We met this afternoon for a portrait session starting at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville. When I woke up this morning the rain was blowing sideways and I wasn’t optimistic it would let up. By the time we met at the winery however, the rain had stopped and the cloud cover created perfect, even light everywhere we went. During our shoot, we were visited by 5 Peacocks. You can see one of them out of focus in the background of one of the shots I’ve posted here.

Brian and Korie are one of those couples you meet and you instantly realize they are perfect for each other. Laughter was the them throughout the day as they both have a great sense of humor. Just look at the photo I posted after I asked them to “touch foreheads” for a romantic shot I thought that was pretty dang funny.

After the winery, we drove downtown to Kerry Park for some more photo’s with the beautiful city of Seattle in the background. I’ve been there quite a few times and this was the very first time I’ve been there and nobody else was around! Again, the lighting was spectacular but WOW was it cold! They were good sports about it and we got some nice shots.

Oh yeah..I will be sure to post a follow up and show you how Shrek’s fro is doing

I wasn’t exactly friendly to them so I am surprised that they published the letter. I must say that I am impressed.

Here is a link if you are interested.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/351516_webltrs18.html

I learned just minutes too late that the team had stopped by the Mall to promote the game and a few of the players ate at my restaurant. I was knee deep in paperwork and found out too late.

Unfortunately, security confiscated my camera on the way in to the game. I had called ahead to ask if cameras were allowed. They said everything but video cameras were OK. Turns out that was a bit vague and only point and shoot cameras were allowed. To clarify I restated their policy….taking photographs is allowed, just not good ones. C’est Lavie. I scared the heck out of the nice lady charged with keeping it when I told her how much it cost. When I showed up to pick it up I didn’t even have to give her my claim slip as she said “I was getting so worried when you were taking so long to get it.” I thought that was pretty nice of her. Aside from the miscommunication on the phone, they really do a nice job running that place. The staff is friendly and efficient. Even the food vendors seem like genuine good people. Not the typical “carnival employee” type you run into at most arena’s.

Since Savannah and I didn’t have any parental supervision (Mom stayed home with Sophie we went a bit hog wild at the concession stand and by the time we left people were asking Savannah for autographs mistaking her for one of the players.

After the game the players take the court and sign autographs for a half and hour. It was a bit chaotic so we were only able to get to one player. Lucky for us it was Scooter Christensen
who showed us some of the most amazing ball control we have ever seen. That guy can seriously dribble!

They did have “official” photographers all over the place and they grabbed a quick shot of Savannah and Scooter which can be seen and purchased here. That’s a pretty good idea actually. While they were using Nikon Cameras, cheap lenses and direct flash I still think the pic came out alright.

Here are a couple of photo’s taken after the event. It was a lot of fun and if they Globetrotters are playing in a town near you I recommend you go and check them out. They put on a great show!

See you in the funny pages,

Mat

Happy Birthday Mark! Dang….50!

My good friend and extremely talented photographer Randy Kepple is undertaking a very cool personal work project this year. He is a far more articulate writer than I am and you should check out his Inspired Photo Blog and read his post Art in the Ruins. It describes exactly the sentiment I was hoping to portray in the images below.