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Our Main Website is www.GregHeltonPhotography.com

Email: Greg@GregHeltonPhotography.com

Lauren and Ben's Downtown Engagement Session

By looking at this picture, you can guess that we had a great time shooting engagement shots for this awesome couple! Ben and Lauren have seen a lot over the course of their 9-year relationship from high school, to college, long distance dating and now careers but the one thing they hadn't seen much of were pictures together, so this was extra fun for us to provide some images for them. On Friday, May 20th we hopped in the car with Ben and Lauren (who just so happen to practically be our neighbors!) to head down to 23rd and Raleigh in the Alphabet District of NW Portland. This first stop was picked by the couple for it's sentimental value as it was the place where Ben popped the question and Lauren said, "Yes!"




From the proposal spot, we moved on to the Pearl District where we got the light we were expecting from that sunny day. The weather and lighting really kept us on our toes throughout the shoot; as the day progressed we went from clear, cloudless skies, to heavy haze and finally towards the end of our shoot dark gray clouds that looked like they might open up and pour at any minute. Even with surprising weather, we pressed on and were able to capture some great images.

Ben and Lauren also wanted to get some shots at Union Station, as the train between Seattle and Portland kept them together in the early years of their dating. It was too bad we couldn't get some shots inside, because the ambiance of the terminal is really wonderful and has a great old time-y vintage feel. After getting almost completely set up for shots, a security guard informed us that we couldn't take pictures. I don't know what she thought we were doing the entire time she watched us set up, but oh well, now we know.

We wrapped things up with some creative lighting shots using the new Bowens light kit.

Once home, we did our editing, and because we are all in the same neighborhood, we met up to drop off the edited images and have some beers! Ben and Lauren, thanks so much for allowing us the opportunity to meet you and work with you! You guys are really a beautiful couple and we are excited for your wedding. It was such a pleasure doing this shoot!

Commercial Photos Utilized

A couple months ago we had the opportunity to do a commercial photography session with FLIR, shooting some of their lenses. As we mentioned in our previous post, we set up a studio to do this photo shoot and had a lot of fun taking photos of this unique realm. Well producing images for a company is definitely fun, but it is also awesome to see your work published. One of FLIR's graphic designers, Kyle Richardson, did some great work with one of our photos to be the cover of FLIR's new brochure! It turned out great and definitely shows our work in a new light. We look forward to many new unique opportunities and publications in the future!

New Ventures in Commercial Photography

We are always game to try a little something new in photography, so when Kyle approached us about shooting a product gig for FLIR, we jumped at the opportunity! This was one of our first experiences using a studio set up and we had a great time experimenting with lighting techniques and creating dramatic images from static objects. Our "studio" was simple: a large open room at our church, some seamless white paper, some continuous lighting and voila! We were set for photo magic. One of the trickier aspects of this shoot was photographing the reflective surfaces of the lenses and making sure we didn't have any unexpected portraits of the crew. With a little tinkering and trial with this new studio endeavor, we produced some great images that we, and FLIR are very happy with! In an effort to respect the classified nature of the products we shot for FLIR, we can only share a few pictures. Hope you enjoy!





So what's next for us? With spring and summer on the way we are working hard to be ready for our busy season. Our location here in the Pacific Northwest makes for lots of rainy days, which aren't always ideal for snapping photos. However, we are really making the most of this drizzly time, currently working on a new website, launching a Twitter account and preparing for our upcoming commercial photo shoots with Bridge City Baking and Pure Bliss Baking. Yum...I can hardly wait!

2 Beautiful Couples, 1 Late Blog Post

So as the title indicates we have recently had the opportunity to shoot engagement photos for 2 great couples. Additionally, we have been given the opportunity to shoot each of their weddings in August, and we are so excited to have the privilege of capturing their "Big Days"!

Ross and Ashley:

We met up with Ross and Ashley in the Pearl District on October 23rd to talk wedding details and get some great shots in spite of the drizzly weather. It was one of those typical Portland days with a steady drizzle on and off all day, posing a bit of problem for photography. Thankfully, there was a CVS that was prepared for the wet weather and we bought a big golf umbrella to protect our equipment and our lovely subjects! We made stops at Tanner Springs Park, Jamison Square and lastly Director Park for some snapshots with a very wintry feel. Ross and Ashley are a great couple with a wonderful ease about their relationship. They are laid back and so much fun! Thanks for being such good sports about trekking through the drizzle! We can hardly wait for August 12th!
Justin and Katy:
Justin and Katy are our friends from Colossae Church and we couldn't be more excited to see them get married. They are an incredible couple with big hearts, genuine spirits and each have a great sense of humor. Our shoot with the happy couple brought us to Laurelhurst Park and Belmont, areas in which we haven't done much photography, so it was exciting to experiment with new lighting and locations! We didn't need to coach these too much on posing; they were having a great time and their love for each other is so evident in each of these pictures. We ended the day at Stumptown Coffee on Belmont, the location of Justin and Katy's first date. It was sweet to see things come full circle for them and to hear them reminisce about their special times there.

For more pics, including our engagement gallery, head here

Thanks for being here!!

On Sunday we had the "sweet" opportunity to do our first product shoot for Flirt Cakes, an up and coming home-bakery based out of Portland. Their mission is to create beautiful, natural and delicious custom cupcakes and cakes and believe us they do just that! We were lucky enough to not only get to look at these gorgeous creations but we were also able to enjoy their delightful flavors sampling the Red Velvet with white chocolate and cream cheese frosting as well as the Banana Split with hot fudge filling. Yum! Greg and Flirt Cakes owner/operator Brandie have been co-workers for the past few years so we were so happy to lend a hand towards helping her get this business off the ground.

We have no doubts that word will spread and people Portland-wide will be craving Flirt Cakes! We truly enjoyed the opportunity to try shooting some new subjects, and of course free cupcakes aren't too bad either!

Nick And Kirstie's Engagement

Yesterday Kristen and I were able to go take Nick and Kirstie's engagement photos down in Salem, Oregon. I have been excited to do these for a while now! Nick and I went to Cal Poly together and he is truly a great guy, so I am excited to see this marriage flourish as I know it will! They are a great couple and their chemistry truly shows in these photos that we took. We stopped off at a few random spots that Kirstie had spotted while driving through Salem to visit her friend's parents. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather and locations for this shoot. They are a beautiful couple and we are excited for them to join Club Wed. Enjoy the photos below!