North Seattle Family Portraits

Schenker_V_01_lo

Schenker_JVM_2_lo

Schenker_JVM_3_lo

Schenker_JVM_4_lo

Schenker_JVM_5_lo

Schenker_JVM_6_lo

Schenker_JVM_7_lo

For privacy I don’t even put my clients first names on the blog anymore, but I’ve known these wonderful folks we’ll call J, V and M, for many years. I’m posting these as an example of a family session with a 9-year-old in their backyard and on the street in front of their home.

A lot of folks stop doing sessions after the first few years, but why??? Having these special portraits and memories is a better use of your hard-earned dollars than “stuff.” No, it’s not inexpensive, as my skills have taken years and years to develop, but it’s an investment you will not regret!

J, V and M live in the Ballard/Crown Hill area, and we did the photography session in the evening, when the sun had dipped, and the light was soft. We included the grandparents for some shots.

When you get a “disk” from me, now a digital download (most computers don’t even have CD players anymore) or thumb drive, you can expect to get way too many wonderful images to make your own albums, prints, and/or to share on social media.

Speaking of the images. I currently use digital equipment and every image I create for you is therefore available in color and/or black and white. The first image is “Sepia toned” a version of black and white that works really well on selected images.

Lastly, it’s really important to make prints of your favorites. Family heirlooms should not be left on a computer and should be printed on good quality paper and displayed!

Meryl

Senior session-Olympic Sculpture Park

 

It’s that time of year, so I thought I’d post Eva’s high school senior photo session at the Seattle Art Museums’ Olympic Sculpture Park. If you haven’t been, it’s a wonderful place to see some modern sculpture and take in a view of Puget Sound. It was a fairly chilly day in March when we did these, but Eva and her moms were great sports. Thanks for a great session Eva, Jennifer and Laureen!

While people do their senior photos throughout the year, you might keep August in mind for a warmer time to do your photos. You’ll have them ready for the yearbook, and it’s the summer, so you’ll be less stressed and busy!

 

High School Senior Portraits

IsabelleIsabelleIsabelleIsabelleIsabelle

I love photographing high school seniors because they are so vibrant!

A good match for me are Seattle students who want to look like real people, not fake glamour gals. Take Isabel for example, she is so naturally beautiful, she just showed off that beauty at the Ballard Locks and the backyard of her Ballard home (actually, that’s the neighbors house, a shared dock -:). I digress. The point is, be real!

It’s also interesting that often the clients favorites are not my favorites. I loved the expression in the second one, the black and white one, but she preferred the top. This is the wonderful subjectivity of photography and how we see ourselves.

In the end, she used the one with the shell for her yearbook photo and got the rest framed. Thank you Isabel. I had so much fun with you! Meryl

Business photos in Seattle

schenker_portraits_businessd

While you most often see family portraits on this blog, I do lots of different types of photography. This image was produced for a magazine, what we call editorial photography, however I also am commissioned by individuals to do photographs like this for their own websites and/or other promotional materials.

Author Portrait

Claudia Rowe is a terrific writer and fantastic journalist I am fortunate to call my friend. Her book, “The Spider and The Fly” is scheduled to be released January, 2017 by Dey Street/HarperCollins and I can’t wait to read it! You can check out this blog post to get what the book is about.

Claudia Rowe

Janine and Jon_Portraits of Love

Jon and Janine Jon and Janine Jon and Janine Jon and Janine Jon and Janine Jon and Janine

Janine and Jon are both interesting and sweet on their own, but I love them as a couple! They wanted to do a portrait session before their wedding, which I also photographed. Two days before their wedding we went to the woods near where they live in West Seattle. They spend a lot of time there with their dogs (their family!) and wanted to preserve their memories. I hope I did them justice. They are just wonderful!

Author Portrait_Seattle Photographer

Lois Brandt, Writer, Seattle Lois Brandt, Writer, Seattle

I had the best time with Lois, a local children’s book author, teacher and writer. Can’t wait for her book, Maddi’s Refrigerator, to be released!

After going back and forth on whether the studio or on-location would be best, we decided on her backyard for our photo session. The shade of the trees provided nice lighting. She felt much more relaxed in her own garden (environment) than she would have in my studio (not that my studio’s not relaxing!:)) I encourage you to consider having your portrait taken in an environment you love. Meryl