The McNeil Family | Three Boys & Laurelhurst Park
I've been photographing the McNeils since their oldest was born — and every session since has been a little louder, a little more chaotic, and a whole lot more fun. Three boys will do that. We spent a fall afternoon at Laurelhurst Park and I don't think anyone stood still for more than thirty seconds. Exactly right.
Golden Hour at Mount Tabor | Portland Family Photography
Some clients become more than clients. I first photographed Caitlin and Matt at their engagement session back in 2010 — and over the last fifteen years I've had the privilege of watching their family grow, session by session. Maternity. Newborns. Milestones. And now, three kids tearing down the trails at Mount Tabor in the most perfect November light I've seen all year. This one is for the archives.
Andreas & Louise | An Urban Engagement Session Through the Heart of Downtown Portland
Andreas and Louise wanted classic, urban, Portland — the city they've both come to love and call home. So we walked it. The waterfront with the Hawthorne Bridge stretching behind them. The public docks. Keller Fountain Park. The murals in the Park Blocks. The steps outside the Portland Art Museum. And somewhere along the way it became clear that these two have absolutely been taking dance classes — the spins, the dips, the easy way they moved together — because they were good. July cannot come fast enough.
Baby Myla is Coming | Andrea & Deion's Maternity Session at Cooper Mountain, Oregon
Andrea and Deion came to Cooper Mountain Nature Park for their maternity session for baby Myla, and I will be thinking about this one for a long time. The blush tulle robe — layers and layers of ruffles catching the wind on a hilltop above the Tualatin Valley — might be the most stunning maternity look I have ever photographed. I'm not exaggerating. The dress alone could stop traffic. Combined with that sky, that golden autumn grass, that dog sitting impossibly perfectly in every single frame? I didn't want the session to end. This is what maternity photography is supposed to feel like.
For Your Favorite Person | A Grandmother & Granddaughter Session at Tryon Creek
Alexis came to me with a request I had never gotten before: a portrait session with her grandmother. Not a full family session, not a milestone event — just the two of them, in the woods, photographed together because her grandmother is her favorite person and she wanted pictures that showed it. I said yes immediately, and now I am completely obsessed. I want every single person reading this to book this session. The hands reaching toward each other through the green. The way she rested her head on her grandmother's shoulder and they both just laughed. I haven't stopped thinking about this one since.
Troy & Elise | Maternity Among the Roses in Portland
The International Rose Test Garden in Portland is one of those locations that does all the work for you — rows of roses in every color, tall evergreens overhead, soft light filtering through. Troy and Elise brought their whole world to this session: his son, her sweet black dog dressed in a pink flower collar, and a belly full of baby girl. We strolled, we laughed, we lined up four tiny pink Converse in the grass between two pairs of grown-up shoes, and I photographed a family on the edge of something wonderful.
Joseph & Sami | Love, a Giant Bridal Party, and a Dramatic Sky at Wonser Woods
Some weddings are quiet and intimate. Some are big and electric and full of people who love each other loud. Joseph and Sami's wedding at Wonser Woods was absolutely the latter — and I was there for every moment of it.
Amelia & Devin | A Front Yard Wedding in Portland, Oregon
Portland kept changing the COVID restrictions week by week, and we weren't sure until the night before whether the wedding would happen at all. It did — in Amelia and Devin's front yard, officiated by her brother Austin, livestreamed to the people who couldn't be there, and cheered on by a car parade of friends who drove by honking and holding up signs. It was one of the most joyful, most human weddings I've ever photographed.
Oregon to Scotland & Back Again | Kelli & Niall's Wedding at Gray Gables Estate, Portland
Kelli and Niall met at a University of Oregon tailgate. Niall was on a West Coast road trip from Scotland with friends — they wanted to experience an American college football game, so they showed up in full Ducks gear, green tutus, and face paint. Kelli's dad was parked right next to them. He introduced himself, chatted Niall up, and then said: I need to introduce you to my daughter. The rest is a love story that crossed an ocean, survived COVID, and ended in a kilt at Gray Gables Estate in Portland.
Allie & Ryan | An Engagement Session at Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon
Allie and Ryan brought their dogs to their Hoyt Arboretum engagement session — a Jack Russell mix and a yellow Lab, both wearing matching plaid bowties, both completely certain the session was for them. They weren't wrong. The arboretum's redwood grove, forest trails, and fall ferns gave us some of my favorite frames from this location, and these two were absolutely natural in front of the camera.
Roll for Cuteness | Chantal & Evan's Maternity Session at Oxbow Regional Park, Oregon
Evan is my cousin and my Dungeon Master — whether we're mid-campaign in Dungeons & Dragons or deep into a Pathfinder session, he's the one running the table. For their maternity session, we took to the ancient forest at Oxbow Regional Park on the Sandy River, where 700-year-old trees make everything feel hushed and timeless. Chantal wore an emerald dress and wildflowers in her hair and looked completely at home in the wild. This one was deeply special to photograph.
Danielle | Senior Portraits Under the Arches of Cathedral Park in Portland, Oregon
Danielle is my cousin, and photographing her senior session was one of those jobs that didn't feel like a job at all. I've watched her grow up — and getting to be the one to document this chapter, at Cathedral Park under the iconic arches of the St. Johns Bridge with camellias in full bloom, was a genuine gift.
Murphy McGuinness, Finn McCool & the People Who Love Them | Dog Portraits in Hoyt Arboretum | Portland, Oregon
I met Chris and Jessica over a decade ago when they were my neighbors in downtown Portland. I had to introduce myself — Jessica was out on a walk with Murphy McGuinness, a Newfoundland puppy so impossibly adorable I had no choice. We've been friends ever since. Now there's Finn McCool, a massive Leonberger, and the four of them together are exactly as wonderful as you'd expect. We took it to Hoyt Arboretum, one of my favorite places in the city, and the fall forest did not disappoint.
From Two to Three: Brianna, Cameron & E at Scouters Mountain | Happy Valley, Oregon
I've photographed Brianna and Cameron through a lot of chapters — the engagement, the wedding, the maternity session where Brianna stood at the base of Wahclella Falls and told me, half joking, that she'd be in Vogue one day (she was right). Now there's E, a toddler with opinions about everything and a laugh that fills the whole forest. Scouters Mountain gave us ancient trees, Mount Hood on the horizon, and one family who already knows how to show up.
Gothic Arches and Golden Light: Layla & Eric Engagement Session at Cathedral Park Portland
Cathedral Park sits beneath the St. Johns Bridge in North Portland, and if you've never been, the Gothic concrete arches that line the riverbank are unlike anything else in the city — dramatic, airy, and somehow both grand and intimate all at once. It was the perfect setting for Layla and Eric, who would go on to have one of my all-time favorite weddings the following year. Spoiler: it was stunning.
Michael & Svetlana | Duniway Hotel & Hoyt Arboretum Microwedding | Portland Elopement Photographer
A silver sequin gown. A rain-soaked wooden deck in the redwoods of Hoyt Arboretum. Mini champagne bottles clinked among family and friends. And then Cathedral Park, where the Gothic arches of the St. Johns Bridge — Portland's only steel suspension bridge — made the most extraordinary backdrop I could have asked for. Michael and Svetlana's elopement was exactly the kind of day that reminds me why I love this city.
Barefoot in the Park Blocks | Rachel & Ryan | Arlington Club Portland Wedding
Rachel walked down the aisle to rainforest sounds. Her daughters stood beside her as bridesmaids. And after the ceremony at the Arlington Club, Ryan carried her heels while she danced barefoot through Portland's Park Blocks — the same stretch of trees where they used to walk at the beginning of everything.
Matching Pajamas & Gingerbread Houses | Portland, Oregon Couples Photographer
Matching penguin pajamas, a gingerbread house that got slightly out of hand, hot cocoa, and a whole lot of laughing. Cassie and Ash's holiday session in their Portland home was exactly the kind of morning I want to photograph every December.
Lavender, Lace & Gray Gables Estate | Wedding in Portland, Oregon
Corwin and Kabbiba's wedding at Gray Gables Estate in Portland was a full, joyful celebration from start to finish — a lavender and white palette, a breathtaking bride in lace and a floral crown headpiece, an outdoor ceremony under white draped columns, and a reception that ended with a dance floor that absolutely would not quit. This is what it looks like when a room is full of people who are genuinely, completely happy to be there.
The McLean House Portland | A Rainy, Joyful Wedding Day
Rachel and Dustin got married at The McLean House in Portland and it went a little something like this: private vows in the morning, a first look that made their photographer cry (that's me — I cried), surprise rain that turned into a tented garden ceremony with neon signage and blooming rhododendrons, Sizzle Pie pizza for the entire reception, a cake that did not survive the day, heartfelt toasts from people who really love these two, and dancing until it was over. The McLean House gardens were dripping and green and gorgeous, the bride was radiant, and the groom looked at her like she was the only person in the room. A perfect, imperfect Portland wedding day — and one of my favorites I've ever had the privilege of shooting.