year hiatus, I’ve picked up a new document of her where I make a frame of her each Saturday (she was born on a Saturday). Here’s #6 out of 52…

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Sallie + David | Wedding

Kip — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:50:43 +0000

Sallie + David ruled my world at Lord Hill Farms in Snohomish, WA. Thank you… I loved your day.

Coordinator/Designer: ‘I Do’ Weddings by Sarah Dahl
Florals: Kate Fadden, In Bloom Designs
Catering: Lord Hill Farms
Cake artist: Xtra Special Cakes
Dress: Amy Kuschel
Bridesmaids dresses: After Six
Dress Boutique: Something Blue Boutique
Menswear: The Tux Shop
Rings: Strauss Jewelers
Officiant: Christian Smith, Emnanuel Baptist Church
Hair and make-up stylist: Kim Richmond, Studio K

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A Birthday Bash For My Baby

Kip — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:59:31 +0000

My true love was having a significant birthday. We deliberated over escaping to NY for a romantic weekend or spending time with friends and family. The latter was the obvious choice and I had to step up my game and throw her a party. It was an occasion people… I rocked a bow tie for the first time and Ms. Thang sported red 3.5″ red patent heels. Whoomp there it is.

Um… Meow.

Ok. I was the client here and I elected to have my FOTO FUN BOOTH™ as part of the action. If you were having a party or significant event wouldn’t you?!!

Throughout the evening there were quotes displayed in a slideshow that I’d gathered from some of Sasha’s closest friends, family, loved ones and yours truly about what Sasha means to us as a friend, mother, daughter, wife, etc.

And here is a photo retrospective of some of her 40 years. I doesn’t even begin to capture the good times, epic adventures, wonderful friends and amazing family, but…

Venue + Catering: Spitfire, Seattle

Sasha’s Hair + Make-up: Swink Style Bar

Photographer(s): Primary: Tai Nguyen, Secondary: BEELMANAIRE

Music/Entertainment: Nicholas Barrat

Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas

Florals: Fiori Floral Design

Lighting 1: PNTA

Lighting 2: Blue Danube

Cupcakes: From Sasha’s mom, Cynthia’s Cynful Cupcakes

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