Kate McElwee Photography

Monthly Archives: May 2007

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My First Fine Art Sale!

May 28, 2007 – 12:15 pm

I just got a voice mail from the fabulous Dean at Gene Juarez saying that they’ve sold one of the three pieces I have on display there. I’m so excited to find out which one! We’re hoping that any photographs sold will be left up on display until the end of the exhibition rotation (each rotation lasts three months), but I may need to choose a replacement piece if the buyer wants to take it home immediately. I’m thinking that I may replace it with this one - it’s the first self-portrait from the series, and its working title is Twins.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in fine art, news | Comments (0)

Shannon & Phil, Married in Marysville

May 26, 2007 – 11:57 am

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing two weddings, and the first was Shannon and Phil’s, up in Marysville at Leifer Manor. They are a young and totally gorgeous couple - a joy to photograph! Shannon is such a natural in front to the camera - and as she told me afterwards, “why would I want people taking photos of me scowling or whatever?”

The reception was awesome fun - lots of very happy, good-looking people hanging out and enjoying some fine beer in the sunshine. And boy, can they party! Anyway, it was really tough choosing, but here are a few of my favorite shots from their wedding.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in weddings | Comments (0)

A Weekend of Weddings, and …

May 22, 2007 – 1:22 am

It’s been a crazy weekend for me - I shot two weddings, and assisted Heather Quintans at a bat mitzvah. I’m so exhausted I can barely type, but it has been awesome, exciting and beautiful.

The bat mitzvah was for Rachel, a very sweet and utterly cool 13-year-old. It was over in south Bellevue, early on Saturday morning, and it was doubly exciting as I’d never been to a Jewish ceremony before. I then drove straight up to Marysville for Shannon & Phil’s wedding, and on Sunday it was Woodinville for Pamela & Scott’s nuptials.

I’ve got a long week ahead of editing and manipulating, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share a teaser photo with you. So, here’s the gorgeous Shannon, just 30 minutes or so before her wedding on Saturday. More to follow shortly!

By Kate McElwee | Posted in weddings | Comments (0)

Sunset Shoot at Golden Gardens

May 16, 2007 – 11:22 pm

Wow, Golden Gardens at sunset has got to be my new favorite Seattle photo stop. The light there is just stunning. That, and it’s a neat place anyway, what with its mini sand dunes, gorgeous views over the Sound, that crazy cluster of trees, duck pond …

Anyway, I was there last week with Kendra and Kelsey, two gorgeous sisters who wanted some fun, non-traditional graduation photos for their mom. Kelsey brought along her boyfriend, and I loved snapping away at them - they were all over each other (in a very good way!) I hope I get to shoot them again a little further into their relationship. The girls have over 150 photos to choose from, but I’ll keep it short and sweet here.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in portraits | Comments (0)

New Lens, New Color

May 12, 2007 – 9:21 am

We have an exciting new addition to the McElwee family - my new 70-200mm f/2.8 lens! It’s pretty much the best portrait lens made by anyone, anywhere, and it wears a hefty price tag. But it really is beautiful - and totally worth the price. Here are some sample shots from its first outings to Golden Gardens and Gasworks Park (as you can see it can do much more than just take nice portraits!) I also thought it was time for a little color after the last two black and white posts.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in equipment, personal, seattle | Comments (0)

I’m Exhibiting!

May 11, 2007 – 3:03 pm

I’m currently exhibiting three pieces from a series of 11 self-portraits at Gene Juarez, downtown Seattle. They’re black and white fiber prints, and it’s really nice that after putting in so much work they’re out there for the world to see (naked butt and all, might I add!)

The idea behind the series was to explore a woman’s time on her own - and the various moods and states that she finds herself in. I also wanted to utilize the idea of creating art through obstructions (the idea came from the movie The Five Obstructions by Lars von Trier and Jorgen Leth - which I highly recommend as a piece of art and humorous documentary rather than a straightforward movie). My five obstructions were: (1) use all manual settings; (2) obtain no help from outside (for example with focusing); (3) use only a 50mm lens; (4) shoot indoors; (5) use natural light.

Anyway, here are the three images currently on display:

By Kate McElwee | Posted in fine art, news, personal | Comments (1)

Boudoir in the Studio: Cara

May 10, 2007 – 9:51 pm

I recently had a fun shoot with Cara, a very cute and awesomely fun 20-something. She wanted some boudoir-style shots to give her boyfriend Chris, but as it was for their first anniversary (dating) she didn’t want anything too serious, nor anything too obviously sexy. Cara brought in a bottle of wine - something that I highly recommend to relax you if it’s your first time, although red wine is not a good choice for most [think of the stains on your teeth!]

I shot the entire session in color - as usual - but after converting a few images to black and white using Photoshop CS3’s fantastic new black and white conversion tools, I decided that they looked even better like that. I can’t share many here as they’re a bit too revealing, but here are a couple she’s happy to share with the world wide web:

By Kate McElwee | Posted in boudoir, portraits | Comments (0)

Jesse Canterbury, Portrait of a Jazz Musician

May 8, 2007 – 8:52 pm

I’ve just completed editing the photos for Jesse Canterbury’s first shoot at Seattle Public Library. Jesse’s an up-and-coming jazz clarinetist (amongst other things) and plays with the Tom Baker Quartet as well as doing solo gigs. I chose the library for our shoot for several reasons: first, I thought the amazing modern architecture would be a great match for his uber-modern approach to jazz; second, it’s a beautiful space to work in, with tons of different spaces for taking interesting shots. We’re both delighted with the results - and these are a few of my personal favorites.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in music, portraits | Comments (1)

A Mouthwatering Shoot at The Jones

May 8, 2007 – 9:42 am

A couple of nights ago I did a shoot for Scott & Michelle Simpson at The Jones, a bar/restaurant in Maple Leaf. They need photos for their website, and they’re also starting a very cool prix fixe menu on Sunday evenings, so they want some promotional photos for that too. It was a ton of fun, although not the easiest shoot I’ve ever done - I was perched up on a slippery chair overlooking the serving window, trying to capture each dish on its way out to the floor. I literally had 20-30 seconds for most items!

The food was great to photograph though - each dish is a work of art - and chefs Jason and Jeremy were very sweet-natured about being ogled all night. Oh, and for dinner I enjoyed a bowl of wonderfully garlicky gazpacho with Dungeness crab and arugula, and some delicious house-made bread. Here are a couple of shots - I just love the one of Jason preparing the rack of lamb.